New School Year, New Bulletin Board, New Language

I love trying to come up with cute, clever bulletin boards for the new group of first graders. This year I grabbed some scrapbooking paper, scissors, glue, and branches from a vase in my living room...and got to work!

I traced, cut out, and glued all the birds. I stapled the branches onto the bulletin board and printed out the letters from the computer.

You might be wondering about all the Chinese characters on the board. I am doing something a little a lot different this year. I am teaching a Mandarin Chinese immersion class this year. Well, Mrs. Chu, my new sidekick from China, teaches the Chinese part (duh). She teaches math, science, and social studies completely in Chinese. It sounds kinda crazy and a little intimidating, but really, it's ah-MAZ-ing! The kids have already caught on so fast and are speaking some Chinese! Even I can count to ten, ask to get water, and say "microscope" in our new language!

I'm excited to see how the rest of the year will play out - I know it will be great!

Sticker Chart

I had every intention of putting some classroom pictures up on here today. I even remembered to bring my camera to school. Too bad the battery was dead.

So, I marched down to the library and checked out a digital camera. Surely the school digital camera would work. Hm, not quite. See the picture below, not the best.

Yeah, these picture just didn't do it for me. There's always tomorrow!

Want to grab one of these sticker charts? Click here for the sticker chart (2 per page).They are a great incentive for students. There are 20 boxes; once they fill all of them up, they get a prize. Oh, the simple things that get them going.

These are a few of my favorite things.

Okay, I know in my last post I said my next post would include some classroom pictures...BUT, Michelle at Fabulous in First is having a linky party and asking people to post some of their favorite things. I have been blog-stalking her for a while now, so I wanted to join in the fun!

A few of my favorite things in no particular order, in no particular organized fashion. Sorry.



Fountain soda. Not just any type of soda, though; that one all the way on the left is my weakness. Ahh, Pepsi.

This is a new favorite. Sharpie pens. LOVE.

My camera, essential for the gazillion pictures I take.

Love these blogs, among many others. So inspirational and so many good ideas.

Two funkmeisters please. Soft. No beans or rice. Chicken. Cheese, lettuce, and tomatoes. Queso? You know it.

This is kind of a strange one, but it really is one of my favorite things. This is the only way my sweet baby B will sleep at night. In the hospital, the nurse would wheel him back into the room all snug and tightly swaddled - um, how do they do that!? I could never get it right. But these things - they do the trick!

I would wear flip flops everyday if I could!

Favorite children's book - Mo Willems is the best! I love anything he writes.

Okay, now it's your turn! Go on over to Fabulous in First and link up!

Hi, my name is Mindy...

I have a husband, and a son, and I work in a button factory school.

Meet Matt. He's my handsome husband. I didn't think life could get any better...

And then I had my son, Brody (who is just 2 1/2 months)! Now, life can't possibly get any better than this!

Or this!

Or this, right!?

When I'm not at home hanging out with these two, I am usually at school working in my classroom. Now THAT was my love before those other two came into my life. Teaching is still my thing, my passion. I love creating cute things for my class; I love the way fonts and clipart align to make the perfect sign or printable; I love seeing my students enjoying their day at school, knowing that it had something to do with me (or maybe it was recess, lunch, and the fact that it's popcorn day...).

Next post - classroom pictures. Happy Sunday, everyone!



Welcome!

I have wanted to do this for a long time. It's 1:34 in the morning, and it's officially done - my very own teaching blog!

Okay, so I will confess - I've tried to do this before. I had a blog, and I wrote some great posts. 

All six of them were really good!

But this time, I am going to keep it up. I will keep posting. This is the place I want to share all my ideas, all my signs and documents I make, all my pictures, all my triumphs, all things to do with my classroom! I also would love to hear some great ideas from you out there in the blogging world.

I am assuming there is someone out there reading this!

But for now, I am going to celebrate this first triumph from the comfort of my bed. It's now 1:40, and I'm tired. Goodnight, everyone. I hope you come back soon!