Happy holidays

So I know I haven't posted in a few days. I have really been enjoying my Christmas break. I like being able to sleep in and not have responsibilities.

I had a wonderful Christmas with my family. I also got quite a few deals over break. Those of you that know me already know that I am a couponer and bargain person. I hate paying full price if I don't have to. Well Christmas is my time to stock up on crafting supplies and things for next year.  I managed to get 5 Christmas hard back books for a little over $30 at Barnes and Noble. I bought two books from one of my favorite authors, Jan Brett. I also bought mini glass ball ornaments for my kiddos the next few years. I got 27 in a pack for a little over $1. Last year, I put their name on the ornament and we decorated our classroom tree with them. I also bought some plastic cups for $0.50 for a pack of four. They have cute little snowmen on them.

(I couldn't resist getting the Santa's Coming to Pennsylvania book. I needed that book!)

I got one of the best presents from my parents this year. The got me a new pair of Sperry Topsiders. I absolutely love these shoes! Last year I had a lot (actually a ton) of problems with my knee and desperately needed a pair of shoes that would give me enough support and comfort for all day wear. The teacher shoes I had were less than mediocre at best. So after a few conversations with a few other teachers and some research I decide to try the Topsiders. At first, I wasn't sure about them because I got a lot of blisters and they hurt. After breaking them in though, I wouldn't wear any other shoe. My knees and feet are happy after a full day of teaching and being on my feet. I no longer came home with aching knees and feet. My first pair that I got are brown and I knew I needed a black pair; so I asked my parents to get them for me for Christmas. They really came through and got me the cutest black pair! If you are in the market for a good pair of shoes I highly recommend them! They are pricey, but totally worth the price! (They also last pretty long too!)

Do you have any shoes that you swear buy? Leave a comment below; I am always looking for good shoes! Did anyone score some great after Christmas deals on classroom supplies?

Have a great evening!

Laura

Two days left!

Hello!

Tonight's post is going to be quick. I must say my days have been going a lot faster. I don't know if it is because of doing the daily 5 in both math and ELA or if it is just that way.

Today was our hand bell and piano concert. All students that take piano from 3rd-8th grade play a song. The 4th-8th grade classes also play and sing a song with the hand bells. I must say we have quite a bit of talent in my school. It was great!

When I got home tonight I had a bunch to do. I made nutella truffles, buffalo chicken dip, and nutella cheesecake dip. The truffles and cheesecake dip are for my work Christmas party and the buffalo dip is for my Dad's work party. Plus, I still need to grade papers. Well I better get to it.

How are your last couple days before break going?

Enjoy your night!

Laura

Tried it Tuesday

Good evening friends!

I am going to start a new Tuesday blog,  called Tried it Tuesday. I will be posting some of the things I tried throughout the week. Some of the posts may be school related or just something I tried out of school.

Well first up today is a unit. This week I decided since I was at a good place to stop last Friday that we would have some educational fun. In our last reading selection we learned all about character. So this week we are doing the same thing only with a classic Dr. Sues Christmas book. We are doing a lot of character analysis and story analysis. We are looking at how the main character was at the beginning of the story compaired to the main character at the end. We are writing a journal as if we are the main character too. We are in general just having fun and learning too.

On another note, I made part of my Christmas gift to my kiddos. I made them peppermint hearts filled with chocolate. You take two candy canes and put them together in the shape of a heart. Next, you take melted chocolate and pour it in the middle. Let it sit and voila you are done! I found this idea on pinterest. (For my work Christmas party, I am making a Nutella cheesecake dip and Nutella truffles...all found on pinterest. I will let you know how they turn out. I love pinterest so much!)

Well that's all for tonight! I hope you have a wonderful night!

Laura

Remembering Sandy Hook

Hello everyone,

Today I would like to take a few minutes to remember the teachers, principal, and students of Sandy Hook. What the adults did that day in that school was nothing less than what a hero would do. Even a year later, I still tear up when I think of it. Every morning, when I go into school I say my sandwich prayers and the Sandy Hook community is always included.

I remeber going into school the day after the shooting thinking of how I was going to handle my students' questions and concerns about being safe at school. To tell you the truth I had no idea what I was going to tell my little third graders. I decided I would only talk about it if it was brought up because I didn't know what their parents told them and what they didn't. The day went by though and no one asked. So I thought I was in the clear. The next day though one of my students raised her hand in Religion class and with a terrified look on her face asked, "What if Sandy Hook happened here?" I took a minute and thought to myself and I told them the truth. I told them that if it ever did happen the adults would do there very best to keep them safe. I also told them that if it did happen the person would have to get through me first. I would do everything and anything in my power to keep them safe, and I truly meant it. I reassured them that school is safe and that they are safe with me. After my talk, I looked around the room and I could see the fear in my students' eyes change to comfort. That was the hardest day I had in school. To this day I still show my students everyday that they are safe. I may not speak about it, but my actions say it. I want my students to feel safe and I want them to know that they are.

It is so hard to think about an elementary school or any school being attacked like that. My heart goes out to all the victims and I will never forget that day.

I also want to say my heart goes out to the students and teachers involved in the high school shooting in Colorado.

Laura

Finally

Well our Christmas production is over. Today was our final performance. Besides one little mishap it went flawlessly. I am glad it is over. I can now get back to my regular routine for the next week...except Wednesday and Friday when we have two concerts and Mass.

I am happy that starting tomorrow I can also do the fun Christmas activities with my kiddos. Tomorrow we are making Advent wreaths and our own abacus. ( During one of my summer workshops I learned how to make these and the kiddos wanted one to take home. They love using them in class to help them with multiplication.)

Well tonight was just meant to be a quick one. I hope you all enjoy your night!

Happy teaching!

Laura

Terrific Tuesday

Ok so I must say today I felt pretty accomplished after school. In a two hour period I copied about a dozen different activities and graded about 5 sets of tests. They are all ready to send home tomorrow.

Todaywe had dress rehearsal for the Christmas Production. I must say we have come a long way from a week ago. The kids chorus, band, and actors are all doing great! I have to give our actors credit they are doing quite a powerful and deep play. It is about the three wise men visiting baby Jesus. When they come the angel Gabriel tells them there gift needs to be in esence of their soul. Well needless to say their gifts change while visiting Jesus into the true essence of themselves. Instead of gold, frankensence, and myrth, (sp?) it changes to vinegar, a hammer, and a spear. At the end, one of our storytellers says how all three of these gifts have been used in another story that takes place years later on top of a hill. (The crucifixion) It is honestly a great play and I cannot wait to see their final performance on Thursday.

Well that was my Tuesday. How was your Tuesday?

Happy teaching!

Laura

I am back!

Hello friends!

I know I have been out of the blog world for quite some time. Actually since August! I apologize for not blogging...life got in my way. A lot has gone on since I last blogged. I got a whole new set of faces in my classroom. We have done so many fun things!

This year I have been more dedicated to the Daily 5 that I introduced last year and I also added the Daily 5 Math. The Daily 5 that I do in language arts is going so smooth this year! It also helps that I have students that love to read and write. Currently, we are working on a winter Haiku poem. We will be writing them and then posting them on snowflakes. They will then hang in our hallway and classroom. The Daily 5 Math is brand new for me. I actually just implemented them last week. It took me quite a few hours getting everything together, but I think it was worth it! I decided to start this because my students were learning multiplication and my kiddos were at so many different levels with this so I decided my instruction should be in small groups. Since I started my students have been doing better. I can really focus in on their strengths and weaknesses.

Some of the centers I printed out and laminated and cut out. I do not remember where I got them (I got them this summer) on TPT. Once I find out I will give you credit. I believe the ornament dash and Penguin Shuffle were from Christi Fultz from Ms. Fultzs Corner www.msfultzscorner.com.

In Social Studies, we also did out landform dioramas. This was after I taught a chapter on landforms. The students picked 6 landforms and they made a model of them along with trees and other things if they chose. I will have to post a picture of them as soon as I can. 

This winter has been crazy because this year the intermediate department has the Christmas production. We made a story of the three kings into a play. It is turning out to be quite a play. We have been working hard on it with the set, props, acting, and songs. It is really coming together and I cannot wait to see the final show on Thursday! 

Also a lot has been going on in my personal life as well. The last time I posted I had just purchased a car. This is my first car. I am glad to say she is still running great. We had a few minor problems but have gotten them fixed and she is now good to go.  Well another very important thing happened at the end of August a week before school started. My wonderful boyfriend Steve proposed to me! He took me out for a walk in the state park where our first date was. When we first got there we went up a water tower to look at the view. This just so happened to be where he got on one knee and asked me to marry him.

The beautiful ring! I absolutely love it!

Well I must get back to grading the Navajo worksheets my kiddos did on Friday. I hope you all have a great night!

Happy teaching!

Almost Ready for School

Hello everyone! Sorry I have been MIA for the past few days. I have been so busy the past few weeks with my classroom and getting things set up. School starts for us on August 26th. Tomorrow is one of the last days I can get into my room before the craziness of in-services begins.

On a good note I am just about done with my classroom, I just have a few minor details to finish. I am so excited about my room this year. I have to admit it feels so much like home and I honestly wouldn't mind staying there. (I have enough room in my whole class area for an air mattress just in case. Haha!) I will show you a sneak peak of my classroom library.

Here it is! It isn't done yet in this picture. (Look back next week for my classroom reveal.)

Tonight my project is making my classroom job board. Last year I only had a few jobs for my kids to do and this year I am making even more because I found I was doing things the kids could do for me. What are some classroom jobs that you have in your classroom? I have the typical ones and was wondering if there were any creative classroom jobs.

On another note, I had my vacation this past weekend. It was amazing and I want to go back ASAP. My boyfriend (Steve), my family, and I went to Washington, DC for two days. While there we saw the monuments, the American History Museum, the Natural History Museum, the Air and Space Museum, the American Indian Museum, the National Archives, the Capitol, and the Holocaust Museum.I will have to say that the Holocaust Museum was very moving. I learned so much there and came out changed in a way. We went through the permanent exhibit and Daniel's Story. Both exhibits were very tough to get though because it was so heavy. I honestly think everyone should go to this museum at some point in there life. Overall though, the entire trip was very nice.

Me standing on the stairs of the Lincoln Memorial with the Washington Monument in the background.

I hope everyone is enjoying the last few weeks of summer or had a great first couple days of school!

Such a Great Idea

Hello everyone! Last night, I was searching Pinterest and came across this wonderful blog!The name of the blog is...Just a Primary Girl. I was glancing through her blog and found this wonderful idea. It is a crate bench! So at 9:00 I ran to Walmart and grabbed 2 black crates, foam cushions, and purple fabric.

The materials!

When I got home I zip tied the crates together. Then, I had to wait until my Dad could cut a piece of plywood for me the next day. So today, once he got home from work, he cut my plywood for me! Then I was ready to start.

First, I glued the foam to the plywood so it wouldn't move. Then, I wrapped my fabric around the foam and plywood and stapled it to the plywood. I then stapled some rope to the plywood to tie it onto the crates. Once that was done, I tied it to the crates and voila I was done! (Sorry I don't have pictures of the process. I got to carried away with the crafting.)

All done...for the most part.

Tonight I am going to the Dollar Store to get some teal or purple colored bins to put inside to hold books or games.

On another note, I am getting super excited for our vacation. Steve an I are going to Washington, DC for a weekend. Today, I planned out the entire trip from the time we wake up to the time we go to bed. Some of the places we are going will be The Holocaust Museum, National Archives and the Smithsonian. I am super excited. I plan on bringing back some information to teach my kiddos in Social Studies!

Enjoy your night!

New Car Blues

Well it has been a busy weekend, but to end it Jordyn is at the car shop. This morning we went to my Grandmother's birthday mass (She is 92!) and noticed a nice trail in the gravel where my car was. The past few days she has been leaking power steering fluid, and today it decided to really leak. So after mass we brought her home and off to the shop she went. So far it sounds like it is just a small problem and shouldn't be too hard to fix.

After we dropped her off and picked up my old car Steve (who is my boyfriend) and I went to my co-worker's daughter's baptism and Monseigneur's retirement party. It was a busy day but it was a lot of celebrating. I really like days like this, where we just celebrate life and have fun. Hope you all are enjoying your Sunday!

A Little Creativity

Hello everyone! This week has been a very busy week for me. I bought my first car this week! She is a 2000 Cavalier. I was so excited to get her and it all happened so quick! It is definitely a big improvement from my old car that was literally falling apart!

Her name is Jordyn!

On another note, yesterday I was feeling very creative and decided to make some art work for my classroom to make it feel homier. Thanks to Pinterest I found melted crayon art, and some abstract art. For the first painting I put painter's tape on a canvas to make some different shapes. I then painted each section a different color. Once it was dry, I pulled the painter's tape off and it left a nice white border between all the colors. The next two I just glued crayons on a canvas and took a hair dryer to it. 

Here it is!

When I was making this I was thinking about maybe having an artist of the month or week in my classroom. Each student in my class would have a chance to be the artist of the month or week. I would give them a canvas to do a painting on at home and then for that month it would be displayed in our classroom library. I would take their picture and do a little write up about them and their art for the class newsletter.

I hope everyone enjoys their day and finds a little time for creativity.

Cool Ideas

Today I decided to post about some of the cool ideas I have come up with or come across the past few days. Last week I went to a Differentiating Math seminar where I learned so many things! I learned how to make an abacus with popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, and pony beads. I made 15 of them the other day. It was a time consuming project, but the kids will find them handy. The point of my seminar was how to make Math class easier for struggling students. We saw many different manipulatives and strategies. We also used hundred boards, straws, base ten blocks, fraction strips, etc. I would suggest the seminar if you ever have the opportunity to do so.

Today, I went to my classroom and set my room up a bit. This year I have decided that teal, purple, silver, and black will be my colors. I bought a bunch of the same borders from Staples 2 weeks ago so it will look neat. Last year I bought little plastic drawers for each of my groups to hold any papers for the week, manipulatives, and art supplies. They didn't fit in with my colors last year because they were white. This year I decided to buy chalkboard spray paint so I could spray the outer frame black and be able to write group manes and jobs on it. For the drawers I decided to use silver, teal, and purple duct tape to jazz those up. I am excited to see the final product! (I will post pictures of everything this week.)

Last year I ran into problems with classroom management. I really struggled with this because as most teachers know you aren't really taught about classroom management. I tried an economy system, stop light, tickets, and behavior charts with no real luck. at the beginning of the year the students and I worked on what a responsible third grader was and made classroom rules. I was wondering if anyone had any other ideas.

I hope everyone is enjoying what is left of the summer!

Hello and welcome!

Hello and welcome to my blog! My name is Laura Whiteford. I am currently a third grade teacher at a small private school in Pennsylvania. This will be my second year teaching. I am so excited to start this year. I learned so much during my first year and I cannot wait to learn even more my second.

Ever since I can remember I have wanted to be a teacher. As a little child I would make my younger brothers play school with me. I was always the teacher, of course. Since then I have been on the fast track to becoming a teacher. I finally got my certification and B.S. in Psychology after 6 hard years, and I couldn't wait to get into a classroom of my own. Last year, I was so blessed to literally fall into a job opening with my current school.

My first year was a struggle at times, but it was by far the most rewarding. I learned so much about myself and my teaching style while having fun and learning with my students. I could not have asked for a better group of kids to start my teaching career with. We had so much fun learning!

Last year I tried starting a log to keep all my memories from the year, but in the end it didn't work as I planned. This year though, I plan on keeping up with it. I will post things going on in our classroom, fun finds or ideas, and things about my life. I hope you enjoy this blog and the adventure of a new teacher!