First Full Week as a Firstie

Well the first full week is in the books!  We have been working really hard learning all of the procedures and rules of first grade.  I am so proud of all of my little firsties!!!  We spent a lot of time this week building our stamina (the time your child can work independently) for read to self.  This is one very small component of our reading program in first grade.  Reading is at the heart of everything we do in first grade.  Before we can fully get started, the students must learn all the procedures for our literacy block.  One aspect of our reading program is our reading rotations or guided reading/centers.  After our whole group mini-lessons, the students break up into small groups.  During these small groups the students will go to the following centers: read to self, read to someone, listen to reading, computers, work on words, Promethean Board, and guided reading.  Read to Self is one rotation where the students will go to read good fit books by themselves.  These books are ones that are at your child's independent reading level.  This 10-12 minute rotation is a time where your child will be practicing their reading fluency.  While your child is reading to him or herself, I will be working on reading with a small group of students.  Below are some pictures of some of our friends building their reading stamina.

Welcome to First Grade ~ 2016-2017

Welcome to first grade!  I hope you all had a fabulous summer!  I spent my summer hanging out with my three beautiful daughters, reading lots of books (both children's literature and books for me!), we spent tons of time at the pool, went on a trip to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and had lots of fun outside and inside just enjoying each others' company.  The school year is upon us and while I'm sad that the long days of summer have come to an end, I'm also super excited about the coming school year.

I hope you all received your welcome letters from me in the mail.  If not, I'll tell you a little about me here.  I am in my eleventh year of teaching first grade (wow!) at CES.  I was raised in California my whole life and graduated from CHS in 2001.  I then graduated Summa Cum Laude from The University of Central Missouri with my Bachelors in Elementary Education.   I became a first grade teacher at CES and then went back to school and got my Masters from Southeast Missouri State University in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages).  I am married to my college sweetheart, Kelly.  We have three amazingly beautiful and bright little girls, Lily, Elly, and Karly.  In my free time I enjoy spending time with my family.  I also enjoy photography, reading, and walking.

It is my goal to create a warming and welcoming environment for my students. I hope my classroom is an extension of home and that my firsties love stepping into our room everyday.   It is also my mission to instill a love of reading and learning in all of my students.  I strive to make learning fun and enjoyable.  I strive to differentiate all of my lessons based on each child's individual academic needs.  I promise to give 120% of myself all of the time.  I love my job and my students truly are an extension of my "family."  It is with great pleasure that I will be serving you this school year.

Welcome to first grade...it's going to be AWESOME

Below there are some pictures of our classroom.  We are trying out flexible seating this school year.  There will be another post about this type of seating in the coming weeks.