My first...Five for Friday!

Hey there! Happy Friday! You made it through another week and I am here to share a few things I have been working on during my week off. Sit back, relax and enjoy my weekly endeavors.  Here we go!

My boy and I started off our week attending a Huskers Basketball game! We love our Huskers. On Wednesday night the Huskers beat the Hoosiers and are now in the running to play in San Antonio...do I hear a possible vacation ? I'll be keeping my fingers crossed. GBR! Please excuse the look on the boys face... he couldn't take his eyes off the game which resulted in him looking like he has a lazy eye and I promise he does not have a lazy eye...he just stinks at taking photos. :) 

As some of you may know, I have been on break this whole week which means I have spent my days curled up with this fur ball creating items to put into my TPT store! I must say Kyle definitely has an eye for design (hah!). Most of the time I am creating with one hand and playing fetch or tug-of-war with the other. He has really put my multi-tasking skills to the test this week, but I would say I still have made some decent progress on products for my store. 

I just opened my TPT store last month and I am so excited to have fulfilled a goal of mine.  I love creating things to use in my classroom and then sharing them with all of you! Since it is still VERY new I have found myself filling up pages of blank notebooks with ideas instead of sleeping. This whole "lack of sleep" thing may be what some people call insomnia, but I can't sleep with these ideas running around in my head! Besides, who needs sleep when you can be creating?!  I mean, I can't be the only one addicted to creating, right?! Please tell me I'm not totally losing it! HA! Feel free to hop on over to my store and check out a few of my late night creations...trust me, there will be many more to come!

I did a little shopping this week to prep for my next week of teaching our Extended Learning Opportunities for Kindergarten and First grade!  I have been searching for these animal plates since last summer and I finally found them at Target (god bless you, Target!).  So, since it took me forever to find them I stocked up so I can use them in my math centers.  They are perfect to use as addition or subtraction mats and since next week is totally animal themed they are ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!  My kiddos are going to get WILD about math next week! I think the sloth is my favorite. :)

Here is what I am working on today!  A brilliant idea came to me last night just as I went to lay my head down on my pillow (let's face it, that's when all of your greatest ideas come to you).  I introduce you to my "Luck of the Irish" Math and Literacy Pack. Again, it is still in the works, but lucky for you (see what I did there) I am sharing with you a FREEBIE of one of these pages! All you need to do is hope on over to my TPT store and download  your very own copy! While you're there be sure to follow my store to keep up with all of my late night product posts. 

I hope you have a FANTASTIC weekend!  Relax, cruise TPT and enjoy life.  Before you go, be sure to click that "follow this blog" because I'd love to see you back here! 

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Parent Teacher Conferences and Break!

Hola, folks!  I'm glad you stopped by today, because I have some fun things to share with you.  I just finished up with our second round of Parent-Teacher Conferences. {Remember: I run on a 'year-round' schedule so if you are finding this to be early...it just may be for you "normal calendar" folks}.  As I was preparing for conferences I ran into the common questions of "what do you share at conferences?" and "how do you share it with parents?".  

Now, I have done my share of searching for tools on Teachers Pay Teachers and I have tried asking those "well seasoned" teachers, but haven't found something that accomplished what I was looking to do in my conferences.  I wanted something that held my students accountable, but also showed parents that their child was aware of what they needed to work on.  So, I started asking some of my teacher friends I work with to see if they had the same dilemma I was struggling with. Needless to say, they were having the same question, but we determined that it was one of those things we would just "get" over time.  Well, that answer made me feel a little bit better for about five minutes and then I decided to take matters into my own hands. One of my friends, "Lynn" (name has been changed), has mentioned she just wanted a letter that her students could fill in the areas they felt successful in and the areas they felt they needed to work on to be successful.  This was a BRILLIANT idea, so I text her and asked if she would be okay with me creating a letter for her to use and potentially share with the rest of you! She was thrilled and was relieved to know that 1) she wasn't going to have to hand write a letter to photo copy and 2) that her students parents would be able to see/hear from their child about their feelings of themselves as a learner. 

I got straight to work and developed a letter for myself "Lynn" and "Amanda" ( another teacher friend whose name has been changed).  Each of us tried it in our classrooms and found that it was a great addition to conferences. We had parents tell us how much they enjoyed seeing their child take ownership of their learning and our students even enjoyed being able to share the areas they felt successful in and what they felt they needed to work on! 

Here is a picture of the Conference letter I made. Hop on over to my TPT to download it and keep it for your future conferences! Please be sure to let me know what you thought of it so I can improve or alter anything that didn't work out! I greatly appreciate your feedback! 

Phew, now that conferences are over I have a week break and then I'm teaching our "Extended Learning Opportunities" next week! I have been making a list of projects/goals for my summer break and here is what I have so far:

1) I need to paint more buckets to store my Guided Math Stations (this will also be something I work on over the summer). {see my buckets here}

2) Attempt to make crate seating for my Guided Reading table! Have you seen these things! They are absolutely adorable and also can be used as extra storage...who doesn't love storage? If not, pop on over to my Pinterest page a take a look at my "First grade Ideas" board. 

3) Find a Guided Math Stations to create for my potential Guided Math Groups. 

4) Hang out with my adorable schnauzer, Kyle. 

Just look at that face! He is very fuzzy right now, but it sure is keeping him warm during these crazy Nebraska freeze-outs! 

Alrighy folks, I think I'm going to keep working on some of my TPT products that I hope to share with you soon! In the meantime, hop on over to my TPT store or check me out on Pinterest. Don't forget to hit that follow button so you don't miss any freebies or products! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Hello, TPT!

DRUMROLL, PLEASE!

 I have got some SUPER exciting news! I am venturing into the creative world of TPT!  I am in the process of re-vamping some of the freebies I have already shared with y'all, ya know...making them fancy and such, so be on the look out!  I will be removing the current freebies on Google and replacing them with the fancier versions throughout the weekend.

  I am also in the process of working on my very first differentiated math unit!! YAY!! There are a lot of exciting things in the works, so be sure to follow my blog and MY TPT STORE so you don't miss out! 

For now I will leave  you with the much prettier version of my very first freebie...ever (the original post can be found here)!  

Here it is folks.....the dolled up version of my very first freebie!!!

Click the picture to head over to my TPT store and download this beauty!

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Hey...it's been awhile!

Okay...so I have come to the conclusion that I may not be the best at posting consistently, but I promise I am working on it!  The flu has hit our school hard in the past month and despite my best efforts I caught it. So, today while I sit surrounded my tissues and tea, I have decided to create a little and show you all (and my blog) a little lovin'.

First off, WHERE HAS THIS YEAR GONE?! Maybe it's just me, but holy moly it feels like this year has just flown by!  I have found that every year there is something that stands out and makes it unforgettable. Some of these memories can be good and others can be ...well...not so good.  This year I would have to say that my engagement to my boy will definitely be a memory that will stand out forever, but I also have found an AH-MAZE-ING website that I use daily in my classroom (which I am going to share right now).

 I am a strong believer in brain breaks. They are life savers during my afternoon stretch (especially after indoor recesses..woof). I use to, and still do at times, use YouTube and look up fun just- dance videos for my firsties to wiggle and dance to while releasing some built up energy. That was all fine and dandy until my kiddos told me they were tired of the same old songs, so I started asking around.  I talked to our reading specialist (who I swear is fairy god mother) and she told me about a new website that Children's Hospital had launched called GoNoodle. The website was created to get students moving in the classroom to increase blood flow while still hitting academic material.  I immediately went back to my classroom and signed up for a FREE account. Let me tell you....these brain breaks are awesome and the kids LOVE them!  You sign up, vote for your class monster-mascot and work your way through the brain breaks! They have brain breaks that are both educational and not educational.
Here is just a short list: kids zumba, bodySpell (where you can add your spelling words and spell them with your body), mega math marathon (great warm up for math)...and much much more! When you complete a brain break the time you spent completing it helps your monster-mascot grow healthy and strong!  My firsties love it and I love it because it makes learning active for them!  I STRONGLY encourage you to sign up for an account...I would do it for you, but let's face it, I can't.

I also want to thank you for sticking with me in my long absence from blogging.  While I sat here today watching Downton Abbey episodes and coughing up my lungs, I realized Valentine's Day is quickly approaching. Valentine's Day always seems to sneak up on us and I always feel rushed, soooo to help ya out...

 .... I MADE SOME FOR YOU GUYS! Please post back so I can see how you used them in your classroom! 

Enjoy! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Fall Break and an Update!!

Well hey there!  Last time I was here I created by very first Freebie EVER! I hope you guys got the chance to download and use it in your rooms! If you missed that post you can either scroll down or just simply click here to grab your freebie.  Since my last post  A LOT has happened and has caused a serious whirlwind in the past few weeks. To start things off...

         I AM ENGAGED!!! 

I was completely surprised and I must say that my boy did a great job of planning the entire thing with family and friends! He even kept it a secret for 6 WEEKS!!!!! I am very lucky to get to spend the rest of my life with such a wonderful man! Let the wedding planning begin! 

Fall is here which means I have been living off of pumpkin spice lattes! With fall comes my FALL BREAK! Yup, I get a whole 2 weeks off to enjoy this wonderful Nebraska fall weather... and enter grades...and complete running records...and clean my house...okay so it's been a little crazy but I am two days into my break and I am lovin' it! 

I also have recently started playing with the idea of a different hairstyle. One of my friends told me that curling wands are amazing. Now, being someone who is terrified of regular curling irons, I was not looking forward to wearing a "Michael Jackson" heat protective glove and wrapping my hair around a hot stick. However, after an hour of carefully attempting to not burn my hands or face, I had this result. As you can tell by my face I am a little shocked I came out without any scars or burns, but it is definitely something I will continue to work on. 

Also, I don't know if you have heard about The Mint Julep Boutique, but I am completely obsessed! My first order just arrived today (it's like Christmas in a box!)! Be sure to check out their AH-MAZ-ING clothes and deals. Things go fast so be sure to order when  you can! 

Well folks, I am off to create a wedding guest list and enjoy my fall break....and maybe spend part of my paycheck at The Mint Julep Boutique! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

My first FREEBIE!!! WOOT WOOT!!

Well, hey there!  Happy Hump Day! I hope you have had a wonderful beginning to your school year and that you are lovin' getting back into the swing of things! I know that I am finally feelin' like my life is getting back to being crazy normal.  We are integrating iPad minis into our classroom and I am finding that it can be a little overwhelming when looking for apps to help your kiddos, especially in reading. If you have any apps that you use please feel free to share! 

 In the past few weeks I have spent a lot of time trying to think of something to create and share with all of you, which clip arts to choose and download, yadda yadda. However, I am super excited because I will make an attempt tonight to share with you my...wait for it......very first freebie! EVER! Which means there could be a few hiccups along the way, but hey, I am learning here folks.  

Anyways.....

This worksheet came to me while I was looking at our vocabulary skill of this week, which is alphabetical order, and I started searching for ideas of a 'flexible' worksheet that I could use in my future Word Work area so my kiddos could work on it all year long. Well, after lots of brainstorm I have come up with my very first freebie. I was so excited after creating it that I just felt like I needed to share it with the rest of you! Here I give you....my

"Write, Cut, Glue...Look what we can do! (An Alphabetical Order Worksheet)" ....long title I know, but it rhymes. Alright....I hope I did this right. So, please ATTEMPT to click the picture below to grab your freebie! (and let me know if I did it wrong and how I could fix it...please!)

The idea is that you and your kiddos can use any words, sight words, classmate's names, spelling words and much more! Basically...you can do anything your heart desires! 

Again, please let me know if the freebie works and what I need to do to fix it so it can be available for you. I would love to see how you use it in your classroom as well. I hope you enjoy the freebie and are willing to share any "constructive criticism" on how I can improve future items.  

Well...I will continue to brainstorm this weekend while I am enjoying the first Husker Football game! WOOT WOOT! Have a great rest of your week!

Thanks for stoppin' by!