Making Every Minute Count

Hi everyone! It's Angie here from The First Grade Scoop. I just wanted to drop by to share a couple things that have been working in my classroom to make the most of every minute! We all know teaching is a super busy job. We're constantly running in a million directions, and the little time we have with our students really needs to count.

Something I've found that helps my students get a more well-rounded exposure to math has been calendar math. We recently switched to EngageNY for math (after using Everyday Math for FOREVER), and while I love certain parts, I really miss the exposure to money, time, and other key skills that EDM taught. I know, I know, it's not CCSS for first grade, but six and seven year olds CAN work with money and time. In years past, I had a couple bulky Lakeshore pocket charts for calendar, which were nice and sturdy but took up a TON of space. So, I was inspired by this chart from The Inspired Apple:

From http://theinspiredapple.blogspot.com/2011/09/math-in-focus-activities-for-first.html

Sooo... I created my own. It's not as pretty, but it definitely gets the job done.

What about making the most of our planning minutes? I have two little ones at home and I refuse to work on work until they're in bed... Which means it's sleep or work. So, I wanted to save time planning.

Also, we don't have a specific planning program that we HAVE to use, but I started using Planbook.com this year and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! It's supereasy to add lessons, save lesson formatting... and the big kicker? When something happens that changes your lesson (fire drill? Unplanned assembly?), it's easy to extend or bump your lesson to the next day. Seriously... Big time saver!

I hope this helps you make the most of your time! See you next month!