My Favorite Time of Year

I feel like I can make the best out of every season, but man, oh man do I LOVE fall.  Winter is beautiful (Don't ask what Michigan was like last winter, however), spring is filled with hope and sunshine and new life, and summer is...well, summer just plain rocks when you're a teacher- no explanation needed, right?  But fall brings football, crock pots, my AMAZING tall black boots, and BACK TO SCHOOL!  I have always loved this time of year.  Ask my mom!  She'll tell you I've always been excited to go back to school. Seriously, is there anything better than the smell of a new box of crayons?  Well, maybe coffee, but new crayons are a very close second.  Love it!  Being a teacher for fifteen years hasn't changed that feeling at all.  I love getting my classroom ready.  I stalk dollar stores, Walmart, and Pinterest religously.  Ridiculously maybe?  I so enjoy buying things and creating ways to use them that absolutely NO ONE but a teacher would possibly think of.  But most of all, I start thinking about my new group of firsties.  Although I know a few of them from passing in the halls last year, most of them are complete strangers to me.  I find myself praying for them, praying for our year together, and getting really exctied about being the teacher they need and deserve.  Aside from all of that, this is what I've been up to the last few days as the last couple weeks of my summer break dwindle down.

I worked on this parent handbook from Somer Bizzle that requires no gluing or cutting!  I think my parents will love this!  I'm going to glue a magnet on the back so they can hang it right on the refrigerator!







I also whipped up a few goodies for some of our first grade writing standards.  
I made this Five Star Sentence anchor chart with coordinating "I can" cards. We use "I can" statements A LOT in my room.  They are perfect for goal setting.  More to come on that later.  The Five Star Sentence is a great way to review some of the basic concepts of sentence writing.  

I also made anchor charts, "I can" cards, and vocabulary cards for the three types of first grade Common Core writing (narrative, informational, and opinion).  Check them out at my TpT Store!

Here's a preview...

I'll post pictures soon of how things turned out after my big move to my new classroom.  It's a funny story actually.  It involves me, our good ol' Lost and Found cart, and lots of stubborness...I mean determination.

"Teaching is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."  William Butler Yeats