The 2nd Grade Chick

Here we go. 20th year! 10th year in 2nd grade! Where has the time gone?! Today I want to talk about what I have learned in the last few years (crazy journey we've been on huh?) It is.... Give yourself grace the first 6 weeks of school! I no longer start the first week of school with the mindset that I'm gonna get up early and workout, come home do a load of laundry, cook a healthy meal etc. etc. NOW I tell myself you may not workout for 6 weeks and it's OK, laundry may pile up (I warn my family), I'm not gonna cook much (I warn my family-actually they know by now). I may let myself stay later at school, maybe even a weekend BUT THEN after 6 weeks are up I implement the rest of it back in my life. This is the best advice I can give to young teacher families.  What have you learned about home/work balance?? 

This summer I am working on developing our district curriculum for the new Science Standards. Anyone else? That's all.

$20 for 5 mini pocket charts (digging the colors) (used for spelling, hf and vocabulary words, 4 subtraction flashcards, 4 addition flashcards, 2 memory games, 2 telling time cards, 1 state flash cards, planner (for my health data), and pack of erasers (for my treasure box) I thought these were pretty good finds and I was sooooo excited about the flashcards.  I have a love/hate relationship with math fact fluency and flashcards.  If you print them out parents don't use them, and if you tell them to buy them they don't so I went out a limb to buy these to offer to those that need them and a set for my own 2nd grader!  So I tested them out with my 2nd grader.  Here is my pro and con list of these cards.  Pros cheap sturdy simple better than nothing addition set seems complete without the turn around facts (I didn't confirm that though) doesn't include turn around facts There is a easy side and a harder side Cons not a full set front...

Oh my neglected blog. My poor poor blog. I have a good excuse I promise.  This post is a bad news, good news post.  So bad news first.  I'm kind of laughing my last post problems were lice.  I'd almost take that one back, almost. Here goes.... What has kept me from my blog?  It all started with last summer when on June 2, 2014 my house was pummeled by baseball sized hail, fueled by 90 mph. It destroyed our roof, siding, 7 windows and everything else small on the outside of our property, along with curtains, blinds and some furniture.  Fixing that was a full-time job for the next 9 months. This lead right into many health scares.  The first was a 3.1 cm nodule on my thyroid.  Biopsy was benign but I opted for removal anyway.  It was bothersome and I found out that I am all about get rid of it, get over it and move on.  Overlapping that was the news that my mom, the breast cancer survivor, had completely unrelated stage 3 lung canc...

You itched your head just reading that didn't you??  Lice does not discriminate.  Anyone can get it.  Even me. So we have A LOT of hair at our house and about a year ago I decided it would be a good idea to grow out my hair to see how long I could go before I couldn't stand it anymore.  It is a year and a half later and I had/have lice.  Nice experiment huh?  So my daughter's Kindergarten teacher is a good friend of mine and the day after Thanksgiving break came the e-mails.  "What a day, I've sent 2 home with lice and another 2 told me that they spent Thanksgiving break bagging up toys and shampooing with special shampoo." and then "5th one just went home."  I raced home at 5:00 to discover that my kinder had a head full and guess who slept in a hotel bed with her over Thanksgiving?  Yes me!!  Time to freak out.  Please don't do this.  It doesn't help whatsover and it will be OK, I promise.   If you are reading...

A Daughter’s Perspective: Amanda Thompson ^^^Check out my guest post on this awesome blog!  I wish I was disciplined enough to blog like her.  Then again I'd have to quit my day job. 

Sight words!  We like to use these fun index cards in a spiral bound book for practicing.  I write she writes and then we go through and read them.  She is motivated!  I am convinced if her teacher asked her to multiply, she would try!!  We are also practicing writing her last name.  And on a second grade note.  I am working on creating some making some Envision math Pinterest boards for each topic.  If you teach 2nd grade Envisions let me know if you want to help me pin topic boards!

Well we've had 23 days of school and conferences are next week.  I have started new curriculum in math (envisions), writing (Lucy Caulkins) and Reading assessments (Fountas and Pinell).  We have brand new progress reports and brand new assessments. The only thing I have from last year is Journeys (thank goodness).  I just spent 5 hrs. of my Sunday cleaning up last week's mess to get ready for next week.  In 23 days we've had Grandparents' Day, a field trip and homecoming is this week.  Conferences are next week. I feel like I'm doing a lot but nothing well.  I am longing for a routine!!!!  But hopefully that should come soon.  Who is feeling my pain? I am excited and hopeful that I may have found my new Envision routine.  I am going to start off with the online story and practice page, follow it up with guided practice and reteach, followed by independent with quick check and spiral review and then the problem of the day.  If we ge...

School started last Monday and the week has been a whirlwind. I'm so excited to know what I'm doing this year! In the midst of the week I managed to get my new blog design is up with the help of Honey Bunch Blog Design , and my latest TPT product is done!!  The Writing Dictionary is full of high frequency words from 2nd grade Journeys but really can be used in and grade.  There is also room for adding your own words.  I'm running a super sale to celebrate getting it done and my new blog.  So get this here  while it is half price!  On top of that, if you purchase it today or tomorrow, TPT gives you another 28% off!  It will never be this cheap again! On top of that I am excited to share with you more this year.  I am more comfortable in my role as a 2nd grade teacher, and I plan on sharing more.  I am excited to implement a WBT Super Improver Wall that I found  here  and homework club that I found  here .  I also want ...

Some changes are brewing in anticipation of a new start, new year and finally knowing what I am doing in 2nd grade and my youngest starting my favorite  old grade (Kindergarten).  I want to blog more about 2nd grade while recording what J does in K so there may be a pretty personal feel to this blog this year.  I am also trying to convince one of my very favorite K teachers to blog with me. With my new blog design I will be changing the blog name.  Haven't quite finalized one yet. Who knows, maybe doing all that will assure a move back down to K :). In all seriousness though I enjoy 2nd graders a lot!  I miss K curriculum and knowing it inside and out as well as all the little singing we did.  One of my goals is bringing the singing back to 2nd.  Wish me luck and good luck to all of you. P.S. School starts Aug. 12. My family :)

Real quick thoughts I want in blog land.  My daughter is a stock image and I really am gonna miss Nick at Nite when school starts The Bubbly Blonde knows me well and make this for me!  Happy heading back to school!!!!

J loves UNO so this was a great find! Teachers think of everything!!! One month until J's first day of Kindergarten which is this house means cram time!!  I really wanted to be one the teach J to read but I'm starting to realize I may have to give another teacher this reward. (I love 2nd grade as much as I loved Kindergarten but I am missing teaching kids to read their first books.)  However seeing all the back to school ads and being only a month out from the first day I started scouring TPT and found this treasure. Sight word UNO!  J loves UNO so this was a great find! Teachers think of everything!!! Yes, I really did deal her those cards once. 

So, I've been MIA for a while.  After changes grade levels (from K to 2nd), remodeling the kitchen and  already taking our big vacation in March (Arizona), I'm not doing much of anything this summer and it feels FABULOUS!!!  Don't get me wrong, I have lots to do since getting a year of 2nd under my belt, just not a lot to  talk  write about and I haven't started yet.  So let me tell you what I HAVE been doing. I started watching FRIENDS on Nick at Nite and really got back into it.  Then  Bubbly Blonde  told me about it playing on TBS.  Even though they play the episodes in order, I was really craving the first season and eventually every.single.episode from the beginning.  So I began by copying and pasting the episode names and order from  Wikipedia . This way I can highlight what I've watched as I go and if I catch an episode on TBS or Nick at Nite I highlight those too.  On this date I have watched 56 of 236 episodes ...

Because I'm having such a good time on Pinterest.  Join me! -------->

Winter has arrived! Well I got the Kindergarten registration in the mail this week and I am officially panicked.  J is a peanut and just doesn't seem ready to be so independent.  My fears were confirmed as I dressed her for the season's first romp in the snow.  You see, we did not get much practice dressing for the snow last year at all.  So I panicked when WE couldn't find the thumb holes in her waterproof mittens.  It took us several tries but we finally got them on and headed out to the snow.  The first problem she had was she did not like being restricted by the mittens so she kept pulling them off.  I finally had to carry her in the house, bare hands and tears.  She continued to cry , wail as her hands hurt warming up. I felt like the worst mommy in the world and I worried some more.  I will say though she learned her lesson!!  We have been outside two times since, she kept her mittens on, and can even manipulate ...

I am just stopping by real quick to show off my little helper.  We are loving my new laminator!! We just have to make sure that we don't laminate in Lucy cat fur. :)  I also took my beat up M&M Count to One Hundred Book and laminated the favorite pages.  Jenna is now working on counting to 100 thanks to this  page.  She practiced 3 times today! :)  I laminated the count by 2s, 5s, and 10s for my classroom.   

So school starts on Monday!!  I'm ready for now.  I'm loving the Turquoise on Dots from Creative Teaching Press!!!  I can't remember where all my printables are from so if you want to know check out my pin board  here  and  here. Daily 5 and reading area.  I'm still waiting for paper lanterns to come in the mail for the corner.  Writer's Workshop, from  Maureen . Post-it flags at the bottom of my class list there.  (You can barely see them, shown at the top of the picture), But I wanted to post that when my students leave my classroom, they put a flag on their name and take it off when they return.   Calendar and Focus Wall, Schedule coming soon!! Leveled Library Check out some more classroom pictures at Mrs. Parker's Linky Party!