September Currently!

Hey there! I'm back and this month I am not only linking up with the lovely Farley for her Currently link-up…I am also hosting this link up! I am so excited! 

Let's get this party rollin'! 

Listening- My fiancé is currently flipping back and forth between "Don't be Tardy" and "In Time"…I am not upset with either choice :) 

Loving- This weekend marked exactly one year since my fiancé asked me to marry him! Needless to say, this weekend has been filled with Husker football, Family and friends and I could not be happier. Yes, we have had a super long engagement, but it have really been able to enjoy this wedding planning process. I can't wait for June! 

Thinking- Tonight I completed my very first Fantasy football draft.  I have watched "the boys" do it for years and figured that if you can't beat them you might as well join them. So, I set-up two of my own teams (with the help of my patient fiancé ) and now I will have more of a reason to pay attention when football is on :) 

Wanting- This long weekend has been wonderful and I definitely wouldn't be upset to extend just one more day…it's wishful thinking on my part.

Needing- I have a mountain of laundry that seems to be growing at an alarming rate.  Laundry is so easy to do and I still loathe doing it! UGH! Maybe I'll get it done tomorrow …maybe. 

3 Trips- Oh I love this one! I have never been to Vegas and would love to go, but haven't had the chance. I started school the week of the TPT conference so it just didn't work out. I have dreamed of going to Greece on day…the water is just so blue! Hawaii…who doesn't want to go to Hawaii! 

Well, there ya have it folks!  I hope you enjoyed your stop on my little ole' blog and I hope to see you back here soon! If you want to keep up with me go ahead and follow my blog and on Instagram! 

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! 

Liebster Award, San Antonio and a Made it Monday!

Hey there! What a crazy week it has been already...and it's only Monday! This blog post is going to be jam packed with lots of fun information, so I hope you're ready! Let's get it rollin'....

To start things off let's talk about my mini vacation to San Antonio! My fiance, his roommates and I made the 13 hour drive to San Antonio to watch our beloved Huskers play in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Yes, they lost, but the trip was a blast and the weather was gorgeous! We mingled with people on the river walk, visited the Alamo and had a great time. Here are a few photos from our excursions...

My fiance and I at the Husker get together the day we arrived in San Antonio.

WOOO! Go Big Red! Huskers warming up before the game. The outcome wasn't what we would have hoped for, but it was an...umm...intense game to watch. 

One of the many gorgeous mosaics you can find along the river walk. It's even RED! GBR! 

The Alamo in all its glory. This has to be one of the neatest places to visit. The line was always wrapped around the building, so we didn't make it in, but still a beautiful piece of history. 

All in all, it was one of the best road trips I have been on in a long time. San Antonio will definitely be a place I want to visit again, but maybe this time I will take a plane instead of driving :).

After returning from San Antonio I immediately checked up on my blog. While reading through my comments I found one from Language Arts Bliss that said she had nominated my blog for the Liebster Award! I cannot tell you how humbled I feel to have been nominated, so thank you!

In short, the Liebster Award is a great way to grow your audience, find some great blogs to follow, and become more familiar with 5 great teachers out there.

There is a process that goes with this...so hang with me, folks! Here we go!

Step 1 Answer the 11 Questions your nominating blogger provides:

1. What is the best teaching tip you have ever received?

The best teaching tip I have received so far in my career was actually given to me last year by my building Administrator. I am known for over-thinking things and spinning my wheels, so when I heard him say this to me I had an epiphany.  He simply said :"Keep it simple". Sometimes I let my imagination get the best of me and my ideas of extravagant classroom decor and lessons stress me out more than they help me.  Since, I was given this tip I have felt much more relaxed and have become a better teacher because of this simple reminder. 

2. What is the story behind your blog name?

Well, let's be honest, who doesn't love a new box of crayons!?  I originally started this blog as a place for my reflections during my Student Teaching. In fact, you can find my first post here and read more about my Student Teaching experiences! Since I have continued with blogging the name of my blog has grown to represent much more. For me, it is a constant reminder to bring fresh ideas to the world of teaching and making learning fun (or colorful)!

3. If you were not a teacher, which other profession would you choose?

I honestly don't think I would want to be in any other profession. If I had to be, I would wind up being a crazy dog lady. I love dogs and spending my days with them would probably be the only thing that could provide me with as much happiness as my current profession. :) 

4. What is your favorite dessert?

OOO! This is a tough one, but I'm going to have to go with pie! I LOVE pie! Mainly fruit pies and, of course, French Silk pie. MMM! I get hungry just thinking about it! 

5. Big plans for the summer?

Well, my summer is a little shorter compared to you "normal" calendar folks. I only have about 5-6 weeks off and at least 3 of those I plan to be teaching in a Summer Reading program. The other three will be spent creating items for TPT and my classroom. 

6. Describe what you do when you have 30 minutes of free time:

Well, I mean, I know what I SHOULD do with 30 minutes of free time, but those things don't always happen.  I typically end up talking, a lot, with my co-workers and friends. If I'm not talking I can be found creating products or grading papers...oh, and blogging. :) 

7. What is your favorite childhood movie?

That's easy! My favorite childhood movies is "All Dogs go to Heaven"! Maybe I was meant to be a crazy dog lady!:) 

8. What item can you not make it through the day without?

My phone! Not because I call people or text constantly, but because it helps my life run smoothly.  I have quiet a few kids that leave for interventions at random times throughout the day and I have timers set for each one of them. It is a HUGE life-saver! 

9. Share your favorite quote:

I have many quotes that I love, but one of my all time favorite quotes is from Hiam Ginott and it goes like this:  

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.”

10. Beach or mountains? Which do you prefer?

Well...this is a tough one, but I think I am going to have to go with mountains. The beach is great, but eventually I would get sick of sand being everywhere. :) 

11. Describe the view outside of your classroom window:

The view outside my classroom window is filled with bright playground equipment and smiling faces!  

Almost there.. Step 2- Here are 11 random facts about me:

1. My favorite color is blue...

2. My car is my favorite color

3. My dog is named after the dog in Despicable Me (Kyle)

4. I've always wanted a tattoo but can't decided what I want and if I should do it.

5. I am a Gemini and you can tell :). 

6. I love to dance! I started dance when I was 3 years old and continued all the way through college. 

7. I look nothing like my sister :) 

8. I have a younger sister

9. I make a lot of facial expressions when I talk or even listen to conversations. 

10. I have 3 favorite animals: Dogs, Cows and Zebras

11. My birthday is on the 11th. 

Phew...Step 3- Present the Liebster Award to 5 new bloggers with less than 200 followers:

Here are 5 blogs that I think are great! Go check them out for yourself! 

Here are your 11 questions:

1.  Who was your favorite teacher?  How have they influenced your teaching today?
2.   What is the best part of your teaching day?
3.  What is your funniest school memory?
4.  What are your hobbies, or how do you unwind after working all week?
5.  How do you spend your summers?
6.  What is your favorite dessert?
7.  What new instructional practice have you found success with?
8.  Do you love and use technology in your classroom, or are you sometimes intimidated or frustrated by it?9.  What is your favorite children's book?
10.  What is the most exotic place that you have traveled to
11.  Do you have pets?  If so, what kind?

Last, but not least...a new product is up in my store! So I give you one of my latest products for my Made it Monday! 

TA-DA! I give you my Scan it!: QR- Rainbow Reward cards! 

I love this product and use it daily in my classroom.  I have wanted to give my clip chart a little bit of a punch to keep my kiddos driven to keep clipping up and that is where this product was born.  It contains 24 different rainbow rewards that cost you NOTHING...well, except buying and downloading the product.  In my classroom I clip random QR codes to the top three colors of my clip chart. When students reach that color they get to scan the QR code with our iPad or my phone (they love using my phone). The rewards range from moving your seat next to a friend and eating lunch in the classroom to reading a story to the principal or helping another teacher in their classroom for 20 minutes.  There are quite a few teachers in my school that use these QR codes in a multitude of ways to keep their students engaged. Here are some ideas: Putting them up around the room and having kiddos scan rewards when they earn them, placing the cards inside a treasure box and much more! The possibilities are endless, so what are you waiting for!? Click the image to hop over to my store and check it out for yourself! 

Phew...that's all I've got folks! Thanks for hanging with me and I hope that you have a fantastic week! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

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!

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!