Back To School

The beginning of school is always an exciting time!  I've always loved getting my room ready for the school year.  

This year, I didn't focus on a theme, which I normally do, but decided to focus more on options for my students.  

I'm really pleased with how it turned out.

I started back last Thursday, and students come back this Thursday.  Have you started working on your room?  When does your school start?  I'd love to hear all about it!

Two Years....Really? Break Time Is Over!

Wow!  Has it really been two years since I've blogged here?  How does time slip away so quickly?  My goal is to to blog regularly through the year, so we shall see how that goes.  I will strive to do my best!

So...I'm going into my nineteenth year in the public school system, with this being the third year for me in fourth grade.  I adored third grade....guess that's why I stayed fifteen years before switching grades.  I taught second grade two years, but I was ready to move up then.  With a fourth grade position available, luckily I snagged it!  I'm excited to see what this year in fourth grade has to offer!

As summer comes to a close (I start back in two days, students in nine...) I have begun to gear up for the upcoming year....you know...visiting all my favorite websites, shopping at the teacher store, looking for deals, and of course clothes shopping!  lol

So, for my first blog here in two years, I thought I'd just share some of my favorite things for preparing for back to school...so grab a drink and let's get started...

PROTEACHER

I have been frequenting ProTeacher since 1998!  It is an amazing place to be to get new ideas, make friendships, ask questions, vent and much, more!  Check it out ::HERE:: if you've never visited!  Be sure to sign up...it's FREE!

INTO THE BOOK

Ok...so this one is my new found favorite!  

OMG!  SCORE!

This site is for both teachers and students!  There are tons of resources, games, songs, books, lesson plans, and more for lots of reading strategies.  You can be sure I'll be putting this site to good use!

APPS

These are some of my favorite apps to use with my students.  I especially love Google Classroom!  If you have access, you must check it out if you haven't already!

KAHOOT!

What a FUN way to review, practice, or assess what you've taught!  The kids love it, and they can sign in anonymously!

So what sites or apps are your frequenting as a new school year approaches?

Chatterbox Blessings,

Rebecca

Wrapping Up September and MIA

Wow!  This is only my third post for the whole month!   I tell ya...it's been KuH-rAzY Busy! Here's what we've been up to at school...

A little of this...A little of that!

Johnny Appleseed Unit We began a lapbook on Johnny Appleseed and All About Apples.  Last week, we finished our Johnny Appleseed part, and we'll add the All About Apples to our lapbook. Thanks for the emails of concern! I know several of you have been following the case of Megan, my neighbor's daughter that was murdered, dumped and burned back in July, that I posted about here. Here's the latest...It has been a nightmare...to say the least.   There is a prime suspect, and he is one BOLD person!  He has made threats to the family and has had contact with one of Megan's sisters at a local ballgame where introduced himself to her as "I'm the prime suspect...I'm Donnie Mother Effin' Jones and you don't want none of this!"  He has a rap sheet a mile long and seems untouchable.  We've had police patrolling our neighbor constantly.  I've hardly slept at night for fear of this guy.  He has raped before among other things, and has gotten off because his mother and her boyfriend are known in the community.  They have hard evidence against this guy, and at this point, we are just waiting on the DA that is over the county where the location of the murder actually took place.  I won't go into the horrific details, but I will say that she was lured by this person's wife who commuted to nursing school with Megan.  She was raped, beaten with a crow bar, dumped, and burned.  There are too many twists and turns to go into it, so if you'd like to find out more, here are some links for you to do so.  This past Friday, the suspect's home was searched after a tip...and since he is a 4 time felon, and they found a firearm, he was arrested.  He won't be getting out anytime soon...we can all now breathe a sigh of relief!  And maybe this will help the DA to get his act together to charge him for this horrifically brutal crime against Meg!!! Anyway, you can do your own research on this if you choose to from the links below. Blink On Crime...Suspect Blink on Crime...Suspect Arrested Be blessed and hugs your loved ones tight! God Bless,

Classroom Pics and Currently

Our Meeting Area/Reading Rug {The area above the board is starting to fill up with I-Can charts.  More pics to come.}

Our Daily Five

Our Rules

Writing Area

Poem of the Week

I have the best helpers!

Jobs and their descriptions

Our Book Boxes and Our Buckets

Reading Rod Center

Cowboy-Opoly

Our Book Barn...a class favorite for sure!

My messy area...YiKeS!

Our Center "I Can" Charts are placed above our Meeting Area board for easy access for students to refer to as needed.

Practicing our *Read To Self*

{When I first saw this pic, I thought, "Where are all the book boxes?!!?"  Duh!  The kids have them.  bwahahahaha}

We are really working to build our stamina!

We LOVE activities that involve food!  lol

Thanks for stopping by!

Many Blessings,

Remember Me???

Obviously, I've been away from Blogland for a bit!  I have hardly had time to turn around since school began!  After some switching around of teachers {thankfully not me, but in my grade level} due to increased enrollment, and shifting of some kiddos {which did effect my class}, I think we are settling in.  Then, those little kiddo germs attacked!  I hate being sick so early into the school year but a doctor's visit was in order, and with that, orders to stay home for a day!

Now, here we are with a three day weekend...Yay, right?  Wrong!  Kidney stones aren't something to celebrate!!!  Friday morning I was in a dress and heels, taking school pictures with my class...two hours later, I was in a hospital gown, hooked to an IV, and begging for drugs!  OMG!  It came on so fast!  I've never experienced kidney stones before, and I hope and pray I never do again!  I got home yesterday afternoon, and now resting comfortably!  PTL!!!  But we did have to cancel our trip to the Tennessee Aquarium with our sweet little grandgirl.  :(  We'll make that up soon though!And I pray that this isn't how the rest of my year will go.  
And I am going to break the ultimate blog rule...I'm going to post more than once today...EEKKK...so I can get caught up some.  I hope that's ok!Many Blessings,

August Currently

{click on pic to read} So, I started back to school on July 25 {inservice} and had kiddos for the first time this past Wednesday.  Our school building is just a year old, and we are already bursting at the seams!  We keep getting kiddos daily...  So, yesterday afternoon our principal called an after school meeting.  We are getting two new teachers starting Monday...one in kindergarten and one in second grade.  So, some of the kiddos I had the past three days may not be in my class starting on Monday.  :(  We shall see how this plays out, as things are changing daily.  I am thinking that rezoning of schools will take place next year!  Anyway, here is my August Currently.  Be sure to head over to Farley's to see what everyone else is currently doing. I'll be back soon to share more back-to-school happenings!Back 2 School Blessings,