Mrs. Kelly's Klass - Samantha Kelly

Hey, friends! Sorry the blog posts have been scarce! I've hardly even had time to breathe.  Teaching is.... a challenge.  I've been in school for 13 school days and it feels like I've been teaching for 13 weeks already!  Holy Moly is this a tough job!  I think I'm going through the normal first year teacher stuff -- being completely overwhelmed, beating myself up over things, having a million gabbilion fafillion things to do.  Thanks to some AMAZING teacher bloggers, I'm finding comfort and TONS of awesome strategies to use to help the year along.  More about that further down!  

I wanted to take a second and share with you the few things I've remembered to take pictures of so far this year! :)  The first two images are my student responses to the story A Bad Case of the Stripes by David Shannon.  Friends.  If you haven't read this book with your babies .. DO IT!  Mine stinkin' LOVED this book!  We talked about being proud of who we are and not changing for anyone!  They then filled in these blank portraits with things about themselves they are proud of and colored in their stripes! SO CUTE!

I also wanted to share with you our student generated word wall!  The first picture is terrible.. sorry.  But you get the idea.  In the first week, I had my babies each decorate one letter for the wall and draw a picture of something that begins with this letter.  I wanted my kiddos to feel ownership over their room, and by letting them create the word wall -- they felt involved in the decor of our space! :)

ALRIGHT, I told you earlier that I've been going through some normal first year teacher struggles.  And I think it's not just first year teachers who feel these apprehensions and that overall overwhelmed sense.  I'm so grateful to have received help from an AMAZING teacher blogger named Kathy Griffin.  Click her name to check out her blog.  If you're a new teacher or just looking for some new and wonderful classroom management techniques, read her entry titled Back to School Procedures and check out her Listening Strategies product by clicking the picture below! :) 

I want to leave you with a few things this evening as I know many of you are back to school and getting in the swing of things!! I've been busy planning centers! If you're looking for some literacy centers to practice long vowel sounds, check out this Long Vowel Pack at my TPT store.  Just click the picture below! :)

One of my favorite parts of the day is Math Centers! Pick up this freebie at my store by clicking the link below.  This fun safari themed game covers basic math facts! :)  You could use number dice/cards for math fact fluency and quick recall, or for struggling students or younger grade levels, use regular dice so they can practice adding up the dots! :)