Respect.  It is such an important and integral part of a functioning classroom.  The beginning of the year is the perfect time to introduce lessons that reinforce for students what it means to be respectful of each other, of the classroom, of adults on campus, and of themselves.  So this week, I began my first in a series of lessons on respect with my students. I knew my objectives (that the students would speak respectfully to each other and to adults) but I wasn't exactly sure where to start.  So I turned to my trusty friend Pinterest and I found these AMAZING posters from Digital Divide and Conquer .  They are free in his shop and so perfectly matched my thoughts on what I wanted to teach the kids that I just had to print them out.   For each letter of the word Respect, there is one correlating aspect.  I chose to center my first lesson around the letter R, "Recognize that everyone is different." Inspired by this pin from the First Grade Parade , I pulled out the...
For the past few weeks, I have been venturing into my classroom off and on to set up for the first day of school.  For me, that meant taking out my library books from the shed, emptying my closets out to access the folders and other supplies I would need to distribute to the kids, putting up my new word wall made from Target One Spot stuff (if you follow me on Instagram you know that I bought out the notebook paper stuff from 4 different Targets ;)), and putting up the tissue paper borders for my boards (which still had the felt up from last year....because that stuff is expensive so it is up for a while ;)) I was feeling pretty good about the status of my room.  The boards looked neat.  It was empty and plain, but functional. Then I went on Pinterest and Facebook and Instagram. I kept seeing pictures of BEAUTIFUL classrooms.  Fabulous libraries.  Gorgeous quotes filling the walls.  Comfortable nooks with amazing carpets, chairs you could sink into, and the perfect lamp in the...