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Read To Someone Woes? You Need The Daily 5 Patrol.

This year, the second routine I introduced to my class when we were learning our routines for Daily 5 was Read to Someone. In hindsight, I should have introduced this as the last of the five routines so my students had several weeks of reading in an I-can-hear-a-caterpillar-sneeze environment. When my second graders were completing their training, I could hear the low hum of partners reading aloud side-by-side and loved eavesdropping from across the room as they asked and answered questions about their reading. That hum has now transformed into a buzz and I find myself eavesdropping on conversations about their newest Lego set or plans for upcoming slumber parties. It…makes…me…crazy! No matter how many Read To Someone modeling sessions we have, my group of social butterflies just can’t resist the urge to buddy up and chat during this Daily 5 choice. I’ve had quite the time making a decision about the best solution…

Implementing The Daily 5 – Read to Self

In my previous post about implementing The Daily 5, I outlined my weekly and daily schedule to provide some perspective on the block of time dedicated to Daily 5 in my second grade class. If you missed it, you can read my first post. The schedule I outlined was tweaked several times during the process of introducing each Daily 5. As recommended in The Daily 5, Second Edition, the first routine I introduced was Read to Self. In addition to the three recommended foundation lessons (found in the book): Three Ways To Read A Book Choose A Successful Spot IPICK Good Fit Books I added on a few of my own foundation lessons to match our classroom routines and support students in the successful use of our Read to Self supplies: Keeping My Book Bin Organized Shopping In Our Classroom Library Using My IPICK Bookmark Using A Whisper Phone KEEPING

Implementing The Daily 5

This August, I made the decision to implement The Daily 5 in my second grade classroom. In planning for teaching a new grade level at a new school with a completely different structure for reading instruction, I figured Daily 5 would be my best bet for incorporating guided reading into my reading block while keeping my sanity. I honestly didn’t know much about Daily 5 when I initially bought the book, but was pleasantly surprised when the positive reviews I had read were true. The Daily 5 Second Edition is one of those books that you can read in one sitting and then refer back to each day, as you get ready to teach your lessons. My biggest mistake was buying the eBook rather than the hard copy (my sense of urgency clouded my judgment). My next few posts will be about the process of implementing Daily 5 in my second grade class and

International Dot Day

On Monday, September 15, our entire school celebrated International Dot Day. I am so grateful to my colleague who introduced this special day when educators can encourage student creativity and genius potential, inspired by Peter Reynold’s book The Dot. When the kids arrived at school on Monday morning, signs reading “Make Your Mark” were posted all around campus. Our coordinator created a huge display in our multipurpose room where kids were invited to hang a dot to start them on their journey to “make their mark” on the world. The completed display is a mural of student creativity that represents their unique ability to stand out in a face-paced, creative society. Now that Dot Day has come and gone, I can’t stop thinking about all of the potential I missed out on by only minimally engaging my students in this unique day. The following is my official Dot Day reflection. What

Five For Friday – New School Year!

I finally feel like I have my feet on the ground after a whirlwind start to the school year. Teaching a new grade level at a new school has been an amazing experience, but has also left me very sleepy and slightly intensely scatter-brained. For this week’s Five for Friday Linky, I’m giving you a peek at some of the highlights that made this week a turning point in my ability to think straight at the start of the school year. One It all started with last weekend when I spent some QT with a few friends and visited a really neat local bookstore where I found a Roald Dahl book I didn’t already own (didn’t think that was possible…but now it’s mine)! I also went on a long bike ride around town with my husband. It was like a brain cleanse to get away from school work and breathe in some

Core Inspiration Library Organization Tips

Back To School Week: Day 3: WHY My Organization Tips Work

Organization is my jam. It’s hard to say what I enjoy more; the therapeutic process of organizing every nook and cranny of a space; or the satisfaction I feel when I walk into a room or open a cabinet and see the organized glory within it. Although I do, indeed, love every aspect of organization; there are a few super organized areas in my classroom that make my heart skip a beat. FIRST: The Supply Cabinet One side of this little beauty is designated for art supplies and the other for math tools. Everything is stored in precisely labeled bins and drawers so nothing gets lost. Not only is this cabinet pretty enough to leave open all day long; it is easy for me, my students and my parent helpers to navigate. That’s right, the kids are welcome to help themselves to anything they need in this cabinet. It’s amazing

CORE INSPIRATION CLASSROOM REVEAL 2014-2015

It’s Day 2 of Blog Hoppin’s Back To School Week 2014. Today is all about where I teach my students each day. Keep in mind, I am teaching a new grade level in a new district this year, which means a fresh start with classroom decorating. This also means my classroom is not as complete as I would like it to be for the first day of school tomorrow. I know it is definitely a well-stocked, well-organized learning environment that is ready for my students to walk in and begin their second grade journey. I also know there are a few things missing because they are on back order and it is making my inner OCD shine through hard core. With that said, I will give you a quick overview and hold off until early September (when the rest of my classroom library bins arrive) to give you a detailed overview like I

Back To School Week: Day 1: WHO A Bit About Me

It’s officially Back To School Week! Like many of you, this is one of my favorite weeks of the year. In celebration, I am linking up with BlogHoppin’ for their Back To School Linky. Today’s topic: Who. ME that’s who! I’m going to break my life down into a list of the top 10 most important things about me (rather the first 10 things that come to mind). I am starting my sixth year as a teacher. My teaching experience is mostly in third grade, with one year as an intern in fourth. This year, I am making the move down to second grade at a new school in a new district. I am sure these little eight-year-olds will fill my life with countless moments of entertainment and I can’t wait to meet my new little crew on Wednesday! This year, I created a website called Teacher Creator’s Toolbox. It

Decorating Your Walls for Back to School

Five For Friday: Unpacking My Classroom…Check!

Okay, I’m trying something crazy here. I am morphing my classroom progress post into a Five for Friday post…let’s see how this goes!! One To start my week, I unpacked my classroom and I am happy to report it was a total breeze! Taking time to clean and pack everything neatly when moving out made moving in tidy and quick. Here’s the process I used to get the job done: I took a peek inside each box, dropped it in the area of the room where the contents would be stored. Then, I unload the contents of each box one at a time. If I had a spot to put an item, I stashed it! If I wasn’t sure exactly where it should be stored, I placed it one a table close by (pretty simple). Once everything was unpacked, I got those empty boxes out of sight. It’s amazing how

2014 Back To School Product Swap

I have been looking forward to sharing this post with you all week and the time has finally come thanks to the Back To School Product Swap! I had a great opportunity to review a fabulous back to school resource; the Beginning of The Year Lapbook, designed by my friend and colleague Mrs. D. You can check out everything she’s got going on with back to school at her blog Mrs. D’s Corner. When I discovered she sent me a lapbook, I jumped for >JOY< because 1. I’ve been admiring all the schnazzy lapbooks on Pinterest but still didn’t have any in my possession and 2. I wanted an interactive project for the first days of school, Well folks, Mrs. D made it ridiculously easy for me to decide exactly what that project will be (the back to school gods must be on my side this year)! I’ve been working on creating

The Back To School Panic Is Upon Us

It happens every year. Everything is chill. Summer is strolling along, you know the end will come eventually, but it’s allllll good. You kick back with your feet up, take a sip of your favorite summer beverage, think about how maybe you should get a pedicure today, and scroll through your Facebook feed. What’s this?! Everyone has pictures of their classroom set up progress, the shopping cart full of supplies they just bought at Michael’s, the Ikea furniture that’s taking days to assemble. Frantically, you begin making lists. You will have night terrors about the infinite number of books you have to level and wonder how you’re ever going to be ready in time for those kids to walk through the door in only a few short weeks. Yes, that time has come. Amazingly enough, even with all the stress and lost hours of sleep, things come together in the end and that

TPT Seller's Conference Recap

Well, it took me two days to recover but I am back (mentally and physically) from the first ever Teachers Pay Teachers Conference! The mental recovery was far more intense than the physical after a weekend filled with tons of nerves, amazing learning, new friendships and awesome memories. I am still in awe of how welcoming and friendly our community of TPT sellers is. I attended the conference solo so I really had to put myself out there in order to reach my networking goals. By about 5:00 PM, I was totally exhausted (like just-finished-the-first-day-of-school exhausted) but I kept my social butterfly engine running until the late evening hours and boy was it worth it! My favorite memories from the trip were: Meeting TPT founder Paul Edelman and TPT’s top seller Deanna Jump. These two life-changing moments happened before 8:00AM. Apparently that was the time I stopped taking pictures