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SLANT box reveal and a few other odds and ends from weeks 1 and 2!

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Happy Saturday!! I officially have had 2 full weeks with my 2nd graders and things are going well!! I really can’t complain! (though I’m tempted to about the 83+ degree classroom temps. Sweaty 2nd graders aren’t great listeners.  poor things.)  

It might be too hot to listen, but it’s never too hot to dance 🙂 Ellen would be proud.
 (and I never let my class dance without me sooooo afterwards, my saving grace, a bit too often this week, was a sweaty one of these:)):
 
 
 

ANYWAY! I love my class, have been super busy, and finally got a few seconds this morning to blog about a few things about which I’ve been meaning to!

Sooo first – I was a part of a teacher SLANT box exchange last month and it was SO much fun. You can read all about it on Lessons with Coffee‘s blog! . .  Basically, I got a teacher pen pal who learned all about me, and I got assigned a teacher who I got to learn all about and at the end of the month, you send each other a box full of goodies based on what you’ve learned about the teacher to whom you were assigned! Soooo on the last day of the first full week of school (never have I ever had a 5 day week with kiddos on the first week of school), THIS is what I got to come home to!! . . .  my SLANT box was waiting for me! :



Holly absolutely spoiled me with a)beautifully wrapped presents 2)my favorite pens, STARBUCKSSS, and c) so.  much.  more!!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH HOLLY! Your note was so sweet, too, and it’s hanging up beside my desk with a few others from teachers that make me smile daily. 🙂 🙂  

Want to join and get a box full of goodies like I did? You can sign up for the September SLANT box exchange now! Head over to Lessons with Coffee to check it out!

Secondly . . . I wanted to share my newly washi-ed kids’ numbers sticks.  I use their numbers (abc ordered) to call on them randomnly in a lesson, etc.  But I feel like I always choose the same numbers no matter how “random” it is supposed to be! . . .so, I saw Michelle use her washi tape on her call-on sticks and I just had to do the same! . . . 

 
If their number/washi tape is facing up, I’ve already called on them! Once all kids have been called on, I just flip all of the sticks to being number/washi tape down and start all over again! 
 
So simple.  So effective. So easy! And, of course, so colorfully adorable 🙂
 
 
Moving on . . . with new curriculum allllll over my shelves this year, (yay!) there are a TON of plans to be written and absolutely NOTHING to go on from last year.  Did I mention that that TON of plans I mentioned must be written every single week?!? On top of teaching? And you wonder why I go in at 6am and could spend 8 hours at Panera and STILL not be ready for the next week?! ….. this’ll sum it up…
 
SO…I write list on top of list (literally, my post it lists go on TOP of the to do lists) week after week of the same to-dos to get my plans ready for the upcoming week. . . . On Monday, I captured the craziness to look a little something like this :
 
 
I thought that there had to be a more effective way to consolidate a bit..to save a post-it tree if you will…and to involve fun fonts from Hello Literacy! of course. It ended up looking a little something like this:
 
I posted it on instagram (which I have fallen in love with when it comes to connecting with the fabulous network of thousands of teachers from all over the world who have become my newest teaching teammates. I blogged about my ig obsession here), annnd teachers…fabulously talented teachers who are moreee than capable of making something WAYYY better than I can…. 
 
so I’ve posted it on my TPT store HERE! There’s a freebie version and a link to an editable version to make it your own! I hope it helps your planning run smoothly!
 


And one last thing . . . IT’S FOOTBALL SEASONNN <3 This nittany lion will be spending her Saturday with family, food, (some lesson plans..duh.) and her favorite football team 🙂 🙂  WE ARE!! #ftg #pennstateforever

Have a GREAT weekend!

Comments

  2. 2

    Tania says

    That SLANT box is amazing. I downloaded the planning sheet. Thanks a bunch! I have been following on instagram and I am your newest follower via bloglovin' (I could not find google friend on your blog).
    LOVE your ideas 🙂
    tania
    My Second Sense