Classroom reveal...in October??!!

I'm so excited to share my 2015 classroom with all of you!  However, I'm a bit embarrassed that this post is in October and not September!  This year has started off great, but I needed some time to get back into the swing of things.  Balancing 1st grade teacher life with Mommy of a toddler life with Wife life is tough stuff!

Now that it's October, we've all gotten into the swing of our routine.  Hubby is currently watching football and V is taking a nap.  Lessons plans are complete...so what better time to blog than now?? 

Here are a few of my favorite places in my classroom this year:

This is my main whiteboard in my classroom.  It holds our daily schedule which I got for FREE from one of my absolute favorite TPTers...Cara Carroll at The First Grade Parade.  Check her store out if you haven't already.  She has some awesome stuff.  Click here for the schedule cards. 

I also printed and laminated direction cards for my cuties to use.  This is the first time I've used them and I LOVE them.  They are such a time saver.  The kids know exactly where to look if they aren't sure of the next step and if they do ask, I can remind them to look at the board.  It's been a huge time saver in our room and the pictures are awesome for my lower readers.  I got these from Miss Kindergarten.  She has a ton of cute designs to match your classroom theme.  I went with chevron...who doesn't love a good chevron pattern??

For Writer's Workshop, I like to have a visual for both my kids and I as to where they are in the writing process.  Those are the story writing, teacher conference, etc. cards that you see at the bottom.  They are responsible for moving their names and it makes it easy to see who I need to meet with during conference time.  I just printed and laminated their names out myself.

Here is where my kids hand in notes for me, as well as their homework (bin goes on the right).  I also have their supply bins and tidy tubs stored here.  It's quick and easy for the kids to grab, and it doesn't take up room on their desks.  The labels are from Tweet Resources.  I used the same labels for my word wall, but wanted everything to match.  I easily edited the labels to say my table numbers.

Here is where I keep my Guided Reading books and my book bins for Daily 5.  Each child has their own book bin with their number labeled.  It's easily accessible for them and the box is nice and sturdy.  I've tried many different ways to hold books over the years and this is, by far, my favorite.  I found these at Target in packs of 5 a few years ago.  I just write their numbers on a sticker and they are ready to go!

This is where I keep all of my "teacher supplies" that the kids use.  It makes it easy for me to be able to grab something, rather than dig through my cabinet.  I make sure they are full and ready every few months.  I also have pencils that are sharpened with velcro (that's how I prevent rolling pencils) so the kids can grab them quickly if they need a new one.  I also have our math group tool kits on top for math explorations (we use the new Everyday Math program).  On the bulletin board, you can see my math vocab wall.  I used to make my own, but Leslie Frobig has the cutest vocab cards and I couldn't resist buying them.  If you use Everyday Math, check out her TPT store.  She has tons of great resources!

This is my writing bulletin board where we will hang our anchor charts during workshop.  I also used Tweet Resources to make all the banners for my boards.  I have a thing for matching..don't all teachers?!  This is also my classroom library (organized by themes) and where we meet for carpet time.  The table with the crate chairs is my writing center.  

Here is my word wall!  I'm so happy with the way it turned out.  I always start the year with the students' names on the wall.  We use these to add to our personal dictionaries.  Then, I will take those down and start adding our sight words.  In the cabinets, I hold my indoor recess games and my word work bins.

Here is my sink area.  On the cabinets, I have their birthdays and bus assignments.  Next to the sink is where I keep all of my copies and manuals.  Before I leave for the day, everything gets put in piles on the counter for each subject.  Everything else for the week is held in the wire organizers.  The birthday circles are from DotsnSpots a few years ago.

Here is our calendar area.  It also tells us what day it is (we have days 1-6 depending on specials), as well as who our daily helpers are (1 boy and 1 girl).  They are responsible for getting supplies, leading us in the pledge, delivering mail, and other special things I may need.  I used to have specific jobs for everything in the class, but I find that having 2 helpers is enough for us.  All the other jobs get completed by all of us pitching in daily.  It just works for me and my students!  I love my crate seats that my dad helped me make a few years back!  This table is used for student work during Daily 5.

Here is another view of my main whiteboard.  I also keep my monthly books in the book organizer for students to use.  My listening center is to the left of these books.

These objective signs are new and I just LOVE them!  I got them from Teach Talk Inspire.  We are not required to post our objectives, but I find that I like to share them with the kids.  It gives them a heads up and adds some excitement to our day.  They love knowing what we are going to be learning about.  I also require that my kids read every night and keep a log.  They get a sticker each week if they return the log.  After 5 logs have been returned, they can pick a prize from the prize box.  The voice level cards are from Carefully Crafted.  Underneath my objectives, I will hang my star of the week's "All About Me" poster.

Here is my favorite area!  My guided reading/teacher table.  This year, I chucked my desk and moved my stuff to behind this table.  It was taking up so much room and I never ever sat at it.  Now, everything is at my fingertips when I'm teaching guided reading or grading papers during my prep. 

 Do you see my reading strategy board in the background??  I started using the Beanie Baby strategies last year and it's been a LIFE-CHANGING experience for my readers.  They love the visuals and I was able to find the matching beanie baby for each one.  I start right away in September and introduce a new strategy every 1-2 weeks.  I use this closely with my Literacy Instructor and it's one of our favorite lessons to teach together.  I'm lucky and fortunate enough to have my LI with me every morning for an hour.  I got these posters from Growing Firsties and guess what??  They are FREE!  I use the posters for my bulletin board and the bookmarks for the inside of my cuties' book bins.  This allows them to refer back to the strategies during Read to Self if they get stuck on a word.

Last but not least, my cute stools!!  My dad is a SUPER BIG help in my classroom.  9 years of teaching and he still comes in every summer to help me.  I'm fortunate enough that he is so creative and can always make my thoughts and dreams a reality.  I saw someone post these stool seats on Instagram and I just had to make them.  I can't take any credit except for the actual purchasing of the fabric.  Everything else was done by him.  These stools allow me to comfortably sit 6 kids at my guided reading table and they never get caught on each other!  Win-win!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my classroom and hopefully I've given you some ideas!  Enjoy the cooler weather and all the fun that October brings!

October already??

I completely underestimated how tricky this blogging thing would be once school started. I hope your year is off to a great start!  We are well into the swing of things and my class is great and so eager to learn!

I'm looking forward to posting pictures of my classroom once I get a spare moment. We are spending a lot of time getting our routines down, but they are doing an awesome job.

Daily 5 has been amazing in my room and by following the  ok to a t this year, I'm seeing a just difference in their abilities independently. We are also introducing the beanie baby reading strategies which is one of my favorite units for September. I'll blog more about that later.

Just checking in and hoping your year is going smoothly!  I'm enjoying every moment with my cuties!!

Tables vs. Desks...Where do you stand? ;)

I hate to even say this, but.....summer is half way over ::gasp:: and I'm starting to think about my classroom set-up.  Each summer, I agonize over where I should put each piece of furniture and where the perfect spot would be for each of my centers.  I love setting up my room and tend to spend a full day or two just moving things around.

I'm a "change it up" kind of girl.  I've completed 8 years of teaching and I've had 8 different classroom set-ups.  I love to mix things up and even tend to do this during the year.  I change student desk arrangements every month to give kids a chance to sit by others in hopes to spark some new friendships.

As I start thinking about how I want my 1st grade classroom to look this upcoming year, I've come to a stand-still....desks or tables?  I've been doing a lot of research and checking out a lot of blogs and it seems to be that many teachers are making the switch to tables. 

I would love to make the switch, but I'm stuck with the fact that I need to find 4-5 tables lying around somewhere that I can use.  This isn't always an easy find.  Does your district have furniture easily accessible to you?  Are they willing to make purchases if you would like to change the way your room is set-up?

I've decided to make my typical "pros/cons" list.  This is something my mom taught me to do when I was younger and I STILL do it when I'm trying to make up my mind.  Plus, I love a good list...who am I kidding??

Pros to having tables:
-they don't move around as much
-cleaning is easier (no more mystery snack shoved all the way in the back)
-student placement is easier and quicker
-collaboration of work/projects is easier
-there isn't a sense of "ownership" and students can easily work where they please (*I allow my cuties to make "good choices" throughout the day of where they can do their best work so this is important to me)

Cons to having tables:
-no personal space for personal belongings
-having to find places for textbooks, workbooks, journals, etc.

I'll be honest, those are the 2 biggest worries I have since my classroom is not the largest in size.  I feel that this isn't a huge issue, but an issue nonetheless.  Now looking at my list, I clearly would like to have tables in my classroom.  Now where can I find them??

What do you do in your classroom?  Do you prefer one over the other?  Does your district/school require you to have desks?  I'm also interested to hear from upper elementary teachers.  Do you think that certain grades work better with either tables or desks?  Comment below!  I'll be sure to post once I've made my final decision (tables all the way!)...fingers crossed I can find some nice ones lying around somewhere! :)

~Mrs. Presutti

New reads for the classroom!

I have always had an obsession with books. Even with all this technology, I love nothing more than to curl up with an actual book in my hands.  Don't even get me started on book stores!  I could get lost for days!

I had some extra time before tutoring sessions today (that doesn't happen very often with a 2 year old!) so I stopped at Kohls (by myself!!  That also doesn't happen very often!!). As I was checking out, I saw two books on their display for the Kohls Care campaign. If you're not familiar, Kohls donates 100% of the net profit to help support health and education initiatives for kids. Pretty cool in my book!

Anyway, I picked up two books. A Sick Day of Amos McGee and If You Want to See a Whale.

A Sick Day of Amos McGee is written by Philip C. Stead. It's an adorable story about a man who works for the city zoo. He does specific things for each animal to ensure that they are happy. He wakes up sick one day, so the animals come to him and essentially return the favor. They each do something to help Amos. It's such a sweet story that I think is perfect for sharing with young readers.

In the beginning of the year, I spend a lot of time creating my classroom community. We spend each day reading books and connecting it back to how we want our classroom to look and feel. This is such a great story for how to treat others, not just for the fact of being nice, but to know that your actions will affect how others will treat you, even on your not so best days. I'm thinking of tying in character traits with this. We could also create our own character based on our favorite traits and include this in a writing piece. Nothing like having reading and writing coming together full circle!!

If You Want To See A Whale is written by Julie Fogliano. In this story, a little boy explains what you need to do in order to see a whale. On each page, he describes something else that you may see, but reminds you not to get too caught up or you will miss the whale.

This whole concept makes me think of goals. You want to set a goal, but there are going to be a ton of distractions.  If it's important enough to you, you have to keep your eye on the prize!  You may need to pay slight attention to the distractions, so you don't miss what's going on around you, but you want to keep the ultimate goal in mind. This seems like such a fun book to just relax and listen to. I see myself walking my cuties through this one. It gives me a perfect opportunity to model 'thinking while reading', while giving them opportunities to 'think, pair, share' with a buddy.

So get out there and pick up these books!  I think they will be a valuable addition to your classroom library! Feel free to comment and share how you would use these two books in your classroom!

Newbie Post

Hi! After many months of contemplating the whole teacher-blogging world, I've decided to jump in and hope for the best. I've become really inspired as a teacher, just from social media alone, in the past few years. It amazes me that we have this whole virtual world of support and ideas. I couldn't resist getting involved and I'm hoping I can be an inspiration to other teachers out there.

A little about me: I just finished up my 8th year teaching in New Jersey. I've wanted to be a teacher for as long as I can remember.  I feel very blessed that I get to live out my dream job every single day!  I currently teach 1st grade which is my all-time favorite and definitely where my heart is. It's such a special grade where so much learning takes place. I also have experience teaching 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. 

My parents are as supportive as they could possibly be.  They are always there for me, helping me prep materials (my mom is awesome at cutting out anything I laminate!) and moving my classroom.  I've had 5 (yes 5!) different classrooms in 8 years!!  My dad is a pro at helping me figure out where to put everything.  I will forever be thankful for everything they've ever done for me.  I truly feel that they are my #1 fans and I wouldn't be where I am today without both of them!

As for my personal life, I am married to the love of my life. We were best friends for many years before we ended up together and I wouldn't change it for the world. He's my rock and always has my back. We've been together for 9 years and will be married 4 years in July. It's hard to believe!  

My favorite role is being Mommy to my gorgeous son who was born 2 years ago. My life has never felt more fulfilled. He makes me a better person and has taught me to be an even better teacher. I love spending time with him reading, coloring, singing, building, and playing outside. He reminds me how awesome life is and how to just smile and have fun. 

I'm looking forward to sharing my thoughts and ideas with all of you, as well as continuing to learn new things for my own classroom.  Thanks for taking the time to read about me!

Here's my latest book obsession:

I may be a little late to the Daily 5 party, but I'm really looking forward to implementing it in my classroom come September. I did a modified version half way through this past year and my kids loved it and truly benefitted from it! 

As for Whole Brain teaching, I've been watching videos on YouTube and love the concept. I couldn't resist buying the book to learn more!

We currently use Everyday Math in our district, but are most likely getting the newest version (4) for next year. I was fortunate enough to be able to take home the 1st grade copy to get a peek at some of the changes. Anyone using this version in their classroom already??

What are you all reading this summer??