Well I finally did it! I mailed that box! I am so excited. Now I am just studying for the assessment center test. I feel so relieved and now I have so much more free time. I even had time to spring clean my classroom last week. I reorganized my classroom library because I received a book grant I had wrote from Donors Choose. The long pink shelf houses multiple copies of chapter books.







This year I waited until January to start a student portfolio book and I am in love with how they have turned out. I am going to start this from day one next year. I am going to add a binder to my students supply list. I love this portfolio because it serves as a writers workshop notebook as well. I have different sections for narratives, poetry and all about pieces. The students are really motivated to do their best work since they know it will be featured in their book.

In Math Workshop, we have been practicing multiplication. I found out about a game for multiplication practice called Speed. This game is a two person game where students practice skip counting to teach multiplication. My students love this game and I have even created a big end of year Speed competition. My students are so excited they practice the game at recess and some have even asked about buying it to play at home.

This is my second year using Daily Five and although I love it - I need to revamp it for next year. I have been trying to figure this out in my brain. One thing that is hard about Daily Five is technology problems during listening center. It never fails that the CD won't start  and students loose precious time trying to guess what is wrong. Of course I can see from my guided reading group what the problem is, but then I have to stop the flow of the lesson and go and fix it.This is why I have created a new job for my students called "tech Expert". I have trained two students with what to do if the technology is not working. This allows me to focus on my guided reading groups without distractions.