What I did this Summer and Plans for Next Year

Hey everyone!

I really wish I could have posted more this summer but I actually got MARRIED in July!  It was such an amazing day.  They threatened rain, but it turned out to be beautiful and sunny all day long!  My friends and family are still talking about the wonderful day we had!  I wish that weddings could happen every year! (maybe not the money part though hahaha).

Such a great party!

Now on to my plans for this school year.  I am going to be teaching 5th grade this year, but not just math- I will be teaching all subjects.  Our 5th grade group this year has a lot of students with special needs, and they struggle with transitions, so to make it easier we are going to keep them in the same room all day.  I am excited for this because I actually taught them in 2nd grade and 3rd grade.  I can not wait to see them on the first day of school and pick up right where we left off.

This year I have decided to have a "minion" theme classroom.  I was SO excited for this theme because I thought since the 2nd movie came out there would be SO many different resources I could just buy (I am the kind of person that thinks spending money to have it done is better than spending HOURS trying to make a LARGE Minion lol).  I was wrong.  There are so many cute make your own ideas so it looks like I will be making millions of minions at home every night (good luck to my husband lol).

In order to be ready for this year, I wanted to share a power point I will show my students.  At the start of the year we love to show them all about our college experience because it shows them a different, fun side of college.

Power Point Slide Show

Also, I wanted to share my letter that I send home to parents on the first day of school.  The letter is lengthy and I wish it didn't have to be, but it sets the tone for me to show my parents ALL about my classroom.  I try to lay everything out there so that it becomes a reference sheet- parents can look at it all year long if they have a question about my class.

First Day Letter to Students

As I create more minion things I will be sure to show you everything I do!

My Top 5 in 5th Grade

Hey everyone and welcome to my blog!  I wanted to start a showcase of the work my wonderful children do in 5th grade, here in Washington D.C.  I will start by sharing a little bit about me and why I came to teach in D.C. as well as my goals for next year!

I am a 5th grade teacher in Washington D.C. who came down here about 5 years ago from New Jersey.  My boyfriend (now fiancee) went to CUA Law School and I needed a job. I went to a career fair and my school strongly recruited me.  I had no idea at the time what a Charter School was and was very interested in finding out more.  I was hired in April (before any of my friends) and move down to D.C. in June.  I have been at the same school for the last 5 years, and have taught 2nd, 3rd, and 5th grade Math.  Next year I will be teaching the 5th grade inclusion classroom with my children that I had when I taught them in 2nd and 3rd grade- so it is going to be so much fun to reunite with them!

My Top 5 in 5th Grade

Top 5 Teacher Bloggers
1- Charity Preston:  The Organized Classroom
2- Angela Watson: The Cornerstone for Teachers
3- Pinterest:  My Boards
4- The Sisters:  The Daily 5
5- Laura Candler:  Teaching Resources

Top 5 Teaching Books:
1-  The End of Molassess Classes, Ron Clark
2- How Children Succeed, Paul Tough
3- Leverage Leadership, Paul Bambrick-Santoyo and Doug Lemov
4- Teach Like a Champion Field Guide, Doug Lemov

Top 5 Personal Books
1- Twilight, Stephanie Meyer
2-The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
3- The Stephanie Plum Series, Janet Evanovich
4-Something Borrowed, Emily Giffin
5-Pretty Little Liars Series, Sara Shepard


Top 5 Stores
1-The Loft
2-C Wonder
3- JCrew
4-Toms
5-Express

Top 5 Vacations
1- Disney World ( I actually got engaged there!)
2- Cruise to the Bahamas
3- Miami
4-Las Vegas
5- Punta Canta


There is just a little bit about who I am.  Next year I plan to post everything my children are working on to share with teachers.  Because of bloggers like the ones I mentioned above I have become a better teacher and want to be able to bring even more to the world of teacher bloggers.  I hope that you enjoy my blog and can share with everyone you know!

Best,