The 2nd Grade Chick

This is such an easy, easy thing to do.  When we have an extra 5-15 minutes (usually on Friday when I plan lightly) I love to incorporate compliment circle.  We sit in a circle and take turns giving the person on our right or left (whatever you choose) a compliment.  Now my kinders have gotten really good at saying "I like your shirt, shoes etc."  Soooooo, yesterday I challenged them to talk about what quality they especially liked about that person.  This lead to a lot of blushing, smiling, and many warm fuzzy feelings.  It was as simple as saying "you are a really nice/fun/helpful person".  Afterwards there was a lot of hugging.  So cute!!!!! (and a great way to end a crazy week) Sometimes I purposely put this in my plans on a Monday to start out the week wonderful!

Well I just hate for my pretty little Fiestaware collection to collect dust in the cupboards wating for me to cook a meal sooooooo, I am using some it for storage in the living room.    Cameras, cords, and threads an arms reach away always.  I'm not sure where that screw came from so I'll put it here until I figure it out (actually I do these but you know how that goes).   Chore jar, looks like we owe M some $$!  Post about this system from Whatever Dee Dee Wants here.   Cards and storage bag from thirty-one gifts.  Art work by M.  Photo of the Statue of Liberty by hubby from one of our three favorite vacations. :)  And I had to include the new blinds and curtains in our decluttered living room. Can I mention that my hubby rocks!  He painted on Thursday, hung the blinds today and ironed the curtains while I decluttered, no WE rock (considering I bought the stuff). ;) New couch & rugs coming soon...... Oh yeah, and turquoise!  So much turquo

I am currently working on the chore sticks that have been all over Pinterest from   You can find the post  here !   I am also loving the blog and I have decided I am an organizer wannabe.  I am hoping to learn a lot about organizing from blogland and hope that this is the year I make my systems work for me as I balance work and home.  Anyone else out there struggling with the balancing act??

Laundry systems are getting there!  I talked hubby into making this printable to help me out.  Basically I do 2 loads a day and just go down the list.  I want to frame this and use a dry erase marker to check what I did last. To get this free printable click here. Update on July 9, 2012- I got very stuck on make sure all clean clothes are put away so I came up with a new plan that is ACTUALLY WORKING!!! Find out about it here  here .  Sneak pick of the new printable:  No more sorting clothes ever!

The warm fuzzies are still working!!  (To see the original warm fuzzy post from Mrs. Dillard enter  here .)  Now I am tweaking it a bit to help my students deal with other students acting up.   We are working on ignoring the students' attention getting behaviors, saying "please stop" or "you are in my space" when he/she is bothering others.  The students get a warm fuzzy if I see them practicing this.  The results are win/win!  The student handling the behavior get positive reinforcement and it stops the defiant student dead in his/her tracks when h/shee sees me give another student a warm fuzzy.  Warm fuzzies, who knew???

This is my second year using Houghton Mifflin Journeys.  I do like the series but it takes over a year to really figure out how to use it efficiently.  I am currently working on making supplemental materials so I would love to hear what you want!  AND since I just posted a long response to post on PROteachers I thought I'd post that here too.  How do YOU use Journeys in your classroom? What do you need the most help with?? To help me with planning I am pretty systematic:  For whole group I spend about 15 minutes on phonemic awareness/phonics and 15 minutes on the story.  I wish I could split whole group up so they weren't sitting for 30 but I can't.  I sing a Dr. Jean song or two in the middle of whole group.  I have a focus each day and it is pretty much outline in the TE, however to use technology I focus on one think central element a day (too hard to transition and find different pieces).  Sooo.... Monday--I do the lesson opener and work through the instructional

If you want this Little Miss Muffet page click  here.  More on the way stay tuned!

I opened my tiny coat closet today to put away my Back to School garden flag and immediately started to clean it out. (ever done this?)  I wish I would've taken a before picture.  I decided to take everything out and only put back coats, and winter stuff (gloves, scarves, hats),  and just a couple of brooms. (Why did I have so many?)  Here is the finished product  Matching winter accessories up top ready for the first snow.  The stuff that came out of the closet!   Big bin ready to be filled up with odds and ends winter stuff.  I'm no longer afraid to open this closet. To do:  Buy a pretty hanging basket or bag to replace that No Frills plastic sack.  Missing game pieces go in there.  Now what should I use this for???

Well here is the first post to many I imagine.  A miniseries called "Tales of a remodeling teacher".  I have been busy and stretched a little thin lately.  Bedtime battles have stirred up a whole nother series of discussions about remodeling.  I have been planning on remodeling the kitchen for the last two years but all of a sudden we noticed that our kids are BIG, huge as a matter of fact and they need their own rooms.  Soooooooo.......we set out to look at three houses that would give them their own rooms.  And after looking at those three house we learned that 1.  the first house had bathrooms that were too small, 2. the second house was just like ours, and 3.  the last house was jussst right.  Buuuuuuuttttt that house was old.  Built in 1876 or something like that.  But it sure was purty.  It was completely finished to perfection.  Except it had slopey floors (probably needed a foundation overhaul).  We still almost put a bid on that house and then we realized that we fel