Meet the Teacher

Nothing gets me more excited than "Meet the Teacher Day!"  The thrill of finally finishing the initial set up of the classroom to meet each eager student that walks into the door is something that I look forward to each year.  Last year, I tried to bump it up a notch since I had two years of experience under my belt.  

As parents and little cowboys and cowgirls entered the room I directed them towards a desk loaded with goodies.  Among my favorites were the Back to School Magic Confetti and the nifty little welcome packet that I modified for parents to take home.  The parent envelope contained a classroom brochure (which listed every ounce of class info), second grade expectations, our schedule, a letter from yours truly, and a breakdown of what their child would be learning throughout the year.  

Any additional papers that needed to be completed and returned were also included.  I have to say thanks to Cara Carroll for sharing this idea because it was definitely a huge hit.  Instead of sending parents out the door with tons of different colored papers falling out of their hands, I was able to take more time with introductions rather than "fill this out...and put this here...and don't forget this too!"

Welcome to Second Grade!

Information table 

I was so excited to show off our classroom Blog as parents took a seat and browsed
through the previous class' pictures!

Smartboard Greeting...Howdy Partners!

Open House

These are a few things that I had on display for Open House!

The backpacks were a lesson that we started on the first day of school about what a second grader needs to be successful (created by Babbling Abby at The Inspired Apple).  I had a backpack full of items such as an apple, money, pencil, books, etc. which led to a discussion about being prepared, eating a healthy breakfast, and reading everyday.  It was a great activity to teach them what kind of expectations I had for them as Second Graders.

I also displayed Acrostic Poems that were taught during our writing block.  The children loved looking at their western pictures and reading facts about each other!

"Our Promise" was developed over a few days as we added various promises that were important to keep throughout the year.  I introduced this topic by reading "The Monster that Came to School" (found on Christina Bainbridge's website).  It is a silly story about a monster that comes to school and creates chaos as it breaks all of the rules.  To make the story even sillier I used my troll puppet to act out the events.  There were tons of giggles, screams, and silly sound effects as I made a complete fool out of myself to tell this story...but hey...that's what teachers do!  Afterwards, each student added a rule to the anchor chart and we talked about how our monster could remain in the classroom if they taught him the rules that we all need to follow.

In the hallway, I made a bulletin board to correlate with our western classroom theme (found also at www.bainbridgeclass.com).  Each student had a "Wanted" poster with their picture on display.  But watch out because they may be armed with knowledge!

Place Value Marshmallow Math

I downloaded this wonderful idea from Babbling Abby (she is Ah-Mazing).  After a quick review of ones and tens, I introduced hundreds by showing my students how to do this Marshmallow Math.  Be sure to explicitly show them how to set up the marshmallows and use the tooth picks appropriately beforehand.  In addition to practicing place value this lesson also provided a yummy snack in the end!

Bucket Filler

Calling all teachers and parents!  Attention please!  If you haven't heard of a Bucket Filler...look it up now. It is absolutely genius and teaches children about kindness and respect.  During the first week of school, I read Have You Filled a Bucket Today? by Carol McCloud.  It is a super cute book that explains how everybody has an invisible bucket.  By saying/doing kind things you are considered a Bucket Filler and by saying/doing mean things you are a Bucket Dipper.

After reading the story, we made an Anchor Chart that listed all the ways we could fill someones bucket at home and at school.  Then we practiced writing special notes to our peers to fill their buckets (pairing each student with their shoulder partner ensured that nobody was left out).  I plan on referring back to being a Bucket Filler throughout the school year to promote a positive classroom environment.  Each child also has a bucket and in their spare time I encourage all of my students to practice this feel good program.

Meet the Scientist

During the first week of school, I gave each student a science notebook to record their observations, experiments, and take notes throughout the first nine weeks.  We began by doing this cute activity called, "Meet the Scientist."  I never realized how much they would love it...it was the cutest thing ever!

First, I began a discussion with the kiddos about scientists.  They responded by telling me what kind of experiments they did, their appearance, and how smart they had to be.  Next, I got really excited and explained that they were about to meet a scientist in our classroom.  However, this scientist was in a box and had to be kept a secret until everyone was done meeting him/her.  Their faces immediately lit up and I heard lots of giggles as they wondered how a real scientist could be in a small box.  I was pleasantly surprised that the children did such a great job waiting patiently for their turn and keeping it a secret until everyone had a peek into the mystery of the red box.

As I called their names one by one, they each stepped up to the box, lifted the lid and looked inside to discover that their face was inside.  They were the scientist (thanks to my handy dandy mirror that was placed at the bottom).  

The whole point of the activity was to teach them that anyone could be a scientist and that they in fact, would be a scientist all year as they asked questions, made predictions, and conducted various experiments.  So often, children have a misconception that only adults can be scientists, mathematicians, authors, illustrators etc. In the end, this introduction clearly expressed otherwise. 

Taking a peek!

Drawing the Scientist in their notebooks.

Two weeks, late nights, and weekends later...Ta Da!

When I first walked in after summer I couldn't help but get an instant headache!  Setting up and decorating is always one of my favorite parts about teaching. However, after moving furniture, attacking roaches (I'll save that story for another time), digging through boxes, and emptying your wallet within 24 hours...sigh... you seem to wish that Samantha from Bewitched would come along and wiggle her nose so that everything could instantly be back to the way it was before, in a flash!

Here is my sad, sad classroom two weeks before school started (yes, it took a full 80+ hours to get this place back to normal).  Yikes!

And here is our classroom today! B-E-A-UTIFUL!

Front View

Side View

Word Wall and Workstations

Mr. Cactus 

Classroom Library

You've Got Mail!

I must confess, when I first attended my iPad workshop to learn about all of the various Apps that I would be using in workstations I wasn't too impressed with one App in specific. The App in question involved the students making a simple postcard.  As we explored the possibilities of this App I did not become immediately excited as I did with the previous Apps we reviewed.   I just didn't get it...there were no quirky sound effects, silly animation, or games to play.  However, as I thought more about this App and it's possible functions in my classroom I realized it was a perfect example of not judging a book by its cover!

Photocard eventually, and completely won me over because of two amazing teachers that opened my eyes to it's possibilities!  If you don't have any kind of system where the students experience letter writing (star student, penpal, bucket filler, etc.) then this is the perfect thing for you.  Of course this school year flew by like our last Shuttle Launch (T-Minus ten seconds is what it felt like!) so our class didn't practice letter writing as much as I had planned. 

Since the County gave our classroom four iPads I was still pretty indecisive about where and how many I wanted in each literacy workstation.  I usually only have two students per workstation because I have found that it promotes teamwork, good classroom morale, and reduces further problems that may take them off task.  Needless to say, last week I had one of those "Aha!" moments as I realized how perfect it would be to use two iPads in an "iPad Workstation," and the remaining two in the "Writing Workstation."

Photocard allows the student to choose their background, stamp, and stickers.  The App even inserts speech bubbles where the child can record an audio message!  I set each iPad up with a class Gmail account "Patterson's Partners" (of course!) specifically for their postcard mail.  This makes the process a lot less complicated when the child is ready to send off their creative letter as they simply click the send button and off it goes into technology outer space!  The App even makes a rocket sound when the letter has successfully delivered!

Debbie Diller's book about Literacy Workstations states that you should take 5-10 minutes at the end of the rotations to randomly call on a student to share what they did in their station.  This plan is absolutely genius as it holds the children accountable and relieves the teacher of grading every product.  During this share time I open up our class mailbox on the smartboard and the students gasp with excitement at opening their new mail.

The students love Photocard; I love Photocard.  Will you?!  Check it out!