Saturday, June 29, 2013

Currently for July

I was very happy to see, that even though it is not July yet, I can link up with the wonderful Farley for her Currently :] Probably the most successful linky party that I am a part of each month.. I love to read about what's going on in all YOUR lives each month, so make sure you link up!
 
 
 I am very happy with Channing Tatum getting so famous.  Congrats to him and his beautiful wife Jenna on their baby girl. So I am a big fan of "She's the Man" and I am very happy to see it on TV!
I love weddings.. I wish I had more money to give, but I am so excited that I have a wedding July, August, and I am IN my very first wedding in September :] All very exciting and it gives me a chance to unwind and NOT do work like I do every day 12 months a year.
My "thinking" is the most important right now.  When am I going to start enjoying summer? I start summer school not this week, but the following and I will still have lots of tutoring, babysitting, and piano lessons.  But I WILL find time for myself this year... I have to.
My tip for teachers is when making teacher products, make products that YOU will use.  When you do this, you have a purpose for creating your products and you can use them for yourself, and help other teachers.. there is nothing better than that, and you won't be disappointed if it's not a "huge success" because you made it for YOU. 

I hope everyone is having a lovely summer.. let me know if you ever need anything ladies and gents!
Click below to check out what's new in my TPT store :]


Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Bloglovin Giveaways

Hi fabulous followers!!

You have probably heard by now that Google Reader is going away on July 1st.  Well, Google Reader may be going away, but we don't want YOU to go away, so we hope that you will consider following our blog through bloglovin!  We know that change is hard...so we thought we might sweeten it up for you a little bit!

We are doing a giveaway for all of our fabulous followers that take the leap and switch over to bloglovin.  You may have already switched over!  In that case, this will be an easy entry!

If you have not yet switched or are not following our blog through bloglovin, then there are a few easy steps to follow.  You can go to our sidebar (that's the column on the right over there that shows our followers) and you can click the button that says Follow this Blog with bloglovin.  Or, you can go into the Rafflecopter below and click the link in the first entry, and that will take you to our blog on bloglovin.

You will need to set up an account with bloglovin so that you can follow us.  Please be sure to leave your bloglovin username in the Rafflecopter entry.

If you want to go ahead and move all of the blogs you follow from Google over, you can go to this link and it will take you through the super easy steps.  BUT, please go to our bloglovin link and make sure that you are following us through bloglovin.  To be sure, make sure that the blue button at the top of our bloglovin page has been clicked (it should be gray with the word following- if it's blue, please click it to follow!)

So, if you follow us by bloglovin, please enter our giveaway!!   I will be picking 1 winner to receive their choice of any THREE products from my TPT store :)
Good luck!
get the InLinkz code

Monday, June 24, 2013

Student Monday Made It

My boyfriend of 3 1/2 years (Michael) and I just got back from Lake George, NY.  We had so much fun even if it was only for a night... and I treated myself a little to the outlets :] I never spend money on myself, so it was worth it!!

I am linking up with the wonderful, amazing Tara for her Monday Made It linky : ) But today.... it's my KIDS that "Made It"!
My last and final reading project was due a few weeks ago with my kids... Thanks to Krista from Stellar Students, my kids had a ball with her Book Report Projects. Look below of a classic favorite of The Lion, "The Witch, and the Wardrobe", "The Incredible Hulk", and a wonderful story about the military.  My kiddos did such a great job!!

After I took down my CAFE chart (which I am kicking myself for not taking a picture of it this year!) I decided it would be a great idea for my kids to decorate the wall... see below, boy did they love it :) So sweet and cute... each of the colored construction papers has their names and what they loved about school.  Then they got to draw all over it.  My favorite line says, "I never had so much fun ever :)" - How can my heart not melt?... What wonderful, amazing kids.
My last picture of what my kids made were remember my Sand paper t shirts?  They were from way back in November... well, I decided to try them again with my kids!! This is a collaborative picture of my kids using crayon on sandpaper again.. and I ironed them on. 
The only problem is that this sand paper project... ONLY works with white tees... don't do red tees like we did ;)
What you need:
white tee shirt(s)
crayons (crayola preferably!)
sand paper
iron

Make sure you iron on the sand paper back and forth for about a minute... you want the color to stick as much as possible.  Machine wash cold like normal, and it stays!!


Thank you so much for stopping by!! I am in the process of making "I Can" statements for 3rd grade... half page statements.... Hope you can check them out soon when they are finished ;)

 

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

My Teacher Always Says..

Hello again! Blogging two days in a row.. am I for real?! ;) Tomorrow is my last day of school... sadly [I know, I'm crazy.. but I don't want to leave my kiddos!] and I wanted to link up with the lovely Tammy from Forever in First.. she is having her first linky party ever - and a fun one it is!!
I actually had my 3rd and 4th graders help me with some of these... they were so funny about it :]
 You get what you get, and you don't make a fit.. do you know how many times I have said this? It started last year with some of the kids I looped up with.. they know that if you ask and ask and ask, you don't get! ;) They are so cute and use it all the time.  But this was a big one for me!
My kiddos know that if they do something wrong, that it is better to tell me and talk about it then to flat out lie about it.  They know they will get in more trouble if they lie about something, and that I want them to be as honest and fair and kind as possible.
 This is a funny one, but because I have older students that are so helpful, I always ask mail and messenger (among others) to go get papers from the printer for me :)
This one speaks for itself.. and goes along with "You are so cute" or things like that :)
 That's why I'm their favorite teacher ;) Just kidding, but in all seriousness... that's one of the most important things I wanted my kiddos to learn.  That I believe in them, and they need to believe in themselves.
 Another that also speaks for itself... I expect hard work in 3rd and 4th grade, and give it to them I will, but they know I challenge them because I love them!
Hehe, I say this a lot.. I try to stay away from the "Oh my God" (especially being in a Catholic school), so I have said this quite a bit..throughout life, and in my classroom....

Thank you so much for reading... I can't wait to read everyone's teacher sayings :] Have a great day!!



Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Kindergarten Classroom Organization

Sooo the school I work at is pretty small and all of the teachers know each other well.  I taught Grade 2/3 last year, and Grade 3/4 this year, so I am usually browsing through upper grade material... but my wonderful friends like Miss Kindergarten, Deanna Jump, Rachelle Smith, Jessica Stanford, and many many others have the cutest resources.  I visited a Kindergarten classroom and I had to take a few pictures because I really love the way it is organized..  And this was the perfect time to link up with Primary Possibilities for Wednesday Wisdom... with my favorite topic.. ORGANIZATION ;)

Below are some pictures from Sarah's classroom that I visited:
This is a picture of her CAFE Chart.. the animals are so cute!! I always think it is important to stay organized with reading, and I believe that the Daily 5 and CAFE program do just that.  I like these printables (I am sure she got them on Pinterest but I am not sure of the website!) and I like how they are labeled with C's, A's, F's, or E's so the children can identify where they belong on the chart.
 I love her Marble Jar that is so nicely labeled... what a wonderful way to organize and track classroom management.  It's also very cute!
 I love the setting of the tree and monkeys.. it's always good to organize your classroom with a theme (and hers is animals / monkeys in particular)
   My favorite part of her classroom is her reading area! I LOVE the way the books are organized and how all the bins matched... something I need to keep in mind for next year!! (even if I have to pay a little bit more for it)
Here is a picture of her word wall and where students meet together.
 And a picture of their book bins and math manipulatives. Very cute animals and organized nicely!
 Sarah's husband also made a dum dum tree.. it doesn't have anything to do with organizing in a classroom, I just thought it was adorable.  It organizes lollipops ;)

I hope you enjoy these adorable Kindergarten pictures!!

Before I go, I want to share with you some Organizational Freebies on TPT!!

1. Owl Themed Days of the Week Folder Printables from Teach 4 Real!

2. Book bin labels from Swimming into Second!
 
 3.  CAFE headers from Faith Wheeler!
 

Thank you so much for stopping by!! Make sure to link up with Primary Possibilities ;)