Saturday, August 25, 2012

Superhero Classroom

Hello!!!

I know many of you already started teaching a few weeks ago but here in Las Vegas we just had our Meet and Greet on Friday.  We officially start classes on Monday.  After our meet and greet I can tell you its going to be an interesting year.  I will keep an open mind and a positive attitude starting this upcoming year because if I don't it will be a very looooong year.  I will keep you posted on this more throughout the year, I am going to blame it on them having a bad day and it will be different next time we meet.  I will pray on that and if you want to send prayers my way they will be greatly appreciated.

Well enough on that.  I was suppose to take pictures of my classroom and post them here but my school ran out of lamination and didn't receive a shipment until a few days ago.  So it was pretty much a mad dash to finish my room.  I am going in for a couple of hours tomorrow so I will be sure to take pics.

I do however want to feature one of our dear friends classroom.  She did a superhero theme in her classroom and let me tell you it looks adorable.  Well just see for yourself.

This is the view of her classroom from the door.  Aren't her tables signs brilliant!  
Here is the front of her room.  Check out her alphabet its the one that Angie made.  You can get it by clicking on the pic.  She was editing her hero book when we walked in.  You can get this editable hero book by clicking here.  
These are her classroom rules that Angie made as a freebie.  Click on the pic to get your copy.  

This is her job chart. I don't know where she got it from but if anyone knows please let me know so I can give credit.  I love the title!


Math wall.  I just love the titles she put they are so cute.  
The library area is my favorite part of her room.  Isn't this amazing!!!!!  
Last but not least I wanted to show you the amazing teacher who this classroom belongs to.  Her name is Sam and she is on the left.  Angie is on the right and I am the one taking the pic.  

I hope you enjoyed our little teacher classroom feature.  Tomorrow I will try to upload all of my pics.  Hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Cindy


Friday, August 17, 2012

More Superhero Classroom Stuff!

Hey all!

We've had some more requests for some Superhero themed goodies, and since you've asked.... I'm delivering! :-)  Here are the latest things I've made.... drumroll, please:

This Black and White HERO book (Helping Everyone Remain Organized) is a great way to keep your kiddos organized! Want more info on it? Head over here. Best part about this little goodie? It's EDITABLE, so you can personalize it yourself! *I will be making a full color one soon, too!*
 These next two slides are some of the inserts included with the HERO book....
 I became obsessed with my behavior clip chart last year and my kiddos did too! If you want to promote positive behavior in your classroom this year, turn your kiddos into SUPERHEROES with this one! You can find more info about it here.
It doesn't appear in the correct order below, but I wanted to show you all of the cards that go with it! 
 And finally, we all want our kiddos to think before they speak, right?! Here is a great visual for that reminder! 

We got a fun request for some cute owl stuff so Cindy and I are working on some Owl/Chevron themed items next! If that's what you're in the market for, make sure you're a follower of our blog so you can be updated as soon as it's done! 

That's all for now, folks! :-) 

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Thank you!!!

Well I just wanted to say thank you so much to all of you that took advantage of the sale and purchased some of our items.  You are all so amazing and thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. 

I don't know about all of you but my cart was full anticipating the sale.  I scored some really great items and it was such a deal. It still amazes me how creative and phenomenal some of you are out there.  How do you guys come up with some of this stuff.  Well however you do it keep it coming because I love it. 

On another note there have been a lot of questions about our writing boards.  I wish we could take credit for them but we got them from the one and only: Cara Carroll.  (Don't you just love her things???  She is truly an inspiration.)  Well anyways!!!  She offered it for free last year and I was in love.  Here is the link so that you can also have it in your classroom.
http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/2011/08/free-for-all-friday.html

I would love to hear some of the goodies you guys got during the sale.  
 
Cindy

Friday, August 10, 2012

Back to School Sale


                                                                              


                                                          

 
Hello everyone!

Can I just tell you how sad I am feeling about summer ending.  Booo!!  I feel like their is a ticking clock in my ear reminding me about leaving my babies and going back to work. 

But I am oh so excited for the back to school sale happening August 12th and 13th.  I don't know about all of you but we surely do take advantage of this sale.  I know a lot of great teachers will be having sales and TPT is giving you an extra discount using the code: BTS2012.  We are filling up our wish list now!
 

I am going to highlight some of the items at our store but you definitely have to come visit us to see all our items. You can click on any of the pics to head on over to our store.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Teaming-Up-To-Teach

Like I said these are just a few items in our store.  We also have some freebies over there.  So come check us out.  I hope you guys score some good resources.  I would love to hear what you guys bought because I know we will definitely be blogging about it. 
Cindy
 


Thursday, August 9, 2012

Superhero Classroom Theme....and a freebie!

Hey Bloggy friends! 

I'm getting sleepy so I'm going to keep this short and sweet! 

A super sweet co-worker (and amazing friend!) of ours switched grade levels this year and is moving up from first to third grade. She didn't want to stick with her same theme, so she switched to superheroes! Our school mascot is actually a Superhero, so it was perfect!  Anyways, after searching the Internet and teaching supply stores, we came up short on "cute" superhero classroom decor, so I let my creative juices flow! I haven't made toooooo much Superhero themed stuff, but so far I've made a few different alphabet lines, schedule cards, and my newest creation, and today's freebie - Classroom Rules! You can check out  our TPT store for any of these items you might be interested in! 








Nighty Night! 
xoxo, 
Angie 

Monday, August 6, 2012

Hollywood Class Day 2

Hello everyone!!!

This weekend I was able to go into my room.  Yay!  I was so happy to be able to work on some of the chaos in there.
Saturday I was only able to be in there for about 3 hours because we were taking a trip to the zoo in the afternoon.  So I got to school at about 7 and left at 10.  I was on a mission this day because I knew that I didn't have long.  I was able to finish both my bulletin boards and add my writing board.  I really liked how they came out.
This is my writers board.  I love how everything pops on the red.  In the blank part I am going to add the samples of all the things they can do during writing center but I have to fix them to fit my theme.
** Since Angie and I posted pictures of our rooms, we've had TONS of inquiries on the posters and things you see on the Writing Center wall! I can't take credit for any of these fabulous resources, but I also won't leave you hanging! The Writer's Eye came from one of our favorite bloggers, Cara Caroll:
The "What do Writer's Write? pencil you see came from another one of our favorite bloggers, Lindsey, at The Teacher Wife: 
This is my word wall.  I still need to add the title on the top.  It will say "HOLLYWORD" but I didn't have enough time.  Remember I was on a time crunch!
This is my other board.  No you are not reading it wrong.  It is suppose to say Daily 5 but I lost the a somewhere and I didnt want to wait to put it up.  I am actually going to take the letters off and add a white background and then put the letters on so they can stand out a little more.  I will post the finished product later.  

So this is all I got accomplished on Saturday.  I was pretty proud of myself since I had to laminate, cut and put everything up.  

On Sunday I convinced the hubby to come to school and help me out.  Ok Ok I will be honest I kind of had a little bit of a meltdown.  I feel so overwhelmed sometimes trying to get the classroom done, the kids, and working on my masters.  I swear I was going crazy.  So I guess the hubby felt bad for me and decided to come help me.  

Here he is putting up my Alphabet Line.  I tried to get him to take a picture but he didn't want to and I wasn't going to get on his bad side as he was helping me out.  I love him!!!!
He also hung my sign above my library.  I am kind of in love with it.  I still need to add spotlights but I wanted to show you.  Our schools mascot is a superhero so thats why I went with the super readers.  

Well that was this weekends work.  I was pretty proud of what I got accomplished.  
I will go back this week and work on my reading group area.  So stay tuned for those pics.  

Oh by the way aren't you all obsessed with Angies classroom.  I am seriously obsessed with it. She is just too crafty.   Love ya, Angie!

Cindy

Friday, August 3, 2012

Next stop: Polka Dot Paradise! :-)

I sat down to type out this blog post and am realizing that it's August 3rd already! How in the world did THAT happen? Time just flies on by when you're having fun! I don't know about all of you, but this summer feels like it's been crazy! Maybe it's because I have two VERY busy little boys that require my attention 24/7. My "A-Type" personality and I clashed a little this summer as I tried to plan out activities for all of us. Here are some things I learned: You can't always ::plan:: when you have a 2.5 and 4.5 year old. You don't ALWAYS have to leave the house to have fun. Pinterest projects take 2 hours to assemble (not counting the time spent driving to the store to accumulate the supplies) and they only last for about 10 minutes (if I'm lucky) of simulation. I get more excited to try out activities than my boys do. I've never been a stay at home and just hang out type of person so I have now passed that onto my boys! They're always asking what our next adventure will be. We've had a super fun summer, but to be honest with you, I'm ready for a steady routine again. This "waking up with the crickets and immediately forming a plan on the fly" stuff just isn't cutting it for me!

By the 6th week of summer break, I had the boys enrolled into summer camp at their pre-school twice a week. Two reasons I did this: 1.) To allow them to play with their friends in a familiar environment, and somewhat keep up with their routine, 2.) To allow myself the uninterrupted time in my new classroom to set it all up and CLEAN! I've become a hoarder of "stuff" and it was finally time to part with it. Like all teachers, I walk through any given store, spot some random, off the wall item and immediately think: "OMG, this would be AWESOME in the my classroom for ____" What I've learned is that I spend the money, and then forget I have it, or don't think about this item when I'm searching for ideas, and thus, I accumulate 12 baskets, 34 organizers, 6 trays of various sizes and shapes, and 9 ice cube trays.  So now my wardrobes are cleaned out, the bags have been delivered to Goodwill, and I even started a stash of stuff for my little sister to use one day in her own classroom! It feels good to be able to open my wardrobe and not have to immediately put my arms up for cover to defend myself from any of those things I listed above falling on me! :-)

Onto the fun stuff! Summer camp ended this week for my little guys so I was trying my best to get my room all ready and I think I can finally say "It's done!". I still have some things here and there to add/fix/change, but for now, this is good enough. I stuck with my colorful polka dot theme again this year but I modified, upgraded and changed several things! Here are some pictures of my new room:

This is what you see right when you walk in: 
 This is my latest project, my student of the week board!
 This one is one of my favorites, my writing center board! Since Cindy and I posted pictures of our rooms, we've had TONS of inquiries on the posters and things you see on the wall! I can't take credit for any of these fabulous resources, but I also won't leave you hanging! The Writer's Eye came from one of our favorite bloggers, Cara Caroll:
http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/2011/08/free-for-all-friday.html
The "What do Writer's Write? pencil you see came from another one of our favorite bloggers, Lindsey, at The Teacher Wife:
http://theteacherwife.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-do-writers-write.html
 My Word Wall (after posting this, I realize that I need to straighten out some of the cards, haha)
 My Daily 5 Board
 My calendar board (below the board is where student work will hang)
 My behavior management board (also known as the doors to my wardrobe that I decorated!)
 Parent Praises (also on a decorated wardrobe)
 My Math/Daily 5 boards together
 View of the front of my room
 My small group/reading/my desk area
 My "Reading Spot" library. Once I move those chairs over, all of this will shift more to the left so it doesn't look so crammed together!


And that's all for now! The majority of the posters/things on the wall were all handmade (well, computer made, but designed) by ME! Like I mentioned before, I still have things to fix, add, and change here and there but for now, this room is good enough for me! Time to get back to the chaos and chores calling my name around the house! Hope you are all enjoying your summer and if there is something in particular you are interested in, hop on over to our TPT store or Teacher's Notebook, or shoot me a comment or email! I would love to help! :-)