RTI and Volunteers

I am really loving this program we have implemented. The students are so far very successful. I have 4 of my old kiddos with 6 of my current kiddos. They are all reading at a 2.0 level.

We do Read Naturally and a lesson from our Houghton Mifflin Reading Toolkit (phonics and decoding, phonemic awareness, vocabulary development, reading fluency and reading comprehension). It is great because it is small leveled groups. I use my clipit chart with my 3rd graders too - they know the system and consequences so it is easy to integrate them in it. 

I am LOVING my kids parents this year. Boy, they are amazing. I have this one mom who does EVERYTHING for me - I need to make sure she gets a great gift for Christmas and at the end of the year. 

Tip: Make a tub labeled "Volunteer tub". Throw any copies you need done in there with a little sticky note saying how many, staple, hole punch, etc..and  tell any parent who ever mentions that they want to help, where it is.  It cuts down on explanation time for you in the middle of a lesson and you get all those copies you need done! I'm sure this isn't a tip for a lot of people - but it is the best thing ever for me!

Loves.

Year 2, Week 3 & 4

Wow.
At the end of week 3 - I didn't bring home my laptop - therefore..no post. Let's just skip to week 4.
Monday afternoon - the first grade teacher is out at recess with my kids, I'm in the office getting brag tags then the Kindergarten teacher runs into the office and says, "MY DAUGHTERS HOUSE IS ON FIRE!"
That was the start to the Boles Fire in Weed, CA.
We hear second hand that this fire is near the elementary school in Weed..I immediately think of my Abuelita (grandma in spanish) and her husband Rosendo. I call and call and no answer. I call Nick and ask if he knows of anything and he says no. I hang up - then hear that Shastina is being evacuated. I call Nick back and tell him so he and Billy can get home ASAP. I take my kids to the afterschool program earlier and race home. I'm crying and hysterical - trying to get ahold of Abuelita. I call my parents, (who are stuck on I5 with the trailer because they were just coming back from Bandon) to try to get them to reach Abuelita. I get home and get Teddy's stuff first, I grab basically all of our paperwork (work, insurance, medical, loans, etc..), medications, grab some clothes, throw it into the car and race to Billy's house.
From there we decide to drive north and end up at a gas station parking lot. Then Billy and Nick have to get all of their players where we are. After 3ish hours - all the guys are accounted for and a total of 7.5 hours later we get to go home. It was awful and there is terrible devastation to Weed.
I apologize for getting off track but I have been so out of it the past two weeks!

Year 2, Week 2

I am still amazed with these kids. I can't even count the number of times they have asked to keep reading. What? Amazing.
Nothing too exciting or traumatic happened this week. We start our reading 'RTI-ish' program on Monday - I'm really looking forward to it. I think it will benefit the kids tremendously.

Nick had their first fall ball games and they tied! WOOHOO! I am so looking forward to fall ball games, rain, cold weather, scarves, rain, oh...did I say rain? It has been raining ash because of all of these crazy fires in the area. Unbelievable. I'm ready for fall.

Teddy has been on this rambunctious, biting hard, ripping holes in my favorite shirts phase..and we HATE it. Its an age thing and I will be so grateful when it is over. I want my sweet puppy back. Part of me thinks it is a separation anxiety thing. I don't know - clearly I'm too involved in my dogs life.

Anyway, I guess no news is good news! I love my job. This year is going great!

Loves.

Dragon was WHAT?!

I just wanted to document this.

We were reading a story about a character named Dragon - we did a picture walk and on the last picture..Dragon had stars around his head. It looked like this..

 
I asked why would Dragon have those stars around his head?
Sweet little girl raises her hand, "HE WAS DRUNK!"
I love 2nd grade.

Loves.

Year 2, Week 1

WOW!
What an amazing group of kiddos I have this year. I am so blown away by their eagerness to learn. Normally, during the first week of school - all you do is teach procedures - and do very little school work. With this group? No way! They have the procedures down pat and are ASKING to work in their math journals, read, and write stories. There is very little management with this group - they seem to self regulate their behaviors.
I know, you are probably thinking - "it's only the first week!" - I understand that, but these kids are different. I know what I see now, is what I get.
How am I feeling?
Everyone keeps telling me this is my magical year..and I believe them. I cannot wait to see what the year holds for this kiddos and I. On Friday afternoon, I was a little tired..but nothing like the tired I anticipated. No tears from me or any of my kids the whole week.
The  inevitable first week of school stomach flu started. Which inherently put me on edge and when one of my students actually threw up IN MY ROOM..it put me over the top. It was handled but I'm still trying to forget that it happened.
I said to my parents this weekend, "is this what it feels like to truly love your job?" t doesn't feel like work! I think it is because I spent basically my whole summer perfecting my reading block and prepping for the year.
Anyway, I am feeling great. I can't wait to go in tomorrow and actually TEACH! The first week is so boring! I'm ready to get started!
I say that I'm not tired, but I am eternally grateful for this Monday labor day holiday. Off to straighten the house for the week and lounge with my boys! :)

Loves.

New year, new things!

Here I go..
Year 2 attempt to blog.
I think I will succeed this time. :)

I AM NO LONGER A "FIRST YEAR TEACHER"! YES!!

So I have been in my room way too many times this summer - but that is okay with me. I don't have to rush and do everything the week before school starts. I am really looking forward to this year, I feel so much more prepared to actually teach. I have my reading block on lock down - which was just a huge flailing mess last year.
I am 'not allowed' in my room today - they are doing the floors. By me not being allowed in..it just makes me want to go in more. Tomorrow is go-time though. Nick, Mom, Dad, and I are going to install my *custom* cubbies (thanks Daddy!) and writing table, finish displays, labels on everything, nameplates, etc. I am purposely not taking pictures of my room in progress, because I know how AMAZING it is going to look in the end.
Stay tuned for that!
Loves.

Crunch time!

There has been a lack of blogs due to the ungodly heat in our house. I just can't function when it is so hot - I know writing a blog isn't manual labor or anything, but it requires me to sit at the table..away from the AC. To say that we are excited for snow, blankets, and long sleeves is the understatement of the year.

Forgive me for jumping around on topics.. I just write whatever pops in my head!

Only a few days left in my room before my kids get there!
I have a training tomorrow (Thursday) and on Friday and I couldn't be more excited. Tomorrows training is on Common Core and blahblah..but it is information that I want to hear! Friday is my schools inservice..we are learning about the tech lab, new attendance programs, grading programs and more. I'm looking forward to knowing more about my schools ins and outs!

I may not have a grade level team, but I am extremely thankful for my school secretary. She is literally the coolest gal ever - she is the Momma Bear of the school - and she has answered ALL of my silly questions so far like, "do I walk my kids to recess?" "do I have PE in the gym?" She also said she will take care of it when my kids get sick.
THANK GOD FOR THIS WOMAN.

I went down to 17 kids but now I'm up to 19. I am feeling LOADS more comfortable today than I was say..last night (when I had a mini breakdown at Nick's expense) Poor Nicholas..I am the worst when I am stressed but he has stuck with me through it all. I probably don't say it enough, but I appreciate him SO much! I love you Nick!

I am feeling more comfortable because I finally got to ask all those silly questions about what if the kids are sick, do they need notes to go to the office, how do they deal with tardies, do I pick them up from recess/lunch, what do they do with their lunch money..
You get it..I had a ton of questions!

 Here is what has happened in my room over the last few days!

 So proud that I finally figured out a way to store that dang construction paper..the long kind..my gracious that was a challenge. But it is done and I am happy with it!

 The completed Physical/Emotional/attendance check in chart.
OH DANG - I just realized I didn't add my new kiddos to this!
The kids come in every morning..pick an emotion (at the bottom) put it in their name slot then choose if they are getting milk or lunch and go to their desks.
I then get to take attendance without ever disrupting them doing their "brain breakfast".
Cutest name ever for "morning work", right?

 From the back looking towards the front of the room.

 Side angle..
Can you tell I'm proud?

Books books books! As a new teacher, I don't have the greatest book supply but it will grow! I purposely left out 4 boxes of books that are not AR. I want to see how it goes with this selection first. There are 4 book collections in the blue and red bins on top that the kids can choose from as well.

 Haha. This side of the room makes me laugh..I don't have anything to really go in these bookshelves, but I know that if I get rid of them now..I will regret it in 2 months. So for now they hold my word work bins and will be my "writing center". There will be a variety of handwriting sheet they can choose from here.
Reminder to myself: PRINT THOSE SHEETS!

 You are probably looking at this and saying, "what a piss poor job of decorating a blank space.."
I agree.
However, I need to have some blank space to hang student work (other than my clothesline - see above picture)

 I am strangely in love with this section of my board. My college professors would be so proud!

 I mentioned in an earlier post that the bunting was in a tentative place...(along with everything else in my room) so I moved this to decorate the front of my (messy) desk. I LOVE IT.
Thanks Aurora!

These bad boys (inside out jumbo book covers) are a hit with the staff - they think I came up with the idea on my own - which is very flattering.
They obviously are not on the Pinterest bandwagon yet!

 





I almost forgot to mention that I met two of my boys yesterday. The first one I met was huge..as in..very tall, he ooked like a 4th grader and wanted nothing to do with me. I panicked and thought all my kids were going to be giants and grown ups but then my other kiddo came in all sweet and shy and shook my hand. I just about died, he was so small. I have regained faith that my kids will in fact NOT be grown adults and I in fact am CAPABLE of teaching small children. :)

Loves.