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As for how teaching is going, this year has been pretty grand! I would share more, but I have gotten so many resources, graphics, etc from other awesome teacher/bloggers that I am afraid I'd share something I shouldn't and honestly struggle to remember which idea I got where! Ah! What to do?!?

But just now, I am loving my job, my students, and those I work with.

Life's good. 

And one day I'll decide what to blog about! Ideas? Requests?

Here is one of the Word Work stations: it's a "See - Bead - Write" activity from Marsha McGuire. You can find it on TPT - my kids LOVE it!! I am also pretty dang proud of my tackle box for the letter beads. It works beautifully!

Here is the other word work station as well as where I store the iPads. Notice the Hot Dot Pens - these are going to be a year-long item with changing cards, I think! The kids love it! My giveaway for those ends TONIGHT by the way have you entered? Also, check out how I finally managed to add a paper with pictures of this year's kids modeling good workstation behavior.

Here is some math! We made shape monsters! It's a glyph. Again, an idea I saw somewhere, so unfortunately I probably shouldn't throw the directions out for free. :/ I also really like my new numbers on the wall, especially the teen numbers. Got all that off tpt this summer, but can't remember from who. Holler if it was you and help me link to it! Too tired to dig for it at the moment...

I am pushing journaling this year. So far I have writing journals for morning work and math journals that we do every single day. The math journals don't have fancy name labels - those are dollar spot name tag stickers from Target! 

My Wall of Wow. Currently featuring shape yarn art. Real nice. 

Right by the door, my transportation chart. I think I have blogged about it before...

This year I added Rit-dyed mini-clothespins in blue and green. They match pretty well I think.

You can also see our "Today's Password" sign. I usually put a sight word on it.

Below you can see the rest of the whiteboard. Right smack in the middle is more shape art. It's supposed to be houses on a waterfront made with a construction paper collage and watercolor paint. 

You can also see my writing conferencing schedule at the top right and magnets for visual directions. 

Oh, and my beloved "I need a pug!" notepad.

These show my kids this year, and to protect their privacy I am leaving the picture and file I made as private as possible. I assure you though...they are precious!! I wrote "I can" summaries of directions with each picture and placed each in a sheet protector AKA cheapo lamination. These will be taped near each station as visual reminders.

I was graciously sent the Hot Dot Pens by Educational Insights to test them out with the many old Hot Dot Cards I inherited with my classroom. They have been in use for 3 weeks now and the batteries are going strong. The kids love the dog and cat characters and the happy noises. The pens also buzz when the child has correctly answered a few questions in the row - and that little buzz is a good incentive to get the answers right! The only downside is that my kids hold the pens around the animal's collar where volume control is at, so they keep changing the volume! That's ok though really, because even at maximum volume the pens are pretty quiet and do not disturb nearby workstations at all!

I am currently using Letter (cap to lowercase) Matching and Rhyming Cards, but as the year goes on I will just by swapping out the cards in this center. I love that although the content will change, the way this activity works never will. In my opinion, these Hot Dot Pens make a great center that is self-checking and easy to differentiate!

Now, don't you want to win a pair of Hot Dot Jr. Pens?!? Enter my giveaway!