Last Minute Christmas!

Hey yall!

 

We are 6 days away from Christmas vacation....I think I can, I think I can.

We'll be spending this week and next immersed in all things holiday! We'll be using activities from my two newest packs: Holiday How To Writing and Eat, Drink, and Be Merry Math Centers.

 

 

This sweet little pack includes 6 different holiday how-to writing organizers and writing paper, including:

*how to build a snowman

*how to wrap a present

*how to decorate a tree

*how to catch an elf

*how to eat a gingerbread cookie

*how to make hot cocoa

 

Each writing includes a graphic organizer and four choices of writing sheets.

 

 

This holiday pack includes 9 math centers and 1 whole class activity. It meets 9 different standards!

*Place Value Stockings (1.NBT.2)
*Ornament Ordering (1.NBT.1)
*Elf Statements (1.NBT.3)
*Tens of Penguins (1.NBT.5)
*Frosty Time (1.MD.3)
*Santa Scoot (1.OA.6)
*Gifts of Measurement (1.MD.2)
*Reindeer Games (1.OA.6)
*Snowmen Graphing (1.MD.4)
*Candy Cane Tens (1.NBT.6)

 



 

Since its so last minute, you can snag this pack for 50% off until Friday! Click on the pictures above to grab your copy.

 

Now, I'm off to wrap some presents :)

 

6 more days, people!



Do you love a good freebie...or 50?

Hey yall! Happy Friday!

 

I thought this week was going to take forever, but it has actually gone by pretty quickly. This girl is sooo ready for the weekend, baby!

 

How am I going to spend my Friday night, you ask? Downloading freebies!

 

Have you heard about the Winter Holidays EBook? It is FULL of freebies that are geared towards 1st and 2nd grade....over 50 of them! And you just might find one from me in there as well :)

 

Click on the pic to download the ebook.

 

 

And today is also the kickoff of a fun Facebook Frenzy that I'm apart of! Myself and 21 other first grade bloggers have put together a fun hop that is chock full of holiday/winter goodness!

 

 

Start the hop at my FB page and snag my freebie! I'm offering my Polar Express Unit...for free yall!

Then just continue the hop by clicking on the snowman.

 

If you get lost, here's the map to help you find your way :) Click on the picture to open the PDF...it has all the links you'll need!

 

 

 

Happy hopping, friends!

Hello? Anyone there?

Hey yall! Happy hump day!

 

I feel like the world's worst blogger. I have been seriously neglecting this lil ol' blog of mine. And I've not read any other blogs in many, many days...but I had a good excuse!

 

I've been knee-deep in completing my thesis for grad school, but I am super stoked to say that I am FINISHED!!!! Posted my paper last night and am officially done with this degree.

 

Hello, Ed.S! {and pay raise....hallelujah!}

Oh, Ryan... :)

 

I feel like I just birthed a giant baby, since I had been working on my thesis for 9 whole months. I chose to complete a study on something very near and dear to my heart....education blogs! I mean, I know that we have all been impacted greatly by this amazing online community, but I loved getting some real statistics.

 

Do you agree that blogging and/or reading education blogs should be considered professional development? Well, 100% of my participants do! And they also all agree that education blogs have made a positive impact on not only their teaching, but also student achievement, professional growth, and their support network! Not to mention that they have given most teachers a newfound sense of excitement in their job.

 

I won't go too much into detail, but if you are interested in reading my thesis you can check it out here.

 

Warning! It's quite long....60 pages...but you can really just skip to page 35 to get to the good stuff!

 

I also need to say a huge thank you to all my participants....I couldn't have done this without you!

 

Now, I'm off to catch up on my favorite blogs....but I promise I'll be back soon with some goodies!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hey yall!

 

 Just wanted to drop by and tell you...

 

Do you know what I'm thankful for? All of yall!

 

Seriously...it means the world to me to have such loyal and supportive followers. And to show just how thankful I am, I am offering my Granny Swallows Christmas unit for free today only. Click on the picture below to snag your copy...but hurry! It's only free until 10 pm tonight.

 

 

And I'm so excited to tell you guys about the HUGE upcoming sale over at TPT! On Cyber Monday {and Tuesday!}, everything in my shop will be 20% off. Use the code CYBER at checkout to receive an additional 8% off! So get those wish lists ready folks...Monday will be here before you know it! Click on the picture below to start stocking up :)

 

Adorable graphic from Jen Jones

 

Now....get off the computer and spend some time with your precious family!

Take Me Back Tuesday: Room Mom Gifts!

Hey yall!

 

Anyone else already on Thanksgiving break? We have the whole week off and it is glorious! Sleeping in, hanging out in the jammies til 2, shopping, catching up with my girlfriends....loving every second of it!

 

So since I'm trying hard to not do anything productive, I'm joining Hope for her fun linky :)

 

 

This is a post from awhile back where I shared the gifts I gave my room moms at the end of the year. I thought with December just right around the corner, they would also make great gifts for Christmas! Take a look and let me know whatcha think :)

 

Originally posted on June 2, 2012

******************************************

Hey yall! Happy Saturday!

I have been on summer break for about 12 days now and it. is. fabulous.

I feel sorry for you poor souls that are still locked away in a school building. But only if you promise to feel sorry for me when I start back to school in early August, while you are still enjoying the summer through Labor Day! That is, if  I get a job!

Anyways, I wanted to share with you guys something that I did last year for my room moms. I was super broke at the time, so I needed to make something incredibly cheap and easy, but that still looked cute.

Now, I cannot take credit for this idea. I found it somewhere on the world wide web. This was pre-Pinterest, and before I became a blogstalker, so I honestly have no clue where I found this idea. If anyone knows, let me know!

Here is what I made for my room moms:



They are little Chinese takeout boxes with chocolate dipped fortune cookies and a tag that says "I am so FORTUNate to have you as a room mom!"

Now, when I made these last year, I didn't cutesify everything I made.

Shock! Gasp! Aww!

I know.

So, of course when I decided to share this with you guys, I just had to make some cute little labels to go with it!



I thought it would be cute to roll these up fortune cookie style and attach them to the takeout boxes. This would be mucho adorable than my lame index card label that I made last year. Ha!

Click on the picture below to get a copy of the labels. It also has step-by-step directions on how to make the cookies....not that you will need it, because they are seriously super easy to make!

Graphics by The Digital Cake Shop.
Fonts by Kevin and Amanda.

I have also included tags that say 'room parent' instead of 'room mom.'

If you have something else, say a room dad or room grandparent, just shoot me a quick email and I will be happy to make a different tag for you :)

Alright yall, off to wash my car and clean my room!



No Peeking! {freebie!}

Hey yall!

 

3 more days, 3 more days....that's what I keep telling myself :)

 

Anyone else get a whole week off for Thanksgiving???

 

Today I wanted to share how I make my kiddos offices. Super simple and easy :)

 

All you need are some manila folders (or colored ones if you want to get fancy with it!), some scissors, a stapler, and the freebie below. I prefer to use the Smead Super Tab Heavy Weight folders, because they are sturdy enough to last my kiddos all year.

 

 

First, cut your folder in half hamburger-style.

 

Yikes! Sorry about the glare there!

 

Then take the two pieces and fit them together so that they overlap.

 

 

 

Staple the two pieces together where they overlap.

 

 

Download this freebie and print them for your littles. Staple them to the inside of the folder (although I would recommend laminating them first for durability).

 

 

 

Voila...instant office! My kiddos feel very legit when they pull these out for tests and what have you. Sometimes, they like to be secretive and pull them out during classwork so their neighbors can't peek at their work.

 

I usually let them decorate their offices during the first week of school. Then they just keep them in their desks for the rest of the year! There's always going to be those one or two that lose theirs, but the majority of my kiddos keep up with them. I always make extras, though...just in case! 

 

Head on over to Shoplet.com to order your folders! They are nice and sturdy and I LOVE the super wide tabs. While you're there, check out their FasTab Hanging File Folders. They have built-in tabs that are ten times better than those pesky plastic ones that fall out after awhile.

The people over at Shoplet.com were also nice enough to send me the Easy Grip Pocket expanding file. The nifty thing about this file is that the sides have a non-slip grip pad that allows you to easily pick up the file, without the contents falling out. Genuis! It's also pretty heavy duty, so perfect for holding all those awesome teacher files :)

 



I Just Want to Do It My Way!

Hey yall!

 

I'm so excited today to be taking part in a fun blog hop for Julia Cook books!

 

 

Have you read any of her books before? They all focus on an important topic that is important for young people to learn in the classroom. Bullies, teamwork, tattling, blurting out, stealing.....just a few of the topics that her books are about!

 

I recently purchased the book I Just Want to Do It My Way! and read it to my class. I have a few sweeties who really struggle with staying on task and getting their work done, so this book was just what we needed!

 

 

This book is about a little boy named RJ who always wants to do things his way. Whether its eating an ice cream cone from the bottom up or sleeping with his pajamas on inside out....he's got to have things his way! Um.....can't our kiddos definitely relate to that?

 

RJ gets in trouble at school for not getting his math work done. He says he can't focus with Norma the booger-picker sitting right next to him! RJ's parents and teacher help him understand the importance of staying on task in school and getting his work done.

 

After we read the book, we held a class discussion on why it is important to stay on task and brainstormed some ways to stay focused and get our work done. We made a class anchor chart and then the kiddos created their own organizers to put in their journals.






They did such a great job! Hopefully, these friendly reminders will help them stay focused throughout the day. Click on the picture below to snag a copy of the organizer we used.

 

Check out these other books below to continue the fun!