Five for Friday - Woot Woot!

In case you didn't already know...it's FRIDAY!  Yippee!

I'm joining the Five for Friday linky party hosted by Kacey over at Doodle Bugs Teaching and please note that I am doing it on time for once!

Look at these beautiful seat sacks that our principal ordered for the entire first grade team!  Not only are they roomy and durable, but they match my classroom colors.  That makes my heart sing!

The name cards that came with the seat sacks are even chevron in my classroom colors.  Ahhhhh.  :)

I'm in love!  These seat sacks really give our classroom a "clean" feel.

With back-to-school time approaching, this has been my view a lot lately...

...and this.  Though this spot had an entertaining view when I needed a brain break.  I was at one of my favorite coffee shops, which is also the roastery.  I was able to watch them roast the coffee beans over and over.  The aroma was perfect.

One of our local libraries has this wonderful Quiet Reading and Study Room with great big tables and free wifi - a great place to write lesson plans!

And one more.  Did I mention all of these pictures were taken in one day??  It was a looooong date with my computer.

Our classroom is really coming along, though not completely done.  Here is the progress!

This area is where my kiddos are able to find the Calming Caddy, Take a Break Binder, Conflict Carpet, Tattling Turtle, Boo Boo Basket, Lost and Found, Take-Home Books and Check-Out, etc.  There is a lot that goes on here!

The left side will host our Word Work mini posters and the right side will be where I hang Writers Workshop anchor charts that we co-create together.

I finished our Birthday Board with the exception of my students' pictures.  During Open House, they will write their birth day (the number) on a mini poster that has the months on the top, then their parents will take a picture using one of my digital cameras.

We will be trying out Chris Biffle's Super Improvers Wall this school year, so these are the students' cards that go along with it.  (He is the man who started Whole Brain Teaching.)  After I took this particular photo, I put number stickers on the black boxes because we will be using a number system to organize students.

And here is the actual Super Improvers Wall.  After I took this picture, I hung some cute felt photo frames in the blank white spaces.  If students make it to the "Living Legend" level, I will display their photo in one of the frames.  (I will be sure to include what this looks like when I do my classroom reveal.)

My sweet hubby took a day off of work to come help me hang things in my classroom.  (Now I am just praying that I will not be told to take them down.)

I showed you my "Really Big Point" (it is a Whole Brain Teaching thing) in a Monday Made It post, but here it is hanging in my classroom.

If I am working with students at the small group table, but I need the attention of our whole class, I ring my wind chimes.

I had NO CLUE how I was going to hang my anchor chart because the wall is fabric and we do not have a sturdy stand in our classroom.  My husband came up with this idea using cute ribbon!

I am excited to introduce the concept of filling buckets to my firsties this year.  I haven't done this for a number of years and I miss it!

I need to jazz this up.  Any easy-to-do ideas?

This is where we will display student work in the hallway.  The banner says, "This area is under construction.  Check back later to see work by Mrs. Unger's class."  (I made it on Vistaprint a few years ago.)

I use a dismissal clip chart that I found on Teachers Pay Teachers for free - the best price!  :)

During Open House, my kiddos will find the clothespin that is labeled with their name, then clip it on the appropriate card on the dismissal chart.

I stuck some bright cards with number stickers in the clear pockets of our Bathroom Check-Out system.  If anyone is interested, I can explain how we use this.  (Visitors who come into our classroom always seem to be interested for some reason!)

We will be using a Homework Club system this school year.  Students who turn in all their homework on time for the entire month remain in the Homework Club and receive a star on their Super Improvers card.  Everyone gets to start over at the beginning of the next month.

I had never heard of Julie Woik or her character education books previously, but I found her booth at a local farmers market in downtown Milwaukee.  I believe she has 5 published books at this time, but a whole list of more that will be published in the future.

I bought two of them:  Kacklin' Kitchen, which teaches respect and Ocean Commotion, which teaches honesty because those are 2 of the 5 character education pillars in my school district.

My hubby and I celebrated our anniversary recently...5 years of happy married life.  We went out to a nice wine bar and restaurant, both on the Milwaukee River.  This was our view.  Ahhhhh.  We love our city.

I now know what charcuterie is!  (Oh, by the way, the wristlet sitting on the table was an anniversary gift from my man.  It's hard to see obviously, but it's made out of fabric that shows the more popular Milwaukee buildings.  So cool!)

Love him!  <3

Life is good with this dude by my side.

That's all folks!  Thanks for stopping by!  :)