Currently ~ October!

Hey y'all!

You know, I just l-o-v-e fall. The football, the festivals, and the family gatherings aplenty, all happen during this wonderful season. However, there is one eensy-weensy thing I don't like about fall. The weather. 

While others are enjoying the changing colors of leaves and the joys of throwing on a cute jacket and boots, we get to try out stronger strengths of deodorant and pile on heaps of hair spray or gel to keep the frizz at bay. 

{Not to mention our nightly prayers for no hurricanes to visit us.}

I mean, does it really have to be 90 degrees outside? We are melting.

I'd be thrilled with 80 degrees. Just not 90 (with Florida humidity, too.)

I can't complain, too much, though. I love all of the other seasons. I DO live in paradise.

Anyway, we've been having lots of fun in our classroom the past few weeks.

I started pulling reading groups with both the Firsties and K kids.

Kindergarten reading groups are SO much fun. They just love sitting with me ALL to themselves.

Also, my teamie, Kelly, and I spent two weeks on our Apple unit because we had so many activities for just one week. We culminated the unit with Sarah Cooley's Apple Tasting Party. What a blast! I'll share more about that later.

~~~~~~Now onto something FUN!~~~~~

It is the beginning of the month, which means it is time for Farley's famous CURRENTLY Linky Party!

Here is mine for October:

I'll just explain some of my topics:

*Loving - Cara featured one of my anchor charts on her fabulous blog, The First Grade Parade! Words cannot express how excited and honored I feel about this. I could die happy now! Also, (and this is not nearly as exciting) I bought a new pair of purple cords and I love them SO much. They are cute and comfy. Perfect teacher pants!

*Thinking - Lesson planning has never taken me so long to do before this year. The CCSS and teaching K and 1 are both a huge undertaking. Our leadership team has strongly advised us to NOT use our Reading Series. Which would have been manageable, if I was only teaching one grade. But teaching two grades and pretty much inventing my own curriculum, including all of the advised RIGOR, has been very time consuming!

*Needing - Our district remade the report cards to reflect the CCSS and it is not teacher or parent friendly. I have NO IDEA how I am going to explain it to my parents. I don't even understand why they picked some topics and not others. I'm very frustrated with it totally. You should see it. Blech!

*Book - Inside a House That is Haunted, by Alyssa Satin Capucilli. This is a fun book to read aloud and to listen to the audio version. 

Also, everyone loves Tedd Arnold's illustrations.

Well, that's it for now, but I'll be back...