St. Patty's Day Fun!

Hey yall!

 

Well, another Monday come and gone! To be honest, this was probably the best Monday I've had in awhile. My kiddos were well-behaved today, they were working extra hard, and I *finally* had my observation and it went really well!!!

 

So glad to finally have it over with. I haven't had the sit down yet to formally discuss, but I thought it went about as well as it could have. Phew!

 

St. Patrick's Day is usually one of my favorite holidays to celebrate in the classroom, but I just couldn't find that much time this year. I usually have the ol' pesky leprechaun come and mess up our classroom, but that just didn't happen this year. Partly because my kiddos have been 12 kinds of crazy lately and partly because we just didn't have the time.

 

We did sneak in a couple of fun activities though!

 

I put out tons of math centers...

 

 

We completed this adorable craftivity from my girl Cupcake.

 

 

And this fun activity from Lisa at Growing Firsties!

 

 

First grade sponsored a Shamrock Dance to raise some money for our upcoming field trip, and I made these cupcakes to sell!

 

 

We also had a photobooth where the students could take pictures with a leprechaun! And guess who's amazing husband was the lucky leprechaun???

 

 

He is such a huge supporter of my career and didn't even flinch when I asked him to do this for us. Thanks baby!!!

 

Now...off to eat some dinner and catch up on Walking Dead :)

Golden Hour Freebie!

Hey yall!

 

Was this Monday extra hard for anyone else today???

 

 

It must have been that stinkin' hour we lost....ugh. Time to catch up on some sleep tonight.

 

I'm linking up for Manic Monday today!

 

 

 

You can pick up a little center from my Common O'Core Pocket Chart Math Centers pack. It's telling time to the hour and half hour. Click on the picture below to get your copy!

 

 

 

Also, for those of you that offered to join in our Traveling Teddy Bear Project, I just wanted to let you know that I got those mailed out today! Whoo-hoo! Thanks again!

Common O'Core and a Review

Hey yall! Happy hump day!

 

Today was actually our first day back and it was HECTIC!

 

I'm sure it had NOTHING to do with the 2 club periods that was just added to our schedule and started today with about ohhh....a week of planning? It was chaotic, I tell ya.

 

Over the long weekend, I was super productive. I finished up a huge paper for my thesis class, cleaned the house top to bottom, and completed my newest pack!

 



 

I am loving this bright packet! Our school has really locked down our copies lately, so I'm trying to run the least amount of copies possible. Enter...pocket chart centers!

 

This 63 page packet is full of fun math centers that can all be completed using a pocket chart (or just any surface really!). I have not included recording sheets; however, if there is a huge demand for them, I will go back and add them. This packet includes:

 



 

I have also included every center in black & white for those of you that are trying to save on ink as well :)

 

*The first 2 to comment will get a free copy!*

 

Now, on to my review....

 

A few months ago, I was asked review to some products for Gojo. I'm always down for free stuff, so I quickly agreed. After a few weeks of waiting, I finally got the products....hand sanitizer! An essential in every classroom, yes?

 

The first thing I opened was this little guy...

 

 

So fun, right?? Oh my, do my littles love this little guy! He sits right next to our tissues as a reminder :)

 

He gets a ton of use, especially before lunch time! One of our classroom jobs is to give everyone hand sanitizer before lunch, and it is now a coveted job because of this guy!

 

The nice thing about him is that you can change the bottles out really easily. We have already gone through the first bottle, so now I've got to stock up! Notice how he is currently empty???

 I {heart} this little guy!

 

The next thing that came was this dispenser.

 

 

 

I was pretty excited, because I knew right where I was going to put it. We share a bathroom with the class next door, so I hung this right inside our little bathroom hall. I was excited because I knew we would get a lot of use out of it and that the foam would go a long way.

 

But.....that's not quite how it worked out. First, the dispenser gave out way too much sanitizer and it wasn't foam like I thought it was. Instead, it was just a liquid. The kiddos kept thinking it was soap, because they had to rub...and rub...and rub...to get it all soaked in.

 

And then they busted it... :(

 

I mean, its still in one piece in all, but the nozzle is kapoot. Hmmm...poor thing succumbed to 37 little first graders, I guess.

Overall, I'm super happy with our little Purell guy, but not so crazy for the dispenser.

 

Alright yall, time to catch up on some Dance Moms!



Time Out Tuesday

Hey yall! Happy Tuesday!

Warning: this post has NOTHING to do with teaching. Well, I might sneak one or two things in....

Anyone out there from Georgia? Or another state that rains pollen??? My local weatherman, good ol' Chesley, has been warning us about the pollen. "It's coming, people!" he said.

But did I listen? No....no I didn't.

Because if I did, then I would have taken some sort of allergy medicine.

But I didn't....so I didn't.

And now everything is covered in a layer of yellow. Yuck.



Do you see that pollen count? That is a record breaking number, folks! Ol' Chesley told me that anything over 1500 is considered high....umm, in case you can't tell, today's count was 9,368!!!

To be honest, I don't usually have any issues with allergies....but today? I was totally rocking a slight headache and itchy eyes all day long.

I took some pictures of my car to show you how bad it really is...but gmail is giving me a fit right now. So instead, I am showing you some pictures from around the Atlanta area. These are all pictures from yesterday or today, and are courtesy of 11 Alive.

It looks almost white in this picture...but trust me, it is allll yellow. This is actually a black car!



Notice the yellow tinge in the lake...yep, that's pollen!



"Up North, you wipe off snow. Down south, we wipe off pollen."



This is not my car....but my car is just as yellow!



Poor sweet guy! He has pollen all over his face!



Honestly, these pictures don't even do it any justice. It. is. awful.

Pollen is nothing new, it comes every year, and every year I swear it's worse than the year before.

But this year, it actually is worse!

Okay, enough with the pollen.

Is anybody even still reading this? I don't know how I got off on that rampage....

What I really wanted to share with you guys tonight was my most favorite blog.

And it is not a teaching blog...

{Shock!} {Gasp!} I know, I know. It's okay...you can unfollow me now, and I *promise* I won't track you down and beg you to come back.

This blog is my favorite because....it FEEDS ME PEOPLE!!!



Anybody know this blog? Gina is ah-mazing and all of her food is delish!

The best part? It is all low cal! She includes the nutrition info for every dish, and even has the WW points! Seriously....she's awesome.

I have made so many recipes from this site, and our dinner tonight even came from Gina.

See exhibit A.



This is the chicken and broccoli noodle casserole. Doesn't it look amazing? Trust me, it was :)

And today, she posted a recipe for skinny Texas cheese fries....ummmm...can you say yum???



So, seriously, head over there now. You can thank me later :)

Here is the part where I sneak in a little teaching.

Remember when I said we made those cute little leapin' leprechauns from Teri? I finally took some pics today...



Cute, right?

Pssst.....one more thing! Is anybody else counting down the days until this...



3 more days! And no, I am NOT going to the midnight showing...it's a school night, people! And I'm not 16 I need my sleep....

Okay...teacher out!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hey yall! Hope everyone had an awesome week full of St. Patty's Day fun! I know we sure did!

Here are just a few of the fun things we did this week:



We made these super cute rainbows and pots of gold for our first grade bulletin board. Where did this come from? Why, from Teri, of course!

We also made Teri's cute little Leapin' Leprechauns, but I forgot to snap a picture of those. They are definitely super cute, though!

Image from A Cupcake for the Teacher

If I can remember on Monday, I will try and grab a couple of photos of our little leprechauns. They are precious!

We also worked on math centers from my Lots of Luck Math Activities unit.



We even had a visit from our own little leprechaun! He trashed our room, knocking all the chairs over, tossed our backpacks all around, drew on our board, and even ripped down some of our anchor charts! He also left us a little note and a surprise!



Click on the picture below to pick up your copy of the letter from Lucky the leprechaun!



Lucky left us a magical bag of powder and a little cup of milk.



His note said to add the milk and look for his gold nuggest! My littles each added their cup of milk to the power, worked it with their hands, and this is what they found...



They were totally amazed! I gave each child a spoon and they got to taste their little treat!

So, what were in the bags? There was a tablespoon of pistachio instant jello pudding in each bag, and 1/4 cup of milk in each cup. Their warm little hands helped to cook the jello pudding! The gold nuggets are actually little pistachios, so this activity is not good for students with nut allergies.

I definitely cannot take credit for this idea. My teamie found it from Fern Smith's Center Games.

We read lots of St. Patrick's Day books, and I gave each student a gold coin and a themed pencil. We had such a blast! Unfortunately, I caught some little bug yesterday, and spent the whole day trying not to lose my lunch.

But I'm feeling much better today! Not good enough to partake in any festivities tonight, though. My hubby is hoping I feel well enough to clean the house....we'll see about that!

Not sure if I have mentioned this or not, but I started a Facebook page! Click on the picture below to "Like" me.

I am also a guest blogger for Gladys today at Teaching in High Heels. Go check it out!

Alright folks, enjoy your day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!



Rule Breaker!

I know, I know. It's against the rules to post twice in one day. Blame it on the medication, I don't know what's going on.....

Did you buy it? No? Well, a girl can try, right?

Real quick...I just wanted to let you know that I added a new unit to both my TPT and TN stores. It's the rest of my There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Clover Literacy Activities.

This 19 page unit includes:

*Story Sequencing cards and recording sheet

*Story Retelling/Syllable Sort cards and recording sheet

*Rhyme Match cards and recording sheet

*Sentence Scramblers cards and recording sheet

So go pick up your copy now, folks! Hurry, before St. Patrick's Day gets here!!!

First 2 to follow both my shops and comment get it free! Don't forget to leave your email address!

Monday Mumblings, Linky Party, and Freebie!!!

Hey yall! Is it just me, or was Monday extra sneaky this week? I mean, here I am, just going about my weekend business when...BAM! It's Monday! Total bummer.

Also, I am super jealous about all these folks in bloggyland talking about their upcoming Spring breaks. We don't get our Spring break until the first week of April! Usually, I am okay with that, because it just happens to be the week that some little old golf tournament is playing around Augusta, my hometown.

{I'm talking about the Masters here, people! Only the most prestigious golf tournament in the world!}

But this year, I am getting a little ansy to go on Spring break because I am going to Japan to visit my sister...yayay {double yay = super excited}!

Okay, anyways, onto tonight's post. We are getting right into our SPD {St. Patty's Day} activities this week, and are reading this cute little book tomorrow.



And I just happened to find the cutest clipart from Scrappin Doodles for this book, so I had to whip up something for my teamies and I tomorrow. I am actually working on a whole unit, but this is what I came up with for tomorrow.

Since the whole unit is obviously not ready yet, I decided to give this away! I know, I know...I'm too giving :) Click on the picture to get your copy. 

I am also linking up with Farley at Oh, Boy Fourth Grade for her Currently series. Here is my March currently.

The meaning behind the 3 words? You have to write 1 word {in this order} that your students, friends, and family would say about you. Yes, my students think I'm lavish, because every time I come in with new goodies or fun activities, they think I spent sooo much money. Ha! Although, it is sometimes true :)

And lasty, I have to tell you something that happened today that has been nagging me all day.

Okay, so this morning, one of my fave littles {yes, we ALL have favorites, don't lie} came to chat with me as always in the morning. This is the convo we had.

Me: Good Morning, B! How was your weekend?

B: Mrs. Lemacks, I have to tell you something. My mother does not like you.

Me: What??? Why???

B: She said it was a secret. She called you a not nice name.

Me {silently freaking out about what's coming next}: Well, you can tell me, if you want to.

B: Okay. She called you bossy and a word I can't ever say.

Me: Does it start with a b? {see where I was going here?}

B: No, it starts with an ST....it's stupid! She said you were bossy and stupid!

Me: Well....why???

B: I don't know. I was so embarrassed by her!

Me: Well, tell her that wasn't nice....and that I have 2 college degrees!

Yes, I went there. I couldn't help it! I have never heard a negative word about me from any parent, so I was in shock! And this is not a parent I have had any trouble with at all. I can't even remember the last time we spoke/emailed!

Now, I am not a parent, but how could a parent think it appropriate to disparage their child's teacher in front of said child? I mean, really?!?!

So, please...leave me some kind words. They are much needed tonight :)