Monday Musings

No pictures in this post... just some thoughts for this beautiful (and hot) Monday afternoon!

I wish my students knew...

...that when they greet me each morning, it puts a smile on my face.

...that I secretly write down the cute, adorable, hysterical, and unknowingly inappropriate things they say.

...that my heart bursts with pride when they work so hard to learn something. And when that light bulb lights up, I do somersaults inside -- and sometimes real cartwheels.

...that when they don't know something, they've come to the right place!

...that it's not really an allergy attack that made my eyes water, but something precious and innocent that they've said that brings tears to my eyes.

...that I want to hug them when they "boo" at the dismissal bell.

...that they make my day when they tell their parents all about theirs.

...that when they quote me without knowing they're doing so, I give myself a pat on the back.

...that when they do something I've taught them, I can't help but feel overwhelmed with pride.

...that there's no such thing as "bad."

...that they should enjoy every minute of their childhood. It passes too quickly. 

...that they will always be my kids. 

...that I will always think of them as second graders, even when they're not.

I wish my students' parents knew...

...that I am so incredibly appreciative of and thankful for their support.

...that their little words of encouragement -- whether said in the morning at drop off or at night in an email -- make all the difference in the world.

...that sometimes I know it's hard for them that I get to be with their kids more than they do.

...that I get emotional, too.

...that life gets stressful, and sometimes you just don't get around to homework. And that's OK.

...that kids are kids and they're going to make mistakes, get into trouble, make poor choices, or hurt somebody's feelings more than once at some point in their time growing up.

...that there's no such thing as "bad."

...that it's hard to say good-bye to my own kids in the morning, too.

...that it takes me many, many hours to plan a week's worth of lessons. And that's by choice.

...that that one thing about their child that they worry about keeps me up at night, too.

...that my brain never quite shuts off when it comes to how to best reach their child.

...that their child's mind is pretty remarkable.

...that they are so much more than "just a second grader."

...that their children are incredible perceptive individuals who like to disclose all the precious, personal details of home life. 

...their child's full potential.

...that they truly are their child's primary educator.

...that they will always be my kids.

...that I know how hard parenting can be.

...that life can get stressful, but second grade shouldn't be.

...

Stop the Squealing!!

It seems like every year my students go from perfect little angels at the start of the year to perfect little angels who sometimes frequently  tattle. Luckily, by second grade with the interventions of our fabulous kinder and first grade teachers, it's not as bad as it could be. But kids by nature feel they need to inform the grown-ups that some sort of injustice has occurred. We all know that they do this to point out the fact that THEY are following the rules (well, minus the whole tattling thing), but it inevitably becomes an issue and I was always looking for the best way to handle it with each class.

A few years back, I can't remember how long, I found the book Don't Squeal Unless It's a Big Deal! It's a darling story about a classroom of pigs who seem to torture their poor, patient teacher with squeals (tattles) until finally something big happens. The kids see what a big deal truly is and vow to only tell their teacher if it's something important.

My kids love this book because it's funny and they can relate! I like to use my most dramatic reading voice, especially when reading aloud all of the argumentative dialogue as the little piggies fight over silly (but relevant) things.

After we're done, the kids help me put together an anchor chart detailing whether an incident would be a squeal or if it's really a big deal and a teacher needs to be notified. This opens up a lot of really great dialogue between my students and me as to when they should come find a teacher for help. We use the term "kid-size problems" a lot, and when my kiddos come to me throughout the year, I always ask them first, "Is this a squeal, or a kid-size problem?"

Then, my kids work on a Squeal or Big Deal sorting activity. They cut out all the different scenarios and put them under the correct headings. We go over them all together and discuss as we go. I like to have my kids take two different color crayons -- one for the squeal column and one for the big deal column -- to color each scenario as we reflect together. That way, if a student glued a situation to the wrong side, at least it's color coordinated.

As a final component to our Squealing unit, we make Piggy Promises! My kids craft a little pig face and then write a reflection vowing to only squeal if it's a big deal! Then they write about all the different situations in which a teacher would need to help. It's a lot of fun and the kids love putting together their little pigs!

My little guy is turned the wrong way, but I'm so exhausted, I can't figure out how to fix it!

If you're interested in this unit, it's available in my Teachers Pay Teachers shop! Click on the image below to take you to my shop. Have a great week!!

Piggy Promises -- The Glitter Clip

Giveaway Winner!!

I'm so happy to announce the winner of our Back to School Giveaway!

Congratulations to Heather S.! I'll be in touch this weekend to coordinate your prize! Thanks so much to all of you for participating! 

This week has been so crazy, but so great, and I'm exhausted! The first week of school is always the most challenging, but my kids have been nothing short of amazing. We sang, we danced, we laughed, we learned, and my kids told me how much they loved being there!

It sure doesn't get any better than that! Now, it's a 3 day weekend, and I can't wait to celebrate by spending time with my husband and kids, kicking off college football by heading to the USC game (fight on!) and... oh yeah, lesson planning and getting ready for Back to School Night on Tuesday.

Looking forward to posting more about this week later on! For now... dinner and bed! (And hopefully a foot rub from my main squeeze).

A SUPER Classroom Reveal!

#2getherwearebetter

Schroeder Shenanigans in Second

Wow! I'm so excited to be joining in on the fun!!

I have to admit that I barely got these pictures in on time. I was working on my room all summer, and I took these photos literally 3 minutes before the bell rang on the first day!! So they're not the best quality at all, but I hope you get a good idea of how my classroom is. It's my second home, so it makes me happy!!

This is my view walking in to my room. You should see the scenery outside of the windows. Our school is nestled in the mountains, so looking north out those windows, it's all mountains and if you look out from the door, you see the valley. Our classrooms are exterior, so when you walk out the room, you walk right outside. I'm on the second floor. It's heavenly! The lines running across the lights are used to hang student work. It's usually quite full!

If you look straight in my room, this is what you see. Our small group table (lowered so that the kids sit on the floor while they work). That's Johnny Depp, the pteranodon that my class made a few years back. Every year, my class makes a large dinosaur during our Fossils and Dinosaurs unit.

Table signs -- thank you Schoolgirl Style for the superhero lanterns idea!

My Religion bulletin board -- I enlarged Melonheadz clip art to make Jesus and the bible.  My clip chart was hiding behind the Superhero cape. Didn't introduce the clip chart until day 2.

Birthday bulletin board -- will post their pictures underneath

Our prayer corner

Writing center with my newly recovered crate seats. That typewriter is an antique from the 1920s!

CAFE board for Daily 5... I'll hang our reading strategies as we learn them from the line using those little glitter clips (tee hee).

My trolls displayed in all their glory. My students are borderline creeped out by them, but mostly think they're hysterical (especially the naked ones)

This summer, I repainted these cubbies. They were a lovely shade of plywood, and a few years back I painted the outside black, but never got around to the inside. It took forever because the wood kept absorbing the paint, but I finally succeeded!  I'll use these to store our interactive reading, science, and math notebooks, plus storage for our desk caddies. The top bins are for classwork and homework.

This summer, I found those red caddies at the Dollar Tree and had to get them. Originally, I was going to put a set of books in the, but I think for this week (until I open my library), I will keep their coloring materials in them since we're doing a lot of artwork. Then those will go in their art boxes and books will go in the baskets.

Melonheadz Create a Teacher artwork to decorate my and my instructional aide's desks!

Reading bead bulletin board (sans necklaces) and schedule chart.

Meeting area and library

Our Author in the Spotlight...this month we're learning about Kevin Henkes!

Working table complete with some leftover supplies not yet labeled or put away.

My biggest bulletin board. Last year I used it for student work, but I was at a loss for what it's purpose could be with so many kids this year. I decided to hang my anchor charts here, at least until we get to our Flat Stanley/Geography unit, and then I'll put up the fabric map of the US that I have.

Well, that's it!! I did not get a chance to take a picture of my front bulletin board, but it came out really cute! Thanks for stopping by!!