Show Us What You Bought!

Yes, it was two weeks ago... but I was still recovering from my major shopping spree!

 

I'm (finally) linking up with Blog Hoppin' to share all my wonderful buys!

1. Some more glitter from Glitter Meets Glue (because you can never have enough glitter when working with firsties!)

 

 

2. FONTS! I've been wanting this set for so long & now it's finally mine!

 

Over 200 fonts? Yes, please!

 

3. Look what I "snapped" up!

 

 

Sarah from Child 1st Publications is a lifesaver! Thanks to this awesome sale, I now own almost every single thing she offers in her fabulous store! If you're not familiar with her Snap Words flashcards, please go check them out! They are "magical" for my struggling readers!

 

I'm so excited for summer to arrive so I can get busy creating with all these new purchases!

 

Did you find any special deals?

 

Don't forget to check out Blog Hoppin'

to see what other teachers found!

 

 

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Five for Friday: Final Weeks!

Happy Weekend!

 

It's time for Five for Friday!

 

Hosted by Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching

I'm also double-dipping this week to link up with a teacher I've been a fan of for YEARS! The ultra-talented Amanda Madden (Teachers Clubhouse). She hosts a weekly Friday Flashback:

 

 

 

5. This is being written early Saturday mornng

before jumping in the car to go here:

 

Pippin Hill Farm

 

 We are attending a 6 pm wedding tonight of two amazing people. Congratulations Lisa & Ted!

 

4. I finally figured out Instagram this week! I ♥ it!!!

What took me so long?

 

 

Please find me: positivelylearning

 

3. Remember this?

 

Here's the update:

 

 

Getting there! This Friday is our internal audit for Special Education. NWEA Testing is halfway done...6 more F&P's to go...two more IEPs, interim assessments....then DONE!!!

Our last day is June 13th!

 

2.  Morning Surprise!

 

 

Wednesday was a big day & it was lights out very early for me. I could hear some commotion going on downstairs, but just figured it was the opening of mail, getting a snack, etc.

 

It was such a nice surprise to walk downstairs the next morning to get my coffee & see the flowers! The true gift was not being woken up & getting to discover them on my own :)

 

1. My Clipart Vice

 

My clipart vice is completely OUT OF CONTROL. I have clipart I haven't even downloaded yet!! Last summer I recategorized every clipart bundle with appropriate names (product & artist credit), subfolders, folders, etc. By now, the folders are a hot mess! I'm sure I will find and rediscover so many gems when I reorganize all of it during break.

 

I know the vice is taking over because I just updated my Happy Memorial Day packet...adding new features, updating the frames & fonts, etc. It took me at least THREE times as long because of all the clipart! Instead of 100 choices for borders and frames, I now have 1000+. I just purchased Kimberly Geswein's fonts (wow!) and I spent even more time on fonts than clipart!! Anyone else?

 

Here's a glimpse of the updated packet:

 

 

Enjoy your weekend!

 

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Glimpse & Mission Statement

Happy Wednesday!

 

Hope you're having a terrific week! We have less than a month to go! Our students have been really showing us that they are ready for a break :)

 

I thought it was a good time to share what our school does to keep us (the adults) on track, especially these last few weeks...

 

Every staff member posts their Mission Statement on the outside of their door:

 

 

That's a snapshot from my door, so it's a little hard to read. 

Here's what it says:

 

Regardless of which classroom I am in or scholars I am interacting with, my vision and mission includes:

* Modeling the B.R.I.G.H.T. values of (school name) in my everyday interactions with children, families, and teammates.

* Creating a joyful learning environment which promotoes respect and encourages partnerships with students and their families.

* Providing students with coping and problem-solving skills in order to develop resilience and grit.

* Committing to doing whatever it takes to support every student's academic growth.

I will achieve my classroom vision through continuous self-reflection, as well as seeking constructive feedback from my team and family.
The statement "All Children WILL Learn" will remain first and foremost in my mind to guide me in making decisions that will impact all students' learning.

 

Does your school do this or anything similar? I've enjoyed reading other teachers' and I've seen many families taking the time to read the statements.

 

Speaking of doors, we also decorate our doors to display our college pride:

 

It's nothing fancy since we had to create it during a lunch break with the materials we had on hand! To get your own copy of the "Shh!" testing sign, click here.

 

And lastly, for a bit of motivation to get through these trying last few weeks:

 

 

Have a great day :)

 

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Five for Friday & a Sunny Freebie!

Even though it's Sunday, I'm linking up for last week's

Five for Friday!!

 

Thanks Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching!

 

Oh. My.

It's a fun, but busy time!

 

Here's what's happening:

 

 

I just got back from Vegas last night. It was a very quick, but awesome trip! Thanks to the time change, we packed SO MUCH into 2 days. My students are studying landforms, so of course I had to snap this photo from the plane :)  BTW, I sat next to a professional poker player. It was a very long flight, so I picked up all sorts of card tricks and tips. Too bad I don't play! He flies to Vegas every two weeks to play in tournaments - it's his full-time job! On my way back, I sat next to a retired teacher from Arizona who now is a substitute teacher. She was so sweet and we chatted about the Common Core ;)

 

 

We stayed at the Aria - I HIGHLY recommend it!

Our suite had two walls made entirely of windows - so cool to see at night & watch the sunrise!

 

 

We spent the days out and about seeing the sights...this is a picture I snapped at the conservatory at the Bellagio.

I know my students will ♥ it!

 

So before I left for Las Vegas, we had a SURPRISE Special Education audit for our paperwork. It went fine, but seriously made me realize just how much work I have ahead of me before our own internal audit on May 24th. I knew I was going to be out of town the prior weekends and, in typical fashion, had a mini panic attack about getting it all done. I was THIS close to canceling this trip to work on paperwork, but instead did what I always do when I feel overwhelmed:

 

I created a color-coded spreadsheet of all my To-Do's :)

 

I'm sure I'll be adding to my list, but I'm also happy to report 4 more crossed-out boxes from this morning's work!

 

And to celebrate the sunny weather & look forward to the last day of school in June, here's a math freebie to use with your students! I'll be using it for subtraction fact fluency.

 

Please click HERE to download

 

Have a wonderful week!

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Verb Tenses and Omelets!

It's Teacher Appreciation Day/Week and look how we were celebrated this morning:

 

Pictured above is the perfect omelet, compliments of the OMELET CHEF at our school this morning! It was so delicious and such a great idea from our Operations Manager.

 

How have you celebrated at your school?

 

Our students have been busy learning verb tenses this week.  On Monday, I was very impressed with how well they grasped using -ed for past tense. Today went equally smooth with -ing, but I DO NOT recommend mixing past and present too soon. My bad :) 

We'll be trying it again tomorrow!

 

I used these text cards (printed on colored cardstock) and had my students write the new word on their wipe "paddle" boards:

 

 

The first 10 words follow all the rules & the next 10 include dropping the silent e and doubling the consonant. For your set, please click here!

 

Please don't forget to use the promotion code TAD13 over at TPT to receive extra savings- the site sale ends tomorrow!
 

Enjoy the rest of your week!

 

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Order Up! Measurement Freebie

Happy Teacher Appreciation Monday!

 

Hope you were appreciated all day long :)

 

I arrived to find the cutest water bottle that said "Rockstar" on it (!!) and inside were packs of Pop Rocks & a fun note that said "A little pop of praise for your endless hard work!" Such a great idea & a wonderful way to start the day!

 

I'm sure everyone knows by now that TPT is throwing their annual HUMONGOUS Teacher Appreciation Sale:

 

 

My store is having a 20% off everything sale both Tuesday and Wednesday. If you enter the promotion code TAD13, you will receive 28% off my store items!

PLEASE don't be like me (last year) & forget to use the code at checkout!
 

I've been working hard on updating my teacher organizational packs. The packet jumped from 80-something pages to 225!! I also created more themes...The Orderly Teacher now comes in Diva (Glitter), Preppy Patterns, Jungle, and Black & White. Here's a preview of the files:

The Orderly Teacher: "Diva"

 The Orderly Teacher: Black & White

The Orderly Teacher: Jungle

 

 The Orderly Teacher: Preppy Patterns 

 

 

This past year, I used the black & white set printed on bright papers, next year I'm leaning towards Diva! Every set comes with a black and white (no background) set to print extra pages quickly.

And if you've made it this far...thank you!
Here's a non-standard measurement freebie activity page
I used today:

I can explain the thumb graphic...my small group estimated & measured our thumbs. I was surprised my thumb is the exact same size as my first graders???

 

Both of us have thumbs that are 2 paperclips long :)

For more freebies, click the button below!


Have a super week!

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Five for Friday: Freebie Edition!

It's time for Five for Friday!!

 

Hosted by Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching!

 

As always, in preparation for this weekly linky, I peruse through the photos on my iphone. This week? NADA!!! There was a lot of learning going on this week, but sadly I didn't capture any of it with a photo.

 

So I'm turning this Five for Friday post into a freebie-fest...offering some new & old freebies.

 

 

5. Ole! Extras

Our students learn 200 Fry words each school year. The first graders have been working on words 201-400...tested on 5-6 per week. Reading sight words automatically is also an I.E.P. objective for many of the students I work with. Our last quarter progress reports are right around the corner, so I've been having my students play the game Ole! to review words 201-300 (plus I can do a checklist assessment!). The game also includes extra "taco" letters to use for word building. I'm always encouraging my students to recognize "chunks" in words, so I put together

these extra cards:

 

 

There's 30 extra phonics "chunks" to coordinate with the letter cards. Download this extra set here!

 

 

4. Orderly Extras!

These past few weeks I've been updating and revising my organizational packet The Orderly Teacher. I'm adding more backgrounds to mix & match with the b/w version, plus creating additional themes: Glitter, Jungle, Chevron, Trendy, Silly, and "Hungry" (my personal fave!). Fingers crossed that these are finished by the end of the weekend! In the meantime, please check out the b/w and "Preppy" themed extras:

If there's a particular theme you're looking for,

please let me know!

 

 

3. Fantasy vs Reality

I made a very simply sort as a "hook" for reading A Pet for Jupe (Reading A-Z Level F). We've been talking a lot about fantasy vs. reality and I've been surprised about how many of my students just don't understand that Sponge Bob is NOT real. I'm not kidding, I've been crushing children's dreams all week 

with this news :( 

 

 

There's 12 cards in all & the 2 sorting mats.

Click here to download your copy!

 

 

2. Silent Letters - Phonics Practice

I wanted to highlight this freebie from my TPT store because it's on my radar for a summer project. I'm hoping to create a phonics packet featuring all the silent letters my first graders need to know: kn, gn, mb, and wr. Please click here to download

"Wriggle Snakes."

 

 

 

 

1. Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Are you celebrating Cinco de Mayo in your classroom? We have a "Spanish Day!" annual event that coincides with May 5th, but don't have any other activities planned within the general education curriculum. Last year, I used this packet with my students. It has been recently updated for this year!

 

 

Next week, I'll be sure to have my phone camera charged & ready!

Have a super weekend!

 

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