Birthday Cup Bash!

 Are you thinking about back to school time?  I know, I know... summer CAN'T be over yet!  That to-do list starts growing and growing, but so does your excitement as you get closer to meeting your new group of kiddos.  This is one project that is actually FUN to make and gets you excited for the year to come.  And... SO CUTE, right?!

I first learned about Birthday Cups stumbling around online.  Mrs. Hulsey has a great post about how she makes her cups.  I posted the idea to my Facebook page and there were several local teachers interested in having a little assembly party!

Here's what you'll need for your Birthday Cups.  I've linked to the supplies I ordered online.

1) Clear Plastic Cups with Dome Lids:  A little spendy, but so worth it.  They really complete the look!

2) White Tissue Paper:  Dollar store, y'all!  So easy, and cheap!

3) Pencils:  Dollar store!  (Although I bet you have a ton sitting in your prize bucket right now.)

4) Candy:  Any assortment will do!  I put around three pieces in each cup.

5) Sticky Hands and Stamps:  Just for fun!  :)   Amazon and Oriental Trading have great little party favors that would be perfect in these cups.

6) Pom Poms:  You know, like the cherry on top??  I just hot-glued them to the lid.

7) Full Sheet Labels:  Sticker paper would work here, as well as address labels and such.  Use what works for you!

I used Mrs. Hulsey's Birthday Cup Labels, because, come on.... So cute!

I invited my friends over for a few hours and we knocked out over THREE HUNDRED Birthday Cups, in an assembly line.  Each teacher contributed $20 for the cost of supplies, and they each left with over 30 birthday cups!  That's less than a $1 per cup.  What a steal!  :)

BONUS: Post this list of all of your learner's birthdays, and you'll be SO SET for the year!  

Just click to download!

How do you celebrate student birthdays?

Teacher Week- My {bare} Room!

It's Tuesday of Teacher Week with Blog Hoppin', so today I'm sharing all about WHERE I teach!

This will be short and sweet, since I just recently moved into my new room!  It's far from complete, but I can point out some features that I am pretty excited to have.  :)

Mmkay…. see that SMART board on the wall on the right!?  Can't wait to play around with it and use it every day!  And lots of storage with the closets on the right and the low shelving on the left.

My room came with beautiful, sturdy mailboxes.  Y'all know how expensive those can be!  See that printer there too??  For those moments where you're like, "Oh crap, I'm TWO copies short!"  I know we've all been there.  Behind the mailboxes is a sink with drinking fountain.

The desks most likely won't stay like this for long… I just wanted to get them down and off of each other.  Is anyone else totally annoyed by that one lower desk?  #teacherOCD

I've been spending most of my time lately organizing my picture books.  Because I'll be teaching 6th, I am putting a lot of my low level books in the closet for now.  I know that at some point, I will need a picture book for a read-aloud or something, so I wanted to organize them in a way where I'd be able to find a book if I needed it.  

I started by entering all of my books into a spreadsheet.  I included the book title, author, and illustrator.  Then I organized the titles alphabetically.  First into piles with sticky note labels...

Then each pile got organized alphabetically and put into a box.  If I need a book, I can look on my spreadsheet and easily find it in one of the boxes!

The other books in my library will be available for my students to borrow.  These are the higher level chapter books.  To keep those organized, I am using The Brown-Bag Teacher's iRead Book Bin Labels.  I'm in love with them!

Stay tuned for more photos of my set-up as I spend more time in my classroom!

And don't forget to link up with Blog Hoppin' to show off your learning space!

It's Teacher Week!

It's Back to School- Teacher Week!  I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' this week to tell you all more about me and what I love to do most- teach!

Who am I?

I'm a 25 year-old teacher, blogger, and TpTer.  I'll be starting my third year of teaching this year, in a new school and a new grade!  I taught a classroom of 3rd grade ELLs, and now I'm moving to 6th grade.  I'm ready for the adventure!

Make Way for Ducklings!  In Boston Public Garden

I've been with this guy for nearly 7 years!  Love him! 

My team and I during our school's Hmong New Year celebration.

If I wasn't a teacher, I would definitely be a baker!  I loooooove making cupcakes!

My new classroom is AWESOME!  It's slowly starting to come together.  :)

TpT is a huge hobby of mine!  Here are a few of my favorite products from my store.  

Take a peek at other products in my store here!  Speaking of TpT, did you hear about their one-day BOOST sale this Wednesday?  Wahoo!  Start adding to your Wishlist now!

So that's a bit about me… Be sure to visit Blog Hoppin' to meet other teachers during Teacher Week!

Tomorrow I'll be linking up to share WHERE I teach.  :)  Can't wait!

The First Days of School: Unit B: LINKY

Hello everyone!  Today we're discussing Unit B of The First Days of School.  If you've read the book, or even if you haven't read the book, link up with me!  I want to hear your thoughts!

Grab this image, include it in your post, and link it back here! OR Pin it! :)

Unit B is all about positive expectations.  I really liked how on page 37, the authors say, "Expectations are different than standards."  It's really a good point to keep in mind, because standards are levels of achievement.  Standards are the academic concepts we teach our students.  An expectation is what you believe will or will not happen.

Another good point to keep in mind:

"Humans have a success instinct." (p.35)  It goes on to say that we can accomplish anything with our students if we have high expectations.

This unit reminded me of a video I came across about a year ago, which many of you have probably already seen before.  I feel it's a good reminder that WE set the expectations for our students.  And that EVERY student can succeed if we show them we care about them.

Page 45 begins to discuss how schools, parents, students, and the community should celebrate the first day of school.  Some schools have had big assemblies where parents and students wear formal attire.

1.  How does your school celebrate the first day?  Are teachers required to be outside of their classrooms greeting students as they enter the building?

During my first year of teaching, I had a student whom I had a hard time "reaching".  He never wanted to participate and often had outbursts and would storm out of the room.  He would slink into the classroom every morning during morning work, not saying a word to anybody.  Every morning, I would greet him with a smile, saying, "Good morning, _______!"  I would stop whatever I was doing to greet him.  Most days, he wouldn't respond.  After a few weeks of consistency, he began to greet me back.  "Good morning, Miss Woodward!"

2.  Does your school or district have a dress code?  What is it?  Do you think how you dress determines whether or not you're effective as a teacher?

While I do think it's important for teachers to be dressed appropriately, I didn't agree with everything on the "What's In" and "What's Out" list on page 57.  Some examples:

What's in: Career suits for women; bright colors for elementary teachers; soft, muted colors for secondary teachers.

What's Out: Excessive jewelry; blue denim only on Saturdays; and bold prints, plaids, and colors are no-no's.

Do you agree?

One last point from the unit:  In Chapter 10, page 71, the authors discuss using manners like "Please" and "Thank you".  While I agree with this point, I recently got some good advice from a teacher friend. She said, "Do not say 'Please' or 'Thank you' for expected behaviors."  For example, "Class, please sit down." Or, "Class, quiet down.  Thank you."  Because those are behaviors you would expect for learning to take place, you should not use "Please" or "Thank you".  Now, if a student gives you a beautiful picture or you need to ask a student to grab something off the shelf, then you should use "Please" and "Thank you".  To me, it made perfect sense!  What do you think?

3.  What were your biggest take-aways from this Unit?

Now it's your turn!

Write a post answering the three questions, post it, copy the page URL, and then link it up below!

Next Monday, we will be looking at Unit C: Classroom Management.  Looking forward to it!  :)

An InLinkz Link-up

The First Days of School: Unit A: LINKY

Hello everyone!  Today I'm hosting my very own linky party so we can talk about Unit A of The First Days of School.  Wahoo!  If you've read the book, or even if you haven't read the book, link up!  I want to hear your thoughts!

Grab this image, include it in your post, and link it back here! OR Pin it! :)

I remember the days leading up to my first day of my first year teaching.  I had veteran teachers as my teammates, and I felt so out of my element!  They already had their first days planned out, and I had NO idea what to do to start the year!

1.  Did you get any training on how to start the school year?  Did your school or district start you off with a mentor?

The book lays out four stages of teaching:

- Fantasy: Be a friend to your students.

- Survival: Just make it through the day!

-Mastery: Teachers who know how to achieve student success.

-Impact: Teachers who have an effect on a student's life.

They say that most teachers will not make it past the first two stages.  Some days I am in the survival stage, while some days I feel as though I have mastered the craft.

2.  What stage of teaching are you in?

Some of the biggest take-aways came towards the end of the unit.

"Effective teachers work cooperatively, seek out a mentor and role model, learn at professional meetings, and strive for excellence."

"Teaching is not a private practice."

"Listen, listen, listen."

Teaching is a cooperative career, and it's so important to listen and learn from each other!

3.  What were your biggest take-aways from this Unit?

Now it's your turn!

Write a post answering the three questions, post it, copy the page URL, and then link it up below!

Next Monday, we will be looking at Unit B: Positive Expectations.  Looking forward to it!  :)

An InLinkz Link-up

The First Days of School: Book Study!

Put your party hats on…. I'm going to host my very own, brand spankin' new linky party!  Woohoo!

I just scored this book at a thrift store for $1.50 and I know how many teachers love it.  Julie from A First for Everything told me she has read it every year since she started teaching!  Because this book has helped so many, and has such valuable information to share with new and veteran teachers, I thought I would host a little book study here in the blogging world!

The book is "The First Days of School" by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong.

Each week I will post some discussion questions from each "Unit" in the book (there are 5 altogether) and you'll have a chance to link up and share your thoughts and experiences!  Now, I don't expect you to spend hours reading this book cover to cover (ain't nobody got time for that!).  However, I want this to be valuable to YOU.  If you have read this book before and just want to refresh yourself, awesome!  If you've never read this book before and only have time to skim or read each unit's "Key Idea" or summary, go for it!  I want this linky to be a place for teachers to share what works for them in the first days of school.

The first link-up won't be until next Monday, August 4th.  That gives you time to get your hands on a copy of the book, and read through UNIT A.  

I'd love for you to Pin this post to spread the word!  Use the image below.  :)

Wish me luck… I can't wait to see how this goes!  I'll see you back HERE next Monday for the first Link-Up!  Wahoo!

If You Take A Mouse to School....

As part of back to school week, I read my students If You Take a Mouse to School by Laura Numeroff.  They loved seeing all of the mischief the mouse got into at school.

After we read, we did a little bit of writing.  I love having a fun writing prompt for them after a story, just to see the funny things they say.

This will be in my TpT store soon!

Take a peek at how my students answered this question!

"If I took a mouse to school, I would play with him and make him do my homework and help me do all of it if I am tired or sometimes lazy."

"If I took a mouse to school, I would let him do my homework because I am to lazey (lazy) to do my homework.  I'm to lazey (lazy) to do my homework because Ms. Woodward give me to much homework."

"If I took a mouse to school, I would I make him to do my staf (stuff) so I can go play when he don (done) I will give him a chees (cheese) so he don't need to eat and I will make him a house so he can slep (sleep)."

"If I took a mouse to school, I would race with my house at ress (recess) my mouse said to me if who win the race then they will have a big chees (cheese) and play easter egg at a park."

Told ya.... some of them can be very creative writers.  :)

What would you do if you took a mouse to school?

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

Back to School Week

After a wonderful first day of school, I was all set for the rest of the week!

It was still HOT in our classroom... In fact-- on Thursday a fuse blew and the power went out on our side of the building.... which meant no air and no fans... so we went down to a Kindergarten room that did have air, and read to the kinders while they restored our power.

Here's how the rest of the week looked in Miss Woodward's Class...

We continued practicing Read to Self.  They are doing wonderfully with this!  They are also very honest when it comes to the check-ins between practices.

We discussed our "Hopes and Dreams" for the school year and for the future.  We wrote about what we hope to learn this year in third grade, and what we want to be when we grow up.  We displayed our Hopes and Dreams with a craft.  

How cute are these little hot air balloons?!  :)

I had a template for them to trace their balloon and basket.  I also printed out their first day of school pictures for them to cut out and put in the basket.

 When the fans are blowing, their little baskets sway back and forth as if they are really floating through the room!  :)

We also made some "post-it" posters.  I found this idea on another blog.  :)  I wrote a question on chart paper, and they used a sticky note to write their response.  I asked these questions:

-What do you hope to learn this year in third grade?

-What should kids in our class be doing to make things go as smoothly as possible this year?

-What will Miss Woodward need to do to help you this year?

-What will YOU need to do this year in order to be successful?

-School is important because _____.

-Our classroom should be _______ every day.

Some of their responses were kind of funny.  They thought our room should be calm every day, they asked for lots of homework, and thought kids should be nice to Miss Woodward and each other.  :)

This week, we also did a "Who am I?" book.  

They first wrote a page about themselves... leaving out their name.

Then, they wrote their name on the next page and drew a picture of themselves.  I can't wait to bind this into a classroom book to help kids get to know each other.  I also think this could work for kids as young as kinders.  :)

You can download my version for FREE at my TpT store!

And finally, we decorated our book bins.  Read about our book bins here.  I found these book bins at Ikea in a package of five for $2.

It was quite a busy week!  Can't wait to start another one!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

First Day of School!

Happy First Day of School!

Whether some of you have been in school for a few weeks now, or start after Labor Day like many schools in Minnesota, "back to school season" is here.

Our school started this past Monday, and I am already LOVING how this school year is going.  :)  Here is how the first day of school went.

To start the day, I took a tip from Clutter Free Classroom and made a little ball of play dough for each of my students.  Read about that project here.

The kids were a little apprehensive when they came in, but once they started poking and prodding at their play dough, they had so much fun!  It was such a great way to ease any nervousness and welcome my students into their new classroom.

For reading, we started Daily 5... I bought the book that started it all here.  This is my first year trying Daily 5, so if you have any suggestions of how you use Daily 5 in your room, I would love to hear them!  

We talked about Read to Self, and what it should look like, sound like, and feel like.  I put one bin of my classroom books on each table, and I let them look through and choose three books for their book bins.  Then we started practicing Read to Self.  We practiced a few times, checking in between each practice to share celebrations and things they felt they needed to work on.

Some chose to read at their seats, and some chose other places around the room.  I could tell that they liked getting to choose whatever looked interesting to them to read.

For writing, I read them the story First Day Jitters.  We talked and wrote about what "jitters" might be, and a time they have felt "the jitters".  

For math, we explored manipulatives.  I put a bin of mainpuatives at each table, and students got to explore them for five minutes.  After five minutes, they rotated to a new table and explored a new manipulative.  After they had visited all of the tables, we discussed the purpose for using manipulatives and what each one can be used for.

I had things like pattern blocks, unifix cubes, base-10 blocks, and fraction circles out for students to use.

As if our day wasn't busy and crazy enough.... It was about 95 degrees outside, which meant it was much warmer inside.  We have a small window air conditioner in our room, but it has trouble keeping our room cool enough.  We kept the lights off most of the day to try and stay cooler.  We also had a "code blue" (missing kindergartener who was found after about an hour), AND an unplanned fire drill (something had set the system off).   What a way to kick off the year!

Overall though, my first day with my new kiddos went great.  I am so excited for this year!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward