New resources for back to school!

 I have been busy busy busy this month creating lots of new stuff for back to school. (All my Kinder friends, don't worry...I haven't even begun wrapping my brain around 1st grade yet so this will all work for you!) I'm moving to a private school and I haven't seen my standards yet for 1st grade so I'm just sticking with what I know for now :)

I am starting to make homework packets that align to my morning work packs!! Each week of homework corresponds to the skills and tasks being covered in the morning work that week. I have 2 done so far: Back to School and Fall.

Number match puzzles....great for early finishers or math tubs. 

 

I'm really excited about these books. I made a set of Alphabet Interactive Emergent Readers. Each letter has a book with multiple options. 

Brown bear centers and activities.

  

 Robot Words:  CVC sound substitution practice.

My updated Monster Unit

Summer Linky Party: New Teacher Tips

I'm linking up to share some advice for first year teachers. Sometimes I still can't believe that I have 3 years under my belt. My 1st year was UNBELIEVABLY difficult. Like whoa. But I barely survived! I could go on and on for pages with advice and ideas to make it through your first year but these 3 came to mind first.

1. Take advantage of the internet but don't get overwhelmed!

There are some FABULOUS resources out there at our disposal. When I first started teaching 3 years ago I had no idea about teaching blogs, of course there are many many many more now! The wealth of knowledge that you can get from reading blogs as well as the resources available on TPT is absolutely wonderful. But you have to be careful not to get overwhelmed. Especially in the first few years of teaching it is so easy to get caught up in wanting to implement a million ideas (and there are a million out there! Just scroll through a teacher's Pinterest feed and you will know what I'm talking about) Don't get caught up in comparing yourself to every teacher you see out there and don't fall into the trap of thinking you have to do it all right away. Use the resources, figure out what you need and what your kids need, and go from there. There is plenty of time in the summer months to get lost in Pinterest and create your dream classroom in your head :)

2.Have an expectation for EVERY. MOMENT.

This might go without saying but especially in the lower grades you would be surprised to find out how you need to have every single second of the day "managed" in some way. That doesn't mean you need to run your room like an army camp, but there should never be a time in your day when your students don't know exactly what is expected of them. I learned this the hard way. Many times. Have clear expectations, and remind them all the time. :)

3. Have fun!!

Teaching is a blast! It is exhausting and overwhelming (still for me some days) and takes absolutely everything you have to give, but it is also so much fun. Try to find time in every day to enjoy your kids, to laugh with them, to have fun with them. It will make you a better teacher and it will help your kids love school.

There are some great tips in some of the other posts in this linky party. Be sure to click through and find them all! :)

Back in the game.

I'm alive!! It has been ages and ages since I blogged. I was swamped with end of the year craziness, plus moving out of my classroom, immediate family vacation time, and then three weeks of cabin life in the glorious NC mountains.

 I have lots and lots to share with you, the first being the big news that I took a job teaching 1st grade!! It was not my first choice (I have always said that my heart is forever in Kindergarten) but it was a great opportunity to move to an awesome school and I jumped at it. I'm not gonna lie, I had to go through some heartbreak for a bit over leaving Kindergarten (even though I am determined to make it back). But I am truly excited for a new adventure!

I have been pumping out lots of (Kindergarten) ideas that I didn't have time for over the school year. While I have had lots of forced relaxation time over the last few weeks a broken TV has also lead to some great creative time haha. I just finished updating my monster unit from last year. This was my first (and still one of my only) big thematic units and I just packed it full of more goodies. Last year I started the year with my monster unit so it was much more activity based and not so many centers. Check out all the fun stuff below. I even added some of my fun crafty monster activities from last year. Click the pictures to find it in my store. While you are over there you can check out some of my other new items.