1st Grade Classroom REVEAL

Classroom Pictures 2015-2016 

1st Grade

Mrs. Billings

Superhero theme this year!

Below is a quick over view of the calendar area (which has since had many things added), our reading group rotation chart (red), the writing center blue buckets of community supplies, and the schedule cards up close.

These are the curtains my mom had special delivered to me before school started!!  This is my 5th year of teaching and I just love having curtains made by my mom hanging in the room!  It's a little taste of home even out here in Kansas.

This is a view from the door facing my teacher desk.  The word wall is on the chalkboard...and I was missing A, B, and C.  I very much dislike doing a job twice...but it was a must for the word wall to have those 3 letters :)  So back to the copier I went and then the laminator.

These are the rules my kids came up with on the 1st day of school and they have since signed their names at the bottom to PROMISE to follow.  I definitely have some that have broken their promises ;)

BACK TO SCHOOL NIGHT!!!  Thursday evening before school started, about 13 families showed up to meet me and drop off their supplies.  A sweet family gave me this purple bucket of teacher goodies - boy have I enjoyed the chocolate!  

Side note - I have to have my family picture and a pic of my brothers on my desk!!

Ready for Back to school night!

1st day of school in the cafeteria

1st day of school - Find a Friend activity!

Another fun fact about the beginning of the year is that I made a "teacher wish-list" and the Harvey County United Way office filled my wish-list!!  Also, a big thanks to The Citizens Bank in Newton for helping to fund my classroom list!  It is always a burden at the beginning of the year to buy lots of items for the room that are essential to getting things set up!  So thankful for community support!  (Me holding the blue bag)

Our school has a therapy dog, Chip!

 Math games with partners!

Cheers to the weekend and lots of relaxation time!!  Football is beginning and you know that means Aaron will be busy many weekends/Friday nights/Sundays/etc... Also, the Royals are still in season so we have 2 sports to watch!

Love, Maria

My Birthday Celebration!!!

Hello!!  

I had a great 27th birthday thanks to my sweet husband and many other people!

August 10th was my first day of work at Northridge and it was a work day in my classroom.  The day went well but I was especially excited to eat at the Mexican restaurant in Newton that evening!  When I got home I had 2 very sweet gifts waiting for me on the coffee table with a sweet card from my hubby :)  He also surprised me with flowers!

My friend, Rachel also got me a beautiful rose and sneakily delivered a cake from my mom and dad in VA!!  That was a great surprise!

Our meal was absolutely DELICIOUS!!!  And our waitress was my good friend and Co-worker from Cooper, so she treated us extra special! :)

Even a sombrero, a surprise face splat, and a BIG bowl of pico-de-gallo/guacamole.

 To continue my birthday, my mom sent a care package with some VA friends who were in the Hesston area over that next weekend!  Homemade granola, zucchini bread, and a cute necklace!!  THANKS MOM and Aunt Jewel!!!

Workout clothes + necklace = not how I would normally wear these together

Another gift that came at the perfect time was this apple from my Aunt Jewel.  

"Teacher's busy...Take a Number!!!"

Thank you everyone for making me feel special, even thought I couldn't see my family!

-Maria

Hot July..."before" classroom pics and cute kids

Hi everyone!  I thought I'd back track a bit and show you what my July was filled with!  I have obviously been busy with the first 11 days of school with my firsties, and have FINALLY found a free evening to blog a bit!  So here it goes...

I got the keys to my new room at Northridge and was able to go in and see what kind of furniture I was working with.  My room is VERY large and has good storage!  It even has an adult bathroom, that doubles as a closet for books, tissue boxes for the snotty winter months, and other random goodies.  I do feel fortunate for lots of space this year!  Last year I had 17 preschoolers at a time and we were crammed in a small, but very new classroom.  This year it is large, but obviously old and not so color-coordinated.

Yes...chalkboards...WHAT??!!  Is this 2005?

The only good side is that they are magnetic - so I have used lots of magnets to hold posters and word wall letters.

There are big windows that look out to Old 81 (for the hesston/newton folk) and that also have a great view of the daily trains that pass by.  They shake our Smartboard projector after lunch and the kids have to comment every day about it!  ha

Right now the kids are set up in large groups of 6 or 4.  It's working okay.  I had thought about making a U formation.

July was also spent hurrying to stain the fence in our backyard!  It looks great!  But unfortunately it got WAY too hot AND school started up and I didn't finished it all.  I am waiting for the cooler days to arrive to head out and finish the job.  You can see the darker finish in the 3 panels and in the background you can see the un-stained fence.  I have since finished A LOT of the fence, but just have the back privacy fence and the left side to finish.

 Yes...I stained in this heat and was CRAZY!

I also got to travel for a quick trip to Garden City by myself to pick up Casey Boy and see the Billings/Stuckys!

Look at these two cute kids having fun at the park!  Makenah started Kindergarten this year and I am so excited to see her and talk about her experiences in her new classroom and the friends she has made!!  Logan is starting 3 year old preschool - what??  Where has the time gone?  When Aaron and I were first dating I remember meeting BABY LOGAN for the first time!!  I remember that day like it was yesterday!

The big bubbles were a hit!  Baby Madelyn was with us as well, but she was sleeping very sweetly.  It won't be long till she will be joining the big kid fun!

My mother-in-law, Jeanne, helped to organize this fun event in the park put on by the Russell Child Development Center!  She had to brave the heat all afternoon!  They handed out free books left and right and even cookies for everyone!  So fun!

Next up, August pictures!

Love, Maria

VA trip July 2015

So, the second day of our trip was Sunday.  Aaron got to golf with a couple buddies in the morning and I went to church and caught up with a couple of church friends!  In the evening we relaxed and made yummy home-made pizza with my mom!

 Everything we ate this week was fresh!  Aaron helped made Cucumber Slaw.  So good!

Monday and Tuesday we spent hanging around the house and helped with a few projects!  

Below you can see Aaron built a fence by the deck for some privacy.  My dad was SOO thankful for his help around the house!  We also painted the foundation a light gray and really made it look good!  The gray mulch stuff is grass seed.  A couple days prior to us arriving my parents spent a day digging out and cutting down HUGE boxwoods that were crowding the front yard.  It looks so great now!

Next up was a quick BEACH TRIP!!!  I love going to the beach each summer and enjoying the sun, sand, and waves!  Aaron and I have found a new favorite restaurant along the boardwalk called, Watermans.  Soo good!  We love the fish tacos, hushpuppies, and She Crab soup.  The picture below is a picture from our table inside the restaurant, looking out to the ocean.

We had an oceanfront hotel!

Date night, walking on the boardwalk, and fireworks!!

I am so thankful for Aaron. Love you babe!

Thursday morning my parents met up with us and went biking on the boardwalk!  Here's Neptune!  Hi mom!

These bikes are so fun!

Next we got to spend some time with our cousins!!  

Lots of kids swimming in the pool!

Hi grandpa!  I know...I took a picture during the prayer...but I love him!  And I'm so happy to see him getting up and around better these days!

Aaron getting a little chat in with grandpa :)  Warms my heart!

Here's my cousin Leah, with Levi!!  Levi is my cousin Aaron and Andrea Yutzy's little boy.  He has the cutest curly hair and BIG brown eyes!  Thursday evening was a big cookout with my Risser and Yutzy cousins!  I'm so thankful that I am still close with so many of my cousins.  I miss seeing them more throughout the year!

I love summer and trips to the beach!!

To end our trip, we attended a wedding of one of my high school friends!

Kristin Bell and Nels Akerson got married on July 18th.  It was HOT, but we had a great time! 

My handsome date!  We both wore our Kansas cowboy boots :)

Sarah Gant and Elizabeth (Anderson) Ochoa, it was great to see ALL of my high school group of girl friends.

Here's Levi again, with his grandma!!  Hi Aunt Jewel!  Can you tell we were all HOT and sweaty?  Levi did really well during the whole event!

So I'll give a little background to the picture below.  Kristin and Aaron are cousins on the Yutzy side, and Aaron and I are cousins on the Risser side.  So Kristin and I share a cousin!  We have many pictures of the three of us, and now have completed the wedding pictures!  We are all married, and Aaron has a kid!  I wonder how the next 5 years will turn out?!  Love them!

Even though it was a short time being with these girls, I had a great time seeing everyone!  A lot has changed over the past 9 years!  2016 is our 10 year reunion!  Ahhhh!

(Left to right:  Kristen Richards, Elizabeth Ochoa, Marsha Stanley, Kristin Akerson, Andrea Yoder, me, Sarah Gant)

I had to add this picture so you can see our boots!!  HELLO SUN!!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of our trip out East!  

Love you all!

-Maria