5 for Friday! 9/25/2015

Where have all the Fridays gone? I've missed posting every Friday, but am truly trying to find a way to juggle everything and keep my social game strong. Ha! School life has kept me very busy and on my toes, but here goes...

Three Words: Fish in a Tree. Need I say more? Yes for those of you who haven't read it yet...put it at the top of your list. It's THAT good. It will inspire you, move you, and make you want to be a better you! I aspire to be like Hunt's Mr. Daniels one day.

It may have taken me five weeks, but I have finally been able to get my "focus wall" somewhat situated! I've got my purpose posted for each of my programs, Being a Writer and Making Meaning with an anchor chart on the side to work out our thinking.

This was my first year celebrating National Talk Like a Pirate Day and I'm never skipping it again. The kids absolutely enjoyed this day and had a blast! They were very surprised to walk in and see their teacher dressed as a pirate. We even spent time scouring the Internet to learn more about pirates!

My absolute favorite highlight of the week was writing this note in a Harry Potter book I gave to a student. We talked during Open House about what he may like and I suggested on my favorite Harry Potter. Well he stayed absolutely enthused during the reading of the book and is now hooked! My little teacher heart is beyond happy knowing all the adventures he has ahead of him!

On this Friday I leave you with this final thought as you finish one week and look forward to the week ahead. The following is a quote from "Strategies that Work: Teaching Comprehension for Understanding Engagement" by Stephanie Harvey and Anne Goudvis:
"We know that readers get better at reading when they choose books they can and want to read."
Let your students READ and watch them GROW!

September Currently

Joining Farley's September Currently a little late, but it's better than never, right?!

I'm listening to the raindrops on the roof, which makes for a calming Labor Day holiday! I'm loving Lynda Hunt's "Fish in a Tree". This is a must read for all educators. I hope to be like Mr. Daniels when I grow up one day! I'm thinking I should probably start working on some lesson planning, but this rainy weather makes me want to take a nap. I'm wanting my house to be magically decorated for the fall. I've never been big on decorations (yes, sometimes even Christmas), but I'm feeling festive this year! I'm needing to get my classroom bulletin boards done. I have the fabric and border put up, but that's it and we are going on the fourth week of school, yikes! My goals this month are: (1) Finally get started on some grading, (2)Blog Weekly, and (3) Read 5 books this month.
I hope you'll join in the linky fun over at Oh Boy, 4th Grade!

Classroom Reveal: EEEK!!!

I'm going to be completely honest and say, this will be all about the pictures because I'm #teachertired on this Tuesday night!

Here are the before pics:

Okay, so maybe these pictures have an added sister or two, but you get the general idea of what I started with. Here's my work in progress, but ready for students classroom below...

This is by far my absolute favorite spot in my classroom. Repainting these shelves this summer was not an easy task, but well worth the hard work!

I say my room is still a work in progress because there are little things I am still working on finalizing like job charts, my focus wall, bulletin boards, lunch choice boards, and oh so more. Maybe by Thanksgiving I will have it all figured out and done! Ha. I hope you join in the linky fun because together we are better!