i love my job.

so, i hate being away from micah... but i sure do love my job.

some days, or most days, i wish i was just two people.

instead, i'm just multiple personalities: teacher by day, mom by night and weekend.

here are some things from that the teacher side of me.

teaching half past and how to number a clock with pull and peel licorice.

(the kids get to bite the licorice to make the different length arms of the clock, too!)

teaching magnetic force with magnets, paperclips, and letting students choose items to discover what breaks the magnetic force.

a few other things i forgot to take pictures of...

-melted snowman writings: created pictures of melted snowmen and wrote how we thought our snowman melted.

-letters to our favorite famous character (after reading the jolly postman) and practice addressing envelopes

first grade is the best.

the very hungry first graders. and more.

okay.

here's what we've been up to in first grade.

really adorable first real writing prompt that i have to share...

taken from, obviously, the very hungry caterpillar.  

teaching the students about beginning, middle, and end... while trying to teach them to love writing at the same time (thus allowing it to be silly!)

and also in first grade, some examples of the BASE centers...

Buddy Games... 

letting them roll dice with a partner and make matching number sentences.

All About Numbers... 

writing numbers in rainbow (this student reused a paper from a Daily Five center :))

 Solving Mysteries...

drawing all the squares they see in the classroom.

Exploring Manipulatives...

pattern blocks and counting pennies.

Also...

 Mystery Reader on Fridays.

 and... field trip to Great Harvest Bread Company to learn all about bread (since we're learning the food pyramid right now!)

good stuff.

my teaching idea.

okay.

so i want to revamp how i teach math this year in first grade.

and i found BUILD, which is incredible:

(thank you, pinterest...)

but, the issue is that BUILD is made to use five days a week, two centers a day...

i need something that's four days a week and two centers a day.

plus, BUILD had no problem solving (which i make a huge focus in my classroom)

so...

i created BASE.

Students will complete two centers a day, but during the centers, just like Daily Five, i'll meet with small groups and work to challenge them or catch them up, depending on ability.

i'll introduce them just like Daily Five, one at a time and work up to the 10-15 minutes that i'll want them to consistently be able to do.

i'll use bins like BUILD for the different centers, allowing the students to choose their centers... more details on that to come (i really want to have leveled materials in the bins, so i have to think it all through more!)

it's just in the thinking process, but i'm really excited!

i'm going to relate it to BASEball with decorations, so that should be fun, too!

watch for more to come...

p.s. i love my job.

operation: love the days that we have left.

i started something in class today.

called operation: love the days that we have left.

(nice name, right?)

basically, i'm nostalgic.

and not looking forward to letting go of these great students.

so, i'm allowing myself to really cherish these last few weeks... and each day, i'll randomly say "operation!" and we'll stop learning for a few and do something fun and memorable.

today's activity?

outdoor math.

 jumprope counting (by 2's, 5's, 10's, 100's, odd numbers, etc.)

partner sidewalk chalk double (and triple) digit addition and subtraction with regrouping.

also today: our puppet show for the parents.

(that's our stage and some of the puppets, but i feel like it's creepy to have their up close faces on here...)

the students decorated the letters for the "stage"

oh, and here's a picture of the baby chicks we just hatched!

joy to the world.

coming tomorrow for operation: teacher is getting nostalgic and wants to just have fun...

math problem solving scavenger hunt all over the school!