Procrastination and Preparation

I am deep in procrastination mode, my friends..... I have 7 days left of this school year. I should be completing my report cards and closing down my room. What am I doing instead??? Planning and prepping for next year!!!! I think it is my avoidance tactic for those things I just don't like to do...cleaning and closing another chapter in my teaching career. 

When I start preparing for another school year, it's like a rebirth. I get to start over fresh, look at things in a new way and always try to do better. I have started, by committing to a new class theme. I am going with turquoise and black this next year. Those are our school colors and I have never "fully" committed to a theme before. Here is what I have made so far:

I had to make new student number sticks in turquoise and black. I couldn't use my rainbow colored ones, right? 

I needed a new first day of school frame to go with the theme. I also made a new one because I wanted a larger frame.

This is the frame I used last year. I really like it, but I wanted the opening a little larger and I was trying to stay true to the turquoise and black theme. Hence, a new frame was born!

Then, I decided I wanted a cute way to send my students' first day of school pictures home, so I made these mini frames. I am going to have the kids decorate them and then insert their pictures. 

A new turquoise and black welcome sign is "a must" as well. Thank you Jeannine from Creative Lesson Cafe for this adorable one!

I have a bunch of other things in "the works". I will take pictures and share them with you throughout the summer. But for now, I have a good start and now I need to get back to my regular scheduled programming... report cards!!!

Quick Tip Linky and Giveaway

I am super excited to be joining a new weekly linky from Diving Into 2nd Grade and Hippo Horray for Second Grade.
                                      
I have been preparing and getting ready for next year. I am a planner and once I found out I was going to be teaching second grade again, a got my planning groove on! Here is my Quick Tip for this week:

Student Number Sticks

At the beginning of the year, my students each are assigned a number. I use these numbers for many things:

-numbers on papers

-cubbies

-behavior clip chart

-line order 

-class room helpers

-call on students in class etc.

I use these student number sticks to fairly call on students in class to answer questions, help with tasks, to make smaller groups etc. I keep them in a basket on my desk and use them throughout the day. I decided to change my room theme for next year. Our school colors are turquoise and black, so I am going with that color theme for next year. I "had" to make new number sticks to coordinate with my new colors. 

I hope this is a quick tip you can use in your classroom too!

I also want to remind everyone that I am hosting a fabulous giveaway to celebrate my first year of blogging. Several of my blogging buddies have joined up to help me make this extra special. I hope you will stop by and check it out! There is a little party favor FREEBIE for you to grab too!

Blogiversary Giveaway Celebration

Happy Mother's Day to all you mommies out there! I hope your day is filled with love and relaxation. Each and everyone of you deserves it! I am getting ready to spend the day with my boys at one of my favorite places- Santa Barbara! Brunch + the beach= one happy Mom! I can't wait to share pics with you later on.

But first, I have some exciting news:

It's hard to believe I started this amazing journey into the blogging world one year ago today! I have been incredibly blessed this last year. I have connected and formed friendships with so many of you. I have been able to share my teaching adventures and ramble about my crazy ideas- and you all have supported me. I can't thank you enough!

If you can't tell, I have been looking forward to this milestone and wanted to make it meaningful and special. In order to help celebrate this milestone, I have asked ten of my dear blogging friends to help spread the cheer. They have all touched my life in different ways. Some have helped answer my silly blogging questions, others have inspired me with their own blogs and all of them are supporters of my journey. They are a few special pieces of my blogging journey puzzle!

A party, wouldn't be a party without a party favor. I created a little something for each of you to take with you, as a way of saying thank you for being a follower. Make sure to enter the giveaway and before you leave, grab your FREEBIE!

 Now it is your turn to join in the fun and celebrate with me! This giveaway will run for one week. I will announce the winner next Sunday! Good luck!

Here are all the items you can win:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 Now that you have followed some of my favorite blogging friends, here is your prize! I created a little packet called A Day at the Beach Multiplication Activities to help you bring a bit of summer into your classroom, all while helping your kiddos review their multiplication skills. It includes a flap book and two array review sheets. Just click on the picture to download it now.

Thanks for helping me celebrate my first blogiversary and Happy Mother's Day!

Sweet Tweet Arrays

One of my dearest blogging friends and I have paired up to have our own little product swap! How fun is that? Tania from My Second Sense is one amazing lady! Our classes were paired up to be pen pals this year. It has been so much fun for our kids to write one another letters and send them across the country. I am in California and Tania is in North Carolina. At first my kids thought North Carolina was a different country. So needless to say, we had a few geography lessons to fix that idea!

One of the concepts I love to teach is multiplication. It comes at the end of the year, and I just feel like my kiddos are growing up and getting ready for third grade when I start teaching them about arrays. I was really excited when Tania sent me this amazing packet.

It is FULL of fun and creative ways to introduce and teach arrays. Here are some of the things that are included:

Anchor charts and teacher task cards to model arrays with the kids. I used this as a whole group activity, but it could easily be used for small groups too.

Individual student array cards. These are great to have a center or use on a small group.

I loved the anchor charts in the packet. They clearly explain the differences between rows and columns. This is always tricky for my little guys, but not after the visuals I showed them! Here they are hard at work identifying the arrays using the task cards and their student sheets.

They loved using the picture cards and writing their multiplication sentences.

After the kids got the hang of identifying arrays correctly, they were able to make their own arrays. Each students was given a sheet of birds and told to make their own array. Then they needed to identify the amount of rows and columns to make their multiplication sentence. They had a blast! 

When they were finished, each child shared their array with the class and explained how they created it! They were so proud of themselves! Then, we created a class book with our new arrays! If you are looking for a comprehensive, fun way to engage your students and teach them about arrays, this is the packet for you! Tania has thought of it all. Head on over to her TpT store and grab your copy now! Your kids will thank you.

If you don't already follow Tania's blog, head on over and become a follower. She has great ideas, a wonderful sense of humor and terrific products to share. You don't want to miss out!