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Fry Word Powerpoint
Well, well, well… We meet again! It’s been awhile since I have shared what I am doing in my classroom of crazy second graders. I cannot believe that we are nearing the end of APRIL! Where is time going?! Even though the end of the school year is getting closer and closer, I am always changing things up with my students. One piece of advice that I see over and over again for new teachers is to not be afraid of changing things up or trying something new. So here I am, not being afraid to shake up the routine! When I was an ESL push-in teacher last school year,…
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Emoji Behavior Clip Chart!
I am all about positive reinforcement! In my classroom, I try my best to acknowledge each student at least once a day for something that they are doing well. I have many positive classroom management strategies that I use everyday. A clip chart is super helpful with assuring that you’re students see their good behavior rewarded and how their poor choices have immediate consequences. When I was substituting last year, I realized I needed my own classroom management tool for all grade levels so I used emoji’s to help me out. Since they were such a hit, I decided to use emojis for my positive language clip chart! I love…
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Fry Sight Words Progress Monitoring
Progress Monitoring… It can be extremely overwhelming sometimes. Whether it’s finding the time or simply trying to figure out what exactly you want to keep track of. One area that I knew I definitely wanted to keep strong data in was Fry sight words. A students ability to identify a list of Fry words can tell you A LOT! Therefore, I needed a tool that was accurate, easy to store, and quick to do. I teach second grade and I have a wide variety of readers (from beginning of Kindergarten to end of third grade). But, I didn’t gain that knowledge until I did my first round of assessing with…
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I was… SELFISH!
Guys… I did something crazy. I did something unthinkable. I did something SELFISH. I have no problem saying that I am, honestly, obsessed with being a teacher. I’m in my honeymoon phase because it’s my first year having my own class, my own students, my own everything! I have done nothing but think and talk about my classroom and students since I officially got hired in second grade. There are so many days where all I do is think about the next books I want to buy or how I want to try something new. Like I said, the honeymoon phase. Don’t get me wrong. There are so many days…
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February Academic Bulletin Set (Cause & Effect)
Let’s talk bulletins…. I used to love them until they became something I always forgot about. My administration requires our bulletins to be authentic work from students that is tied to CC. We also need to display our objective and a description of the assignment. 🤪 Yes, it’s a lot!!!! But luckily I’ve found my rhythm and have done all the hard work for you. I’ve put together these bulletin sets that include all student templates, checklists for quick and easy grading, and all the bulletin displays that admin might be looking for! February’s bulletin focuses on cause and effect! The book we did a lot of work with in…
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Surviving the First Half of My First Year Teaching!
First, I feel that I should update you on my life! My first blog post (originally made way back in April 2018) was all about how I decided to start My Astro Bright Life adventure. It originated with the idea of making those who were also in what I loved to call “limbo” (certified teachers that were floating around schools, trying to get their foot in the door and finally get their own classroom) feel like they were not alone. You can read more about what I was doing and how it all started if you scroll down to my first entry! Fast forward to June 2018, I finally got…
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Real Life Teacher Problems
“So you just get to play with kids all day?” It’s our favorite question right?! Haha! I was making a MILLION copies (cause let’s be real… the copier is the real MVP but also the Bain of our existence) as usual and when I was done I plopped everything on my desk. Then I realized ten thousands other things I needed to do before I had to get my students. When I came back, I just looked at my desk and sighed… “I’ll organize it while they eat breakfast” I thought. Well then it was one “Ms. Usenik” after another; next thing I know it’s time to line up and…
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Wednesday Wisdom: Focus on the Sunshine!
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The Start of MyAstroBrightLife
Hi there, I’m Mary Fran and this is My Astro Bright Life! I’ve been dreaming about this day for, what feels like, centuries… But the day has finally come and I’m so excited to share this journey with you. I hope that we have connected through Instagram or Teachers Pay Teachers by now but if not, hello! I wanted this blog to be a place for me to share parts of my life because it’s so easy to get caught up in the glitz and glam of the “perfect” teachers on social media. Well, I’m here to say I’m NOT one of them and it’s ok if you aren’t either! 🙂 I’m in,…
