Frenzied

Oh my goodness!  Where has this summer gone?!  I officially have three weeks left of my summer, and since my in-laws will be in town for one of those weeks, that technically leaves me with two disjointed weeks.  As a result, I am in a bit of a frenzy to get my room set up, do my back to school shopping, start my Meet the Teacher Night preparations, and finish up a few curricular items before I blink and I'm back at school in my brand new position!  :)  Total madness! 

With all of that said, I went into my classroom for the first time last week.  Twice.  I have toyed with the idea of going back to my beach theme all summer, but truthfully, I am just to overwhelmed to do a different theme this year.  I have so much I need to focus on for my third and fourth grade gifted kiddos, and I don't want to take time away from planning and learning a new curriculum to revamp something that really still works for me and makes me happy.  So, needless to say, I will be rocking the understated jungle theme again this year... with a few enhancements.  It's going to be a sanity saver... and a penny saver!   I am not ready to share pictures yet since I am in the very early stages of getting everything together, but here's a few snapshots after my first day back.

This is how I decided to display my new READ decoration... at least for now anyway!  :)

This is my cutie-patootie new rug.  It's precious!  :)  I love the pop of color it adds to my room!

Okay, and let me just tell you how excited I am about these little rosettes.  I found them at a party store as part of a Bachelorette party pack...on clearance nonetheless!   When I saw them, I just knew they would be such a cute addition to my bulletin boards.  :)

My cabinets were the most time-intensive project, and it was also the most painful.  However, my they are now super reorganized, and I am in a much happier place.  I wholeheartedly believe that organization is the foundation of a well-oiled classroom machine.  :)

  In preparation for my setting up my room, I went on a Target run!  I went in there to pick up some hot pink drawer carts that I have been eye-balling, and let's just say, I came out with a tad more.  See?! 

In addition to the adorable pink storage carts, I snagged a lamp, a pillow, an area rug, an accent rug, a hot pink laundry basket for library book returns, some general school supplies like Expos and Post-Its, and quite a few Dollar Spot goodies. Here's my little smorgasbord of fab finds!

I seriously LOVE these erasers!  I love the bright colors, but more than anything, I am in love with the idea that I can use them with small groups for test prep practice!  I plan on bagging each set individually to pass out to my kiddos when I am doing explicit instruction with them on test-taking strategies.  Plus, aren't they so cute too!?

I also snagged six sets of these sticky notes.  I plan on incorporating them into sequencing lessons!

Aside from classroom preparations, I have been working feverishly to align the skills in Reading Street (per unit) so that I am teaching the same skills to my third and fourth graders each week and can maximize the use of wall space and my focus wall.  It took me a while, but now I have a pacing guide that will help me plan out my year one week at a time.  I am so glad I was able to get that out of the way this summer!

I've also been working on creating two different spelling programs for my students. I plan on working on Greek and Latin roots with my fourth graders to help them unlock even more meaning as they read and encounter even more difficult texts.  I plan on working on prefixes and suffixes with my third graders for the same reason.  I don't want them to simply study a list of words though.  I think it's so important to search for multiple examples and generalizations.  Memorization is not enough!  My fourth graders will be Word Warriors very soon.. and my third graders will be Affix Avengers!  :)  Ha!  I guess I should try to wrap it up tomorrow so I will have time to organize my spelling binder and print the word cards for the first nine-weeks at least!  I just LOVE it so far!

Even with all of my works in progress, I am still trying to soak up as much of my summer vacation as possible.  We've been super busy working on projects around the house and spending lots of time with friends.  So, basically my days are spent working like a mad-woman, and my evenings are spent running around with my hubs.  I am seriously twelve kinds of exhausted... but in a good way!  :)  I love teaching, and I wouldn't trade it for anything, even with all of the work involved in prepping for a new year!  It's just left me a little droopy-eyed lately... as evidenced by one of my recent Instagram photos.  (It was only 8:20 in the morning, and I was already feeling drained!)  Friends, it's definitely that time of year!   Buckle up your seat belts and enjoy the ride!  Try to enjoy the frenzy as much as you can!  Soon, we're all going to have fresh faces streaming into our classrooms for a brand new start, and it doesn't get better than that.  Have a blessed week!