Big Adjustment, Little Adjustment

Hello dear teacher friends! I have been absent for quite some time. Can you believe it is the end of September?!
Switching to another school and another grade has been, well, time consuming to say the least. But now that we are in some sort of routine, I am diving back into the blogging world to share ideas and find inspiration! Here is a little tour of what my new room looks like and and a few of my 2nd graders.

This room to ages to prep - you should have seen the before picture! But I love how it turned out. Lots of color (which it was severely lacking)!

Kiddos working hard during the first week of school with one of our "get to know you" activities! Love to see all the kiddos hard at work and talking to one and other.

And last but definitely not least, the little adjustment to our lives.

Yep, that is our little one at 9 weeks! We are beyond thrilled to introduce our very first baby! Can't wait to meet our person in April!

How have you been? What new things have you done this year? I'd love to hear!

~ Katie

Do You Use Reading Street? A New Adventure for Me

Good Morning, all! Well, I have officially taken my don't-think-about-school-until-July break. Now that the first week of July has come and gone, I am starting to think about next year. My district has just adopted a new language arts basal, Reading Street by Pearson. Do you know it? I am sneaking into my new building next week to snag a couple of the manuals to start reading over and thinking about what it is going to look like in the classroom.

So here are my questions if you do use Reading Street:
* Do you like it? (simple go-to question)
* What would you change about it?
* Are the centers enough? Or too easy?
* Do the students like the program? What do they like most? Least?


Thank you all for your insight! Have a lovely weekend!

~ Katie

Happy 4th! Flash Sale

I hope all of you and yours are having a wonderful, safe July 4th! This week is extra special for me as yesterday was my 3-year anniversary to my wonderfully supportive hubby and tomorrow is my 28th birthday! Whew! It's a big week! In honor of this week I am having a 20% sale over on my TpT site! Head on over and scoop up anything, or everything, you want! :)

What are you doing for the holiday? Do you have any favorite traditions?

~ Katie

What's in a Name?

Well, I have been racking my brain for a new name for this wonderful blog. I have tried to combine my interests. Here are some candidates. Thoughts?

Eat Love Teach
Bake and Teach
The Terrific Teacher
The Lovely Teacher
Teach Love Laugh
Teaching Through Learning

Think any of these will do? Have a wonderful Sunday!

~ Katie

Hello? Is Anyone Out There?

Ok, so that is a bit of a dramatic post title, but hey, I have been MIA for the last month and a half. So if you still kindly have me on your blogroll then bless you! It has been a crazy 6 weeks. First I was being transferred to 3rd grade and booted out to a portable, then an serious opportunity came up to teach in another district's gifted and talented program bouncing back and forth from two schools doing a pull out G/T class, and finally an offer to work in a 2nd grade G/T classroom. Ah, this is it! I am OFFICIALLY moving to 2nd grade in another school working with some truly remarkable students (but aren't all students remarkable?!)

So that briefly explains the craziness of my last 6 weeks. I never realized how hard it was to leave your first teaching job. 1st grade still has my heart, but I am very stoked to be moving on to new challenge.

Ok, no more reminiscing, here is where I need some help! You'll notice that the blog is called First Grade ABCs, not quite appropriate for this new adventure. Also it is only me now - Rebecca had a fantastic opportunity come up to work with an event planning company, so sadly she won't be on the blog very much. What should I re-title the blog? I am planning to focus some of my creativity on some first grade projects, but there will be a much stronger emphasis on 2nd grade now. I know I have some brilliant friends out there, help me find a name!

Thoughts?  Thanks! I am so glad to be back!

Katie

A Suffixes Freebie for My Fellow Teachers

Good Morning all! So, truth time. I haven't seen my cute firsties for 4 days now! It feels like forever! I took a personal day on Friday to go camping with my bestie and our hubbies, then during one of our hiking excursions I slipped, fell, landed on my tushy and sprained my ankle. It was not my most graceful moment!

Anywho, I couldn't put lots of weight on it by Sunday night so I took another day off. But, because I had some time to spare (sitting on the couch for hours with your leg up is not as awesome as it sounds), I made this suffixes game. Just click the picture or head over to my TpT store to download. It is yours because I am so thankful for what you all share and I appreciate the amazing teachers that you are!



Here's to hobbling back into the classroom!

~ Katie

It's Official - 3rd Grade Here I Come!

Ok, so it has been decided. I will be teaching 3rd grade next year - barring any unforeseen circumstances. At first I was, well, scared. Then, I started thinking about it and I think it will be a good challenge. And the kiddos will be great, they are my class from last year!

So any thoughts or advice on switching grades? I haven't taught anything but 1st grade, in the same school, in the same room. Moving all of my things is gives me a bit of anxiety!

Help!

~ Katie