Sunday Scoop

I'm linking up with the lovely ladies over at Teaching Trio this week to help focus my mind.

I don't know about you but at this time of year I've got a million and 1 things floating around in my mind and I am by no means a completer- finisher!!! 

At the minute I'm swimming in a sea of planning for a lesson observation, tidying my classroom, keeping on top of marking, submitting my end of year levels, covering the last few things of the curriculum, updating policies, designing my new classroom and planning fun activities and trips for the last few weeks of school! Add to this the fact that I, like most teachers this time of year, am utterly worn out and the children are hyper, hyper, hyper!

So, to help focus my mind I'm sharing my Sunday Scoop…

With only 4 weeks to go until we break up for Summer, we are all planning our final Performance Management observation lessons. This time it needs to be a in a Foundation Subject so I've chosen Music- if you have ever heard me sing then you would find this hysterical but I think I'm going to rock this lesson- PMA all the way! Ha! 

Even though my little ones have done their KS1 SATs and I know which levels I will be recording them as, I'm going to give them assessments which are in-line with the New Curriculum just like the rest of the school so that I can highlight any gaps which may present a problem for their Year 3 teacher and I will try my best to plug them over the coming weeks.

Last week we had a H&S audit- I was named and shamed in the report! It's no secret in school that my huge walk-in cupboard is a total tip but it's one of those things I've just never got time for! After the audit….I've got to make time!

I've been taking part in the TPT Seller Challenge along with many wonderful teachers and Week 1's challenge was to make-over products we already have in our stores- I'm now on a mission to make-over  all of my old products. Read here to get links to already made-over products and snag them at discounted prices!

This weekend is my cousin's 30th Birthday so I'm heading home to have a wonderful night out with all of the girlies in my family. I'm the only one who lives away so it is always amazing to be spending time with them- they are my bestest of best friends! 

The problem is…we live in Merseyside so if you know anything about Liverpool then you will know that you have to look your best when you go out for the night and finding an outfit I love is proving a little tricky…only 4 more days to sort one out! Fingers crossed! 

Click on the button to head back to Teaching Trio and hop onto some other Sunday Scoops 

Sunday Scoop

Only one more week until half-term people!

It's been a while since I last linked up with the lovely Teaching Trio and this week I really need to focus my mind as there is a lot going on! 

Thanks to some staffing changes I am getting a day out of class this Tuesday to sort out the massive mound of Art and Design Technology resources we have in school. They are all stored in a big cupboard but between changes in the curriculum and staff everything has kind of gotten into a big jumble and I just haven't had the time to get in there and sort it all out- hooray for Tuesday!! 

I have 2 weeks to find a lovely outfit for my nephew's christening- Mr T is to be Godfather and I can't wait to see my family and spend some quality time with my dad who lives up in Scotland.

If you follow me over on IG then you may have seen a picture linking to my other blog- Confessions of a Try-hard . I started this blog over 2 years ago and usually post about recipes, things I try to make or other things (sometimes political) that spark my interest. Over there I am a sporadic blogger at best (hard to believe I know seeing as I am so dedicated over here!) but this is something I aim to change.

It is Mr T's birthday in a few weeks and I always struggle to find something I know he will really like- if he wants something, he usually gets it himself! I'm thinking of getting him a FitBit- let me know your thoughts- he goes the gym most nights and also cycles on a regular basis. 

It is half-term break next week but seeing as it is also our anniversary and my nephew's christening over the break, I don't want to be doing loads of planning too. 

We will have been married for 6 years on the 23rd (go us!) and Mr T has planned a weekend away for us- I don't know where but I do know it will be awesome! 

Wow! 6 years ago!!!

Have a wonderful week guys 

Sunday Scoop

Wow- it has been a mega weekend for year2tastic and I am worn out! I'm taking some time before bed to link up with the lovely Teaching Trio for this weeks Sunday Scoop…

It is our last week in school before Easter Holiday and as always I'm thinking ahead! Our next Learning Challenge is based around the theme of Island Life and we look at both an Island in Scotland and The Galapagos- I love teaching it and the kids love learning about it! 

As I'm away for almost all of the Easter Hols then I HAVE to get my planning straight this week and I'm looking forward to sitting down with my teacher BFF to talk over our ideas and plan out the WOW moments we love- I"m more than HAPPY to have her round and I HOPE we get stuff done rather than just sitting and gossiping but I can't promise! 

It's been 3 weeks since I last had my nails done and I'm in need of a new design for my travels! I love getting my nails painted and I usually go with my aforementioned teacher BFF but not this week- I'll miss her! 

My final Role Play of the year will be a pirate ship to fit in with our theme of 'Ship Shape' but I'm struggling for something for this half term- usually I go for a Post Office to fit with the Katie Morag stories but any ideas would be very welcome! 

So… here is to a week of mini fluffy chicks, stressing over folding baskets correctly and coming home with random goggly eyes stuck to my trousers! 

Happy last week guys! 

Oh and just incase you missed them… I now have new Social Media buttons at the top of my blog- click to have a nose!

Sunday Scoop

It has been a while but I'm back linking up with the Teaching Trio again!

I love the Sunday Scoop but this week was a challenge- I've got a lot on!!!

It's time for our next round of Performance Management observations and I am quite looking forward to this one- we're exploring synonyms through 'The Emperor's New Clothes'. There should be lots of talking, acting and up-levelling of language choices going on- fingers crossed! 

If you read my blog then you will know that I have recently moved house- I hate unpacking with a passion!!!! We have been trying our best to get on top of the boxes but my clothes are still (mostly) in cases- I'm going on holiday in 2 weeks and believe me, I wish I could just pick the case up and go but I'm not sure the jumbled contents will cut it in Vegas! 

This half term is sooooo short (5 weeks) and full of 'fun' activities such as World Book Day and Comic Relief…plus we had the chicks! I am looking forward to getting a week of full lessons in!

This Saturday I am off to the Education Fair in Birmingham and hope to attend a talk by the wonderful Pie Corbett (if you don't know who he is then click here) I'm hoping to meet up with the lovely Paper Obsessed Teacher and family while I'm down. 

What are your plans for the week ahead? 

Half Term Sunday Scoop

I think this is my favourite link up out there!

It's time for….

Head over to the Teaching Trio's fab blog to link-up and get your week off to a super start!

Sometime over the next few days all of the children in our Year 1 and 2 class will be receiving this in the post…

Our new theme will be 'Fabrics of Fairytale' and a lot of our Literacy will be taken from this gorgeous book (click here to visit Amazon)

Our Learning Challenge 'BIG' question for the Half Term is 'Could you be the next Fairytale stylist?' and we're kicking it off with a Ball of course…only problem now is what to wear! I've got a beautiful Belle dress already but I'm saving that for our 'Castles' theme next year (the year 1 littlies will be mine then and you can bet they'll notice if I come as the same princess!)

Oh and then there is the issue of the following weeks costume…I've been The Gruffalo, Where's Wally, Princess Smartypants, Robin Wood and Sophie from The BFG in the past (we don't always do book characters…last year we were countries!) 

Any and all suggestions for fancy-dress are very much welcome!

I flew out of school on Friday as we were driving to Leeds to watch the rugby so didn't have time to tidy away all of my Valentine's decorations and the Space resources from this past Half Term so a day in school is very much needed!

Well the long awaited moving day is next week (fingers crossed) and it's been a long time coming- it was supposed to be October!!! So I will be spending a lot of my week off boxing up and cleaning as well as planning but I shall endeavour to squeeze in some Netflix and cuppas! What are you currently Netflix'ing? We're just about at the end of Homeland- any suggestions? Something cheesy along the lines of 'Witches of Eastend' would be fab! 

2 of my best girls have very cute baby bumps at the minute but, as a group, we're not really into the whole 'Baby Shower' phenomenon that seems to have gripped the UK so this week we're meeting up for big fat greasy take-away pizzas and some cheesy DVDs- bliss!

Any of you lovely people also on Half- Term? 

Let me know how you're planning to spend the week.

Here's to the 'no-school-tomorrow-Sunday-night-joys'!

Sunday Scoop

Teaching Trio's Sunday Scoop really helps to focus my thinking for the 

week ahead and look at the positive rather than just the workload! 

To link up yourself click on the button above.

How often does your school level children? We level every half term in reading, writing and maths. Our school, like most others in the UK, is currently stressing and desperately testing out new ways to 'level without levels'! Oh the joys of Gove! How are your school approaching it? 

Please comment- I'd (sadly) love to know!

I'm over half way through the 18 month NPQSL programme and I am just about to gather lots of data to determine how influential the project I implemented as part of it has been on our reading levels- its a LOT of extra work but it has been very interesting so far. 

We have loved our 'Journey into Space' Learning Challenge but as with the end of every half term I now have the task of packing all of the resources away- boring! 

I sat with my lovely co-teaching friend yesterday- SATURDAY- and planned out next half term's Literacy and Theme work. I've already scoured TPT for lots of lovely resources to use and I'm in the middle of creating some of my own which I hope to post to my store by the end of the week- our theme is Fabrics of Fairy-tale so keep your eyes peeled for some Cinderella- themed time work coming soon!

I have been working on a blog post 'What's in the box? My Guided Reading essential toolkit' for a couple of weeks and I'm just about done- I would love to link to some of your blog posts so please comment and let me know your details- let's share readership! 

Yes next weekend is Valentine's Day and yes I have a date with my husband! If any of you know me then you will know that Mr T often plans or buys gifts that also benefit him- lovely pink onesie for my birthday…thank you very much….oh you got yourself a matching blue one even though it's not your birthday…oh ok! So our lovely weekend away now also includes a visit to Hendingley for the Rhino's game…hey-ho… I get to cuddle in the cold with my man and watch fit men in tiny shorts run around…I'm not one to complain! 

Here's to a week of cute cards and a profession of undying love from Ryan Gosling!

Thanks for stopping by

Sunday Scoop

This past week has been fantastic- I'm rather sad it's over and I'm about to start a new one but hey ho!

I'm linking up with the fabulous Teaching Trio to set myself some positive goals so that this week is just as fab as last. Check it out…

So tomorrow is class picture day- I'm never very good at nailing the look and I've not been able to get a hair appointment for months so I just know tomorrow is going to rock- NOT! 

We follow the Assertive Mentoring programme at my school and one of the best parts are the 1:1 meeting I get to have with my pupils- they feel awfully important and it works like a dream for engaging them in their own progress and target setting.

We were due to move house back in October but things stalled and we have been hanging on for news…this week it came! Moving house is bitter sweet for me- I love the house we live in now and totally fell in love with it from the moment we stepped inside but the new house is beautiful and I can totally see it being our family home. Whilst I'm excited… ugh the thought of packing boxes makes me weep!! 

Last week my average time to get home was 6:45pm which isn't too awful but considering I leave the house at 7am it makes for a very long day- this week I'm hoping this isn't the norm and I get to be tucking into my tea by 6:45 at least once!

I know it's cheesy but last week was just as I had predicted- fantastic! We topped it off with a fabulous trip to Jodrell Bank- an 8 hour round trip which proved to be (almost) painless and I would totally take my little ones on a huge trip again! 

Although we live in such a beautiful part of the country, visiting museums, art galleries, theatres, science centres etc is near impossible so knowing they can hack such a big trip is wonderful!

This week we are mixing our Numeracy and Science lessons to experiment with rockets- its going to be immense! 

As it's quite an action packed week we will be in the need of some down time- I've prepared by making some of the most amazing play-dough EVER!!! 

I followed this recipe I found on Twodaloo (a fantastic blog you should totally check out!) - it was quick, easy and super effective!

I'll keep you posted on all of the fun we have with it!

Sunday Scoop 18th January

It's Sunday night again and I am in no way, shape or form disappointed! I've had a awesome weekend (I managed to meet up with girls for our cuppa and see my amazing sister & niece just like I had planned) and I just know that I'm going to have an awesome time with my class this week!

To help me prepare for it I've linked up with Teaching Trio again so take a peek at my Sunday Scoop…

I know they are an important document and all of the information is already in my head but IEP's are something I dread sitting down and doing! Hey ho… it's off to IEP land I go!

I've tried to jazz up my subtraction lesson for tomorrow and provide a reason for the children to be using the skill so I've developed a jigsaw for them to solve. Each group has a target number and scattered around the classroom will be jigsaw pieces with subtraction calculations on them. They must solve the calculations and if they total their target number then they can bring the piece back to their table. Once they have all of the pieces then they can turn it over and piece it together to reveal the planet they will be planning a mission to during the rest of the week. It is available in my TPT store now!

In last week's Sunday Scoop I mentioned that I had to get my children to stick their work into their books as soon as it was marked…so far so good so this week I HOPE to keep in top of it!

Anyone else got formal lesson obs coming up? We have one per term and I always like to start gathering ideas as soon as I book it in but find if I actually plan it closer to the date then I stress less as I don't have as long to tinker with it and critique it- how about you, how do you approach them?

Last week was ace with my class and I'm really excited about seeing them tomorrow- we are ending our week with an amazing trip to Jodrell Bank Space Centre- it's a 6 hour round trip but I just know it will be worth it and we will all love it!

What are your plans for the week ahead? Why not link up and share your Sunday Scoop?

Sunday Scoop 11.1.15

Well it's that time of the week again and I'm linking up with the lovely ladies over at Teaching Trio for the Sunday Scoop to help to focus my mind! 

Not that we do lots of worksheets because we don't but I am useless at getting the work stuck in the books asap once its been marked….3 weeks later and a pile the size of a house has appeared in my 'marked work' box!! 

We have been doing AR since September and up until now we have just been using the quizzes and test but are set to get the competitive/ self motivation side of it up and running- I've found some lovely clip charts over on TPT but need to put a plan together for how I'm going to disseminate the info to the rest of the staff- any ideas would be very welcome!

IT IS THE WORST!!! I hate having to unpack my case, get the washing done, sort out all of my make-up and jewellery etc but I suppose there has to be a downside to holidays just to even the awesomeness out!

I love teaching GR and have a blog post planned for next week but I often find I am planning the session the night before I deliver it so this weekend I have brought all of the texts I am using this half-term home with me and shall endeavour to have the sessions planned and support materials printed before the night is over- wish me luck!

As I was away for NYE I've not met up with my girls since Christmas Eve and I am desperate to hear all of their gossip- cuppas and cake are a must!

My wonderful little sister is 25 this week but as we live 3 hours away from each other I will have to wait until the weekend to celebrate with her but flowers and a card are all preordered to surprise her on the day- single mums rock and need a little spoiling too! 

I am entering this week with a PMA…I've planned a whole Space Camp themed Numeracy unit so the little ones should be fully engaged…should!!! 

Here's to a fab one

You my also like to link up with my blog-olutions post here

Sunday Scoop

Well…here it is… my final blog post of 2014 and I've chosen to link up with teachingtrio for the Sunday Scoop- click here to find Sunday Scoops from other lovely bloggers.

Why is it that I always feel the need to clean my oven ready for Christmas? This 'need' never possesses me at any other point in the year yet I know that should I ignore it I will feel incredibly uncomfortable come Christmas Day!

We go on holiday the day after Boxing Day (New York thanks for asking!) and I am sure I've seen my passport…somewhere!!! Oh and in all honesty it should read 'start my packing before Christmas Eve!' I'm not worried though…I'm a packing pro…honest!

My work friends and I have started a tradition in the run-up to Christmas of a pamper and a good feed- my only job now is to trawl Pinterest to search for the perfect festive nail art design…that's a job for when I'm just about to fall asleep then! 

Don't forget to check out my TPT store for the New Year sales- lots of new products will be uploaded including this Space themed Math bundle-

Have a very merry holiday and a wonderful start to 2015- see you on the other side!

How to keep the kids off the ceiling and my Sunday Scoop!

I'm currently sat here watching 'Elf' one of my all time faves! 'The best way to spread Christmas cheer is…' if you can't finish that quote then I don't want to know you!

As we all know, this time of year is amazing hellish in school- the children are far too hyper to produce work of any standard and we are far too worn out to actually plan and deliver a lesson! All we are truly doing is counting down the days until the answer to the following question is no-  'Is it too early to put a DVD on or do we have wait until next week?' You hear me… I know you do!

It is at this point, with almost 2 weeks of term time left, that I try to have some go-to tried and tested activities ready to squeeze in between the endless play rehearsals- obviously we have to get the obligatory cards, calendars and gifts made but if your school is anything like mine where these have to be kept to afternoons and 'real' lessons must continue in the mornings then keep reading!

Having finished our work on The Polar Express last week I decided to eek out another lesson using a super cute craftivity from Megan Astor on TPT. We started off with a picture from The Polar Express of all of the 'Elves' gathered in the town square and a suitably glittered letter declaring that Santa wished to recruit some more. It directed us to hit play on the computer to see what an applicant would have to be able to do.. cue fits of laughter as 6 of the class appeared as elves dancing away to a christmas song curtesy of the super 'Elf Yourself' computer app. The letter then went on to inform the class that all interested parties must 'Elf' themselves and fill in an application form.

This product was so easy to use and well thought out that it basically ran itself- my children were inspired to write for a purpose and had a real giggle while doing so… a 'real' lesson if ever I saw one!

Another activity I am planning to use is the amazing 'Christmas Activities: Reindeer Edition' freebie (yes you read that right!) from First Grade Schoolhouse's TPT store. I am going to link this with a visit to the Reindeer Barn on northpole.com a must visit website for me at this time of year.

This coming week we will be doing our Numeracy assessments and as I have a vast range of abilities in my class, we will be doing them in small ability based groups. This is always a nightmare as the rest of the class need to be doing something worthwhile but easy to manage and oversee.

I have developed this simple Gingerbread Counting Snap & Scoot activity to use for the less able in my class to practise basic counting skills and will be using it this week. It's available in my TPT store now but click on the image to grab it for free here!

I introduced these fun Christmas themed games from Games 4 Learning last week and intend on having them run as an independent activity this week- they are straightforward, no fuss and excellent for lots of calculation practise.

Well I hope that has given you some food for thought- if you have or intend on trying out any of the activities mentioned above then please comment bellow and let me know how you get on.

Now to the Sunday Scoop- I love this link-up with the fabulous Teaching Trio

I know I am not the only one stressing that their little lot are going to be 'THAT' class in the Christmas show!!!! 'God loves a trier' and my goodness these kids are trying even my tone deaf patience! Also, apologies for the lack of apostrophe in 'work's'!!! 

I am pretty sure I'm the only teacher left in the UK who hasn't been to watch Nativity 3 yet- I loooooved the first, second er…so so and I'm hearing that I shouldn't bother with the third but I just can't help myself- I will see it before it gets to DVD! 

Who else loves gingerbread at Christmas? It's the smell that fills the house I love most- yum!

Have a super week y'all 

Sunday Scoop

It's that time of the week again people…Sunday night!!! I've just got back in from school after spending 4 hours setting up for our Art Exhibition tomorrow and now I'm faced with my usual Sunday night ritual of lesson planning, printing, laminating, marking and sorting out the weeks outfits! So just before I crack on with it I thought I would give you the scoop on my week by linking up with Teaching Trio again-

I actually don't mind planning and after several years in the same year group I've got at least rough plans for everything but I still hate sitting down to do it on a Sunday…if only I could get it done in my PPA time rather than doing exercise book orders, sorting out phonics groups, cutting out lettering etc…etc!!! The same can also be said for my rapidly expanding pile of marking….oh well the joys of the job!

This weekend my amazing cousin and her friends are hosting a Fabulous Frost Fair and I am head back home to not only do a spot of shopping myself but to man her stall full of 

beautiful personalised photo frames

- visit AJM Creations by clicking here…you never know, you could find the perfect Christmas gift for a special friend or loved one. 

Yes, yes I know it is still November but our Christmas play/ concert is less than 4 weeks away and we have 2 songs just for our class to learn and 3 whole school ones- I think you get the picture!

Now…I love a pamper as much as the next girl and I am fastidious about my tri-weekly nail appointments but for some reason, despite the fact I adore getting my hair done, I never seem to get to the hairdressers every 6 weeks as necessary…in fact I think I'm pushing 4 months since my last visit- oops!

Tomorrow we are having a whole school Art Exhibition inspired by Georgia O'Keeffe and parents are invited in for a coffee morning- I mentioned it in my Five for Friday post also- and today we have been in school getting it all set up…

                   

 I think it's looking pretty good don't you? 

I hope you are all having a successful day- remember, a Sunday well spent brings a week of content, or something like that!