Not so BACK to school...

What a crazy week!  All that work I put into getting my classroom ready in August, got the room ready for back to school but it didn't get me so ready for BACK to school. (Pun intended!)  My back had been bothering me ever since the last week of August and took a terrible turn for the worse this week.  On Monday I woke up and could barely stand or walk.  Long story short...I have been out of work all week and am just barely back to normal today.  Sooo hoping I will be ready for school on Monday.  I don't know about you, but I go a little nuts when I have to stay home from school and prepare lessons for a sub. I just feel like I'm missing everything that's going on.  I used to feel the same way when I was student and had to miss a day of school...I know, I know...a little dorky!  I've never had to do it for an entire week though, so this has just been not soo fun.  Luckily, my school assigned one sub for the entire week and she is a certified teacher.  She went above and beyond the lesson plans I supplied for her and wrote me on fb everyday to let me know how everything was going....LOVE HER!

So while I'm sitting at home just waiting for this back to heal, I figured I'd post a pic of the treats I made for my firsties to go along with our Kissing Hand theme.  I got this Kissing Hand cookie idea from Michelle at Fabulous in First.  My cookies are not quite as adorable as hers, but my kids didn't know that, so they loved them!  Some of them were actually jumping up and down when they came into the room and saw their Kissing Hand treats!  Soooo cute!

My kids were also sooo excited to find out that Mr. Bushey helped make the hearts in the middle of the cookies!  They made sure that the two cookies that were left over after snack time were saved for Mr. Bushey (because he was such a good helper) and my dad (because he is a busdriver for my school). 

On a whole 'nother note...I may be missing school, but I am loving all the extra time I am getting to spend blog stalking now that I can actually sit up!  Getting lots of great apple, pumpkin, and fall ideas for the upcoming weeks.  The leaves up here in New York and Vermont are starting to turn into beautiful fall foliage.  LOOOVE FALL!

<3 - Mrs. Bushey

No rest for the crazy!

We are back from ARUBA and I've spent every weekday getting my room ready for first grade friends.  We had our professional development days last Thursday and Friday and I knew there wouldn't be much time in the classroom so I needed as much done as possible before then.  Unfortunately, all that time setting up my new classroom has meant NO time getting lesson plans ready for the first couple weeks. :(  Don't worry my plans for next week are finally done!

We also had our Open House on Thursday where I got to meet 12 of my 22 firsties!  They were very excited about the guinea pigs and seemed to be great listeners while I quickly went through the G.O. Book, which I got from Michelle at Fabulous in First, with their grown ups.  And... two of my first grade team members will be using the G.O. Book this year also b/c they loved the idea when I showed them my example. I am excited about this b/c we can compare how its working in different classrooms with different groups of kids.

So, am I C-R-A-Z-Y to head into school today, on Labor Day, to finish up some last minute projects and have one last look at the classroom before the 1st day of school?  Here are the reasons why I have decided this is not soooo crazy:

1. The things I have left to do will be really quick and I have already done most of the work at home.

2.  I now have two guinea pigs, Vera and Janie, living in my classroom and I want to check on them over

     the long weekend.
3.  My hubby is coming along to see the progress.  (Ya know those scary pics I posted earlier..that's
     what he's seen so far.)
4.  I LOOOVE my job and it really doesn't feel like doing work on Labor Day anyways!

Finally...Here are the pics I will be using for my four Math Tray areas.  I use four different colored pocket charts with the pics and the student names in them and those colors match the Math Tray that those students will use for the day.  I didnt have a pic of the charts but they look like these from Lakeshore.  I use the blue, yellow, green, and red (I wish I had the purple and orange too!  Those are super cute!).  For my trays I took 4 old lunch trays from our high school cafeteria and wrapped them in duct tape in those four colors.  The activity I place on the tray is what those students will do that day. 

 

 These are the four areas where the students will go with their Math Tray activity.

Stay tuned for pics of the new guinea pigs!  For anyone starting school tomorrow like me, Good Luck and keep on smiling!  And for all of you heading back for another week, Keep up the good work!

<3- Mrs. Bushey