First Grade Funtastic: It's Finally Friday! Five for Friday Linky

Happy Friday! I am so happy to still be alive and standing at this point. I am exhausted. Physically and mentally. I have survived my first week of teaching my first graders. We have been learning the rules and routines of being in school. Today I can officially say that we are making progress. Whoo Hoo. I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday Linky Party. You can do the same if you have 5 random pics/things you want to share about your week.

Here goes....

1. This week was a big week for us. Meeting new friends, teachers, having specialists, being in school all day and learning about our new environment are pretty big things. I ALWAYS forget about the little red dot on the floor in my room. It's the subject of MUCH attention. Usually when I am reading a book or trying to teach. EVERY year...I have kids turned around...instead of listening and huddled in a group together. They are talking and grabbing the floor. Then I remember the RED DOT. The interesting red dot on the floor! Can anyone guess what this is?!? It's from my doc camera. If I don't turn it off...it shines a red dot on the floor and the kids are so curious about it...what it is...where it is from. LOL! We end up taking time out to talk about the red dot...and about how you can't catch it. We look at it...look where it is from and then talk about how we are going to leave it alone.

2. I am in LOVE with these privacy boards that I got from Really Good Stuff. I have some friends in my class who love to talk. I love that they feel so comfortable with one another already, but it is distracting with getting work done. I bought these this summer. I gave my kiddos the options of using them when they are doing quiet work...like journals, writing, etc. They LOVE them. They are so quiet when working too. Best.purchase.ever!!!

3. This week we talked about feelings. We talked about how words can hurt us and that even though we say we are sorry...they will never be forgotten. I made a heart out of white paper (only because it was a spur of the moment...I need to do this RIGHT NOW moment). I didn't have red on hand. I told them that every time they say something mean to someone it hurts their heart and leaves a mark. I came up with examples of hurtful things people might say and put a wrinkle in the heart every time. Then I talked about how we might say we are sorry. I unwrinkled the heart. We noticed that the wrinkles are still there and even though you say you are sorry...unkind words may never be forgotten. They each signed the heart saying that they promised to say nice things to their friends.

4. My husband took our annual first day of school picture together. My son on the left is 9 in 4th grade. My son on the right is 11 in 6th grade. I can't believe he is in middle school.

You can hear this book and others here...Animated Books.

5. I got some new books this week that I read to my kids. I have been using the Responsive Classroom approach to learning. I MODEL everything that I expect them to do. The kids MODEL everything we do. We practice using our supplies, listening and following directions. We are making progress. :)

Finally, if you'd really like to win some great things...hop on over to Learning With Mrs. Leeby's blog. She is having an 800 follower giveaway. It ends on Monday...so you'll want to check it out this weekend.