She Works Hard For The Money

After dropping the girls at daycare, I headed over to my classroom and spent 4 glorious hours organizing, cleaning, arranging, and prepping. I started to feel a HUGE sense of urgency given that inservice starts on Monday and we have families coming for a meet and greet on Wednesday evening. Because I am half time, I need to participate in whatever is going on from 8-12 and often we have a training or meeting in the morning followed by time to work in our classrooms in the afternoon. I need to leave at noon to pick up the girls, so if I have obligations in the morning that leaves me NO time to be in my room getting it ready. I feel like I got a ton accomplished today and I would no longer be embarrassed to have families enter my classroom in it's current condition. Yes, I still have more to do, but at least there are no longer boxes and clutter all over every surface. 

Mr. Sneaker found me three more of the plastic magazine bins at Target and I borrowed some of the ones that are supposed to be the kids' work boxes just so that I could have all the majority of my books put away. Wouldn't it be great if I only needed 18 work boxes (meaning I only get 18 kids in my class!?) Let's cross our fingers for that! I figure for any additional kiddos I get beyond 18, I will just borrow back the buckets and put my books somewhere else. I still have three categories of books that are currently homeless, but I can always put those away. 

The shelf to the right is meant to be the shelf that kids can access to find books for their book bins (and I may have decided to just use their work buckets as their book bins instead of having an additional bin just for their books). I am thinking that I will make some sort of curtain to hang over the top two shelves because I don't want the kiddos to be overwhelmed with too many choices. As they learn to appropriately care for books I can always give them access to more. And having a curtain is a good idea in any event because we all know that you need to put all of our teachery stuff on lockdown when kids and families come in for a meet and greet so that the almost kinders and their siblings do not proceed to take things out in order to play on the carpet. I so much enjoy setting up the room, but I have learned not to have too much out because inevitably it gets touched, moved, or messed with and 

I. Hate. That. 

The blue baskets on top contain books that I use for read alouds, books I use for teaching expectations at the beginning of the year, and my multicultural books. I don't plan to give kiddos access to those for reading independently. The two large bins on the bottom shelf are easy readers and sight word books. The bins on the top two shelves are all of my themed books. I may or may not let kids read those independently, but in any event those will be used for specific instructional purposes rather than out all the time. 

A good chunk of time today was spent creating my reading wall and putting up the letters. That really is not a job meant for one person to tackle on their own, but I went for it because I needed it to be done. My whiteboard just got installed today and since I requested to have it moved to the left a bit, there is now a huge discolored section to the right of it. I was told that will be fixed next week, so I am going to hold off on covering/decorating that wall until next week. Since I moved the iPad cart to the right of the board, I think I will post the iPad rules right above the cart. Then the rest of that wall is dedicated to the reading focus wall and my pocket chart where I display the letter of the week. 

I am not someone who needs everything to be super perfect, I am more of a this works and I have a lot to do so it's good enough for me kind of person. I really don't like how the paper isn't nice and smooth against the wall, but there were screws poking out of the wall, but not screws that could be removed, so I just covered them. 

It's good enough. 

Our sight words will be added on the green paper underneath the letters. I am not quite sure what I am going to put on the blue paper yet. 

I took a few panoramic shots to get a view of the whole room. 

I feel much better about approaching next week with a room that is at least decent. 

I am hoping I get a class list on Monday.

I am also hoping that I do not have 28 students like last year. 

Have you already started school? How is it going?

If not, are you ready?

Little by Little

Today was my girls' first day at their new daycare and I am happy to report that it went well for both of them. Of course I was concerned that Little Sneaker would cry or look at me and say "Mama, don't leave" like she often does at bedtime when I am making my way toward the door. She happily joined the group and began coloring, so Mr. Sneaker and I just snuck away quietly. When I picked her up, the other kiddies were laying down to begin nap time and she was playing with moon dough or something like that at one of the tables. Her teacher took to her wash her hands and then she sat back down at the table. I told her it was time to go and she said "I don't want to go.  I am doing dis" and pointed to her moon dough. Baby Sneaker was asleep when I went to the infant room and she was being held in the rocking chair. She stayed asleep when I put her in her carseat and stayed asleep when I took her out of the carseat and put her in her crib once we got home. Right now they are both asleep upstairs. I would say that was a successful first day. 

While the girls were at daycare, I headed over to my school to commence child free working. On the one hand, I feel like I got a lot done. On the other hand, I feel like there is an infinite amount of work to do and I will never be done. 

::sigh::

Here is what I worked on today...

Before

In progress

Complete

This math wall will be switched out for each new topic I cover. At the beginning of the year I do a unit on counting and cardinality and cover the numbers 1-10. Then I do geometry (2D & 3D shapes), followed by numbers and operations in base ten (teen numbers), then data & measurement, then finally operations & algebraic thinking (addition & subtraction). I have various TPT visuals that I have purchased for the purpose of displaying our current topic on this very math wall. 

Now let's zoom in on what's here...

Number Strategy Posters

Common Core Standards with Content & Language Objectives. Last year I just posted the CO & LO for that particular day, but I thought I might switch it up a bit this year and post all of the standards that relate to the current topic. Then each day, I will post the specific standard we are addressing in the lesson on the white pages. I like the idea of posting all of them because often we are working on several standards at once (i.e. counting, determining the total, writing the number to represent the total etc). I used push pins on everything so I can easily move the cards around. 

Math Expressions 120 chart. 

Math Expressions Number Parade 

with Math Posters 1-10 {ways to show numbers}

I actually decided that I want to swap out the 1-10 posters for something different. I think they have a bit too much going on and I'd like something simpler. That's the beauty of using push pins. Changing my mind is really easy. 

 After I finished my math wall, I tackled my classroom library. 

This photo gives me heart palpitations. What a mess!

I decided that I really prefer the Target plastic magazine bins to the Dollar Tree baskets. The Dollar Tree baskets, although $2 cheaper each, are too wide. In some categories I don't have that many books and those baskets take up a lot of shelf space. The problem with the Target bins is that Target is not carrying that many. I came across only a few this summer, but I didn't get them because I didn't think I would need any more. { #sneakerteacherfail}. Many of my Target bins got broken last year or in the moving process, so I used the broken ones to house books that won't be part of the classroom library that the kiddos access or book categories that I won't put out right away like holidays and some of my non-fiction topics. Since the bins already had velcro on them from last year because I use those bins for my students' work buckets, I just put the reverse side of the velcro on the back of the laminated book bin labels and voila! I think they look great. Now, I can easily access books on whatever topic I need. Ideally I want about 10 more of the Target bins because I have several more categories of books that are still out on tables and on the floor. Hopefully I will be able to track some down! The books pictured below are on a high shelf so my plan is that I will be the only one who can access those unless I take a bin down to allow the kiddos to pull from it. I was part getting my library organized and part just getting my books reorganized because they got all mixed up in the move. 

I ran out of Dollar Tree bins, but I got baskets done for many favorite characters. I am still trying to figure out exactly how I want to roll out my Read to Self routine. I know I don't want my kiddos having access to all my books because I like to reserve some just for read alouds. The books that I put in the baskets are ones that are already pretty worn and aren't as special to me. I don't want this library to turn into a huge mess that I have to clean up everyday, so the rollout will be slow. I also need to print the sticker labels that match the basket labels to help the kiddos know where to return books too. That will take a lot of printer ink and a lot of time, so that's a project for another day!

Up close with our favorite book characters...

Overall, I feel good about my progress, but the room still looks like a mess! I've got 1.5 more kid free days because we are taking a trip to CA from Thursday-Sunday to visit Mr. Sneaker's parents. Tomorrow morning my teammate and I are presenting about iPads to my friends group of students at PSU. She is teaching a course about technology in the classroom so we are going to share a bit about how we manage iPads in the classroom and how we use them for language development. We are presenting from 9-10, so I will only have 2 hours max in my room after that before I have to go pick up the girls from daycare. 

Now, it's time for a little RHONJ. 

How many hours do you put in over the summer to get your classroom ready?

Do you enjoy prepping for the new year?

Daily 5 and the Book Basket Debacle

This year I am hoping to implement The Daily 5 during my small group reading time. Actually, I am thinking of starting the year with just 3

Read to Self

Work on Writing

Word Work

Then maybe in January, I will introduce 

Read to Someone

and

Listen to Reading

I absolutely love this idea of putting photos of each child reading on their book box.

Adorable, right? 

http://peaceloveandkinder.blogspot.com/

Now I just need to purchase some cardboard book boxes and get my classroom library in order. 

For my classroom library baskets, I purchased these adorable Polka Dot Classroom Library Labels from TPT for $4.00. I love that the set also comes with icons that can be printed on round stickers so that all of the books in each box have a sticker that matches the label on the outside of the basket. That will definitely help kiddos return their books to the correct basket. {hopefully}

I printed the labels, cut them, selected the ones that go with my book categories, laminated them, and cut them again. Whew. Am I done yet? 

Not even close. 

Even with sorting through the labels included in the set and selecting the ones that fit my books, I still had 55 different labels. 

I do not have 55 baskets to accommodate said labels and the books that go with them. Even if I did have 55 baskets, I do not have enough shelf space to house 55 baskets.

So, I sorted through the labels again trying to distinguish between books I will use for instruction versus books that I want kids to be able to put into their personal book boxes to read during our Daily 3. 

That helped to reduce the number of baskets I will need.

I now have 13 non-fiction categories, 10 favorite author/favorite character categories, and 2 additional categories. Plus, I have 8 other categories that are seasonal that I will rotate in and out of one basket because I don't think we need Valentine, Halloween, or Christmas books out all year. 

That leaves me needing 26 book baskets for my classroom library.

I have a bunch of baskets that I got at the Dollar Tree years ago, but I don't think they are the right size to accommodate all of my books. I guess I can see which books fit into those and take it from there. I still don't think I can fit 26 different baskets on the bookshelf that I have, but that remains to be seen. I plan to do a LOT of work in my classroom next week on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday because the girlies start daycare and I will be child free. It is much easier to complete projects when you're not changing poopy diapers, breastfeeding, and rocking a baby to sleep only to repeat the cycle when the sleeping baby pops open her eyes and gives you a huge wide awake smile as soon as you try to lay her down. And the fire alarm going off 4 times didn't help either. 

Yes, the fire alarm went off FOUR times.

I am not sure what I will do with the books that I want to reserve for instruction because I definitely don't want those mixed in with the books that the kids will be putting in their book boxes, but again, that is a project for another day since I can't very well power through my classroom library setup now that I am home.

Stay tuned for pics of my fantabulous classroom library. 

Is your classroom library fabulous? 

What kind of baskets do you use? Where did you buy them? 

Where can I get the cardboard magazine boxes for cheap? 

Like

Recently I have become really interested in Twitter. I don't really tweet all that much aside from linking up by blog posts and retweeting things that I find interesting, but my twitter feed is pretty much just about education and I really enjoy reading what pops up.

Here are some recent favorites. 

 Read the article here. Very interesting.

These ideas for transforming back to school activities into digital projects are awesome! 

Definitely found a new blog to follow!

http://www.iteachwithtechnology.com

And speaking of technology, how cool is this! A periodic table of apps! 

Finally...

I was JUST thinking that I want to try out glue sponges this year instead of the little tap tap glue caps and this little gem popped up! 

Check out the tutorial here:

Mr. Greg is kind of awesome. Can't wait to get my glue sponges up and running this year! 

Are you on Twitter? Leave me your Twitter handle and I'll follow you!

Have you tried glue sponges? Tell me what you think.

Meet the Teacher {Linky}

 I feel like I have been super busy and haven't been checking up on blogs as frequently in the past few weeks, but I've been seeing these Meet the Teacher posts popping up and I wanted to play along. 

My name is Katie and I have been blogging here as Sneaker Teacher since 2009. I have quite a collection of colorful kicks thanks to my husband which is where my blog name came from. I have been married to John since 2007 and we are coming up on our 7th wedding anniversary next week. We have two beautiful daughters, Grace (2.5) who I refer to as "Little Sneaker" and Sammy (3 months) who I refer to as "Baby Sneaker." John and I met in college at Villanova and we currently live in Oregon. 

I teach 1/2 day Kindergarten and we start back up the Tuesday after Labor Day. I'm glad I have a few more weeks of summer. I love being able to teach part time because I get to spend the afternoons at home with my girlies. I previously taught Head Start and First Grade. I also spent a year teaching at an International School in Germany. I have a master's in Special Education and last year I earned my doctorate in Curriculum & Instruction. Just call me Dr. Sneaker (kidding!) ;0)

 These are a few of my favorite things:

Post It Notes
Diet Coke
Starbucks lattes
My family
colorful pens/markers
Body Pillows
Dessert

If you weren't a teacher, what would you want to be?:

I would love to be a baker!

Three Little Words that Describe You:

Loyal. Ambitious. Introverted.

Finish the sentence: "____________," said no teacher ever.

"I love it when a student suddenly vomits on the carpet during a lesson," said no teacher ever.

Q: It's your birthday and you can invite anyone {dead or alive} to the party, who are you inviting?

My best friend, Cristina

Q: If someone wrote a book about your life, what would be the title?

Hmmm... that's a tough one. I'll get back to you!

Q: You get to pick one superpower, what is it?

I love this question. I would definitely want to have the power to teleport. Traveling anywhere in the world in mere seconds...yes please!

Q: What's your favorite quote or saying?

Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. -Dr. Seuss

Q: If you had one song to sing on American Idol, what would it be?

I wish I had the pipes to belt out Let it Go. SO overplayed, but my daughter loves it, so I do too 

Q: Are you a morning person or a night owl?

 I don't particularly enjoy getting up early, but I am naturally much more of a morning person than a night owl. I expire at 10 pm. 

Q: Share something we might not know about you.

I am SUPER shy about my blog. For a long time I never wanted anyone that I know in real life to know about my blog and I am just now getting the confidence to put it out there with my true identity. 

Join in the fun and link up!

Clean Freak

I definitely do not consider myself to be a clean freak. Or a neat freak. But as I have settled into being a stay at home mom of two for the summer, I am finding myself cleaning and organizing more and more. Maybe it's because toddlers make a mess everywhere they go or maybe it's because I am in my home more than I am when I work. But I am starting to get the clean freak itch. If there's clutter, I need to pick it up and I want everything to have a particular place. I've done some organizational projects this summer and have tried to stay on track of household cleaning by creating a weekly schedule where I do certain tasks on certain days of the week (wash the sheets on Mondays, wash the kids' clothes on Tuesdays etc.) I doubt I will stick with the same schedule when I return to work, but it's working for the summer. I don't always do the assigned task for the day, but in a week, I definitely make sure that the laundry gets done, the bathrooms get cleaned, and everything gets dusted in addition to many other weekly jobs. 

Now that the back to school buzz has officially started (I cannot believe how many teachers are returning to work already!), I started wondering if my cleaning mojo will continue into my classroom. 

There are some teachers that clean surfaces in their classrooms daily, disinfect all the time, and constantly prevent the spread of germs.

I have never been one of those teachers.

I tend to subscribe to the belief that kids need to be exposed to things in order to be immune from them...so my past teacher self has not been super concerned about cleaning on top of what our custodians do. But I am realizing this summer that I actually really enjoy clean. It's not so much the idea that cleaning will prevent germs or sickness, but the feeling of calmness that happens for me when my house and my living space is clean and organized.

So...I am wondering how much time you spend tidying/cleaning/disinfecting your classroom on a daily basis.

What cleaning tasks do you do yourself?

If your school had an award for cleanest classroom, would you win?