Moving...

Hello Wonderful Bloggers!!

I wanted to stop by this ol' blog to say I've decided to start a new second grade blog! I you're interested, check me out at What We Do in Grade Two.

Have a great year!!

What We Love Wednesdays: Walls!

Hello!

It's another Wednesday and Miss Griffin and I are teaming up again! This week is a bit of a stretch since we are trying so hard to keep with the "W" alliteration! With me moving rooms next year my mind is constantly thinking about what to put on my new walls! I love decorating my room but I feel this next year might be a bit hard.

Here's where you amazing teachers come in! I would LOVE any ideas on how to put stuff on cinder block walls!! My current room has some sheet rock, meaning I can staple away! But with the hard cement walls in my new room, putting up stuff is going to be down right miserable! I am a huge fan of the glue gun, but after the crazy winter weather, I found myself re-gluing stuff to the walls after things fell off! What is a girl to do?!?!

Oh, and did I mention 5 days left?!?! Or, as one of my kiddos said today, "You can count THAT on one hand!"

Changes

This afternoon my principal called me into her office to share some news about next school year. She informed me that I would be moving to second grade next year. I was a bit shocked that it happened but was not completely surprised. I had a gut feeling all school year that I'd be moved somewhere besides first grade.

 

I student taught in the second grade and loved every minute of it, so that I am excited about. I really enjoyed second grade and feel I can be very happy there. I also have a great team to work with next year, which will make the move easier. I am 100% bummed about moving away from my amazing teammates, especially Miss Griffin! We have had such a great time this year coming up with new things to do for our kiddos! I'm pretty sure at some point in time we were having more fun than the kids! I am also bummed about moving into a much smaller classroom. I really need to start working on organizing things for next year to save space! Any creative ideas from teachers limited on space?

 

I really want to use the end of this post to thank all the wonderful first grade teachers out there in "blog world". You ladies are so amazing and have really given me tons of ideas for this year! This past year has by far been the greatest year since I started teaching a few years ago. I promise I will still check-in stalk these wonderful blogs you all have!

 

I will still keep burstoffirst going strong, hoping that many of my ideas cross over to first grade enrichment/differentiation. If anyone knows of any second grade blogs please let me know!!

Have a great night everyone!! Only 6 more days!!

Check out Fantastic First

Hey everyone!!

So my amazing teammate Miss Griffin is celebrating 100 followers (and counting!) with a fantastic giveaway you should check out! Here's what I got from her site...

1. Be a follower! then, head over to Sweet Papery and check out the adorable stamps. Come back here and leave me a comment letting me know that you are a follower AND which stamp you'd choose if you won. Piece of cake, right? That will get you one entry.
2. For a second entry, head over to facebook and like sweet papery. Again, leave me a comment letting me know.
3. And if you REALLY want to win, here's how you can get a third entry: blog about my giveaway! Make sure you leave me a comment with the link so I can check it out!

The self-inking stamps are so cute that I'll probably order one even if I don't win!! Good luck to everyone out there who is participating!!

What We Love Wednesdays: Ways to Keep In Touch

Hello!

It's another Wednesday (with only 3 more to go until summer break) and Miss Griffin and I are having another "What We Love Wednesday"! This week's topic is communication!!

This year our principal wanted us to start weekly emails to parents. Every week we send out a mass email to our parents letting them know what's going on in first grade for the week. Although it adds one more step to our already chaotic schedule, I really like sending it out! The parents really seem to know what's going on with their kiddo. It also cuts back on copies because all notes/memos are noted in the weekly message. Miss Griffin usually types the email for our team and we add our own special touches to the email, making it personal to our classroom. I love ending the email with a "task" the kids can do for an extra special something. Usually it's a smelly sticker (which they LOVE) or lunch with me. It's a great way to get them focused on what's happening in the classroom and a great way to get their parents involved in helping them out with something more than just homework.

I also love communicating with my students through bucket filling! We are bucket fillers and we love it! Filling my kiddos' buckets is a great and simple way to let them know they're doing a great job. And they love getting little notes from their teacher!

I also have a few kiddos who get notes sent home on almost a daily basis. I have one little one who is struggling with math. At the end of each day she comes to my desk to pick out some stationary. Then, I write what we did in math for the day and if she was successful in it. If she had some trouble, I note that too. She loves getting notes from me and it's a great way to let her family in on the specifics of the lesson as it pertains to her. I also have another little one who needs positive reinforcement for completing assignments. Each day he has a note on his desk with the tasks for the day. For every task he completes he gets a sticker or happy face. The note is sent home every day for his parents to look at. We also set a goal for the day, for example 8 out of 10 tasks. If he reaches his goal he earns something special. The notes are a great way to motivate students and keep in touch with parents.

For next year I'm thinking of using Wikispaces for additional communication with parents. I set one up at a workshop last summer but never really completed it. Does anyone use Wikispaces? I'd love some tips on using it and how you make it work for your classroom!

ew and oo sound printable

"Ew" is all I have to say to my tonsillitis. I came home from school yesterday with a minor sore throat and woke up this morning in serious pain! I went to the doctor this morning and  lluckily he put me on some strong antibiotics in the hopes of being at school on Monday. Any who...the "ew"ness of my throat (and the fact that I'm not supposed to talk) made me want to post this game I made to help my students read "ew" and "oo" words.

Click on the pictures to download this game. The first picture is the recording sheet and the second picture is the actual game.

 Don't you just love the cute cowboy stuff? Just So Scrappy did a great job with this scrap booking kit!!! Have a wonderful weekend!

Random Giveaway...It could be YOU!!

Hello everyone!!

I checked my blog this evening and was beyond surprised! I currently have 103 followers!! When I started this blog I never dreamed that this many people would follow what my kiddos are doing! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Now to the really fun part! To thank my 103 follows I'm doing a random, impulsive, unannounced giveaway! Here's what I did....


First, I went to my blogger dashboard to see my followers. I printed all the pages off and cut the names apart.







I put the names in a bowl and drew one out....

And chose mh301!!! If you are mh301 you are the winner of my celebration giveaway worth $25 to Scrappin' Doodles!! Please send me an email at burstoffirst@gmail.com to claim your prize. If the prize is not claimed by 11:59 pm on Wednesday, May 4th, I will draw another name!!

Thanks to everyone for following!! Have a great night!