Five for Friday

 I'm not going to lie this week FLEW by, I can't believe Week 2 (and a half) is over! I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Five for Friday with 5 weekly randoms.


1.  I am almost finished with my room... finally!!! I made a committment to get COMPLETELY organized this year leaving no section of my room unturned.  Of course, the first day came and went, and things weren't how I wanted, but I put my curtains (Party City tablecovers) up today.  Very inexpensive way to brighten up your room ( $1.99 for 1).  I had have 6 windows and was able to get 3 curtains out of 1 pack. The curtain helped pull my room together. 

2.  I read "Fancy Nancy" to my students on Monday to introduce the "fancy" words we are going to be using in class (aka vocabulary words), and the next day one of my kids wore this.  She said she wanted to be like Fancy Nancy... her sister in K was wearing the same outfit!  It was tooooo cute!

3.  First year doing the homework club and it is a success!! The kids clap for each other when I announce their name as being part of the club, they are so proud.  Such a simple idea, but so effective - I have 100% hmwk completion (waaay better than last year)! I used a metal baking pan (Dollar Tree) , glitter card stock (Big Lots) and glitter!  Here is a link to the freebie by Fourth Grade Frolics.

4.  I joined Instagram!  Follow me at thefirstgradeformula.

5.  My fiance has wanted to watch Cloud Atlas for the longest... and I have been against it because it just doesn't look good... well our movie night is being spent by me blogging and him trying to figure out what's going on in the movie because it makes absolutley no sense! -_-

Now I'm off to nurse this cold... 13 days in and  I already got kiddie coodies.  I need to go stock up on some vitamins! :(

Happy Friday everyone!  Good luck to everyone starting on Monday!

Classroom Pics and Freebies!

The craziness of school has started for me and I finally got to take some photos of my class.  I usually go in 1-2 weeks earlier to start organizing and decorating, but this summer our building was closed and unavailable to work in. :(  I stuck to the same theme of College Sports, but this year I decided to go with a BRIGHT...ER  :) color theme.    Main colors are green, blue, yellow and purple, there are hints of pink here and there.   I had thrown a bunch of things in my bins due to open house without officially getting to organize because we had another day before school started, but I never got to them.  I've been staying a couple (ok a lot) of hours after school each day to finish organizing/decorating --if I wait, it will never happen!  Here's a sneak peak into my classroom.  Also check below for a link to the number labels I use for bookbag hooks and center bins!

 This is our classroom tracker.  I used it last year and it really motivated the students.  I write the class average (based on weekly assessments) on a football and tape it on the "field."  When we take our benchmark test, we see how our percentage has changed for those particular skills and move our football.  Our goal is to have 80% or higher.

I Can Statements / Standards

Hall  Passes  and below  my Promethean are Larry Bell's Power Words (each can be found in my Sports Theme Decor Packet.)

  The words are right below my Promethean so my students and I can easily access them throughout the day.

Math Bins:  If you like these labels CLICK HERE to download for free (I also added colorful polka dot number labels in the packet!)

 Writing Center

Homework / Parent Note Bins on top of my shelf and below is storage for literacy centers.

I am so so so so  lucky to have 7 of these bad boys!

 Homework Club Board, I got the numbers and header from Fourth Grade Frolics.  Click for the freebie!  Doesn't look so nice in the picture because of the lighting, but in person it's a shiny, glittery purple!

I'll be sure to add some more "official" pics by next week when everything SHOULD be complete.  Good luck to everyone on having a successful school year!

The Back to School Sale is here on TpT!  School started on the 7th for us, so I have done the majority of my shopping, but there is always more shopping to do!  Check out my store for some goodies!