Row into Learning: Surviving until Summer

Hey everyone!! I'm joining the linky party hosted by Queen of the First Grade Jungle and Fabulous in First and sharing a post about how I am surviving until summer!

I don't know about you, but I think our class is feeling the itch for summer! I love my kids, but when April and May roll around classroom management is about as easy as herding a bunch of cats! It doesn't help that here in Charleston it's been in the 80s and sunny the past week. I think more than a few of us would love to be at the beach or by the pool!

I love going to the beach in the summer. It's one of my happy places and I could relax on the sand all day! I'm so lucky to live only 30 minutes away from one of the most beautiful beaches! I plan on getting my daily dose of sunshine by taking walks with my boys and visiting the beach every spare second I get!

I'm also revving up my workout routine to try to maintain some energy for these last few weeks of school. I hate to admit it, but when I started teaching again last year, my running routine went down hill! I need to get back into the swing of things so I've been hitting the pavement and running away the stress of the day. I just love to run, blast some music into my headphones and completely zone out!

To help regain some control of my class, I brainstormed with some of my colleagues to get some ideas. One gave me an awesome idea of using starbursts as an incentive for those students who are making great choices. I took that idea and ran with it! I made some super star behavior cards and attached a starburst to each one. Whenever I see someone showing me super star behavior, they get a card. After they get 10 cards they can pick a reward from my catalog of rewards that go along with my regular behavior plan. I don't usually have candy in my class so I think it's been an extra special incentive for my students. So far, I think it's working out pretty well! You can grab the super star cards in my tpt store here.

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Super-Star-Behavior-Cards-1808826

{click the image to download}

We still have lots of work left to do before first grade is over, but I plan to make our activities hands on and full of fun so my sweet kids can stay focused while still learning! Brain breaks will be super important to get those wiggles out and I plan to have GoNoodle open on my desktop so I can click on a quick clip to get our bodies moving and focused again.

Lastly, my grade level survives the last few weeks of school by having an ABCs of first grade "countdown" until summer! We know everyone is itching to have a little more fun at the end of the day, so we have a short alphabet themed activity and it gives the kids something fun to look forward to (and earn!). We start with the letter A and have a fun activity and/or snack each day that matches each letter. For letter A, it's all about animals. The kids will be bringing their favorite stuffed animal and having animal crackers, B is a about bubbles and bubble gum. We'll have a bubble blowing contest to see who can blow the biggest bubble with bubblegum and with regular bubbles outside! We continue on with each letter of the alphabet until we get to Z which is the last day of school. We did this last year and it was so much fun, the kids really had a blast! Grab it from my store while it's on sale!