Another Funny Thing I Heard...

One of the best parts of teaching first grade are the first graders.

They are a lot of work, but they are a lot of fun!

And they say the darndest things!

On Friday I was explaining to the 1st graders that we would be having 4th grade buddies.  I told them what fun things we would do with them and how they were so excited to be their buddies.

So I started telling them the names of their buddies.  (Now, keep in mind this is my 1st year at this school and I don't know any of the kids here and since I didn't get last names, I didn't even know if any of them were siblings).  Every once in awhile I would ask if they knew the buddy who they were assigned.  None of them said yes.

Then it came to this one 6 year old boy.  Upon telling him the name of his 4th grade buddy he shouts "Yeah!"

I'm thinking...yeah means he knows this boy.  So I asked, "Is he a friend of yours?"

"No," he answers, "I just like the sound of his name."

Seriously!  This is what this 6 year old said!  Are kids getting older these days or what? lol

Boo Boo Strips

This is how I handle the band aid issue.  Let's face it.  1st graders get owies...lots of them.  Some you that actually bleed and that you can see.  Some are not seen so well but still exist.  My cup of boo boo strips are there for all sorts of owies.  I make it accessible to all and it cuts down on all the interruptions...

well, except for the shoelace issue...but that is another story. :)

The Things Kids Say...part 1

So I have to share...

Keep in mind I teach 1st grade and most of my students are 6 years old....

Yesterday in class we were settling down to the carpet to hear a story.  One little girl was looking at her leg and when I asked what was wrong, she said she needed a band aid.

I told her to go ahead and get one from the boo boo strip cup on my desk.

She walks over.  Picks a band aid out of the cup and turns to me and asks:

"Mrs. C...are these band aids Latex Free?"

I didn't know how to answer that one! :)

A couple of back to school freebies

Here are a couple things I created for my class this year and thought I would share.  Sometimes it's tough to start from scratch and finding something that will help you out is always good.

This is my parent survey. I send it home the first day so that I can grab those parent helpers and get them trained right away.  It's posted as a freebie on TPT...I am still learning how to post things on there. Here is the link:

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/1st-grade-Parent-Survey

This second one is a simple, quick list for the end of the day.  Now that I'm at a school with bus pick up I want to keep all 22 kids going in the right direction...especially if I end up with a substitute.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/How-do-you-get-home-graph

Enjoy!

I hope that the beginning of your year is going well so far!

One Day Down...

I survived the first day of first grade in a new school today.

My feet didn't though...at 3:06 I kicked those puppies off to give my feet a break.   I just spent the last 3 months in flip flops...close toed shoes...ugh!

So overall I call it a success.  Found the lunchroom without getting lost...phew!  Learned all 22 names by lunch.  Got all the school supplies organized and almost put away.  Even managed to clean off my desk at the end of the day!

All in all a very good first day!  Looking forward to day number two in about 8 hours :)  Time for bed....

Blog Hoppers Unite!

Blog hopping or Bird Walking as my friend calls it--is addicting and never ending.  I don't know if anyone hops on to mine yet.

Hellloooo....(was that the echo of my own voice I hear?)

Oh well, maybe someday I will be helpful to someone.  If so, I am glad I got to share something with somebody.  In the meantime, it's just me and the sounds of the keys clicking away on the old laptop.

Like I was saying...blog hopping is addicting and never ending.   It's like the book series that my daughters got me hooked into last summer...

The Maze Runner Series

The twists and turns you take throughout the variety of web pages out there.  I never know where I have been and worst of all, how to get back to where I started!  And the path I take is never the same twice!

Fortunately there is this really great tool that helps me keep it all organized.

Life in Idaho Pinterest Board

Are you on there yet?  You need to be on there if you are a blog hopper.  All you have to do is 'pin' your find in a category on your bulletin board.  It's awesome!  Check out my board...there's lots of fun stuff on it.  With Pinterest I can find my way back to my favorite stops along the blog hopping trail!  No more worries of writing down lists of sites in a notebook or trying to bookmark them on my computer and then having long lists of bookmarks.  Best of all, it saves time...and we all need that!

So today's fun find I added to my board is a clip art site.  It's called Scrappin Doodles.

You can click on the link over there on the right side bar ----->  ----->  ----->

I found it when I was downloading freebies on Teachers Pay Teachers.  The teacher used her art on her planning sheet she had created.   There are kids and animals that are as cute as the Thistle Girl designs.  And unlike Thistle Girl, you can use the Scrappin Doodles designs you buy without purchasing a $120 resellers license--like Thistle Girl requires!

Things that save time and money are two biggies in my world!  How about yours?  Now on to lesson planning...ugh...I hate that part of getting ready for school.  It brings out the procrastinator in me.  But you can't teach like you blog hop :)  So planning I must go!