Classroom Tour & First Grade Fun

 Meet my 28 ambitious, kind, and exuberant 1st graders. They come to school every morning full of energy and joy that we (try to) harness into reading, math, spelling, science, social studies, and religion lessons. I am grateful to be their teacher and am continuously challenged as I reflect on each day and set goals to help me become a better teacher. Being a first year teacher is hard and overwhelming, but my students offer me so much grace and love. I'm greeted every morning as soon as I set foot on campus by a committee of 3-5 of my students running toward me at full speed. After a group hug and giggles, we walk to the classroom. It's a great way to begin each day.

I've finally had a chance to make my room my own and am so excited to share it with you. Having transferred to 1st grade after a week teaching the 7th graders (1st grade is a much better fit for me) - I didn't have anytime to prepare the classroom or curriculum. I've spent the past quarter focusing on content and keeping my head above water, and am excited to have given some attention to the decor of my classroom.

 We put on our pretend 'sight word sweatshirts' everyday to review and practice our sight words.

 We just finished learning about the life cycle of a butterfly and are starting the life cycle of frogs this week!

 The view from the back of my classroom. My students sit next to their academic partners to make think-pair-share activities easier. 

 I post at least one learning objective on the whiteboard each day. We also count what day of school it is (anticipating a fun party on the 100th day of school) and have a good morning message to start our day.

 I just put up the big border in the back - we'll fill that space with our "My Favorite Part of School Is" writing later on this week. 

 Math posters reminding my students of all the different ways they can solve math problems.

Our life cycle wheels - each wheel can be spun to show the egg, caterpillar, chrysalis, and butterfly stages!