My Classroom Reveal.....

Welcome to 4th Grade and to my classroom! I am linking up for the #2getherwearebetter blog post this month. Big thank you to the hosts Angie at Lucky Little Learners and Ashley from Schroeders Shenanigans in 2nd. I am going to be taking you on a quick tour of the place I will call home for the next 9 months!

My theme this year is sports, anyone who knows me knows that this is right up my alley. I play sports and they are a huge part of my life. I am going to begin my tour right behind my desk. This is where my students jobs are posted, the calendar is hung and where I will be putting my super improver wall. This part of my classroom is in the basketball theme,

My next imagine is a place where my kids love to hang out and that is my reading corner. I have tried to leave them quite a bit of space to sit between all the book shelves. They love to pull some of the chairs I have in the room and make reading forts with the blankets we have in the class. You can see that this book corner has the football theme!

This one has a bit of a soccer theme! Added boring words posters to my reading corners. The kids love to use them when they are writing!

Sorry about the step ladder in the picture. This is where are rules are posted with sports balls surrounding them. Also some of the reading comprehension posters that I found on Teachers Pay Teachers! 

These two pictures are my favorite two things in my classroom. The first picture is the wreath hanging on my door. It was made for me by one of my best friends who is the same lovely aide that did my bulletin boards you saw in the last post. She made it in the colors and the letter of my favorite baseball team the Chicago Cubs!

The next one was also made for me by a fellow teacher in the building, It was my Christmas gift this year and I absolutely love it. Of course it is baseball themed which the teacher knows if my favorite sport of them all. I have this in my computer corner.

Well thanks for checking out my room! Don't forget to give me a follow on, TPT, twitter, Instagram, Periscope and Blab all under the Hanging Out With Miss B!

Until Next Time,

Miss. B

Beginning My Teachers Pay Teachers Journey!

Last week I decided to do something brave. I decided to stop talking about being a seller on Teachers Pay Teachers and actually do it. So I posted something and people downloaded it. Then something truly incredible happened. I posted another item on there, but this time I put a price on it. I was truly convinced that no one would buy it, but I wanted to try and see. Someone did buy it though and although it is just one person, that one person has changed my life. They have now given me the confidence I needed to post something and know that it is worth buying.

I have taken on the social media adventure with Teacher Happy Membership,  Blab, TPT, Periscope, Twitter, blogging and Instagram and I can tell you it has changed my life. I meet other teachers from all over the world and they are not just people I follow they have become my friends. They have become that pat on the back I need when I have had a bad day, that cheer section that listens as I brag about my great days. However the most important thing they are is the supportive group that says stop waiting and do it, stop being embarrassed and do it, stop worrying what others think and do it. They are the kick in the pants I need to become a better teacher and a more confident person.

I am not sure where my social media journey will take me, but I can already tell you that I am a happier and better teacher right now then I have ever been. The friends I have made have made the social media journey so worth it and have made my teacher life so much easier.

So to all of you out there who have ever read my blog, like a picture I have posted, listened to me talk about my day on Periscope or re-tweeted something I say. Thank you for making me see the teacher that I not only want to be, but need to be. Without the support of my new Teaching Family I am not sure how exciting the adventure would be.

Until next time,

Miss. B

My Three Promises to My Students

Well Friday officially marked the first day back to school. Aside from the lack of sleep and the nerves I was having trouble controlling, it all went down without a hitch. Being that this was my official first day of school as a teacher I was terrified of how the day would go. What if I run out of things to talk about? What if I have nothing for them to do? What if they don't listen to me? The questions floating around my head were endless. However, something crazy happened the moment those new fourth graders walked through that door. Instead of being worried and freaked out I remember I was a teacher and that I knew how to do this job. All of my worries went away and I just did what I was good at, I was a teacher.

I did the normal first day of school rules, consequences, unloaded back packs and did a classroom tour. However I also did something that to me was the most important thing I may do all year. I made promises to my students, three promises that I will spend all year doing my best to keep.

My first promise is that I will never embarrass them for making a mistake, because we all know Miss, Bolton is going to make a lot of those this year. We are a family and family doesn't make fun of mistakes. They learn from them and encourage their family to correct them,

Second promise is that no matter what they are doing in class I will never call them out for doing something wrong. This one is a big one. I caught myself last year, saying across the room Hey so and so stop doing that. Everyone in the room then turned and looked at that student and two things would happen. One they would get embarrassed and then would act out more. Or second they would enjoy the attention and continue to do it. I told them that if I do that I will apologize and try to never let it happen again. In my class I will walk over and only talk to that student so only we know what is being said.

Finally the third promise is that when they walk through that door they are my family and I will always love them. We may not get along, we may drive each other crazy but at the end of the day I will love them. This one made the boys laugh and some of their faces got red, but they understood that in my class they were going to be loved and protected. Hugs will always be given out, Good Mornings will always be said and high fives are welcomed.

My class is my kids since I don't have any and last year I made a lot of mistakes. Embarrassed kids when I shouldn't have and didn't say I love you enough. That is going to change, from now on it is less about being the best teacher and more about being a better human. The teaching part is important, but not as important as the impact I am going to have on my students.

I am going to make mistakes this year and so will my fourth graders, but going into a year knowing this will make us more prepared for the mistakes. We are not perfect and thank god for that. Being perfect is boring and in no way do I want to be perfect. I want to be the teacher that down the road my students remember and not for what I taught them in the classroom, but for how I made them feel while they were in it.

Until next time,

Miss. B

My Bulletin Board Reveal

This month in the #2getherwearebetter linkup I am going to be introducing you the bulletin boards that will be in my classroom! I am linking up with Angie from Lucky Little Learners and .Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd. I am not a very artsy person, it is truly one of my weakness. However I have all of these ideas for how I want a board to look, I just am not artistic enough to make it come to life. I have an amazing friend in our school who is a classroom aide and was in the class I student taught in 2 years ago. I have the privilege of calling her one of my best friends and she took my ideas and turned them into something better than I could have ever pulled off.

My first bulletin board will be one that stays up all year. It is right above my classroom library (which is still a mess). The idea is the kids get to break into  two teams (they choose how the tgeams are split) and they are competing against one another for what team can get the most readers out of the end zone. I found last year that my strong readers only cared about their reading goal, but I thought making them teams would have my stronger readers motivating their teammates to continue to read so the team could win. This idea will allow the stronger readers to push themselves to try and make the 50, but also motivate those who are my reluctant readers to work hard to make it as far as they can. I have not decided what quarterly winners will get, however I am open to ideas if anyone has any!

See what I mean by having an awesome friend who can bring your ideas to life! I had this imagine in my head, but would never have been able to actually produce this. This bulletin board is actually out in the hallway and it will be the first thing the students see as they come down the hallway. I plan on changing this monthly to go along with our sports themed classroom. Most of my classroom is football, baseball and basketball, however my friend knows how much I love softball and added softballs as well.


Those are my boards so far, but I am going to keep you all updated on the changes I make to them throughout the year. I also hope to have a board added to my room that I can make into a science bulletin board for my students. I can't wait to see all the amazing boards that the rest of the lovely teachers come up with.

Until next time,

Miss. B

Currently: Gone to the Dogs

I have linked up with Farley for my June currently! Been a while since I have done one of these and glad to be back at it. Hoping our warm weather comes back, it has been down right chilly last few days around here!

Until Next Time,

Miss. B

Summer Break is among us!

Summer Break has finally arrived! It brings with it rest, relaxation and the realization that I have survived my first year as a teacher! I can't tell you how much I have learned about myself after this first year in the classroom. I can tell you however that I have so much to learn and so much more to bring to the table for future classes.

 I feel bad for this first group of kiddos to come through my classroom as they didn't get me at my best. They got me at the tip of my ability and I feel that I had so much more to give them that I haven't figured out how to give yet.

To the wonderful parents in my classroom this year. Thank you for hanging with me and being so amazing. Your patience and belief in me made this year so much smoother than it could have been. Without this wonderful group of parents I am not sure we would have fared as well as we did.

As I enter the summer I plan to work a lot of my weakness and try to turn them into strengths. I am going to read lots of books and blogs  on everything education, going to attend every Professional Development class I can find and finally going to pin everything I can find to improve me as a teacher.

Hard to believe that my first year is over and in 2 short months I will begin my second year as a teacher. When the time comes to go back I know this time I will be more prepared than the first go round.

Until next time,

Miss. B

Spring Break At Last!!

We have finally reached spring break and I am not sure who is was more ready me or the kids?  It is so hard to believe that once we return to school we will only have a month and a half left of school. My first year as a teacher has flown by! I am hoping to spend my break relaxing, exercising and reading the book Teach Like A Pirate! I have heard such amazing things about it and I can not wait to read it!

I am also going to use my break to reflect on the year so far. There have been so many postive and a few negatives that I have faces in my first year as teacher. I know one thing I would not change this year in the classroom for anything. I could not have been blessed with a better group of students or a better group of parents. I hope that the last month and a half are a smooth and wonderful end to a great school year!

Hope everyone out there enjoys their break and comes back from it energized and ready to go!

Until next time,

Miss. B

Parent-Teacher Conferences Spring Edition!!!

At our school we have two parent-teacher conferences. While it is a hassle to get times set up and fit every parent in when they are able to meet, I really enjoyed having another conference, My first go round of parent-teacher conference was a blur, being it was my first ever I was worried about saying something wrong! I didn't want to do something wrong so it was a really scary and nerve wracking experience for me.

This time however I felt more relaxed, I know the parents in my room better now so meeting with them was neither scary nor nerve wracking. If anything I was looking forward to speaking with all of them and telling them about all the improvements I was seeing in their children since our last meeting. Getting to sit down and talk one-on-one with the parents allows me to express the positives and concerns I am seeing. While also allowing them to tell me about concerns they are having.
I try to call all my parents throughout the quarter and keep them updated on how their student is doing. I want to do this so when conferences come around or report cards go out it is not a shock to them! I want the parents in my room to know what is going on in my room as much as possible!

Parent-teacher conference can be a nervous experience especially when you may have to talk about negative things you are seeing in the classroom. However, I look forward to the experience, I love bragging on students and sharing all the amazing things their child has accomplished over the year!

Conferences are over for this year, but I am glad that I got to experience my first year of conferences with the wonderful group of parents I have. They having made this year so much easier on me by being supportive of what I am doing and also being understanding if I try something that doesn't work. They understand I am new and things won't always run smooth, but that I am trying! They have no idea how much their support and kind words at the conferences have meant to me and my confidence in the classroom!


Until next time,

Miss. B

Science Experiments Part 2: Building with Marshmallows!

This week for our science experiment we did a little building! I allowed the students to pick their groups for this activity, I don't normally do that as problems usually arise when they partner with their friends.However, after a little begging I allowed them to choose their partners praying it would not end up a disaster! Once they were in their groups I explained that we were going to be building a model using only marshmallows and spaghetti noodles! The only rule was that the model had to stand on its own without help to be measured. The tallest structure was the winner! The kids were so excited to get started!

I started off my giving every group the same amount of noodles and marshmallows so that it was even and no group had an advantage. As I walked around it was so exciting to hear them talking about what they wanted to do and a few groups even had scratch paper out drawing out what they wanted to do and writing down ideas they were hearing.

Once the groups got going I think they realized it was going to be harder than they expected. They would build something and it would fall, but I was so proud how no one gave up and once it failed they just went on to the next idea.

What made me the most proud however is that every time they had to start over they realized their mistakes, and they started creating structures that were actually standing on their own. Some of the groups that I was the most worried about working together actually worked the best together and were creating the best structures!

As the time wound down teams were trying so hard to make their structures bigger and bigger that some made them to top heavy and they collapsed! As we neared the end I had students asking me if we could skip music ans stay to finish working on the structure. As happy as it made me that they wanted to keep working I told them we couldn't do that!

When the buzzer finally sounded my all boy group was declared the winner with a structure that stood 11 inches high. They were so proud of it they asked if they could go get other teachers in the building to come and look at it! 

The boys kept their structure together all day and actually asked if they could take it home since they weren't bus riders. I told them they could and I found out from their moms at parent-teacher conferences the next day that it actually made it to one of the boys house in one piece and was currently sitting on their dresser. 

As we wrapped up our building project, my kids asked me if we could do more things like this. They said we could build a structure and see which was the strongest. Some also suggested that next time I give them fake money and make them come up and buy the supplies they needed so we could incorporate math with it. Days like today are the reason I love what I do!!! 

Until next time,

Miss. B

Science Experiments Part 1: Candy Experiements

With the lovely PARCC test among us at Odin, I am taking this time to conduct some science experiments that I have wanted to try all year. Finding time is my crazy schedule for science and experiments has been hard, but I figured now was the perfect time with testing going on. As I sat on Thursday night trying to think off what we could do on Friday morning before testing an idea popped in my head. Why not do all those activities your kids have been asking to do?

The experiment we did on Friday was will skittles melt in water? I had the students go and fill a bowl about half way up and I passed out 3 skittles for each group. I then asked them before they were put in the water to talk with their group about what color skittles would melt fastest/slowest and make predictions before we tested it out. After completing their group predictions they went and put their skittles in the water!

Next after they had placed their skittles in the water we talked about their predictions they made and each group explained to me why they made the prediction they did. After about 3 minutes we went up a group at a time and observed what was going on with the skittles. The students were amazed at how quickly the skittles were melting in the bowl.

We went back and discussed why are they melting so quickly in the water. While I got some great answers as to why, only one little girl in the class provided me with the correct answer. She said it melts because the entire candy is sugar and when you out sugar in water it melts. I was so proud of how hard they worked in their groups and the discussions they brought to the table.

Finally it was time to leave to go test, but before we left we checked our bowls one more time. The students were in awe of the fact that the skittle was completely gone. The only thing left was the color dye off the skittles.

What might have made this teacher the happiest was the ideas that were brought to the table later after our testing. One little boy asked if the skittles were melt quicker in Sprite as opposed to water? Another students asked if M&M's would melt the same way skittles did? While another wanted to test out Star burst. Hearing the students talking, laughing and getting along working together is what I loved most about the day. Hearing them say this is fun, or can we do more experiments like this is what teaching is all about. Hopefully next week as our testing continues I will bring you another experiment that we have tried out.


Until next time!!
Miss. B

Are You ready For A Little.........Seuss Madness??

This month is one of my favorite months for sports as March gives us March Madness. For those of you who don't follow basketball, March Madness is a bracket where teams play each other. Teams that win advance through the bracket, teams that lose go home. So I decided to put a little education spin on March Madness.

I call it Seuss Madness and it is a bracket made up of Dr.Seuss books. I was unsure how this was going to work being that I have 4th graders. I was afraid that it was going to be seen as babyish to read Dr. Seuss books in class, but I gave it a try anyways, My students loved it!!! When I first made the bracket I wrote the names of the book on paper and posted it to the wall. However, one of my loving teaching friends thought it would look even better if we added the titles to the wall. So she went and surprised me and my class by printing off colored book covers for us to place on our bracket.

In our first round match ups the votes were not very close. How The Grinch Stole Christmas defeated Hop on Pop 19-2, The Cat in the Hat defeated The Foot Book 17-4, Green Eggs and Ham defeated I am Not Going To Get Up Today 18-3 and finally in what I thought was an upset One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish defeated Oh The Places You'll Go 15-6.

We moved to the second round with The Cat in the Hat facing off against How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Green Eggs and Ham facing off against One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. When the votes were tallied The Cat in Hat was victorious 13-8 and Green Eggs and Ham also came out on top 19-2.

Finally we moved to the Championship round! The kids were literally bursting with excitement to get to the final vote. The match up was The Cat in the Hat against Green Eggs and Ham. After hearing both stories again, we voted!!! It was the closest match up we have had all week, the students couldn't wait for me to reveal the winner! The winner was.........................The Cat in the Hat 11-10!

I couldn't believe how much they loved this idea, as it was one that I just threw together at the last moment. It was also a nice relaxing break from all the PARCC testing we have been doing the past few months.

Hope you enjoyed reading about our Seuss Madness! Enjoy your week and good luck to everyone who will be or has already taken the PARCC test!

Miss. B

The Sunday Scoop

I have neglected The Sunday Scoop the last few weeks and I am so glad to be back. So happy to be in the month of March. The month of spring training, March Madness and of course nicer weather. As always on the wonderful Sunday Scoop I have linked up with The Teaching Trio, So without further a due lets up in to The Sunday Scoop.

Hope you all enjoy and have a wonderful week. We are so close to Spring Break, so keep being awesome!

Miss. B

Currently in March

It has been almost a month since I have posted on here. It has been an extremely difficult month for my family, as a week ago I lost my 18 year old cousin. I am glad to flip the calender and head to the next month. It is so crazy to believe it is already March, I only have 2 months left in my first year as a teacher. This month however is going to be a good one, once we get past that pesky PARCC test. For this currently I am one again linking up with Farely!

Miss. B

Five for Friday

Linking up once again with the wonderful Doodle Bugs Teaching for this five for Friday! What a week it has been. Planing for our field trip to Busch Stadium and I was evaluated on Thursday.

On Tuesday I was super excited to get the brand new Kid President: Guide to Being Awesome.  It was such an incredible and inspiring read. I was bouncing into school on Wednesday ready to be Awesome!!!

We also began our Black History Month readings with Jackie Robinson. It is such an enjoyment when your kids actually like what you are teaching them,. They had so many questions about Jackie and what he did. They were so blown away when the tour guide started talking about Jackie Robinson today on our tour at Busch Stadium. John (our tour guide) was incredible, my kids were on edge of their seat listening to him.

As I mentioned above we went on a field trip today and it was so amazing. We learned about math, science and language arts, and how it is used in the game of baseball.

Here is my group getting their group picture taken in the same spot where Cardinals manager Mike Matheny does his post-game press conferences.

Finally, being at a baseball stadium on what was a beautiful February day in Missouri has me so in the mood for baseball. I am not a Cardinals fan, as I am a die hard Cubs fan. However, even I have to admit this is a pretty magnificent view from Busch.

As you can tell we had a wonderful time participating in the CAPS program at Busch Stadium today. My class was great and I survived my first filed trip as a teacher. Also got a big thumbs up on Thursday from the principal as he left my evaluation. Will sleep a little easier once I actually meet with him though.

Miss. B

Currently.....February style

Linking up with Oh Boy 4th Grade for this months currently! Can hardly believe that it is already February. I am almost done with my first year as a teacher and it is both exciting and terrifying. I guess time does really fly when you are having fun. Now if baseball season could just get here a little quicker!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Super Bowl Sunday and an amazing month of February!

Miss. B

The Sunday Scoop

Is it really Sunday already?? Was really hoping for a snow day tomorrow, however it look like we are only going to get rain and not snow. I know I will be grateful come June when we are out, but I would love a day off tomorrow. On a positive note, we only have four actual teaching days next week as we are going on a field trip on Friday. My first field trip as a teacher, so wish me luck! I am linking up with The Teaching Trio for this Sunday Scoop!

Enjoy and have a wonderful week!!

Miss. B

Five For Friday

Linking up once again with the wonderful Doodle Bugs Teaching for this weeks five for Friday! What a week it has been, ups and downs everywhere you turn. However, I survived till Friday and am ready for the weekend.

My students participated in TeamQuest at the local college on Tuesday against 18 other teams from our area! We didn't qualify for regional, but the teams sure did work hard and put so much effort into the projects they were doing. 

We have really been working on writing this week as the PARCC test is approaching fast. It has blown me away just how hard some of my students are working in writing. They are pulling evidence from the story, adding their own opinion and putting so much hard work into what they are doing. This is just one example of the the effort that has me so excited!

Potluck day at school today!! Nothing makes teachers happier than getting free food and desserts on a Friday. The theme was soup and sandwiches and it was much appreciated with the cold weather we are having.

After a busy week my 4th graders got a nice little break Friday afternoon. They went and had an extra recess with the Pre-K students. They were exhausted when we got back to the room.

Was hired recently to be an Assistant softball coach at the local high school. Going to be nice to get back on the softball field even if I won't be playing.

Miss. B

The Sunday Scoop

Once again this week I am linking up with the lovely Teaching Trio for The Sunday Scoop! I love these link ups, it is so cool getting to connect with other teachers and read their Sunday Scoops.

Here is my weekly scoop!!

Hope you enjoy my scoop and head over to the Teaching Trio blog to link up with other amazing teachers!

Miss. B

A Martin Luther King Jr. kind of week!

This week my students and I really dug deep into the life and death of Martin Luther King Jr. We used the subject of Martin Luther King to cover both Language Arts, Social Studies and Art. For Language Arts I used a poem from the Panicked-Teacher TPT store. It was such a wonderful resource to find and use, because I was just telling a colleague earlier this week how we needed to have more interaction with poems. While my students didn't dig into the poem and break it apart as much as I would have liked them to, they did ask more questions than what I am accustom to with this group. They usually read through and then when I ask for comments and questions, I hear crickets in the background. However, with this poem they had questions about words they didn't understand and about Martin Luther King himself. It was extremely refreshing to see them really asking good questions and having a good dialogue with each other.

On Tuesday I introduced something in art that the students told me they had never done before. Although it took us a while to get going and really explain what I wanted them to do. Once they got the hang of it they loved it. I stole this idea from The Polka Dot Desk and it was truly a hit with my kids. Many of them kept going back to it throughout the week and adding things to it as they learned more about King. They asked at the end of the week if we could do more art projects just like this.

On Thursday we completed another fun Martin Luther King Jr. art project. I found this fold-able idea at Classroom-Creations-By-Melissa TPT store. This one was not quite as messy as the last one. I loved this one because it allowed the students to tell about what they thought about King, and if they had a dream what it would be. Some of my students really put a lot of work into theirs and it showed. While they completed this fold-able I walked around and asked them why they chose a certain quote from King and what they thought about King. The answers they gave showed me that what we had been talking about had stuck with them!

Finally on Friday we brought all our Martin Luther King knowledge together and worked on some compare and contrast with another civil rights activist Rosa Parks. I found this awesome item at Kalena-Baker TPT store. It was Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks trading cards and questions to go along with them. While my students didn't particular enjoy having to create a timeline, do the Venn Diagram or answer questions. They loved the last item in the packet, it was a two facts and a fib game. Basically you write down two facts about Martin Luther King and two about Rosa Parks. You then write down one fib for both of them, finally exchange with a partner and see if they can find the fib you created. Some of my students put a lot of thought into them and were able to stump or at least throw their classmates off a bit. Others were not as creative and their fibs were detected easily. Students again asked if this was something we could do with other stories. Makes this teachers heart feel good when you find not one but two projects that your students truly enjoy.


It was a busy and exciting week in fourth grade and I hope my students left with more knowledge on what was a truly amazing man in Martin Luther King Jr. I hope that I can continue to find activities and work in the classroom that my students truly enjoy and want to complete. Sometime we have to do things our students don't enjoy, but it makes teaching so much easier and more fun when your students are enjoying what you are asking them to do. I also feel you are going to get better work overall when your students want to complete that work, because they want to put their best work down.

Miss. B

Five For Friday!

Once again I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! I tell you for only teaching three days this week I am exhausted! I was sure the week was never going to end.

I never realized until this week just how hard it is to plan for a sub. I now understand why so many teachers always say it is easier to come to work sick than to mess with sub plans. I spent over 3 hours just planning for one day, and it was our early out day.

Went to a writing conference and we did a lot of work on PARCC. I can tell you that as a brand new teacher I truly feel that I am setting students up to fail this PARCC test. I know they say everyone is in the same boat, but I feel that I am not going to have them fully prepared to take on this test and that really bothers me. However, they did say at the conference that students will not be graded down on their lack of ability in building paragraphs and using correct spelling or punctuation. That is a weight off my shoulders. Are your students completing the PARCC test on computer or are they writing theirs out?

One of the Martin Luther King Jr. projects that I stole from Funky in Fourth and The Polka Dotted Desk, was this Martin Luther King Jr, silhouette collage. My students have never done a project like this before, and while it took them a bit to get going. Once they got going they LOVED IT. They have actually been adding things to them all week! Even asking me if we could do something like this again. 

I will was feeling very artsy this week and found this cute little fold-able on Classroom Creations-By-Melissa TPT store. I loved this, it was simple and the students loved it. It was defiantly my kind of art project. I have many in my class who love art and I am not an artsy person. So when I find something easy and the kids love it, it is defiantly a win-win!

Finally, on Thursday night I made some potato soup in the crock pot. It was the perfect end to what turned out to be a very chilly day. I finished up softball practice and was able to come home to a nice warm meal and all I had to do was clean the dishes. 

Miss. B