Meet the Teacher Night {Five for Friday}

I am officially two days in to the new school year. Things are going great so far! I have a great group of firsties and I can't wait to see what the year has in store for us. 

We had Meet the Teacher Night earlier in the week and I wanted to share some things from that, so I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! 

I decided to do a scavenger hunt this year instead of stations. A lot of people last year just ignored the stations and weren't sure what to do, so I was hoping this would give everyone some more direction and me more time to mingle. 

Here's the sign in table. Instead of a sign in sheet I had a set of labels with each kid's name printed on them. They took a label and parents got one too. I really liked this and will definitely do it again.  It was nice to be able to call the kids by name without having to ask for it. 

The hunt directed families to different parts of the classroom. They looked at the coat closet, basket for turning in papers, mailboxes, and the place we put lunch boxes. They also sorted all their supplies, so all I had to do was put them away when the night was through - fabulous! 

On the first day kids and parents knew exactly where to turn in forms and put away book bags and lunch boxes. That made for a much smoother transition that first day. I've also already had parents helping to remind kids to turn in form to the basket - such a big help! 

I got tired of the old particle board mailboxes I had, so I bought this file organizer from Amazon. So far it has worked great! There are 27 slots, so plenty of extra for me to keep extra papers and things that need to be filed. It also seems easier for the students to use. 

I had a table set up with a volunteer sheet, Remind sign up sheet, a class brochure, a DOT binder, and a spelling homework notebook. That was a stop on the scavenger hunt, but I don't think it's something I would include again. I didn't ever really see anyone looking at the binder or notebook. 

I wanted to have the kids leave their name tags with me so I could start putting names with faces. I came up with this guessing game idea to help me and give them something to look forward to on the first day. Everyone seemed to like it, so I think it's something I would do again. 

I'm keeping it real with this chart. My charts aren't beautiful, but they are functional. 

Overall I really liked the scavenger hunt. I think the kids and parents are now more familiar with my room. I do think next year I will pair it down a little because it seemed to take a little longer than I'd originally thought. 

Are you planning on trying something new this year at Meet the Teacher Night or Open House? 

Five for Friday: The First Week of Summer

Hello friends! I've been enjoying the first week of summer break and I'm loving that I've finally got the time to blog. I am taking a little mini vacation from work (well...mostly), but I wanted link up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching and share some non teaching moments from the summer! 

Summer means that I get to take more pictures with a real camera instead of a cell phone! 

I've been spending some time riding this cutie. 

His name is Lonestar, but we call him Snapper. He has the most personality!! He doesn't really think he's a horse because I raised him on a bottle, so he's more like a dog or a person. He licks me and nibbles on me and anything else he can find! 

And he loves tress. This picture makes me laugh because he looks like he's playing hide and seek. 

I can't help myself. If I show you pictures of him or talk about him, I have to show you his baby pictures. He was so stinkin adorable. That top picture was the day he was born! 

He was a true baby...with the bottle every 3 hours and heating it up on the stove at all hours of the night! His formula did come in 5 gallon buckets though... 

On to more total randomness.

The flowers have not died yet. #victory 

Our house is situated so that the front of the house is mostly shady all day. I was determined to grow something there this year. I went to Lowe's and put one of every full shade plant in my cart. It turned out to be a good plan. 

When I picked up the mail Tuesday this card from a parent was waiting for me! It brought tears to my eyes. I love it! 

More animal cuteness. I've been doing a lot of this myself since summer has finally arrived! I hope you enjoy the weekend. I'm off to the beach on Monday morning!! 

Back from Break {Five for Friday}

We made it through the week after Spring Break. I don't know what is worse, the week before break or the week after! That week off has made my little friends very unsettled! Even with wiggly, talkative students the show had to go on, so here is a look at our week.

The crabs are back!! After an extended Christmas Vacation at my house our hermit crabs have returned to class. The kids were so excited! One little guy looked right in the cage and said, "Hermit crabs, I have missed you!" 

We've spent the week working on measurement. I only took this picture. Remembering to take pictures is hard. Blog fail.

Debbie Dunn, a professional storyteller, visited our school on Wednesday and it was such a treat. She told some great stories and got all the kids involved. All afternoon my kids kept saying, "I am the ghost with the one black eye!" 

You can click here to watch videos of some of her performances. 

Our story this week was called Amazing Animals and the kiddos loved it! I found this great resource in a bundle from Dawn Hilburn on TPT. 

We had so much fun with this activity. The kids each got up in front of the class and read their clues and we all guessed. 

It doesn't have legs. It has a shell. It has two eyes. 

This one was my favorite! He had a really original idea and I thought his clues were great. This little guy hasn't had the easiest time, but he loved this activity.

I had to take a selfie and show you guys my new Curious George shirt! We love to watch George on PBS when it's too yucky for outside recess. I've had the theme song stuck in my head all day. 

How was your week? Head on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching and link up! 

Five for Friday Spring Break Style

Warning: this post has nothing to do with teaching or education because I've been on Spring Break all week!! Here is a little recap of what my week was like. Thanks to Kacey for the link up!

I've done some cooking that I wouldn't get to do during a normal work week. That beautiful pepper mess is part of the Pioneer Woman's Cajun Chicken Pasta. If you've not tried this you are missing out! Make it now.

Cleaning. It wouldn't be Spring Break without tackling a few of those dreaded jobs. Windows...thank goodness for the invention microfiber!

Then there's all the antique "stuff" I have on top of the cabinets and fridge in my kitchen. I got that down and gave it a good scrub. 

I'm dog sitting for my mom this week, so I've been hanging out with the animals a lot. We've been playing in the yard and enjoying the very nice weather. 

I tracked down this handsome man while he was fencing and had a little picnic with him. Unfortunately the wind was crazy and we had to eat in the back of the vehicle, but at least we were together! 

The weather was amazing yesterday! I wish you could smell this picture. It smelled like spring and cow poop...lol Gotta keep it real. It is a farm after all. The smell grows on you. 

Greater Than Less Than and Compare and Contrast {Five for Friday}

It's Friday. We've made it through to the other side. I walked outside one night this week, looked up and said, out loud, "Well that explains so much." 

I'm linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs to celebrate the start of the weekend! 

It snowed on Monday. We knew it was coming, but we went to school on a regular schedule and stayed all day long!! I'm whining really...there was really not a lot of snow to speak of, but we've had so little and every other district around us had an early dismissal. In years past this would've been enough to close us, but times are changing!! We live in a very rural county and the back roads get bad in a hurry....

My little friends were having a hard time with greater than and less than this week. I cut out some signs using my Silhouette Cameo and we used them during class. First, we looked at some problems on the Smartboard and they held up the signs. Then, we did this worksheet and they were able to move the sign around on their desks. Last, we had a little fun..who couldn't use a little fun, right? 

We turned the signs into math gators, complete with a math sentence. 

It was an exciting math day. I love getting to do projects like these just as much as the kids do!

We've spent a lot of time on compare and contrast lately, so I decided to change it up a little this week. The kids worked in pairs to compare different scenes in our story this week. 

post its = instant fun.

The Sunday Superbowl Sale in a lot of TPT stores caused me to get clip art fever, like I needed any help! Since then I've been updating the covers of some of my TPT products. Here are two of my favorites! 

I got an iPad Mini this week!! I've been debating about getting one, but finally decided to go for it last week and it arrived on Wednesday!  I'm having so much fun playing with it. 

Question of the week: What apps do I need to download?