First Day Fun

The school year has begun! Today we learned A LOT about being a first grader. We modeled and practiced lunch, recess, lockers, and much more. We began learning about the tools we will use in the classroom by starting a very special self-portrait. We also had a school wide assembly. Here are a few photos.

And here is our first class photo of many. Don't I have the cutest class!!!

 

And of course we had to do a "silly" photo!

To My First Grade Families

Meet the Teacher Forms

Happy New School Year! I am looking forward to Meet the Teacher on Wednesday. Please remember, last names A-M are from 1-2 and Last Names N-Z are from 2-3. Please bring the following:

I understand that there are a lot of forms to fill out this time of year. There will be additional forms on Meet the Teacher and Parent Info Night. I will have the forms available for you, but if you want to print and fill them out ahead of time, please do so. Here are the forms for Wednesday.

Thanks to Cara for making the Student Info form.

Save the Date for Parent Info Night! It is Thursday, September 1st at 7PM. We will be going over curriculum, policies, and the year ahead. You will also be introduced to your child's FROG book that evening. If you want to learn more about the FROG book and our classroom, you can visit our website. Just click the frog below.

Finally, there will be information on Parent Volunteers at Parent Info Night. However, I am in need of a few parent volunteers to help put together the FROG Books on Monday, August 29th. If you are able to assist, please comment below or send me an email.

Thanks!

This one's for the Teachers

Dear Teacher Friends,

Check out the new blog, Blog Hoppin', then hop on over to my teaching blog, Teach to Reach All for a fun filled week!

The Transformation of Rm 105

The countdown has begun! In less than one week, we will begin our year long journey of exploring, learning, and growing. I can hardly wait! One of my favorite things to do is "design" our classroom. I just love creating a space for students that is welcoming and inspiring.

I want to share with you what I have been doing over the past month. Here are few "before" photos. We pack our room every year for cleaning.

 

 This is the view from our door. I love my large window! I think I have all the space in the world when everything is contained in one area.

 This is the room divider. It is never opened, but half of it is bulletin board and half is magnetic. We have lots of space for displays.

 This is the magnetic part of the wall. It will be transformed into our word wall.

I decided I wanted to change things up this year. I can't wait to it all comes together! Here are some photos of the progress...

This is where we will display our Hopes and Dreams and our Community Standards.

We will use the board above the computers to display our work. This area is not complete. I purchased new tables for our computers. I'm SO excited!!! Just wait!

 

This is my desk. I do not have a traditional teacher desk. I chose to have just a computer table to allow for more usable space in the classroom. You can see all the goodies I had purchased that day...stickers, birthday hats, pencils, and of course a snack mix to get me through the day.

 My break time. Between the heat (No air yet, but we will on the 22nd! Yea!!!) and all the ideas I wanted to do, but couldn't, I was felt stuck. Thank goodness for Debbie Diller and Iced Coffee! I was ready to get back at it! 

 Part of our writing area. The Imagination Station came from First Grader At Last. We will put our Writing Workshop mentor texts in the book case.

This is the front of the room, by the SMART board.This area will be used mostly for storage.

 Remember the brown, magnetic wall? Here it is complete! Have you noticed a theme yet? Everything is blue and green. Most things have two or more purposes in our classroom. We will meet in guided reading groups at this table, but students can complete work at the table throughout the day.

 Closer view of the word wall. Fadless blue paper, new frog border, and the adorable alphabet stick kids. We will add five new words a week to our wall. 

 This area is a work in progress. This will be my guided reading shelf. It will hold some of the books, tools, and resources I use while meeting with groups.

 This area is not complete yet either. We have new bookshelves!

Well, there's a sneak peak. Check back Tuesday night for the big reveal!

It's Back to School Time!

Welcome Back Families! I've had a wonderful summer and am so excited to jump back into a new year. The teachers at BES are "busy bees" right now getting everything ready for the year ahead. You should have received a letter from Mr. Lovell about Packet Pick Up. It is next Friday, August 19th. This is "Early" Packet Pick-up. In order to receive your packet with teacher assignment, school fees are to be paid in full.

Here are the school fees for the 2011-2012 year:

KD: $38

1st: $52

2nd: $62

3rd: $70

4th: $49

5th: $49

6th: $30

Easy Pay will be up and running at Packet Pick Up. You can pay the fees and get your child's lunch account going at that time.

I will be posting photos this week of our classroom. So check back soon!