Labor Day at the Lake

After a long week of school, I headed up to my favorite place- Lake Okoboji to spend the long labor day weekend with my family. As I write this, I'm looking out the porch as the rain pours down on the lake....relaxed is an understatement.

My niece Lola driving the boat with her 'pa Dude

We got lots of boating, swimming, and play in on Saturday with the nice weather, but our luck soon changed come Sunday. So we spent Sunday shopping and I got some awesome steals from garage sales and thrift shops.

7-never been used shot glasses for $2!

Love this tri-lantern stand- I plan to paint and put outside.. Only $7

Arlo got plenty of runs in over the weekend

I also got a little school work done both for my classroom and my master's class. I feel ready for another week with the kiddos! Coming up in word work we will be working on contractions and compound words. I created a contraction task card set and a few pages of compound words for an interactive notebook.  

You can check out more on these and snag them at my TPT store!

I'm going to test out the compound word interactive sheets in class this week and then post those on the store as well!

Here's to another work week :) 

 

 A perfect 'boji sunset

Back at it

What a disappointment. I started this blog over a year ago with the ambition and desire to stay true to posting consistently. Needless to say it’s been a year since I’ve done so and I am not proud of it. We all know how it goes, because we are all super busy-whether it be work, family, or just a Netflix binge :) However, I’ve snazzied it up a little, found awesome people to follow, and found my motivation to get this blog going. Plus it is a requirement for the master's program I am in to either blog about our classroom, life experiences, class work or start a wiki page. If that isn't enough keep me motivated, I don't know what will be. School started just last week and I’ve been blessed with 21  new, eager to learn, third graders

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 Here is my behavior chart I will be implementing this year. 

Simple, but hopefully effective. Students start each day with a green, yellow, and red stick in their envelope. Students are always given a warning about their behavior before any consequence is given. After the warning is followed by another misbehavior, the student takes away their green stick-another warning (I'm a firm believer in second chances). After that, the yellow one is pulled- recess inside practicing whatever the behavior is the correct way. The red (hopefully not needed) will be used if the behavior continues after all of the warnings, with this a "Behavior form" is filled out and to be taken home for parents to sign. At the end of the day if students do not pull any of their sticks they are given a star on their "star chart" which is a simple 30 box graph. When students fill out the entire chart, they trade it in for a new colored graph and get to choose from "Ms. Phipps' Coupon Box" which are just simple coupons such as Have Lunch with Ms. Phipps and a Friend or Sit in the Teacher's chair for the day. We'll see how it goes! 

Another new thing I am trying this year are interactive notebooks. I am hoping to make their learning more visual in reading and math so the concepts "stick" and they always have a reference to return to. There are a lot of premade pages out there for both subjects, but of course they are spendy. So I decided to start creating some of my own-they aren't fabulous, but hey we all got to start somewhere. Rounding is such a tough concept for some students to grasp, so I thought I'd start with some of those pages.  

 A page created for the math interactive notebook to help with rounding. Snag it at  my teachers pay teachers store :)

Weekend Highs and Sunday Blues

Whew! What a weekend, so happy to be writing this in the comfort of my own home (and couch).

On Friday we made the quick decision to take a trip to Slater, Iowa. We were finally going to see my sister, brother-in-law, and of course, my niece Jordyn, After a wild week with my kiddos, it was sooo nice to see my family I don't see nearly enough.

                            She is getting soo big!

She had to try on all of her shoes for me.

I am working very hard on making this blog more me! I am doing some research and messing around so hopefully it will be cute soon. Then I can focus on adding some things from my classroom.

Currently- Sitting on the couch watching the 49ers and Seahawks football game on one tv and the Denver Nuggets basketball game on the other.  I am not ready to go back to work tomorrow, although I have missed my kiddos a little. 

Until next time- Let's go San Fran!

 

Here we go

I've been wanting to start a blog for some time now. There's something so refreshing about sitting down after a long day and just blurting out everything that has been running through your mind (for women-that's a lot) and for teachers it's even more of a relief when you don't have to talk in kiddy language or repeat yourself 3 times.
Here's a little bit about me:
First of all, I am an aunt to four amazing little ones- they are my world.
I am a third grade teacher and this is my second year of teaching, so it's a lot of madness and a lot of learning.
Speaking of learning, I began taking courses to receive my masters in curriculum and instruction- I am learning soooo much from the community of teachers I go to class with. I get to spend one weekend a month with them, in which we can learn, laugh, and share.
I am a runner (although I'd rather run outside, being in Iowa makes for a lot of trips on the treadmill)- my dog and I both would rather be in a place that is sunny year round.
I am a dog owner- Atlanta is a gorgeous German Shepard mix, who thinks she is a lap dog. The name comes from my boyfriend's love of the Atlanta Braves baseball team.
I am also a reader- James Patterson is my dude, but I'll read anything romantic with some crime involved.
I am a coffee lover and have become obsessed with my new kuerig.- who has time to fill up a pot and wait for it to brew? Not this girl!
I look forward to sharing much more- give me a break first time blogger and I already have writer's block....

 Here is me with my nephew Aidan -10, niece Lola-3, and newborn nephew Lincoln- they live right in South Sioux with my brother and sister in law. My other niece Jordyn - 14 months lives tooooo far away in a small town by Des Moines with my sister and brother in law.
Until next time :) Lex