Classroom Loves Linky

Today I am linking up with Primary Powers to discuss things "Classroom Loves".

First off I'll talk about what "I Love". I seriously can't get enough of these markers. Is it the smell? Is it the amazing, beautiful colors? I don't know, but they are my favorite. These could honestly go under "They Love" too because my student's LOVE when I let them smell the markers. I have caught them a few times with their noses against the anchor charts we make :)

Next up is something "they love". My students love using their "writer's eyes". I have a class set of 3D glasses with the lenses popped out. I teach my students what it means to look at their writing with "writer's eyes" at the beginning of the year and they get to use their glasses during independent writing time. It really helps them stay focused to!

One of my students favorite activities for Valentine's is my "Candy Measurement" activity and I love it because they get to practice measuring in such a fun way!

Come on over and link up on Primary Powers blog and read about other "Classroom Loves".

Classroom Organization Blog Hop

Hello friends! So glad you have stopped by in the organization blog hop hosted by Primary Powers!

For me, organization comes naturally. Clutter drives me crazy and my classroom is always put together neatly! I will say that I am the envy of most of the teachers in my hallway :)

So today I want to share with you how I keep my student's information and parent communication organized.

Pretty much everything in my classroom is organized in a binder.

 See, I wasn't joking!

This is actually my favorite binder because it acts as TWO binders! One cover on each side of the binder. Did I trick ya?

Here's what it looks like on the inside. I always like to have their t-shirt sizes at the front of the binder because we are always needing it. Either for field day shirts, grade level shirts, and more! And it can serve as a class list as well!

After that page, I have all of my students numbers in a colored tab. This way I can use the binder year after year and not have to replace the tabs with different names each year.

Then behind each tab you will first find my student information sheet that I have the parents fill out at Meet the Teacher night the Thursday before school starts. I love reading over these at the beginning of the year so that I can get to know my students a little more. My favorite part is at the bottom it asks the parents to write an endearing story about their child on the back. It's a blast reading through them!

After that I put notebook paper for me to document conversations that I have with parents that need to be documented. THIS, my friends, is GOLD! When you need the documentation, it's right there! Also, don't wait to write it down. Write it as soon as the conversation is over if it's in person and if it's on the phone, write as you talk!

You can also use this page for parent communication. 

This is also where I house all of my volunteer information. I send home my volunteer sheet at Meet the Teacher night as well. I also print off my volunteer schedule so I can reference it easily.

AND the best part about this binder is when we go on a field trip, I just grab it and we go! It has all of my students information (allegies, parents numbers, etc) that I might need on a field trip.

I hope that you can use these at the beginning of next year, or maybe even put your binder together now!

Want the information pages for free?!

Click on the picture below!

Want the "Student Information" and "Parent Communication" Binder covers for free?!

Click on the sample picture below!

Want MORE binder covers to keep you organized the whole year?

Get them here!

Ready to see some more organizational tips? Hope on over to Creative Lesson Cafe to see what Jeannine has up her sleeve!

Who's That Blogger REVEAL!

Who's that Blogger Reveal & Winners!!!

Michelle from the 3AM Teacher labeled the childhood photos with the matching blogs for you all to peek at!! Because of the volume of entries, winners will be notified throughout the weekend. I appreciate your patience as we send out emails and prizes.

I was picture #14. It was from when I was in kinder :)

Click on each image to see the photo

Winner of the $125 Amazon Gift Card!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to

MEAGAN RAVEY

You will receive an email notification and once your email has been confirmed, I will send you the Amazong gift card!!

  a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so very much for playing!!

Michelle from the 3AM Teacher created a fun FREEBIE for everyone to grab!! 

Please feel free to share the freebie through pin & she always appreciate your feedback!!

Have a WONDERFUL Sunday!!

Click the image to visit her TpT shop and download the new decorated owl FREEBIE!!

Who's That Blogger?

Welcome Everyone!!

         Are you ready to have some fun??
        
                                              ....Play a game?
           
                                                              .....Win  prizes and cash?

I have teamed up with 65 AMAZING blogger buddies to put together the ultimate Back to School Linky/Giveaway!!!

Each one of my blogger buddies submitted a cute childhood photo & generously donated something special from their online TpT shops for this occasion!! We have included a fun game for you to play for a chance to win over $300.00 in prizes and a BONUS  CASH-PRIZE raffle you can enter at the end of this post!! 

CHA-CHING!!

The game is easy to play....

 Your job will be to try and match each blogger with their childhood photo!!! With over 60 childhood photos and bloggers to match up, this might get tricky!! As I mentioned above, each blogger has generously donated one awesome prize from their TpT store. Successfully match a blogger and childhood photo, and you win the prize offered from that blogger!!! The more you matches you make, the more prizes you win!!! 

Check out some of the prizes you could win!!!

but Wait....

That's not all....

ONE lucky follower will win a $125 Amazon Gift Card!! Scroll to the bottom & follow the directions in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win $$$

The link below will open a form that will allow you to submit your answers for the match up. 

Use the blogger links and numbered images to help you along the way!! Each childhood photo has been assigned a specific number. 

Once you open the form, use the drop-down menu beneath each blog button and select a number that corresponds to a childhood photo. 

The form results will be collected throughout the week. At the end of the week, each submission will be "graded" and you will receive a prize for each blogger and photo you successfully matched up!!

The game closes on Friday, August 23rd at midnight (Arizona Mountain Time). Answers will be announced on Saturday, August 24th. Winners will be notified through email throughout the week. 

Use the blog links below the photos to search for clues!!

Click HERE to Play the Matching Game!!

AWE!!! PuFfy HeArT SWEETNESS!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Click HERE to Play the Matching Game!!

Follow the directions in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win a $125 Amazon gift card!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much for participating!!! Good Luck!!!

If you would like to post about this linky/giveaway, grab the special image below to display in your post and link up below!!! Make sure to use the link to the actual post...

An InLinkz Link-up

Best and Most {linky}

Don't you remember voting on the "best dressed" and "most likely to succeed" in high school? Well, a group of bloggers and I are going to do the same thing with products we use in your classrooms!

As we close in on the Back to School Sale, it's fun to think about everything you want to buy to make the most out of your year with your babies! So I want to show you what I feel is the "best and most" of what I use in my classroom.

But first, I must share with you my high school drill team picture. I never was voted anything in my high school yearbook, so this will have to do :)

I've always wondered if that uniform still fits. I don't dare find out though :)

Now, onto the best and most of things to use in the classroom.

Let's start with the "Teacher's Pet". My teacher's pet is my "All About Me" book. I LOVE this activity because it's a great way for students to help me get to know them at the beginning of the year. The students also learn about each other as they work through the book. I love listening to the conversations around this activity. It is also not a writing intensive activity, so even your babies who are not the best of writers, aren't afraid to tackle it.

Next up is "Most Likely to Help Your Student Succeed". I love these centers packets because they include simple centers activities that will build up your student's confidence as you are teaching how centers work in your classroom. What I also love about these units is they work for numerous grade levels. The 1st grade set can be used in 1st grade at the beginning of the year or kinder a few months in. Same goes for the 2nd grade set. It can be used in 2nd grade at the beginning of the year or 1st grade a few months in.

The "Best Couple" goes to "What is a Scientist?" and "Launching Reader's Workshop". You may be thinking, how do science and reading go together? Well let me tell you! They are a great couple because both units are a great way to introduce science and reading into your classroom at the beginning of the year!

Well that wraps up the Best and Most of things I use in my classroom. I hope that you are able to get everything you need to make your classroom successful this year during the sale!

My store will be 20% off Sunday and Monday and don't forget to add in the code BTS13 to get an extra 10% off when you check out! This is not something you want to miss!

Head over to Christina's blog to check out the other bloggers who are sharing their "Best and Most".

Teacher Week {Classroom Digs}

Now, I know that some of you have already had the tour of my classroom a few weeks ago, but I just had to link up again with Blog Hoppin' for teacher week because it's so much fun! So enjoy another tour of my digs :)

Now if you didn't know, I won't have my own classroom next year! It's starting to hit home that I won't have something to make mine and get ready for my 20+ kiddos, but I'm very excited about my role as the title 1 teacher for 2nd grade next year. I will be working at a nearby school, close to my school that I've been at for 5 years.

So I am taking you on a tour of my 1st grade classroom from last year. I hope you enjoy and can find something that I've done in my room and make it work for your room!

Without further ado, welcome to my classroom! Enjoy looking around and seeing how my classroom works!

This is the view into my classroom from the door.

Once you walk in and look to the left you will find our math manipulatives and also our pocket chart for reading and math centers.

Here is an up close look at our reading centers rotation chart.

Here is an up close look at our math centers rotation.

These folders are found behind the door. This is where my students turn in their work.

Here is my calendar area that is on the wall where the door is.

 If you keep moving to the left you will find my desk area and my small group area! I got rid of my huge teacher desk and I'm so glad I did. All it ever did was make a place for me to clutter up! My bookshelf holds all of my binders with all of my instructional documentation (guided reading, running records, writing conferences, math small groups, first steps). You'll hear more about those tomorrow for  the Now Teach! linky.

If we keep moving to the left you will find my anchor chart wall. This wall is empty at the beginning of the year, but is quickly filled up as we dive into the school year.

In the picture of above, you can see our classroom library in the left corner. Here is an up close look at our library. My books are sorted by genre. They each have a sticker on them. The sticker on the bucket is the same. So if the book has an orange sticker with a 1 on it, the students find the bucket with an orange sticker with a 1 on it. Best way to organize!

 As we keep moving to the left you will see the overflow of anchor charts on the window and also my students listening center area. I have 2 listening areas with multiple headphones so students don't have to listen to the same book as their centers partner.

 Here is a close up of the listening area. It is organized just like the library. The books and buckets have colored stickers to help students put them back in the right bucket.

 As we move to the left you will find my students writing center. They love pulling the bench up to the table and they will write and write!

 This is where my students keep their extra supplies. They each have their own baggie with their name on it. If they run out of glue or crayons, they can go grab their extras. This is where the white boards are housed as well and textbooks too! And whenever we do a craft that has lots of trash, my students will move their trashcan to their tables to make it easy to throw away instead of going on the floor. Then they dump it into our recycling bins!

 Our computer area includes 3 mac books. Our district is very blessed with great technology!

These are our math tubs that we use during math centers. These math tubs include lots of different games that they students have learned how to play either in whole group lesson or small group with me.

And that's it! You have seen all the way around the classroom! I hope you enjoyed the tour and let me know if you have any questions about how I put my classroom together!