Back to School {the new and old}

Yes, those three words really do go together!  School is starting in 11 short days!  This has honestly been the l.o.n.g.e.s.t summer ever!  I think it was the emotional roller coaster that made it feel as though I was in quick sand.  I had to have an additional surgery before my Vegas trip.  While doing that surgery the doctor found something else he would like to look at.  I really can’t believe that there might be more that we need to look into.  My follow up appointment for that and my many blood tests to check on the clotting disorder is in mid-September.  I am glad that I have the insane first few weeks of school to keep my mind off of it.  I am also very excited to meet my new little ones and start helping to make a difference 🙂 There is nothing more rewarding than knowing that WE are/or one of the first steps in these kiddos education!

The following snap shots from my classroom are a few new ideas and a few ideas from last year.  I thought there is nothing wrong with a refresher in education ideas!

Dough stamping another fun and engaging activity from Growing Kinders ABC Centers for the frugal teacher. 

This is my phonemic awareness tub!  These are all supplies I use during small group time to work on phonemeic awareness. ALL of these goodies came from the Dollar Tree 🙂

This is one of my many classroom management tools!  Similar to a warm fuzzy jar.  When the students work together as a group to make good choices we put in stones!  For example if we get a compliment from another teacher or use the restroom quietly we get to put in stones.  When the jar is filled the students get a reward.  The easy button simply makes it more fun!  I take a moment to remind the students that it is easy to make the right choice 🙂

 This is another classroom management tool: gumballs!  When individual students do what the teacher asks they get to put in a gumball!  When the tub is full we get a classroom reward.  I’ve also used this for individual students if the class as a whole are making good choices.  I will have one student work on filling the gumball machine.

I have really loved implementing my the Common Core questioning jar in my classroom.  This year I am excited to get it started at the beginning of the year and really use it to challenge my students.  Click HERE to view my Common Core jars available K-4.

My super spellers board.  This board has truly been a life saver for my classroom and ME! The students took so much pride in finding the card they needed and writing the work in their writings.  The cards held up great last year and I only needed to repair a couple of magnets 🙂  This is one of my best sellers and you can grab it for $3 bucks!  HERE

Trash buckets?  I started these last year and they worked great!  To be honest I would forget about them completely, but the kiddos always reminded me!  I have one for each table and they really did cut down the trashcan traffic!  I purchase the tubs at Dollar Tree and you can grab the FREEBIE labels HERE.

I got this darlin’ last year!  It was just too cute to pass up.  Any Kleenex box I got fit nicely.
I purchased it for $12.99 HERE.

I shared this idea last summer but thought it was worth re-sharing!  We follow the Journeys teacher’s manual.  Instead of lugging around the big teacher’s book one of our team members mentioned copying the needed questions from the teacher’s manuals and taping them to the back of the read aloud!

FCCR has endless FREE activities   You can spend hours and hours on this site for sure!  Click the above image to view!

 
These are awesome FREEBIE stroke cards!  I printed them on cardstock and laminated them.  Last year the students first traced the stroke with their fingers and we then moved on to using our dry erase markers.  You could also have the use a variety of hands on materials. Grab the freebie cards HERE.

I wanted to mention that if any time you have a question please don’t hesitate to email me {taradc87@hotmail.com}!  I am open for any questions…and we know there are no silly questions! 🙂

Just a couple of reminders…. be sure to grab this limited time offered FREEBIE

also my pin to win $25 TpT cash!

Now if you read to the bottom of this LONG post you deserve a little back to school cheer!  I am having a very quick back to school sale.  I know that I am busy getting things ready in my classroom and we all have a few must haves on our to do lists!  This QUICK 20% off sale will be for  Sunday, August 11th only! Click on the image below to go to my TpT store!