What I've Been Up To...

3 years y'all. THREE. YEARS. These last three years of silence have been a growing period for me. I left first grade and the school I thought I would teach at till I retired, had a gap year, and am starting my second year of teaching third grade math at one of the most supportive schools I have had the privilege of being a part of (student teaching included!). I will tell you, I have learned so much about patience and seeking the Lord and knowing that His plan is not my plan. His plan is perfect. He placed in me in long-term leaves for teachers which allowed me to get to know the best team of teachers in third grade and a wonderful administration that has been nothing but supportive of me. And all the support staff in the office...YOU LADIES ROCK!

I debated a lot about getting back to my blog last year, but I wanted to spend my time focusing on getting to know my kiddos, getting to know my school, getting to know my coworkers, and getting to know the standards and curriculum for third grade math. I debated again this summer on whether or not to update my blog and was super torn. I didn't want to publicize my struggles and failures, but then God reminded me that He brought me through those times and that sharing of where I am now could help another teacher going through something similar or anyone feeling like their plans are not working on. GOD'S PLAN IS SOOOOO MUCH BETTER THAN YOURS!!!

Don't get me wrong - it does stink starting over in every aspect of getting in a new routine with new people in a new school and a new community, but it has so been worth it personally and professionally! Actually, I have liked coming in where not everyone knows me so that I can make a name for myself. Has each day been perfect? Absolutely not! Were there days I lost my Kool-Aid (as I said to the kiddos..lol)? Absolutely yes! But this past school year was by far the best year EVER!

Since I have already been in my classroom for a year, I don't have a whole big classroom transformation/reveal. Actually, we didn't even have to move desks for the summer! We are getting a new school (hopefully) by the start of 2020, so we were told our floors wouldn't be waxed and everything could stay put. Let me tell y'all though, I spent a HUGE majority of my summer last year deep cleaning my room and getting everything just the way I want it. I am such a Type A person that I want everything in its place and a place for everything. I can't just put stuff away to look for it later. When that happens, I forget where it is or I can't find it. So, I would rather just take the time the first time and put things where I want them. And believe me, they tend to get moved a thousand times before I am satisfied. (Ask my husband about this...lol!)

So, I will show you the before and after pictures from last year. When I go back to my classroom, (I am determined not to go back till July) I will take a before and after picture that won't be quite as drastic. It is pretty much set up already, but there are a few things I want to change and fix and a few summer projects I am working on at home for school.

Without further adieu, behold the pictures from the 2018-2019 school year!

BEFORE PICTURES

This was after some progress had been made. I had moved all the student desks to the middle to form makeshift tables to store all my stuff for the time being.

This is after I had pulled out more stuff from cleaning and bringing in my own stuff. A little progress was made on the cabinet in the back where Math games and manipulatives are stored.

Another corner and wall of my room.

The front board and front of the room.

This is once I put everything away that was on the desks. You can somewhat see the layout of my room at this point, but it is still not where I wanted it to be.

AFTER PICTURES

This was my setup for the first few weeks of school. When you open my classroom door, this is the view you get. I had the students in rows so I could easily learn names with faces before we got into groups later on. On that wall, I have my class rules and some motivational posters. On one table, I have trays with extra paper and my pencil sharpener. On the counter, I have 2 mailboxes. One is for my Chromebook storage and the other is for take-home folder storage. On top of the Chromebook storage, I have trays were students return notes and signed papers from their parents. I have a rolling cart loaded up with paper with a fridge on top. In the brown drawers, I have headphones for the students to use. I had 21 students. Our school provides a majority of school supplies, so in their cubbies is their Math books, binder, pencils, erasers, and crayons. Under the the counter behind the curtains, I have other various supplies we use throughout the year.

This is the view of the front of the room from the back. I will start on the left and work my way to the right. Above the cubbies, I have magazine holders where I store worksheets, activities, and assessments I use for each chapter in Math. Even though I just teach Math, I do have books in my room for kiddos to read during their freetime or to "borrow." Above my books, I have my calendar. I post holidays and important announcements there for the students to refer to. I will talk about my board in the next picture. Above it, I have the alphabet in cursive, birthdays, and after school started I added a place value chart at the top of the wall. To the right I have my personal corner of the room where my desk, filing cabinets, and bulletin board for my info to hang.

My board changed a good bit within the first 2 months of school. Over on the left side, I ended up using washi tape to split it up into 3 sections: homework, objectives, and standards/outcomes. Beside that, I posted the date and our data charts for learning our multiplication facts. In this picture, I have a Mimeo (I think I spelled that correctly?) that was used from my computer to the projector onto my board like a Smart Board. Luckily, my amazing administration put my name in for a Smart TV that was mounted on the board and is AMAZING! I am still learning new things about it and the kiddos love it.

This is my little corner for peace. Nothing too crazy here. I use the bulletin board on the back to post schedules and any special things I need to remember. I also like to post pictures and drawings that my kiddos make and give me throughout the year there as well.

This is the back of my room. To the right, you see the rest of the cubbies with motivational posters above them. Each class keeps a set of reading textbooks in their rooms, so that is what is on my shelf. I also have to round tables in the back. I am not crazy about them, but that's what came in the room. I have stools around one and regular chairs around the other one. The yellow rolling cart stored my computer that was connected to the projector, but once I got my Smart TV it was good to go. In earlier pictures, you saw how cluttered the cabinet was in the back left corner. All I did was buy 2 shear curtains to give a pop off color, but also cover it so that it wasn't and eye sore. I picked shear so that I could still semi-see through it when I need to get a game, activity, or manipulatives.

On the wall beside my door, I have 3 hanging files that are numbered. This is where students in each class turn in their work and assignments. Each student is assigned a number in their homeroom, so they known where their work goes. Beside the hanging files I have pockets labeled with classroom jobs for my homeroom students. I write their numbers on popsicle sticks and rotate them around at the beginning of each week. At the top, I have some helpful Math posters. The teacher before me left the flower clock, which my kids love. My kiddos also refer to the addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division signs when we work on word problems. SO SUPER HELPFUL!

This is a panoramic view of my entire classroom from the door. 

This is another panoramic view of my classroom right before Meet Your Teacher night. It is a bit more tidy.

Writing Process

Let's be real y'all. Teaching is tough and money is tight. If it's not at the Dollar Spot at Target or at the Dollar Tree, there is a good chance it won't be seen in my classroom. Needless to say, TeachersPayTeachers has tons of resources that I drool over all the time, but really can't afford everything that I want. Lately, I have been reading lots of articles about writing because that is something my district's curriculum just isn't strong in. I kind of had an idea in mind of what I wanted to hold students accountable for their work along with holding me accountable of providing the help needed for all my students to succeed. I searched all over TPT and saw lots of cute and awesome things, but they weren't quite what I wanted. So, I made my own!

I have never been a fan of the clip chart system for classroom management. (It works for some people, but just not for me.) BUT, I thought I would give a clip chart a chance academically. Students will move their clips up (or down) based on what step they on.

If a student is still brainstorming or working on a web, then he/she would have a clip here. For lower grades, this can also be used for the rough draft step as well where students do their first copy.

This is a choice upper grades could select. There are 11 choices you can select from and use however you wish. Grab it right now in MY STORE for FREE for 48 hours!!! If you have a different way you would like it worded, send me a Q&A at my store or comment to this post and I will help you out! Hopefully y'all will find this as a helpful resource in your classrooms!!!

Back to First

Hey everyone! I am super excited to be going back to First Grade! There have been a lot of grade changes with teachers at my school, so I know this upcoming school year is going to be fun with us all learning new things together. I loved Second Grade and seeing all my sweeties grow in different aspects. It really gave me the "end in sight" look at what First Graders will be doing the next year which I believe is going to make my 2nd go around in First even better. I am already familiar with the material and know what the expectations are for them next year. With that in mind, I am revamping my TPT store more and will be trying lots of new strategies to encourage my students to be problem solvers, thinkers, and leaders along with using student-friendly data collections and analysis. My goal this new school year is to have my students more involved with their data, whether it be tracking their tests to graphing how many sight words they have learned to interpreting what those crazy lines mean on their STAR tests. This past Spring, I was able to go with some teachers from my school to observe a school that implements The Leader in Me program and supports it with lots of data with students. It was so awesome, and I used some things I saw there at the end of the year to show my students exactly how they have improved. If they met their STAR goals in Reading and/or Math, I let them get a piece of candy and I put a sticker on them saying they had met their goal(s). If they grew in Reading and/or Math, I put a sticker on them saying how much they had grown. If they grew in both Reading and Math and met their goals in both, they also received a big bag of M&Ms (sorry parents!!). OH. EM. GEE. My kids were soooooo excited to get just their sticker and see how much they grew. They were so encouraging to each other, and best of all, other teachers and school workers complimented them when they were in the hallway and lunchroom. Seriously, this was the most excited I had seen them about themselves ALL YEAR! *Teacher happy!* So trust me, I will be doing it again this year each time we do a new STAR screening and will definitely post precious pictures of it. Along with going back to First Grade, I will be in charge of my school's extended day program. I am looking for ways to make it more fun, helpful for the students, and helpful for me as I will get to spend an extra 2.5-3 hours at school with about 10-20 students 4 days a week. I am open to any ideas to make it structured, educational, fun, and allows me to get a few things done since I will be at school anyways. Anyone that knows me, knows that I love a good schedule and love having a game plan. I am flexible, but I like having a mindset of what is going to happen. So pray for me that this year will be the best and that I do my best for my Firsties. I pray that this year will be your best and that you will learn just as much from your students as they will from you!

Updates

Hey y'all! Forgive me for going 2 months without a post! Things have been crazy busy! At my school, we have been going through our State and Federal monitorings, my husband and I have been recovering from walking pneumonia and sinuses, along with just finishing up celebrating Halloween and celebrating Veterans' Day this upcoming week with Thanksgiving to follow. It is hard to believe that Thanksgiving time is already here because that means Christmas is quickly approaching! Here are some great things that have been going on in my class since I last posted.

September- These sweeties, along with some precious moms and my sweet husband, gave me a surprise birthday party filled with cupcakes and ice cream and wonderful gifts. I brag about my kids on a daily basis because they are such a great group. They have some really sweet hearts, which I will talk about in a little bit. Also in September, my DonorsChoose project for a document camera was fully funded!!! My kids and I are so thrilled and love using the document camera!

October- We did a book study on Charlotte's Web during a short week for Fall Break. My kids LOVED the book and activities we did with it. We watched the movie after reading the book, and some of my sweeties had a few tears in their eyes. It is such a sweet book and really lets you see the tender hearts of little ones. In Social Studies, we have been learning about America and being good citizens. We are doing a fundraiser for UNICEF where we have a contest going on with each class in our school. Whoever donates the most gets a special snack. I showed my kids video clips about what UNICEF is and what they do, and their sweet little hearts were so opened to how good we have it even on our worst days. They were broken to see kids suffer and were all saying they would bring all their money to donate. We will find out Monday whose class won. *Crossing my fingers that my sweet ones did because they earned it with their hearts.*

November- This upcoming Tuesday, we will be doing our Veterans' Day program at my school. Both 2nd grade classes will be performing The Star-Spangled Banner and they are loving it! I thought they would be nervous about it, but they literally walk around everywhere singing it. I have had parents message me telling me the song is stuck in their heads. I am so proud of my patriotic sweeties and how they are taking this performance to heart. In Social Studies, as mentioned before, we are learning about America, and I think that makes them proud to be an American. Soon, we will be doing activities for Thanksgiving and beginning prepping for Christmas. I am the type of person who refuses to put up Christmas decorations or play Christmas songs until after Thanksgiving, but we are having to make Thanksgiving/Christmas art projects to sell at our Art Show. I'm trying to bend just for it. Also coming up, we have an Animal Habitat project to be looking out for. I will post about it once they turn their projects in. :)

Classroom Tour

Yes, I know. It has been a whole month since my last post. This past month has been such a whirlwind. Second grade is different than first grade from last year, and I have met many challenges in adapting to harder curriculums. I have been doing extended day 2 days a week, so sometimes my sweet hubby has to cook supper since I don't get home till 6:30 or later.

On top of that, our sweet Charlie has gone missing. I am just hoping that he has taken up with a loving family who needed him like I did during my young adult years before marriage. Needless to say, I have been exhausted.

But I am excited to share some classroom pictures that I took literally the night before school started. (Props to my hubby for all his help in getting everything ready for my first day and every other day he helps me.)

Keep in mind that school started for me nearly 4 weeks ago, so some things have changed a little but I am happy to say that I like my class layout for the most part. Most of the changes came in putting students in groups after the first week of school.

This is a panoramic view of all the important parts of my classroom.
(L to R: Listening Center, Reading Center with Focus Board above it, My Desk/Word Work Center,
About Me Corner, Front Board, Alphabet wall, Technology Corner, Small Group Area)

Here is the back of my classroom.
(L to R: VIP Area, Cabinet Space, Cubbies)

I have a huge white board I never used last year behind my desk. This year, I turned it into a focus board that has been super helpful this year. I also did a little refurbishing to the front of my desk. I purchased contact paper on Amazon and used Dollar Tree Borders to make it pop a bit. The kids use it during their Word Work Center. I have magnetic words and letters in the little totes under my desk. They also must write the words and sentences they build on whiteboards I bought at the Dollar Tree. (Those are hiding under my desk as well.)

Again, the whiteboard is an extension of my focus board. I am so excited about my Reading Center this year. It's organized and so inviting to the kids with bright colors and comfy pillows. I inherited the black shelf on the left with the classroom. I found the white Sterlite totes in our storage room, so they were free. The shelf on the right is from Fred's for $15. I spent maybe $20 on the 2 rugs. One is from Wal-Mart and the other is from Ollie's. Almost all of the colorful book bins were $1 that I got from Wal-Mart and the Dollar General. The big green pillow, peace sign pillows, and butterfly pillow were old pillows I used in my teenage years. The 2 metallic pillows were $5 each at Dollar General.

On the left you can see my little corner. I have things hanging that students have given me, important pictures, and important papers. The little lantern lights were $3 from Target, and the tall lamp is from my college dorm year.

Here is the front view that my students see. I have my Promethean board and a good chunk of a whiteboard to use. Below are numbers 1-10 (off TPT) and above is the alphabet (Dollar Tree), 100 Chart (Dollar Tree), Class Rules (TPT), US Map (Target), and Shapes poster (Dollar Tree). To the right, you can see our Calendar Math board.

These are the letter and sound cards that come with the Wonders curriculum that we are suggested to have hanging. I am excited to have a great Tech Corner this year which will hopefully get started after Labor day. I have 2 Chromebooks and 2 Kindles to use. Above the Tech Corner is my infamous Happy Birthday corner. My kids love seeing their names and it makes them feel important.

This is my small group area. It has lots of helpful skill information posters and all my small group manipulatives and needs stored in the shelves (and big cabinet). The hanging lanterns were $1 from Five Below, the window banner was $1 from Dollar General, and the stools were $5 each from Five Below. To the right, you can see my VIP area. It has light up lanterns and a fun, comfy chair. On Fridays, I pick a student who has had a good week to sit there during snack time and draw/write in our class journal.

I am bless with lots of storage space. I cover the cabinets with motivational posters for the students to read. On the counter, I use magazine bins (IKEA) to organize what I need for the week and for different subjects. It is probably my most commented part of my room. I have 2 buckets for pencils (dull and sharp). I also have a speaker and microphone to wear that sits in the back of the room as well.

Above the cubbies are my "special" books and school supplies. Each cubby has a number assigned to the students. I put adorable magazine bins that I got at the Dollar Tree in each child's cubby to help keep them more organized this year. To the right, I have a welcome table where students turn in their folders and work each day. On the other side of my cabinet, I put down chalkboard contact paper where I write an inspirational quote for the kids to read when they come on.

I hope you have enjoyed the tour of my classroom and I look forward to looking at all of the other wonderful classrooms in this link up.

2nd Grade Bulletin Boards

I have been looking forward to this blog post ever since Ashley and Angie announced it live on Periscope weeks ago! I want to make this year my best year of teaching and want to do so much better on my blogging. With that being said, here are some of the bulletin boards I have put up in my *NEW* second grade classroom.

Last year in first grade, we did Calendar Math every day though it is not a 1st grade standard. For me, those 10 minutes were so important for many reasons.

1. It got students into a routine to WRITE the date and sentences about the days of the week each morning for their morning work. My favorite thing (and the kids loved it too) was to look at how well their handwriting improved from August to May. *tear!*
2. We went over Calendar Math together in whole group right before our Math lesson where I incorporated many Math standards along with Science standards. Even before I "officially" taught how to interpret data, my students were very familiar with it because we had been doing it all year. FYI, we didn't get to data until the last month or two of school. We also talked about the weather and temperature and how we could make good educated predictions.
3. Routine, routine, routine. The kids got so used to exactly how Calendar Math went that I used it as a reward coupon where the student would get to be the teacher and lead the class through Calendar Math. They loved it on both sides of getting to lead their peers and having a peer lead them.
4. Those 10 minutes of whole group time got their little brains turning to get ready for a Math lesson. Light bulbs would turn on, and they would be ready to learn.

How did I make this board? The background is a turquoise $1 vinyl tablecloth I got at the Dollar General with purple border that I got at a local teacher store. The calendar was a lucky find that I found in my school's extra supplies/resource room, so it was FREE! The cute chevron calendar stuff was purchased on TPT by Stephanie Cain. The "Today's Number Is..." was made by yours truly. I ordered the little pockets on Amazon. The cute little weather options and "Today's Weather Is:" was a steal of a deal in the dollar spot at Target. The Place Value Chart was a freebie on TPT by Mrs. McDermid. The Weather Chart was a freebie on TPT by Yay-For-PreK.

This is where I will post weekly Spelling words and each week's sight words. The background is a green $1 vinyl tablecloth I got at Dollar General. The purple border was purchased at a local teacher store. The pre-cut letters are from Dollar Tree. The cute little blue chart was a find from the dollar spot at Target.

Last year in first grade, I felt like my kids weren't exposed to vocabulary as much as they should have been. So, this year I am making vocabulary a BIG deal. I used one of my bare whiteboards (that I wasn't going to use anyways) and outlined it with Dollar Tree borders and pre-cut sticky letters.

And for the grand finale, this was my big summer project. For Math, we use Go Math. For Language Arts, we used Wonders. I took important things we cover and used some cute free fonts to print out my headers for each subject. I glued them to scrapbook paper, laminated them, and them put magnetic tape on the back. I did the same thing with what goes with each header as well. I still have to laminate them which is why they are not up fully yet. The chevron border is from a local teacher store and all the letters are from the Dollar Tree.

I try hard to make all my bulletin boards educational, multi-functional, and interactive with the students so that they have a purpose. I have learned that if bulletin boards have no meaning or purpose to the students, then they are just wasting space and the students are losing out on wonderful learning opportunities. I hope you have enjoyed looking at my bulletin boards and hopefully they gave you some inspiration of things you can do in your classroom. I will post updates later on in the year one the bulletin boards are in full use!

New Year, New Grade

If you follow me on Facebook, then you will know that I was offered a new position at my school and I couldn't be more thrilled to be returning to a place I came to love last year. From my co-workers to all my precious students, my heart is there and am so blessed God opened a door for me. Because I am moving up a grade (yes, I'll be getting some of my same sweet babies again), I am making updates to my blog. Since I just got married, changing my name has been a big deal. My first big change here is my blog name: Smith's Second Sweeties. My next big task is to design a new page because (drum roll please....) I am going to be linking up with Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd and Lucky Little Learners in August and September, so I want my blog to be fabulous!

My goal for the upcoming school year is to be more involved with my blog to not showcase what I am doing, but to showcase what my students are doing so that parents can see student work and so that other teachers might can find new strategies and activities to help out in their classrooms. So, stay tuned for big things coming!