Team J's Second Grade Fun: August 2014

Packing Up Tip

I'm not sure about any other teacher, but the end of the day always drives me a little crazy. Especially at the beginning of the year. Packing up has always been a chaotic time no matter how much routine I try to put into place. The beginning of the school year is even more chaotic because they have no idea about the routine and listening skills need some work as it is.

So, this year we did our super slow motion pack up 2-3 days. Slow motion meaning - open your planner - stop, write in your planner - stop, have me sign your planner - stop, get your folder - stop, etc... I won't bore you with the rest of this. This year since I have a small number of students they definitely picked up the routine faster. However, I have a few kiddos who seem to be in their own world at times and move quite slowly to do many things. These are the kiddos that think they are packed up and are sitting and in reality their backpack is still hanging, lunchbox in the cubby, planner out, and more.

So, instead of driving myself totally crazy and losing my voice continuing to call out the routine, I wrote it on the board. Simple and to the point. I'm sure many of you have thought of this, but if not try it. It helps because instead of me continuing to repeat the routine or repeat it to certain students, they can look at the board or I can "remind" them to look at the board :-).

Here's my routine on the board...

Sorry for the lack of blogging. I always forget how the first few weeks of school leave you so exhausted. I have a handle on things now and many blog posts to share so I should be back at it this week.

Hope everyone has a great long weekend!

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TPT - Boost Sale - Wednesday Only

Be sure to stop by my TPT store today and check out the Back to School Boost Sale. My entire store is 20% off and if you use the TPT code "BOOST" you'll get 28% off. Today only!

Jordan Veenstra - TPT Store

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Survived the First Day!

Every year without fail the first day of school flies by. And, even though it seems like it went so quickly you were only there an hour or two, you feel like you worked a 24 hour shift by the time you were done. I love how adrenaline kicks in that first day...but man am I tired now.

Here's one of my favorite things from our first day (I'll share more as the week goes on, but my bed is calling my name).

My new school starts the day with Morning Meeting for 25 minutes every day. I love that they have time built in for this and that they really want us to focus on the classroom community. Today was our first one and the kids did awesome. They all had done it last year in first grade but for our first one together it was neat to see.

For Greeting, we all introduced ourselves and then we said good morning to the person after their introduction.

For Share, I read First Day Jitters (a favorite and must for the first day). Then, I had student share how they were feeling about the first day. I loved hearing many of them say how happy and excited they were.

For Activity, we played Guess My Number. I thought of a secret number between 0-100 and then 0-200 and they had to guess. I'd answer their guess with either higher or lower and they'd have to narrow it down with the clues.

For Morning Message, I had them share with me what they wanted to learn in 2nd grade. I loved seeing them take ownership and turns while writing on the board. Here's a picture of it below...

I'm so excited for this year. I have a great bunch and can't wait to see all we accomplish by the end of the year.

Hope everyone else who started today had a great first day. On to day 2 tomorrow!

Also, make sure to check out the TPT Back-to-School Boost Sale. My whole store will be 20% off on Wednesday, August 20 and if you use the code "BOOST" you'll get 28% off!

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Classroom Reveal 2014-15

I'm so excited to share my photos from my new classroom. I'm going to warn you, there's a lot. Last Sunday I moved into my new school and new classroom. And....I....love....it! There are windows. Not just one - but four! It's amazing how having windows makes the room so much brighter, warm, and more inviting. The other cool thing is that I'm on the 2nd floor and out two of my windows I have an awesome view of the Las Vegas Strip.

Here we go....

Outside Bulletins in the Hallway

Welcome Bulletin for Orientation

Now, the inside...

Love that kids can each have their own cubby and there are also hooks for backpacks.

My classroom library space

Classroom supplies (in the cubbies)

My teacher workspace/desk and small group area

I'm super lucky that we have extremely small classes. I have only 16 kiddos. I've always had 20-24, but this school keeps them very small, which I'm going to like!

Essential Questions boards - can use an Expo marker to write the essential questions and change them as needed.

White board with projector. I'm going to use the pocket charts below the white board for our vocabulary words.

Writing table area. I'm going to eventually use this for a writing station.

Math Area - Math Bulletin board (blank spot is for anchor charts created as a class). Bucketfilling area below...

My teacher books that I use for lessons organized by skill or topic.

I also love that we have a closet here with shelves. Nice to have storage options.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my classroom space. I met my kiddos yesterday at Orientation and they are so cute! I can tell we're going to have a great year together!

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New Back to School Product and Last Day of the TPT Sale!

I got my newest product done just in time for the last day of the TPT Blast Off Back to School sale. And, this product is perfect for back to school. Here's a sneak peek....

Getting to Know You - Back to School Packet

Here are a few of the pages... (any page with 1st or 2nd grade on it has one for the other grade too)

Student Interviews

Making New Goals for the New School Year

Here's an example I filled out for the All About Me Project (circle map and writing paper). Please don't judge my stick figure. Art is not my strong suit lol.

Thanks for checking out my new product. Be sure to head over to my TPT Store and get it now while it's on sale. The Blast Off Sale only lasts through today so head over there and be sure to enter the code "BTS2014" to get 28% off my entire store.

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Monday Made-It- August 4

I'm linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for another Monday Made-It.

This week I made my new bday student gift. My kids loved the crazy straws last year so I decided to do those again. Here's how I made it...

1. Buy Crazy Straw from the Dollar Store - 6 came in a pack...

2. Make a little tag so people know what it's for.

3. Cut out circles. I saw this done before and liked that they looked like little balloons once they were finished. I used cardstock paper from Michaels and also my Martha Stewart Circle Cutter (love this tool!)

4. Then, I glued on the note and then taped the straw to the back. I tried hole punching and tried to put the straw through the circle, but it just looked bad and squished the paper, which I didn't like. So....tape it is!

5. Then, I made the little container to hold them. I love the plastic paint containers/buckets (not sure what these are really called) from Michaels. I cut scrapbook paper and taped it inside. I love the colors on this paper and love the polka dots.

And voila - here it is!

Since these containers only hold so much without falling over I decided to have 2 - 12 straws in each.... I thought about getting the big container but also didn't want them falling all over if it was too big. So, I decided to stick with the smaller size and have two.

Hope everyone has a good Monday!

Also, be sure to check out the TPT Blast Off Back to School Sale - my whole store is 20% off and technically 28% off with the TPT code "BTS2014"

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Blast Off - TPT Back to School Sale!

Tomorrow starts the TPT Blast Off Back to School Sale! My whole TPT store will be on sale for 20% off! My store has many products that work well for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade teachers.

Now's the time to stock up on all the essentials for the new school year! Be sure to enter "BTS14" at checkout to receive your discount! My store is 20% off and with the promo code you'll get 28% off! Yay for Back to School Sales!

My shop - TPT Store - Jordan Veenstra

Here are a few products to check out....

Reading/ELA

Opinion Writing Prompt Cards