Five for Friday!~5/9/14~

Woohoo! Happy Friday, Folks! I hope you have had a wonderful week! I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to share my Five for Friday with you! 


Let's get Friday rollin'...

Check out my EARLY Birthday present from my parents (they are awesome!)  I have officially joined the Mac world! I am currently typing this post on my Mac, mind blown! 

It is taking me a little while to figure out how to add image just to this post, but I'm getting there.  Do you use a Mac? If so, do you have any tips, pointers on creating products, or awesome tutorials?! Share away! I am so excited to learn everything I can and use my lil' lap top to it's full potential. 

WOOHOO! YAY for upgrading! 

I have been waiting and waiting for my lovely little wedding shoes to arrive.  I checked my mailbox EVERYDAY in hopes that a box would be there patiently waiting for me. Finally, last Thursday they came!! 

Check these puppies out! 

I am in LOVE with these shoes! They make me taller without making it difficult to walk and they are comfortable. WHAT?! Who has ever heard of "comfortable" heels?!  Now, I can happily vacuum my apartment in true 50's housewife style.  (I promise I'm not rolling my ankle in this picture.)

This week I took the jump and purchased my very first Erin Condren planner.  I have heard so many wonderful things about these planners, I just couldn't resist the temptation any longer!  I hope it helps me reduce the amount of planners, calendars and grade books I take home every night.  I've heard it helps A TON with organization, and since I'm only in my 3rd year of teaching, I haven't quite found my niche for planning...so I'll give it a shot! 

I love the saying on the front of this planner.  This is a common theme in my classroom, so it will work perfectly.  Now...if it would only get here soon, that would make my day!! 

Wanna check them out for yourself?! Click on me (the clip art me over there-----------> ) and see the loveliness for yourself!

This week has been filled with lots of testing and schedule changes for my kiddos.  Computers have crashed, systems have been down and test's had been frozen. Gotta love technology!  With all of this going my firsties did a great job of going with the flow of everything. 

After a long day this week, I found this sweet little note on my desk at the end of the day. 

This sweetie wrote one of the best "powims" I have ever received! Needless to say, this turned my day around in a snap! 

This is why I LOVE my job! 

Last but not least, let's talk about my giveaway!  For the past few weeks I have been running a giveaway for my latest product on TPT. 

This lovely little unit contains everything you need to end the year in a fun, yet simple, way.  It contains memory book covers for years to come, writing prompt pages for different grade levels, gift tags for your kiddos (beach balls, sunglasses, gum, glow sticks), and an exhilarating scavenger hunt through your school to a secret treasure ( treasure is not included ..haha).  I created this unit with busy teacher's in mind and held a giveaway to give all of you the chance to win your very own copy! 

Well, the giveaway is over and we have our winner!

DRUMROLL, PLEASE...

...and the winner is...

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations, Larua! Be sure to check your email for your prize! Thank you to all of you that participated in this giveaway! If you still would like your own copy hop on over to my store right now! 

CLICK HERE FOR MY STORE!  

Well folks, I hope you have an amazing weekend! Summer is getting closer with each and every day, so take a deep breath and enjoy! I'll be spending my weekend converting files over to my new lap top and hanging with this furry face! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Five for Friday 4/25/14 ~End of the year Giveaway!~

Hey there! HAPPY FRIDAY!  I'm so glad you stopped by to kick your weekend off with my Five for Friday! This week has been crazy and I am definitely ready for this weekend!

So, without further adieu...

Let's get the party rollin'...

As some of you may (or may not have) noticed, I was a little absent from my cute little blog this week for a number of reasons. One of the MAJOR reasons was because my ridiculous, lovely wireless modem decided to stop working.  

So, much of my "spare time" was spent pulling a plug out of a wall repeatedly while yelling slanderous phrases at my internet modem.  Needless to say, I think all that yelling paid off because (as you can tell) my internet decided to work! YAY! 

Well, once my internet decided to cooperate I finally got to register my blog on blog lovin'!  Wanna show my blog some love? Click the link below to follow me on blog lovin'! 

This week the weather has been BEA-UTIFUL which means we get to go outside for recess! WOO!  My firsties, however, don't spend their time running around the playground like any six or seven year old child would be doing. Nope! Instead my kiddos are obsessed with sweeping the gravel off of our blacktop! Don't get me wrong, it is a clean obsession to have, but why didn't I discover this earlier?!  Can you imagine how clean my classroom would be?! 

I will definitely be putting this cleaning habit to use when it comes to cleaning out their desks at the end of the year! 

So...I need your help! 

I have been shopping for a new blog design and I have come to one major question....HOW DO YOU DECIDE?!?! There are SOO many talented blog designers out there how can you choose just one? After many hours of searching I have found some awesome designers, but still don't know what I want or who to pick! I feel like I am cheating or will regret choosing one over the other. 

So, I guess I am asking for your help.  Who do you use/love and why? How do you decide what you want your blog to look like?! I mean I love crayons, but that doesn't mean I want the sprawled all over my blog...I think. So, help me out and leave a little comment of link of some of your favorite designers! Your input is GREATLY appreciated! 

I have been working really hard on a couple of products to post in my store.  With my internet being difficult and a few other curve balls being thrown my way; I sadly had to put my Test Prep Pack on the back burner for now.  :(  Yes, I was a little bummed, but it opened up an opportunity for me to get rollin' on my End of Year Extravaganza pack! 

I am hoping to include my end of the year letter, gift tags for my firsties and maybe a few surprises!  

What would you like to see in a pack like this? Games, songs, scavenger hunts, etc?!?!?  

Enter the giveaway below to win your very own copy of this nifty little pack! You can earn up to 6 entries by doing 3 easy steps! 

Trust me...you DO NOT want to miss this! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Well, I must say my weekend is looking like it is going to be filled with prepping my Words Their Way sorts for next year.  My goal is to have half of the first book cut and in my Word Work binder by Sunday night...can you say holy hand cramp?!?!

Who knows...maybe I'll accidentally forget about my cutting and wind up creating or blogging instead...clearly that is more exciting than the monotony of cutting out word sorts. :)  

Well folks, that's all I have for you this week! I hope you have a refreshing weekend that is filled with joy and relaxation. 

Thanks for stoppin' by!   

Five for Friday! 4/11/14

YAY! You have made it through another week successfully! I'm glad to see you here and could not be more honored that you are kicking your weekend off with me. 

So, let's get this thing rollin'! 

Go Huskers! This weekend I will be sporting my red in honor of Nebraska's Spring Game. Now, I know that it isn't a HUGE deal, but it is a sign! The Spring Game means that warmer weather is heading our way, grills at tailgates will be sizzling with Fairbury hot-dogs and football games will be found on every TV channel.  It may just be one of my FAVORITE times of the year! GO BIG RED! 

Earlier this week I decided to try something new. I have heard and seen a lot about Farley and her "currently" linky party. In fact, Farley was one of the FIRST blogs I ever followed...crazy, right?! So, I decided to take a chance and join in on one of the largest link-ups I have ever seen! 

You can click on the image to see my "Currently" post! It was very exciting and a little scary to jump into such a large link-up, but I will definitely be doing it again in the future! Okay...so I know you may think that it isn't a big deal that I joined in a link up. I just thought it was really cool that I ( a little first grade teacher from Nebraska) was able to join in on a blog that I have followed since my first days of teaching! It was awesome! 

Okay....so this has NOTHING to do with education, but I just can't resist. I found this little chevron number at a half-price store and I just couldn't leave it there! I love patterns (gray chevron being one of my faves) and I have been looking for a little something to cute-ify my apartment.  As you can see, it is the perfect place to drop everything I have in my arms as I come barreling in through the door. I absolutely love it...now if only I could organize the rest of my apartment....NAH!

If you follow me on Instagram at all, you would have seen this post earlier in the week. 

My students know from day one that I have 3 favorite animals: dogs, cows and zebras.  One of my kiddos "borrowed" this project from her little brother so she could give it to me as a gift!  This adorable little cow is hanging on the bulletin board right behind my desk...every time I look at it I think of her little story that goes with it! AH...I love my firsties! 

My newest product is up and running! My kiddos struggle with skip counting so I whipped up this center pack that makes skip counting a little more hands-on. This pack focuses on counting by: 2's, 3's, 5's, and 10's. Each group of skip-counting cards also follows a pattern with the clip art images this will help the kiddos figure out the correct order AND it gives us educator folk the ability to simply glance over from our small group or needy student and see if they are on the right track! Click the image to hop over to my TPT store to grab yourself your very own copy! 

Thanks for hanging with me for my Five for Friday. I hope you enjoyed your stop here on my little blog! I hope you have a wonderful weekend filled with warm weather and relaxing...maybe a little productive if you need to be :). 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Five for Friday...Giveaway winner announced!

Happy Friday!  Congratulations on surviving another long work week and reaching your weekend...WOOOHOO!! I'm even happier to have you here to kick off your weekend with my FIVE FOR FRIDAY! 

Let's get this party started!

PHEW! I don't know about you, but this week was a whirl wind for me.  We all know that around this time everyone is on edge due to those darn wonderful tests we all enjoy taking so much! Schedules are turned upside down and our nerves shoot through the roof!  I am known to carry stress around to the point of breaking out in hives ( it's really quite attractive....and itchy) unless I find a way to manage it. Well, I have tried going to the gym to run on the hamster wheel (aka: treadmill), tried classes at my local YMCA and even tried enjoying the bright outdoors. Needless to say, it just didn't work for me. I would get into the groove of going and then become exceedingly bored with my monotonous  routine and I would end up quitting.  

After a few months of frustration my mother talked me into going to a Jazzercise class with her.  I had nothing to lose, so I went and....I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!  I have finally found an "exercise program" that I might actually stick to, plus who doesn't like to go dance it out after a long day?!  If you have never tried Jazzercise I think you should AT LEAST try it once, like I said, you've got nothing to lose! 

I made a spontaneous trip into the big city of Omaha for a little fun.  My friend Lynn and I decided to stop at Francesca's. I'm not big into clothes shopping but,  I love going there simply because they have some of the cutest little knick-knack things to decorate with.  While Lynn dove into the clothing racks, I decided to wander around and looking at the wall decor.  I found some really cute signs with sayings of love and being fearless...and then I saw it. There I stood in my bright pink Batman t-shirt and Batman headband when the world decides to throw me a little bit of irony.... 

It was almost like it was meant to be.....

I saw this brilliant wall sign that I definitely will be purchasing in the near future. I LOVE Batman and this sign would just make my life complete.  

If you follow me on Instagram you probably saw this lovely post of my Math Workshop signs. 

My teaching partner and I are in the process of prepping our Math Workshop for next year and we were tired of our boring index card rotation board.  Since I love to create I immediately created these adorable little tags! I even made my teaching partner her own clip-art avatar (is that what they are called?).  After posting this photo on Facebook and Instagram I got quite a few questions asking when these would be up for sale. Well folks, you're in luck, because I have them ready for you right now!  Here is my most recent product on TPT ...

my "Math Workshop Essentials" and it's EDITABLE!  Click the image above to take you to my TPT and check it out for yourself! 

Now for the exciting news!  This week I held my very first Giveaway! It was very exciting and I am very grateful for those of you that took part in supporting my Facebook page and TPT store.  Quite a few of you entered the giveaway, but there can only be ONE Winner! 

DRUMROLL, PLEASE.....

AND THE WINNER IS.......

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations, Stephanie!  You're the LUCKY winner of my K-2 Dolch Bundle BANG game! Thank you to all that participated! Be sure to follow my blog and Facebook for upcoming freebies, products and giveaways! 

This year I have been working really hard on becoming a more efficient Guided Reading Teacher. I used to really struggle with planning reading every week until I read Jan Richardson's book. Holy cow...it is a life-saver! Now,  Guided Reading is my favorite subject to plan, but it takes me FOREVER to get done. As you can see, it also takes up a good portion of my table to plan as well.  Does anyone else love Guided Reading? If you have not read Jan Richardson's book on Guided Reading it is wonderful! Her formats are simply to follow and I love all of word work ideas she gives you in the back of the book! 

Well folks, I need to continue planning my guided reading groups and cleaning off my table before it gets completely lost under all of my stuff! I hope you have a wonderful weekend! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

  

HAPPY....Five for Friday!

HAPPY FRIDAY, FOLKS!! 

Congratulations for making it through another week, it sounds easy when you think about it, but in reality we all know it can be quite tough.  Let's get started with my FIVE FOR FRIDAY!!! WOO!!!

For starters, how about that weather?! I mean, really, what is going on?!  Now, I know Nebraska is known to have some crazy weather every now and again, but this week was just insane! You would have sworn my firsties were on some kind of sugar rush had you walked into my classroom. Needless to say, this week was a long one and by Wednesday my friend "Lynn" and I were ready for a little R&R...so we treated ourselves to a lovely mani/pedi.  I decided to go with bright spring colors in hopes that it would bring warm weather soon, and then something AWESOME happened.  The lady that was painting my toes offered to make a design, which of course I whipped out my phone and brought up a cheetah design I have been dying to try. Now, I had asked many other places to try this adorable design and had been denied every time, BUT this lady took on the challenge and CHECK IT OUT!!!!!! 

They look GREAT! My cheetah toes definitely brightened my day, and I'm holding out hope for a day that I can wear my cute sandals to school and show them off! I know the warm weather may be wishful thinking on my part, but hey, a girl has got to dream, right?

This week has definitely been exhausting and to be honest my mind has been stuck in San Antonio.  I often find myself daydreaming of the warm sun, beautiful River-walk and the soft sounds of a Mariachi band playing in the background.  For those of you who didn't stop by last week, you can check out my blog post about my trip to San Antonio here!  Here is just a little taste of the Mariachi band we heard, quite frequently while we were there.

These guys were a lot of fun! Excuse the poor video quality...I was passing my phone across the table to my fiance to get a better angle. I also was not expecting him to get me in the video either.

google image

While on vacation I took some time to pick up a book and read for my own enjoyment.  I loved The Hunger Games and wanted a book or series that was similar, so I picked up Divergent.  I was totally against them in the beginning simply because I felt like they were a watered down copy-cat of The Hunger Games series, however, I was wrong.  I LOVE THESE BOOKS! Granted, there are some similarities between the two series, but they still are just as fun to read.  I loved them so much that I read the entire first book on the 13 hour ride home from San Antonio and started the second book on Tuesday and I am already half-way through it! Yup, that is my NERD statement of the day, but I don't mind! I strongly suggest this series for anyone who wants to read for some enjoyment this upcoming summer.

google image

This week my students have been talking NON-STOP about the movie Frozen.  I told them they couldn't tell me what happens because I am hoping to talk my fiance into watching it with me this weekend. They were all a little bummed that they couldn't tell me EVERYTHING about the movie so we compromised and listened to the sound track all week.  Holy cow! The music for the movie is AMAZING!  I loved it so much that I kept is playing during all (and by all I mean the few minutes I have between making copies and running to the bathroom) of my planning periods...shhh! {another nerd statement}. After listening to the soundtrack I am probably even more excited to see the movie than I was before!  Hmmm...maybe I can bribe my fiance with food...I'll have to work on that.



I left the most exciting news for last!  As you know, I have a fairly new store on TPT and I have been working really hard on brainstorming and creating products to post to share with all of you. Well, I was becoming a little frustrated with my inability to convert my products on my own laptop due to the fact that I didn't have the correct program to secure them.  I have quite a few products just sitting on my computer waiting to be converted and pushed out to the rest of you, but didn't have access to my fiances laptop (who lives an hour away and has the program I use). SOOOO....I bought it! Which means I will be creating and converting like a mad woman tonight and all weekend! YAY!  Be sure to stop by my store or Instagram to see what brilliant products (or freebies) I will be posting!

Well folks, that's all I have for this Friday. I hope you have a wonderful weekend and I am go glad you stopped by! I hope you have a very HAPPY weekend!

Thanks for stoppin' by!