Third Week Thoughts from Room 138

Didn’t I warn you that I would probably be on a blogging hiatus while I got the school year under control? This week (our third “full week”) I am finally feeling like I am “on top of things” (as much as any teacher ever really feels “on top of things”). I have to say, this school year is my favorite so far. Not that I didn’t enjoy every moment of my previous years teaching, but this year is different. I have a really, really, really amazing group of kids. You know how some years you just have a good chemistry in your classroom? They are kind, respectful, curious and fun. They want to read and learn and get better at what they are learning and doing. I had to attend a training last week and had a substitute for a half-day. I didn’t want to go! I didn’t want to miss one afternoon with these incredible kiddos.

I’ve been working on a variety of things in our classroom, and have wanted to share so many of them with my blog friends, so here is a list of four highlights and things that made me happy over the past three weeks!

1. Investigation Specs- My dollar bin find at Target last week. Fake eyeglasses in three colors! I bought them out of stock and named them my “Investigation Specs” for guided reading. We put them on when we are reading between the lines, previewing, inferencing, etc.!

 3. Shaking Things Up: Inspired by Sunny Days in Second Grade, I made these shakers this week to help my students with vocabulary words, math facts and spelling patterns. They are not completely done yet, but when they are I will post all about it!