Back to School...First Grade Classroom Tour!

Hello there! 

I'm so happy you stopped by for a visit. I have been absent for quite some time and I am truly sorry. I have been meaning to blog but it seems like life has been getting in the way. I had good intentions to blog over the summer when I was off work but I worked a lot over the summer getting lots of little things accomplished as well as preparing for a new grade level this year. Of course, over the past month I have been preparing my classroom and now I am going into my third week of school with my firsties so life is still busy. Add the beginning of our bathroom remodel to that and oh my! Life is great though and I am so blessed. Now...hopefully I will be sharing a new bathroom with you before too long and then a new bedroom after that, but for now, I am sharing my new classroom.

Welcome to Mrs. Vicky's First Grade Class.....

Here is my desk and little office space in my room. I love the setup and especially love the ribbon garland and faux chalkboard look I created on the front. 

All of our classrooms have a full size stove in case we want to do any lessons involving cooking or for party days and so on. I rarely use mine and would rather not have it, but I just decorate around it.  I loathe the mauve color of the cabinets...our school was built nearly 20 years ago and it was popular then.

Here are a few close ups of this area....

My mini fridge and microwave are in the far corner near the back door leading outside. I decorated the top of the cabinets with a few new things as well as things students have given me over the years. The back of the stove also holds things students have given me. I made labels to put on the outside of the cabinets telling what is inside. This will be helpful for substitute teachers and students as well.

My reward system and some student supplies.

I added the monsters after the first picture was taken.

Above the water fountain area. 

Here are some random views of the room. I won't explain everything but if you have questions about anything, be sure to ask. This is standing near my desk from left to right around the room.

The door below is to my HUGE closet. It is amazing...I need to take pictures. I have two closets...the other one is used to house extra first grade curriculum and supplies.

Here is the door to the other closet.

My small group area...still tweaking!

The student library...which they love! The rug came from Ikea. I have wanted it forever and finally bought it this summer.

The hubby helped me make this little bench. It took two file crates and a piece of plywood...all of which I already had. I just bought a new piece of colorful fabric to cover it and he attached it to the crates for me. The pencil pillow also came from Ikea. This is a favorite thing in the room!

I made the button banner to go with the rug.

My schedule which changed slightly so I am redoing it tonight.

My chair in our whole group floor area where we learn reading skills.

This board is to the left of the chair so students can easily turn to see it.

My behavior chart which goes along with an online program I use called Class Dojo.  They get rewarded for positive behaviors which encourages them to try hard to display good behavior. They each have a clothes pin with their name on it and clip up or down on the chart. They get to draw a number to one of the drawers you saw earlier when they get 25 points. The drawers hold a variety of things...candy, toys, fancy pencils and erasers, coupons for things like sit at the teacher's desk for the day or eat lunch with the teacher, etc. The students love it so much!

Our class motto.....

My writing board which will eventually have some things on it...lol!

I am using flexible seating this year and students can choose an alternative "seat" and choose where they want to sit.

Here are some more options. The counter holds our chrome books. Every child in our district has one this year to use at school. High schoolers get to take theirs home. 

My para pro's (teacher's aide) table. She is with me for half an hour a day and works with two groups of students during centers.

The birthday cupcakes now hold student  birth dates.

Another view of my small group area.

This was taken on Meet the Teacher day. I had paperwork in the folders for parents and a treat for the kids.

One of my Ikea carts holds math manipulative's.

Another favorite of the students...lol!

This area is to the right when you walk in from the hall. I have work posted there now. The student cubbies are to the right and left when you walk in from the hall.

I used paint chip cards from Lowe's for labeling the student cubbies this year. I love it! They each have a book bin that matches in their cubbies now. I should have taken a new picture. They store backpacks and lunches in their cubbies as well as a few books in their box.

The cubbies to the left of the door and the student mailboxes where I put their graded work and notes to go home.

Tissues and hand sanitizer are essentials in a classroom! I bought this colorful place mat at Ikea and it houses these things nicely.

A few close up shots of the area behind my desk. A parent made me the burlap painted pencil a few years ago. Another parent made the straw dispenser full of pencils last year. It has a teacher quote on it.

I have tons of necessities in my teacher toolbox...paper clips, binder clips, band aids, and so on. It is so handy...I use it all the time! The colorful words like teach came from the Target Dollar spot over the summer. They had the cutest stuff this year. 

One of my favorite things this year is my organizer my amazing hubby built for me. I labeled it using vinyl letters I cut with my Cricut (which by the way has been so handy). I have one slot for each day of the week and one for extras. I put my curriculum for each day in the slots. I have laminated some bright colored paper to divide them if I have two weeks worth inside. The middle holds my most used binders. This piece has been a lifesaver. I am all about organization as most of you already know. :)

So, I know that was super long...but I hope you enjoyed visiting first grade for a bit. My classroom is my home away from home and it is very special to me so I wanted to share it with you. I am sorry I haven't been around much lately. I actually visited everyone a week or so ago but didn't get to leave comments. I am trying to catch up today between helping the hubby with the bathroom demo. It's a mess but it is going to be so worth it! Have a beautiful week my friends and until next time....

May Was a Whirlwind!

Hello friends! I am happy to report I am finally coming up for air...lol!

I always forget how busy the end of the school year is and this year was a little more busy than normal as will be explained in this post. So, stick around and see what I have been up to these past few weeks. Here's a little teacher humor to get started!

Seriously though...I love my job and I am not complaining, but there truly is no tired like end of the year teacher tired. :)

I decided to look through the photos on my phone and pick out a few highlights from the past month. Let's start with Field Day with the kinders. Here they are being silly!

The second Saturday in May I helped my sister throw a baby shower/gender reveal party for one of her sons and his wife. We did a bee theme and it turned out so cute! As usual, I used a lot of my own decor. Here's a few of my milk glass pieces filled with toppings for the ice cream bar which was requested by the daddy to be.

I made the banners and we ordered the balloon kit from Amazon. So cute!

He or She...What Will It Bee? This was my first gender reveal party and it was so fun!

Isn't this little crocheted bee hive and bees just adorable?

The little honey jars and dippers were cute little gifts for the guests.

And...it's a girl! My prediction was correct!

The following day was Mother's Day and my kids treated me to lunch and a movie. I picked Chuy's (Mexican food) and the movie Gifted. It was so good...we all loved it!

We went to one of the recently renovated theaters and it now has reclining seats...so cool! Here's a picture of my feet! Let me just say I am loving the shoes I am wearing here. So much so, that I now have three pairs in different colors. They are Bob's by Skechers. They are called Flexpadrilles and are made from neoprene which is what diving suits are made from. They have memory foam in them and are amazingly comfy! I have a lot of pain in my feet due to arthritis and I have wide feet as well and these shoes are so perfect for me. I have them in khaki, navy, and black.

So...the Monday after Mother's Day, I had a training at school and was out of the classroom for the day. My principal comes in and asks me to step outside with her for a minute. I was like...uh oh...what did I do! You former teachers know the feeling...lol! Anywho, turns out, she just wanted to ask me if I wanted to move to first grade since a position was opening. I had recently told her I would like to move up to second grade if something opened so she knew I might want this position...especially since one of my partner teachers was moving up to first grade too. Kaycee and I work really well together and my principal knew I might want this position so I could continue working with her. So...I pondered on it for a bit and accepted the position. 

I am moving back to first grade. I taught first for 6 years but it has been several years since I left. I am super excited and this is one of the biggest reasons I have been more exhausted than usual...moving ALL my stuff! The best part is, I asked her if I could have my kiddos I had this year and she said yes, as long as their parents were OK with it. All my parents were thrilled and so am I!

I love my kids so much...look what one of my little sweeties wrote for me. I love how she put my signature smiley face "Y" on my name. I always sign my name like this at school and if I occasionally forget, the kids remind me quickly. 

I made sunshine gift bags for my team and the librarian. They turned out super cute.

Sweet little bouquet from another one of my kinders.

I gave my kiddos bubble wands again this year.

And ring pops...:)

I also made them a DVD slide show of photos from the year which is very time consuming, but oh so worth it!

Last week was the kiddos last week at school. Thursday morning one of my little sweeties brought me roses. Her mom thanked me for everything and told me how happy she is that I get her little girl again next year. She was crying as she was talking to me which made me want to cry too. I'm so thankful to do what I do and hearing these kind words from a parent just reassures me I am doing what I am meant to do. 

We have water slides on the day before the last day of school every year. The kids love it! The last day is an early release day and the kids don't have to come. I had three show up and they just played and helped me finish up a few things. It was a great year and I can't believe it is over!

By Friday afternoon, exhaustion had truly set in and I spent that evening doing NOTHING! I think I was asleep before 8:30. The next morning, I got up and cleaned my house which had been neglected terribly in the weeks prior. Sunday, the hubby and I ran errands. I went to Michael's to look for a few things and bought this pretty washi while I was there. Love the tropical vibe. I bought some other things as well which I will share soon.

I used it for this week's spread in my planner.

Monday (Memorial Day) we went to visit Joey's mom and then came home and ate supper at my parent's house. I got some plants from my mother-in-law. She is gone a lot and doesn't have time to care for them and keep the squirrels out of them so she gave them to me.

I also added this shelf to the porch. It was in my classroom and I don't need it in my new room so I brought it back home.

Tuesday was my last day of work. We have a district luncheon each year to end the year and honor the retirees and those celebrating years of service milestones. Next year I will get a 15 year pin. After the luncheon, I dropped off some clothes at consignment. I cleaned out my closet Saturday and had a bag stuffed full to sell! Yesterday I stayed home all day...well, Mama invited us down to eat leftovers for supper, so of course we went. She lives close though so I don't consider that leaving home. Anywho, I played in my craft room most of the day. I made a rag garland for my new classroom to use up some fabric scraps and remnants I had stashed. I also printed and laminated a ton of resources and things for first grade as well. I finally found a good use for my light box I bought last year as well and am excited about that.

Today I had a training and tomorrow I have a chiropractor appointment followed by a one hour massage (early birthday gift to myself) and then I have to do a little shopping for a trip I am taking next week. I'll share more soon! Sorry this was such a loooong post. If you stayed until the end...thank you. I appreciate your visits and hope to find some time to visit each of you very soon.

Until next time.....