Sunnyside Spotlight

So instead of being productive in my own classroom, I wandered around my building!  Here are some highlights....besides chatting with my co-teachers.

One teacher moved from a classroom with tons of windows to a room with a little window in the door.  Problem solver that she is, she made her own "windows".  These pictures don't even do justice to the cuteness that is in her room.  After framing some cloud print with a frame and adding curtains maybe the natural light won't be as missed. 

A handmade rocket ship inviting in a new class of 2nd/3rd graders.

Bee themed room celebrating new words!

 Celebrating students throughout the year.  The stars say, "Star of the Week."

Listening center with The Lorax tablecloth.

Lunch menu board and other important Owl information!

 Take a clip and go to the bathroom...no dropping the pass on the nasty floor or other gross places.

Reading Group Organization--The pieces are all attached with paper clips, so things stay where they are supposed to.  I once tried this with velcro and every time I took something off, I would have to restaple!

Going to have to make this for my room.  Rounding up or down reminders.

Found very interesting things in this fifth grade class!  And I got two new book suggestions, Flipped and. 

A chart for keeping track of words for writing.  One paper says, "happy."  Students will brainstorm better words for happy and add them to the chart as a reference for the year.

Love this quote every time I visit the fifth grade classroom.  "The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work."

A heart inspired word wall.

Hand painted pictures of famous book characters in the first grade room across the hall.   Her sister painted them for her. 

And the tour has come full circle.  Even without the nameplate, you might have an idea of whose room this might be? :-

Happy Thursday,
 

Supply Drop Off

I got to meet some of my kiddos today.  We invited 1-3 to stop by and say hi, as well as drop off supplies, if they had them.  So fun to meet my new ones and so fun seeing my returning Chickadees as they loop from 2nd to 3rd!

For those who brought supplies, each bin was labeled for them to sort their things.

Everything else went on their desk, for later labeling.

For those who were bringing money instead of supplies, they filled out a form and put everything in zip-loc bag.

The afternoon was spent in trainings on Common Core.  Very informative stuff:-)  Now if I just had the motivation to go through it!  Even better was it combined all the elementary schools that feed into the local high school.  So I got to see a bunch of teacher friends, that I hadn't seen in a long while...and they told me they read this little old blog....!  How fun is that!

Now wait time for SYTYCD to start!

Happy Wednesday,
 

Weekly Schedule

Second Grade Sugar and Spice is having a schedule party.

Today was half filled with meetings, but I did get my weekly schedule figured out.  Computer lab is still missing, but I can plug that in later.  Here is what it looks like:

Also, I fixed my table issue...parallelograms!  I don't love them as much as hexagons, but 8 chickadees can fit at each group instead of 6.  Which allows me to only have 5 groups instead of 6 and I think we may actually be able to walk through the space.

Happy Tuesday, 

Alarm Clocks are Not My Friends

Today was the first week back for teachers.  The 6:00 alarm clock was brutal!  Overall a highly productive day.  Check out my to do list!

The rest of the week may not be as fabulously on task due to the meeting schedule.  And then I sat at my desk/small group area and stared at the desks.  I have come to the conclusion that this room is not made for 34 students....desks fill up too much of the room! 

I  have 5 trapezoid tables that hold 6 kids and a rectangle table that could comfortably work for 4...maybe 5.  How are 34 kids going to function in here!  Maybe the door that needs a sign, "Can of Sardines."

On a more fun note....I am almost ready for a classroom picture tour!
Happy Tuesday,
 

Reading is Like Eating a Potato Chip

There are 71 days of summer vacation that end today.  Today I finished my 71st book! Book-a-Day Challenge completed!  If there were a self-help/addict group for readers I would definitely need to be enrolled.  Monday may bring withdrawal like symptoms.  Here are some of the titles that I loved! 
 
YA Dystopia--
For Darkness Shows the Stars--retelling of Persuasion (favorite book of the summer)
Blood Red Road--Saba journeys to find her brother, who was captured.  Intense story!
Prized--Gaia escapes from one prison like community to another one of a different kind.  (Book 2)
Shatter Me--Juliette's touch kills people..which makes her a wanted weapon.
 
Fantasy--
The Girl of Fire and Thorns--Elisa secretly marries a neighboring lands king....only to be captured and wanted by everyone else.

YA Historical--
Grave Mercy--Ismae escapes an arranged marriage and learns that fate has a far different destiny for her.

Realistic (also tear jerkers)--
One and Only Ivan--true story of an Ape who was part of a mall animal show.  Amazing TRUE story.
The Sky is Everywhere--Lennie has to cope after her sister dies.
See You at Harry's--tragedy strikes and each member of the family has to work through it.

And while I did read some adult fiction....none of them seem to be on this list:-)

She read about people she could never be, on adventures she would never have.

Happy Sunday,
 

Calendar Wall

Classroom pictures are coming soon.  Today I finished the calendar wall.  I made all the labels, ran them through the laminator, cut them out, and started putting everything together.  I also have white Christmas lights strung across the top.

Library Pockets for place value to the billions
Clocks for time to the hour, half hour, and quarter hour

Flip the card for the month, the day and the date
Balance for numbers are equations

Ways to write a number

Deposit and Measurement

Specific place for anchor charts

 Other responses for "I Don't Know" from Simply 2nd Resources

and a nice pic of my brother and I:-)

Target Wall-I use a dry erase board and write the targets for the week.  Chart for the daily schedule.

Target pocket chart...cut in half and bordered.

I keep all the calendar supplies in the same place.  (Although this box is currently a bit of a mess.)

A polka dotted piggy bank for the daily deposit.

And now onto a completely random train of thought....
Has anyone seen this cuteness?  It is a fairy door.  I pinned it a long time ago and really thing my classroom needs one.  It is possible I have been obsessing about it for a good portion of the summer....trying to convince my handy cousin or uncle to make one for me.  Then I started looking for online diy fairy door.  They are everywhere....and in Ann Arbor they are all over and even get decorated for holidays.  (My BBF friend, Jenny over at Owl Things First is in Michigan maybe she has checked out the craziness!)  I can only imagine the writing and fun that one of these would create!  (Like Elf on the Shelf all year long!)  Oh the possibilities!

Happy Saturday,