Use a Clothes Pin, Save a Staple!

It's Whitney here, from The Crazy Schoolteacher.  

Friends, I'm exhausted.  How is it that I forget every.single.year what my firsties come into my classroom like at the beginning of the year??  Am I the only one who does this?

Today I'm bringing you a throw back Bright Ideas post.  This makes my bulletin board life so easy!  And let's face it...there is just not enough time in the day to get everything done that we would like to.  Using clothes pins to hang student work verse staples has saved me a lot of time!  Go ahead, add up how much time you spend stapling, unstapling, then stapling again...it adds up!  And well, ain't nobody got time for that!  Here is what I do...

What?  You are lucky enough to have beautiful bulletin boards in your hallways?  Well, I have another solution for you!  Get your hot glue gun ready to go!

That's it folks, easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Whitney

Riddle Me This...

I have been keeping a HUGE secret from most of the world!!!  Want to know what it is???  Well here is a riddle to give you a hint!

 

Mrs. S and her husband take a picture together.  There are three people in the photo.  How is this possible?

 

Think you've figured it out?  Click on the button to hop on over to my blog and find out the answer!

 

Happy holiday weekend y'all!

 

 

 

 

Back to School in the Great White North!

Well it's arrived here in Toronto. NO, not the snow...YET.  but it is...  BACK.TO.SCHOOL.  I finally went into my classroom this week and am happy to say it is set up and ready for my new fifth grade class.  I had a lot of fun putting together my "Student Survival Kits" and I am going to use my "Back to School Show What You Know Quiz" too.  

These are both FREE in my TpT store.  Just click on either picture to download.

For the first day of school I love to use these Back To School Questions Using Post It Notes.

After I print out the questions on card stock, I laminate them (so I can use them again) and post them around the room as headers on chart paper.  You can grab them from my store by clicking on the image above.

One last resource I can recommend for ALL teachers who are back at school or like me, are getting ready to go back.  A group of awesome Canadian bloggers and TpT sellers got together and created an eBook for Back To School.  It is jam packed with back to school tips, freebies and products which are great for everyone, not just us crazy Canucks!  Click on the image below to grab your own copy.  You won't want to miss out!

Organizing for 21st Century Students

Hi everyone!!! How are ya'll doing?? I don't know about you, but I'm still tired after 4 weeks of school!!! haha This is our 5th week so you'd think I'd be back into the swing of things...NOPE! :) I'm always a work in progress, and that's how I like it! I always feel that if I get to the point that I think I have nothing more to do, then it's time for me to find a new profession! That's part of what I LOVE about teaching! Nothing is ever the same! I enjoy finding new ideas, trying them out, tweaking them, and making them my own. So I guess I will continue being a work in progress!

So, if you are anything like me, you are always trying to find better and more efficient ways to organize your classroom. Well, this organization doesn't just apply to papers, activities, desks, etc. This goes into my classroom technology! With technology being so necessary (not take over the teacher necessary:), I want to make sure I create a space that works for my students and me.

Leading to...

If you'd like to know all about how I organize my devices as well as apps and tips, from the set-up to the apps used, head over to my blog post, iPad Organization 101 +Apps. 

Wishing everyone a wonderful start to the new year (if it's new right now for you :)!!

Happy organizing!!!! 

Nicole :)

Reading Workshop

This is it my friends! Back to school time for me. Tomorrow is my first teacher work day. This summer went by way too fast! This year I'll be doing the reading thing again. I loved focusing on reading all day with the different age age groups. Even though I love my new job, I still miss the classroom. It's just not the same in September. When I taught 1st grade for all those years, my favorite part of the day was my beloved Reading Workshop time. It took me the first couple years to figure out what works for me. Once I did, it was SO nice! I tried to do just centers. Then I tried to do just Daily 5. I loved both... so that's what I decided to do- both! 

Today I'm going to show you how I set up my reading block. 

My reading workshop time is divided into three parts: Guided Reading, Daily 5, and literacy centers.

This is the chart I've used in the past to let students know where they are supposed to be during reading workshop:

On my blog, I have a picture of what four rotations would look like.

To read in more detail about how what my Reading Workshop looked like when I taught first grade, head on over my blog:

Back to School fun with Guided Math!

Back to School fun with Guided Math!

I love routines.  Routines, schedules, bins, lists *sigh*, a few of my favourite things for sure!  Establishing routines with young children can be challenging but it is more than work it in the long run! Once your kiddos know the routines, rules and expectations- you are golden!
So, I start the year off the way I want it to go. Sure, we do some fun stuff too, but I want my students to get into the style of work that we will be doing throughout the year. One of the cornerstone of my program is my small group math time to do guided math. I need my students to be comfortable with the routines during this time as they need to be independent and on task and I need to be able to focus on the little friends at my table with me.
So, I created a fun "Back to School" freebie to get my students right into the swing of things! You can grab it here!

If you need some tips about setting up guided math, check out my blog post over at Tina's Teaching Treasures for tips, photos and freebies!

Happy back to school time! 

-Tina @ Tina's Teaching Treasures

"Don't cry because it's over,

Smile because it happened."

                     by Dr. Seuss

We couldn't have said it any better ourselves!

THANKS for dropping by, especially on a Friday night!

We hope you enjoyed this week!

Mary from Pitner's Potpourri is scooting back to school...

Click on the picture above to scoot right over to check it out.

Mary's GIVEAWAY is...

Click on the picture above to grab a copy from 8:00-9:00 EST.

Click over to...

to check in on Mary.

Delena from Learn With Me in Grade Three has a GIVEAWAY of

Click on the picture above from 8:00-9:00 EST to grab it for FREE!

Stop by...

to see what Delena is learning these days.

Kathy from First Grade a la Carte is sharing a riddle just because...

Click on the picture above to check it out.

Kathy's GIVEAWAY is...

From 8:00-9:00 EST, click on the picture above to grab it!

Check out...

to see what else Kathy has to offer!

*These GIVEAWAYS will only be available for one hour from 8:00 pm-9:00 pm EST. 

After that time, they will be gone!  

You will then have to head over to their stores to purchase these products and check out a whole lot more!

**Be sure to leave a comment below to let us know that you grabbed up a thing or two tonight so we can have some kind of idea how many have been grabbed up. 

THANKS!