Meet the teacher - Blog Hopping

Tell us a little about you/how long have you been teaching....  Hi all --- My name is Vicky Moore --- this is my *gulp* 18th year teaching.  I job shared for 7 years so I could raise my kids while they were babies/preschoolers.  I have taught first, second and third grade.  I love teaching and feel so very blessed to be in this profession.  I like many others went to school for something else...psychology.  But...while considering grad school stumbled upon a preschool job and the rest is history.  My mom was a teacher and I feel that some of my natural teaching abilites came from watching her teach. I went back and got my Masters in Education with a focus on curriculum in 1999.  I am NEW to blogging -- so I'm still learning a lot.  I have had a class website for about 5 years: 
http://www.vickymoore2.com/      
I have 2 wonderful children : Mandy 6th grade....Josh 4th grade.  They have gone to my school since Kinder -- what a blessing that has been!!  My husband is a football coach and PE teacher at a local high school.  So we have our summer off together. <3

What you might not know about me....    I love to run and swim and scrapbook.  I dedicate my runs to my amazing mom who passed away in 2007 to cancer.  Not a day goes by when I don't think of her...
My life is filled with the joys of my family as well as a job that I absolutely adore!!  I also feel blessed to be in the midst of such amazing teachers through these blogs.  I love to share ideas and get excited for school to start each year just like the kids do.  I was a junior national competitive swimmer for many years.

Since I'm a newbie -- please become a follower so we can collaborate together. :o)  Happy teaching everyone!

What are you looking most forward to this year?...  I am looking forward to applying many of these wonderful blog ideas into my classroom and incorporating new and fresh ideas into my teaching.  After teaching as long as I have you HAVE to keep it fresh!

What do you need to improve?...  We have had a new math program for a few years now and I changed grade levels last year so it's still new to me.  I would like to get a better handle on it.  I am strong in teaching reading and want to meet the diverse needs of my students better in math.

What teaching supplies can you NOT live without?...  I would have to say my DOC camera...love that thing!!!  Also chart paper - I love doing anchor charts and brainstorming with my students!

my beautiful family

My hubby and I - Pismo Beach

My back bib for my runs to honor my precious mom

more running fun...

I have 3 wonderful older brothers -- I'm the only girl and youngest :o)

I LOVE first grade!!

Hope you enjoyed getting to know me...come back often :o)

Weather Unit

We have just started our unit on weather and I wanted to post some pictures of what we work on also add some printables...enjoy.  I will add to this as the unit continues...

here we have brainstormed weather words and we made a class book about weather

We also make a weather vane with a pencil, T pin, straw and arrow.  Then we go outside and see how the wind blows it.  The kids love it!!

Here is a cute back to school night page to give to the parents...they fill it out and then I save it for their memory books.  The bottom part of the page we cut off and save in their personal files but usually they don't write anything on the bottom part because we already do a learning about your child page also.  Mount it on cute paper and you have a sweet note keepsake from the parents to put in their memory book. :o)

~~Back to School Night lil gift for parents~~

I always think the parents need a little pick me up also at Back to School Night...they are nervous to meet us and see our curriculum etc.  So to ease that I made these adorable little candy treats for them with some scrapbook paper and ribbon.  Also I always have each parent fill in a raffle ticket for coming that night.  The next day whoever gets chosen from the raffle gets to go to the TOY MACHINE!!!  So fun!!

they didn't take too long and the parents loved them!!



Best PTA ever!!!

I LOVE our PTA -- I just had to post pics of our welcome back bbq lunch they threw us last week.

Yes those are adorable PIG cupcakes!!!

pulled pork sandwiches...corn...biscuits...fresh fruit...salad.

Such a wonderful PTA!!!

More classroom photos

So Back to School Night is just around the corner and I've been a busy bee getting everything ready for that.  Powerpoint is almost done and packets too.  Here are some more photos of my room...I know I love peeking into your rooms as well. :o)

My 'BEE havior' chart...they can move their clips up or down in the same day.  I use student #'s instead of their names.

close up of the top 1/2

and close up of bottom 1/2

middle one is hard to read it says Bee - ware...

Our table baskets..here is a word dictionary page we put several in a basket to help them during journal writitng.  I use to do individual word dictionaries but it's too expensive to make all the copies.  This is laminated and works great!

another view of my library

I LOVE this...I have heard about a tattle the turtle poem but couldn't find any short enough... so this one came to me and I think it's just right!!!

got this from a friend of mine -- I've seen it before...perfect for buddy reading!

My calendar board -- I call it the daily buzz...

My b/f/f's board...How cute is she...I love her owl theme!!

My bee board for the hallway

My other bee board entering my room

I LOVE my toy machine!!  Can you believe when we were dropping off stuff at Goodwill they were loading this in the truck?  I had to BEG the guy to let me buy it even though it wasn't put through the system yet to purchase.  He just gave it to me....it's the best!!!

My reading strategies poster that our district uses...

That's it for now!!

tough crowd

Wow I have been in school 3 days and I'm exhausted!!  This class is a tough group...last year my kids were much more independent and mature early on.  I know the beginning of the year is always hard.  Still can't wait to get to know them better and connect with each of them.  They all have something special that draws me to them.  Next weekend I'm sure I will be asleep by like 8pm LOL it will be my first official full week back.  Welcome back to all my other teacher friends that are starting soon. :o)

Here are a few pictures -- still working on my classroom

my board about me

reading nook area

work display board

helper of the day

big book rolling storage crate

book boxes/whisper phones, etc.

book nooks - thanks to the idea of Beth Newingham

parent donation board for back to school night

my compliment chain poem -- add a link for compliments

computers still being set up...

reading hive entrance

(sign) thanks to my friend Barb Johnson

back of library

inside of library

smarty pants - idea from what the teacher wants blog here is the link

http://whattheteacherwants.blogspot.com/search?q=smarty+pants

white board

cute way to decorate a crate to store files

Here are some pics of my room -- school starts Wednesday and I'm still working to get everything ready. :o)

Setting up my classroom

I'm setting up my classroom as school starts on WEDNESDAY!!!  I will be posting pictures soon hopefully.  Got my class list yesterday...getting excited to meet these little guys!

Contact

You can contact me by my email:  mandysmom99@aol.com
don't forget to check out my class website: http://www.vickymoore2.com/

Printables

Coming Soon!

About

Hi everyone!!  Please be patient with me as I am totally new to the blogging world.  I have had a class website for about 5 years but having a blog is a learning experience.  I have been teaching for 17 years mainly in the lower grades.  Currently I teach first grade in Temecula California.  I job shared for 7 years so I could raise my sweet babies when they were young.  I have been married for 15 years and have 2 amazing kids.  My children have been at the school I teach at the entire time...except this time my daughter is moving up to MIDDLE SCHOOL!!!  I love teaching and can't imagine doing anything different!  It is such a blessing to be in this profession and I thank God for it daily!  I love to swim and run and have been a competitive swimmer.  I now run 5 and 10K's and half marathons.  I hope you enjoy learning about my classroom as we all share ideas together!!  God bless you!!