Daily Discovery

Still getting geared up for my very first classroom! I'm so excited because this weekend - it's going D.O.W.N. I finally get to get in there and start putting up some of the stuff that I've made. I cannot wait to see how it all looks once it's up!! Here's sneak peek:

These are the contents of two bulletin boards, actually. And it's only a small fraction of them. I really can't wait to see what they are going to end up looking like. {Probably like NOTHING I had in mind, but the effort is the thing that really counts...}

Moving on! I have been working on the first day of school stuff. You know, the getting the kiddos acclimated to my obsessive-compulsive requirements, showing them around the room, and scaring the bee-gee-zees out of them with all of my rules and warnings.  I'm trying to thing of cute activities to do with them {or have them do together as groups}. I've found a few things, but I really love the Saving Fred activity. Have you seen this? Too cute! AND they get a candy snack on the first day. Who's their new favorite teacher? That's right. I am. I stumbled upon this blog and found the activity, though I have NO IDEA how the heck I found it. I do that a lot. I actually had to dig into the search history of my computer to find something just tonight that I could not re-find if my life had depended upon it. It took about 45 minutes, but I found it. And now I've forgotten what it was all over again. Good thing I Pinned it. Sheesh.

Speaking of StumbleUpon - have you been there yet? DON'T DO IT. It's like Pinterest, but worse. Once you're sucked into the abyss of that mess, you'll never make it out. The other night I was on my iPad and it had a full 100% charge when I started. By the time I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer (some 5 hours later) - my poor iPad had 11% battery left. And let me just say that I only charge my iPad about once every week and a half, normally. Steer clear of it, friends. It's like a drug.

I'll leave you with this spectacular idea that I thought was my own creation. Incidentally, lots of teachers out there like to start their day with already having something for the kiddos to do when they barge into their quiet haven at 7:45 in the morning. Who'd a thunk it?! It's like "morning work"...only not. It's for "grown up" kids. Introducing my take on morning work...Daily Discovery! Kiddos will answer trivia questions that will require more thought than trying to solve a simple math or science problem. These will just be brain busters, and sometimes they will be related to science, but mostly it will be a "brain break" for them that won't have anything to do with anything. I'll put it on the projector every morning {and throughout the day, since I'm departmentalized} and there will be something different each day. I have the first five days set up already! Woo!! Here they are, in case you want to see the format. I got the trivia questions here. EXCELLENT resource!! I've also found SO MANY new and extremely useful resources over the past few weeks. Go to my Pinterest board called "Science Wizards." You'll be so glad you did!!