Acceptance

I have come to the realization that I work three jobs. And if it was possible to be fired from two of them for doing a sub-par job, I'm certain that would be the case. I'll let you decide which three.

I am a full-time mom of 2 young children, a full-time elementary school teacher, and a somewhat-part-time/I-really-suck-at-this blogger/seller-on-TpT. Obviously I'm neither the first nor the only one to hold all of these positions, but that doesn't make it any easier!

When I ventured into this business known as teacher blogging and selling, it was summer time and I had a bit more free time on my hands. But once school kicked up full force -- for both my kindergartner daughter and myself -- I found my product creating time to dwindle down to... oh.. about 0. I'm trying not to be too hard on myself about it, but it's difficult when so many amazing teacher bloggers out there are both multi-faceted and majorly talented! Holy cow, how do you do it all?!?

Someone once told me when I was returning from my first maternity leave to not expect myself to be 100% at being a mom and being a teacher. That way, I won't beat myself up over feelings of inefficiency or guilt. I remind myself of this almost daily!

Every day or so, I get a few new likes on my little facebook page, which really boosts my morale (hey thanks likers out there!) But I can't stop the question of "WHY!?!?" from popping up into my head.

Self-doubt. Check.

Sigh.

Vent over.

So now that I have a minute to blog (ie. I'm procrastinating my lesson planning, my little guy went down for a nap, and little lady and the hubs are hitting the golf course), here's what's going on in my crazy, fast-paced, how-the-heck-is-it-almost-November life.

1. Do you guys own the Rooted in Reading: October product from Katie King and Amy Lemons?? Seriously, it is the best thing I've ever purchased. At first, I struggled a bit on how to incorporate it into my lesson plans while still maintaining our reading program (we use California Treasures). But then, I added it to my Guided Reading time at the end of each day and let me tell you, my kids LOVE the activities. I wish I had time to do all of them, but we really spend time on some of the bigger activities in the pack. I may also use it to bribe  motivate my students to complete their work. This past week, I had a huge number of students who had unfinished assignments, and about 12 littles who were done with everything, so those 12 littles and I formed a small group to work on a Stellaluna weak verbs/strong verbs activity and WOW you should have seen how fast the rest of the kids completed their work! I had a handful of students on my rug the next day who were finished and begging me to make their bats! :D

Crankenstein adjectives from Katie and Amy. Flowers and Starbucks from my wonderful room moms who knew I was having a tough week. 

2. Halloween is coming up and can we just take a minute to celebrate the fact that the actual day is on Saturday?? With leap year coming up in 2016, next year's Halloween is going to be on a MONDAY (insert sobbing emoji here), so let's enjoy it while we can! My two co-workers and friends at work and I are going to be dressing up with matching costumes, which super top secret (mostly because we haven't made our costumes yet but also because I don't want to spill the beans). Then on Saturday, my little lady wants to be Elsa, which means little man is going to be Olaf. By default, mom and dad will be Anna and Kristoff, though I really pushed for the hubs to be Sven.

Seriously, though. I want my husband to wear this:

Fall means it's time to start making progress on ordering Christmas cards. This is a huge task for someone as indecisive as I am. I just started the process of designing cards and of course I'm having a hard time decided if I want to go with Tiny Prints or Minted... Here's a little sample of what I've been toying with, but probably won't choose this layout or these photos, because, well, that's just how I roll.

Do you do lessons on Halloween safety?? I've never really thought about it (we live in a bubble in our neighborhood) until I was emailed with this great graphic by Norm Reeves Honda Superstore in Huntington Beach. Isn't it great?? I plan on posting to my interactive whiteboard and talking about safety tips with my students this year. It's really important for them to know what's safe and not safe on such a crazy, emotional night. I remember learning about this from my parents and my own teachers growing up.  Feel free to use the infographic in your own classrooms with your own kids! (Link up to Norm Reeves Honda if you use the graphic on your blog).

3. It's my favorite time of year -- FALL! Although, you'd never know it's Fall in California. We've been dealing with record breaking heat, awful humidity (sorry east coasters, we're not used to that here) and a pending, destructive El Nino season coming up. I'm eagerly anticipating the crisp Fall days where I can wear pants and scarves and light sweaters and maybe even my boots! Or a coat! I have a coat obsession and a major #firstworldproblem of not living in a climate that warrants coat-wearing.  In any case, with fall and harvest come my Ancestry Social Studies unit where we study Life Long Ago. I love this unit because my students study their heritages and work alongside their parents to complete my "Where in the World?" project. We use the information gathered at home to complete activities like graphs and timelines and comparing/contrasting our traditions in the classroom. I love hearing them celebrate their heritages and discussing their differences! At the end of our unit, we have a Multicultural Thanksgiving Feast where each student bring a sample of a cultural dish for their classmates to eat. Parents come, too, and it's so much fun to celebrate our families together during this perfect time of year!

I just spruced up my Where in the World Project and posted it on TpT. Let me know what you think by leaving feedback in my little shop! :D

I'm also working on a Ten Commandments thing (surprisingly my Baptism Lap book has been one of my biggest sellers on TpT!) and I am hoping to have that posted by tomorrow. Translation: check back in about a month to see my 10 commandments product. Ha!

I think that's about all the time I have for today -- still have stacks of grading, 6 hours of lesson planning, and a growing list of housework to complete in the hour left of little man's nap!

Until my next post...3 weeks from  now.... ;)

Reading Response Pages

In my ten years of teaching, I always scratched my head whenever it came to implementing a successful reading homework program. I wanted my kids to read, but more than that, I wanted them to continue to build their love of reading, which we work on extensively in the classroom. I've tried all sorts of reading logs, reading homework, reading pages, summary sheets, book reports... you name it, I've tried it. And it always boiled down to the worst two words you could possibly use when describing homework -- BUSY WORK. (gasp!)

So after researching, tweaking, rewriting, and tweaking again, I finally came up with something that I think works really well in my classroom.

Introducing: READING RESPONSES! 

(In the words of my 2nd graders: "Ooooooh! Ahhhhh!")

What is it?

Reading Response sheets allow my students to record, or respond to, their nightly reading. Each night, they are assigned to one particular prompt. The prompts directly coincide with the reading strategies I am teaching in the classroom (character, setting, main idea, details, summarizing, etc.).  Throughout the first months of the school year, as we work on these strategies,  my students are also reinforcing the skills at home by writing a few sentences each night.

As the year progresses, the responses change and become more challenging. The first trimester responses include a space for drawing and illustrating, along with some writing ledgers to help keep my students' sentences neat.

The second trimester takes the skills built upon in the first trimester and takes it a step further. Now, students are expected to explain their answers using detailed writing. The ledger lines are still there, but the space for drawing a picture is gone. At the bottom of each nightly entry are  boxes where students will need to check off that they used correct punctuation, capitalization, best guess spelling (I never take off points for spelling) and writing detailed sentences.

After building on these skills all year, the last trimester takes it one step above. Last year, I was amazed by how much my students grew. They completely took what was taught in the classroom and applied it to their work at home. The writing prompts became more challenging, and the ledger lines and checklists were removed. I noticed a tremendous change in my students' writing, both on their homework responses and in the classroom.

As a side note, I'm not a huge homework proponent. I assign a little math and some reading and this, and that's pretty much it (unless we're working on projects, in which case, I send home a little bit at a time and give plenty of time). I've made major adjustments to this homework for students who were spending so much time on it at home. For the first month or so, it usually takes some kids about 20 minutes to complete. You'll always have kids who are fighting their parents with homework, in which case, homework becomes an hour long struggle. In this case, I usually work with them on it in the classroom one-on-one or in small groups until they get the hang of it and I set my timer while they work. They can usually complete it within 15 minutes -- and in better quality than they were doing at home -- and then I tell them that I expect the same type of work habit at home. It works like a charm 99% of the time.

Look at this gorgeous, reading-bead worthy work!

I'm also not opposed to some students dictating their responses to parents. I just make sure to explain to parents that they are to write exactly what their child says, and then they need to read it over together. Usually, in 2nd grade, they tend to move out of that dictation phase as their writing skills improve (Thank you, writer's workshop!!)

As an added bonus, I always include an *optional* response for the weekend. I never take points away from my students if they don't complete the weekend response. But, for those who do, and who do it very well (with effort and detail), I reward them with a Reading Bead. I have a bulletin board display in my classroom that holds their necklaces so they can see the beads grow throughout the year. When they reach certain milestones, they earn a brag tag! Last year, I had 10 students make it to 40 beads!!!  Every week is a new color or different type of bead. (I buy the bead kids from Michael's), and I note which one they have earned right on their Reading Response page by coloring in the circle with whatever color bead we are on.

You can find both of these products -- my Reading Response homework and Brag Tag Reward system -- in my TpT shop on sale throughout the weekend!  The Reading Response sheets come in 2 versions -- trimester/beads and leveled/no beads [by leveled, I mean that the trimesters are not labeled on the form]. There are 22 different brag tags included in the pack!

Reading Response Homework

Superhero Brag Tags

I hope these products help your students build their love of reading as much as it has with mine! And please leave feedback for me so I can hear all about it! :)

Monday Musings

No pictures in this post... just some thoughts for this beautiful (and hot) Monday afternoon!

I wish my students knew...

...that when they greet me each morning, it puts a smile on my face.

...that I secretly write down the cute, adorable, hysterical, and unknowingly inappropriate things they say.

...that my heart bursts with pride when they work so hard to learn something. And when that light bulb lights up, I do somersaults inside -- and sometimes real cartwheels.

...that when they don't know something, they've come to the right place!

...that it's not really an allergy attack that made my eyes water, but something precious and innocent that they've said that brings tears to my eyes.

...that I want to hug them when they "boo" at the dismissal bell.

...that they make my day when they tell their parents all about theirs.

...that when they quote me without knowing they're doing so, I give myself a pat on the back.

...that when they do something I've taught them, I can't help but feel overwhelmed with pride.

...that there's no such thing as "bad."

...that they should enjoy every minute of their childhood. It passes too quickly. 

...that they will always be my kids. 

...that I will always think of them as second graders, even when they're not.

I wish my students' parents knew...

...that I am so incredibly appreciative of and thankful for their support.

...that their little words of encouragement -- whether said in the morning at drop off or at night in an email -- make all the difference in the world.

...that sometimes I know it's hard for them that I get to be with their kids more than they do.

...that I get emotional, too.

...that life gets stressful, and sometimes you just don't get around to homework. And that's OK.

...that kids are kids and they're going to make mistakes, get into trouble, make poor choices, or hurt somebody's feelings more than once at some point in their time growing up.

...that there's no such thing as "bad."

...that it's hard to say good-bye to my own kids in the morning, too.

...that it takes me many, many hours to plan a week's worth of lessons. And that's by choice.

...that that one thing about their child that they worry about keeps me up at night, too.

...that my brain never quite shuts off when it comes to how to best reach their child.

...that their child's mind is pretty remarkable.

...that they are so much more than "just a second grader."

...that their children are incredible perceptive individuals who like to disclose all the precious, personal details of home life. 

...their child's full potential.

...that they truly are their child's primary educator.

...that they will always be my kids.

...that I know how hard parenting can be.

...that life can get stressful, but second grade shouldn't be.

...

Stop the Squealing!!

It seems like every year my students go from perfect little angels at the start of the year to perfect little angels who sometimes frequently  tattle. Luckily, by second grade with the interventions of our fabulous kinder and first grade teachers, it's not as bad as it could be. But kids by nature feel they need to inform the grown-ups that some sort of injustice has occurred. We all know that they do this to point out the fact that THEY are following the rules (well, minus the whole tattling thing), but it inevitably becomes an issue and I was always looking for the best way to handle it with each class.

A few years back, I can't remember how long, I found the book Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal! It's a darling story about a classroom of pigs who seem to torture their poor, patient teacher with squeals (tattles) until finally something big happens. The kids see what a big deal truly is and vow to only tell their teacher if it's something important.

My kids love this book because it's funny and they can relate! I like to use my most dramatic reading voice, especially when reading aloud all of the argumentative dialogue as the little piggies fight over silly (but relevant) things.

After we're done, the kids help me put together an anchor chart detailing whether an incident would be a squeal or if it's really a big deal and a teacher needs to be notified. This opens up a lot of really great dialogue between my students and me as to when they should come find a teacher for help. We use the term "kid-size problems" a lot, and when my kiddos come to me throughout the year, I always ask them first, "Is this a squeal, or a kid-size problem?"

Then, my kids work on a Squeal or Big Deal sorting activity. They cut out all the different scenarios and put them under the correct headings. We go over them all together and discuss as we go. I like to have my kids take two different color crayons -- one for the squeal column and one for the big deal column -- to color each scenario as we reflect together. That way, if a student glued a situation to the wrong side, at least it's color coordinated.

As a final component to our Squealing unit, we make Piggy Promises! My kids craft a little pig face and then write a reflection vowing to only squeal if it's a big deal! Then they write about all the different situations in which a teacher would need to help. It's a lot of fun and the kids love putting together their little pigs!

My little guy is turned the wrong way, but I'm so exhausted, I can't figure out how to fix it!

If you're interested in this unit, it's available in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop! Click on the image below to take you to my shop. Have a great week!!

Piggy Promises -- The Glitter Clip

Giveaway Winner!!

I'm so happy to announce the winner of our Back to School Giveaway!

Congratulations to Heather S.! I'll be in touch this weekend to coordinate your prize! Thanks so much to all of you for participating! 

This week has been so crazy, but so great, and I'm exhausted! The first week of school is always the most challenging, but my kids have been nothing short of amazing. We sang, we danced, we laughed, we learned, and my kids told me how much they loved being there!

It sure doesn't get any better than that! Now, it's a 3 day weekend, and I can't wait to celebrate by spending time with my husband and kids, kicking off college football by heading to the USC game (fight on!) and... oh yeah, lesson planning and getting ready for Back to School Night on Tuesday.

Looking forward to posting more about this week later on! For now... dinner and bed! (And hopefully a foot rub from my main squeeze).

A SUPER Classroom Reveal!

#2getherwearebetter

Schroeder Shenanigans in Second

Wow! I'm so excited to be joining in on the fun!!

I have to admit that I barely got these pictures in on time. I was working on my room all summer, and I took these photos literally 3 minutes before the bell rang on the first day!! So they're not the best quality at all, but I hope you get a good idea of how my classroom is. It's my second home, so it makes me happy!!

This is my view walking in to my room. You should see the scenery outside of the windows. Our school is nestled in the mountains, so looking north out those windows, it's all mountains and if you look out from the door, you see the valley. Our classrooms are exterior, so when you walk out the room, you walk right outside. I'm on the second floor. It's heavenly! The lines running across the lights are used to hang student work. It's usually quite full!

If you look straight in my room, this is what you see. Our small group table (lowered so that the kids sit on the floor while they work). That's Johnny Depp, the pteranodon that my class made a few years back. Every year, my class makes a large dinosaur during our Fossils and Dinosaurs unit.

Table signs -- thank you Schoolgirl Style for the superhero lanterns idea!

My Religion bulletin board -- I enlarged Melonheadz clip art to make Jesus and the bible.  My clip chart was hiding behind the Superhero cape. Didn't introduce the clip chart until day 2.

Birthday bulletin board -- will post their pictures underneath

Our prayer corner

Writing center with my newly recovered crate seats. That typewriter is an antique from the 1920s!

CAFE board for Daily 5... I'll hang our reading strategies as we learn them from the line using those little glitter clips (tee hee).

My trolls displayed in all their glory. My students are borderline creeped out by them, but mostly think they're hysterical (especially the naked ones)

This summer, I repainted these cubbies. They were a lovely shade of plywood, and a few years back I painted the outside black, but never got around to the inside. It took forever because the wood kept absorbing the paint, but I finally succeeded!  I'll use these to store our interactive reading, science, and math notebooks, plus storage for our desk caddies. The top bins are for classwork and homework.

This summer, I found those red caddies at the Dollar Tree and had to get them. Originally, I was going to put a set of books in the, but I think for this week (until I open my library), I will keep their coloring materials in them since we're doing a lot of artwork. Then those will go in their art boxes and books will go in the baskets.

Melonheadz Create a Teacher artwork to decorate my and my instructional aide's desks!

Reading bead bulletin board (sans necklaces) and schedule chart.

Meeting area and library

Our Author in the Spotlight...this month we're learning about Kevin Henkes!

Working table complete with some leftover supplies not yet labeled or put away.

My biggest bulletin board. Last year I used it for student work, but I was at a loss for what it's purpose could be with so many kids this year. I decided to hang my anchor charts here, at least until we get to our Flat Stanley/Geography unit, and then I'll put up the fabric map of the US that I have.

Well, that's it!! I did not get a chance to take a picture of my front bulletin board, but it came out really cute! Thanks for stopping by!!

Major Back to School Giveaway!!

It's Back to School time! I know it's totally cliche, but this summer was the fastest summer ever and I'm fairly certain I have not left my classroom at all in the past 11 weeks. 

We're going back to school a week earlier this year in order to fit in mandated archdiocesan testing, so our summer has been cut a bit 5 days shorter. Despite all that, I'm still really excited to get started with my newest group of littles! To get in the spirit of things, I've decided to have a giveaway and this one is a big one!!

A few weeks ago, I reached out to Kristen from Easy Teaching Tools since she's a fellow California blogger (and an amazing one at that!). Not only is she the sweetest, most helpful blogger I've come across, but she also has an awesome selection of resources on TpT! Kristen has become a bloggy mentor to me, helping me with a variety of different things, but mostly, teaming up with me and bringing in an A+ team of other incredible bloggers out there to join in on the giveaway fun! I am so excited to share with you the prizes! 

The Glitter Clip

My friend and colleague, Cristina Cullen, who also serves as a Stella and Dot representative, has so kindly helped me out as we present you with our grand prize: the *MADISON* tech bag in Poppy! I loooooooooooooove me some Stella and Dot! Their jewelry and accessories are all top notch in quality and design! I personally love the Madison! I am hoping to buy one for myself in the near future to tote all of my tech and school items! Stella and Dot bags are big enough to carry all of your techy-teaching necessities, but also lightweight and super chic. I have a different bag in a metallic pewter, and in the two years I've had it, it has not worn at all. I can fit my laptop, my purse caddy, charger, iPad, planbook... easily. And I get so many compliments on it! 

Kristen is giving away her super cool Class Instagram kit from TpT! It's a great (and easy!) way to communicate daily happenings in the classroom and she even has her own kids in charge of it! I can't wait to add this to my TpT cart!

Easy Teaching Tools

Ashley from One Sharp Bunch is giving away her I Can Read Poetry binder! When I saw this, my little heart went pitter-patter. So many poems and awesome activities to inspire our budding poets! I love this pack!

One Sharp Bunch

Jaime from Bright Concepts 4 Teachers is throwing in her Back to School Basics: Forms and Letters pack -- and they're editable!! Let's face it -- we're all so busy and ridiculously tired at the start of the year. My head is swimming in an ocean of to-do's. This amazing product would be a lifesaver in any classroom!

Bright Concepts 4 Teachers

Caitlyn from Teach Inspire Change is giving away her Student Behavior and Parent Communications binder! Holy, organization, Batman! I must have this in my classroom this year. Such an incredible tool to document everything in your classroom to maintain proper records for your students and parents!

Teach Inspire Change

Nicole from All Things Apple has thrown in her My Self Reflection Desktop Name Tags and Posters! I absolutely love these, especially with my 36 kiddos coming in this year! Quick, easy, and so incredibly helpful to gauge where the kids are in their understanding!

All Things Apple

I am super excited about Ashley's product! Ashley writes the super-duper awesome (I-may-stalk-this-blog) blog Schroeder Shenanigan's in 2nd. The Back to School Pack she's giving away is FULL of any and every form you would need to start school off organized and in style (That rainbow chevron arrow? Totes my favorite. Yes, I just said "totes"). 

Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd

But wait -- there's more!!

Kayla from Top Dog Teaching is giving away her Digital Citizen Poster Pack and mini-lessons! In today's day of technology, this is a must have item for our littlest learners who need to be taught how to use technology responsibly! Such a great item!

Top Dog Teaching

One lucky winner will receive ALL of these incredible things! All you have to do is complete the rafflecopter requirements below! The winner will be announced on Friday on the blog and on my facebook page! Can you feel the Back to School love??

a Rafflecopter giveaway