What I'm Loving Wednesday! + Giveaway at My Second Sense

Hi Friends!

I'm linking up with Jamie for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

First...I'm loving that it's 2 days away from the weekend! Whew!

I'm also loving that I have 11 days left of school! I'm a teeny tiny bit jealous of those of you who are already enjoying your summer vacation! ;) 

How about this dress!?!?

I.so.WANT.this!!

And, shoes!!!! I love all of these shoes...

I am definitely making the following craft for my classroom!

Go link up with Jamie and talk about what you're loving!! I will be back tomorrow with a freebie! Stay tuned...

Tania over at My Second Sense is having a great giveaway!! She has reached 100 followers- you go girl! She is giving away 4 Pigeon books. Who doesn't love Mo?!? So head on over, her blog is great!

Have a great evening friends!,

A peek inside of my classroom...and a FREEBIE

Good Afternoon Friends!

As I look around my classroom, I see so many projects and creations that were inspired by other wonderful bloggers. I truly am blessed to be a part of this amazing community! I thought it would be fun to share all of the projects and creations that my students have done thanks to you!

We did cowboys and cowgirls for "ow" week. These crafts are so stinkin' adorable from Christie at First Grade Fever!

I bought Christie at First Grade Fever's "What's Hatchin' Chick?" unit and we will be making her chicken life cycle craft to go with it. More pictures of those to come...

Since we are already done with our math book for the year, we are doing these Color by Codes from Kathy Law. My kids are so excited to do these!!

Ignore the date!! I used my friend's camera & I did this recently, not in 2004! LOL

For "ar", I bought Abby's Pirate unit from the Inspired Apple! The kids loved these.

For Earth Day, we made these adorable creations from Amy Lemons' Earth Day unit.

The following are some examples of student writings that came from Rachelle's Writing Prompt packet from What the Teacher Wants. My students used the "If I Were a Teacher" writing prompt. Some of these responses were hilarious *I believe this was a freebie too!

There are some days when I feel like my class is bouncing off the walls like this illustration!!

If I were a teacher, I would give the kids five worksheets every day, but not on Friday. So funny LOL!

Everyone in the school would go home at 10:00. Ha!

As you can see, we really do make a difference to each other and our students! There are so many of your projects and worksheets that I have used in my classroom. I wish I could show them all!  Thank you for all that you contribute to the blogging world!
Here's another freebie from me! This is a short O word sort that I created a while back and edited it to add some "pizazz". It's called "Leapin' Lilypads".  Enjoy!

Click HERE to get this at my TPT store for FREE!

Have a great evening friends!,

Destressing, Summer Vacation Linky, and FREEBIE

Hi Friends!

Today has ended up just being "one of those days". This time of year is so stressful for me!  So much to do, so little time...

So, it's the perfect time to segue into the latest linky party:

Jennifer over at Herding Kats in Kindergarten is having a "How Will You Spend Your Summer Vacation?" linky party. Well, 5 days after school is officially out for teachers, I am headed to this slice of paradise:

 The Grand Palladium Resort & Spa in Jamaica!

I.am.so.ready!! My bags are practically packed & I still have a month before I leave. I am going with one of my good friends from work & her hubby, so it will be a great couples getaway. I am SUPER excited!

When I return, I do plan on enjoying some books and working on some Pinterest inspirations.

I have a pirate theme in my classroom & I can't wait to make these for next year:

Pinned via Leslie Ann Rowland at http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=polka+dot+curtains&view=detail&id=500179A0DD4BE79274A6C9DE219F08C318726106&first=91&FORM=IDFRIR

I went gaga over this when I found it on Pinterest! I have little containers that say "Sharpened" and "Broken Pencils" now & they keep falling down. I love this idea!

Pinned from http://funforfirst.blogspot.com/2012/05/pencil-problems.html

I.heart.this table. I want to find a smaller round table to make this with, but you have the idea!

 Pinned from: http://independenceinlearning.blogspot.com/2011/08/love-it.html

And of course, I want to spend as much time as I can with my precious little girl. She will be in preschool next year & I can't believe how fast time is slipping away. So head on over to Herding Kats in Kindergarten and link up with Jennifer for some fun!

Here's another freebie for you. I made this for my firsties this year to work on ending blends. I couldn't think of anyone who I would rather share it with than YOU! Please click on the link and feel free to save it for next year!

Please click HERE to download this from my TPT store.

Have a relaxing evening friends,

Wow! 100 Followers FREEBIE and Good Reads Linky

Hello and Happy Sunday!

I just came home from a relaxing day at the beach to see that I have reached 100 followers!!!! That just made my day even better. Thank you all for your support as I have made my journey into the blogging world! Since I am still on my current giveaway, I have a special 100 follower freebie just for you!
I FINALLY finished my Sand, Surf, and Fun in the Sun paragraph freebie and let me tell you it was not easy. All I have to say is that I have a whole new respect for everyone who creates units & other activities for TPT!!  Lining everything up just right, making images transparent, combining PDFs together, etc, etc...had me ready to tear my hair out. However, the final product made it all worth it...17 pages! And yes, I will definitely make more now that I have this under my belt. Despite all of the frustration, I actually enjoyed myself very much while creating this!!

Here is a preview of my freebie:

So without further adieu...please click HERE to get this freebie! 

I cannot thank you enough my bloggy friends for making me the happiest blogger in the world! I am pretty new at making/publishing products, so I would really appreciate your feedback on this product while you're downloading it from TPT. If you see something that doesn't make sense, please let me know. I'm my own worst critic, so I definitely want to hear what YOU think works & any suggestions you may have!

Now on to another linky party...I love these! I am joining the lovely Mrs. Stanford's linky party on Good Reads.

 There is so much that I want to read this summer. I really just got back to reading for personal enjoyment recently. With a 2 year old at home, I seldom find time to read for enjoyment. However, I told myself that I must make the time!

Here are my "classroom" reads for the summer:

I've done a year long book study on this to go along with the Leveled Literacy Instruction program that I mentioned in a previous post. I want to go through it to fine tune those little things that I might be missing to help my students succeed in reading.

My next good classroom read would be:

I heard so many positive things said about this book last summer that I want to try & find the time to read it & see how it can benefit my students!

And my last classroom read for the summer:

I have been wanting to read this forever! Ron Clark...'nuff said!

Now for my "personal reads":

Mockingjay- the last book in the Hunger Games trilogy. I have been trying to get through this for months now. I read the first 2 in lightning speed, but this one is taking a little longer.

AND....this was supposed to be my next must read:

BUT...I am bypassing it for this:

Everyone I know is reading this book & from what I hear it is very umm...interesting (for those of you who have read it, you know what I mean!) Naturally it has my curiosity piqued, so I think I must read it!

Have a great evening friends!

One Lovely Blog Award & Career Day Freebie

Yay! I got my first blog award from Mrs. Franks at Enchanted Tales of Elementary School!! She awarded me with the One Lovely Blog award.

 She has a very cute blog- check her out!! 

After you are given the One Lovely Blog Award:

1. Follow the blog who give the award to you
2. Mention that blogger that has given it to you in a blog post
3. Pass on the award to 15 new blogs
4. Make a list of the new blogs so others can check them out!

Choosing only 15 blogs is a tough one... you are all an inspiration to me. I am going to pass this to the following blogs:

1. Lyndsey at A Year of Many Firsts
2. Dana at Fun in 1st Grade
3. Jennifer at First Grade Blue Skies
4. Heather at Heather's Heart
5. Mary & Barbara at Happy Teaching Sisters
6. Reagan at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits
7. Jena at 1st Grade with Miss Snowden
8. Andrea at Reading Toward the Stars
9. Pamela at First Class Teacher
10. Christie at First Grade Fever
11. Lohren at Totally Terrific Teaching Tools
12. Storie at Stories by Storie
13. Hadar at Miss Kindergarten
14. Miss Nelson at Run! Miss Nelson's Got the Camera
15. Miss DeCarbo at Second Grade Sugar and Spice

The response to my Fabulous 50 Follower Giveaway has been phenomenal!! Keep spreading the word! I am so excited to be able to offer this to you! :)

Finally...here it is. My first freebie. It's nothing real fancy, but I'm excited because I created it especially for you! I'm still putting the finishing touches on my paragraph freebie & will post it as soon as it's done!

This is a simple Cool Careers writing to have your lovelies complete for Career Week.

Click HERE to get this freebie!

Have a super Saturday!!

Time for My 1st Giveaway...$50!! and Career Day freebie!!!

Happy Friday friends!!

I am just tickled PINK... do you want to know why?!?!?

I have made it to 50 followers!!!!

Just one week ago, I was at 19 followers. I am doing the happy dance right now. You all ROCK!! I appreciate all of you who have come to follow this little 'ol blog! You make me want to be the best that I can be at blogging.

So as promised, it is time for my first giveaway!!!

Who loves Teachers Pay Teachers???....

In honor of having 50 followers (actually 54 as I am typing this), I am giving away 2-$25 gift certificates to Teachers Pay Teachers to equal $50 for "50 followers".

I thought about giving away just one certificate for $50; however, that really stacks the odds against others. So I decided to lower the odds slightly by just giving away 2 gift certificates for $25. Although the year is almost over (or already over for some), I know many of you are already getting your Back to School list together. Just enter the information in Rafflecopter below (which by the way is super easy and awesome!)

May the odds be in your favor! The giveaway will end on Sunday the 27th at 12:01 AM EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

What a busy Friday it was! Career Week, Fun Friday, and I swear the "crazy switch" has been turned on in all of my students! The summer countdown has begun and they boy do they know it. 

We had a career dress up day today. These little cuties were precious. Take a look...

We had Air Force, Navy, swat person, doctors, teachers...you name it!

Tomorrow I will have a freebie for you. I'm still figuring out Google Docs! It's a writing page about a "Cool Career" that they would like to have. I know many of you probably have had career week already, so please feel free to save it for next year:

Until the next time my friends,

The Greats & Not So Greats Linky Party

I can't help myself... I'm going to break the one post a day rule, just. this. one. time! I'm linking up with my friend Amber at Adventures of a Third Grade Teacher for the "Another One Bites the Dust" linky to share the greats & not-so-greats of the school year.

THE GREATS:

1. Using the Leveled Literacy Intervention program by Fountas & Pinnell

When I was trained on this last summer & had it dumped unexpectedly in my lap, I just thought it was another thing to add to my overloaded list of things to do. I was dreading it...despising it...and you know what?

I    WAS   WRONG!!

If you have the opportunity to use this program, it is the most amazing intervention program ever! I had students who jumped from DRA 3s straight up to DRA 18s. One of my most struggling students is now my most fluent student, due to this program!

2. Discovering teaching blogs! I started blogging last June. It's plain and simple... Discovering so many of your blogs have changed my life. The collaboration & sharing on blogger have been nothing next to A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I am SO proud to be part of such a great community!

3. My students: I have been blessed with another great group of students for the 2nd year in a row. They are smart, sweet, and so witty. They totally get my sense of humor as I get their's. This will be a hard group to give up!

THE NOT SO-GREATS:

1. Beginning a classroom blog for parents: Unfortunately this was not an easy thing to do. It was hard for parents to remember to check the blog weekly. After all, life is always so busy for so many. I found myself going back to regular newsletters. However, that helped me decide to turn my blog into a collaborative blog, so I can't say it was all that bad!

2. STRESS...I don't know why, but this year was so stressful for me in school. I feel like people around me were stressed out to the max, so I think it made it extra hard for me also. I don't know anyone who is not ready for summer vacation! :)

3. Keeping my classroom organized.... this always seems to be a "not-so-great" area of mine! This is one of my summer bucket list goals. *sigh*. No matter how organized I begin the year, it never seems to stay that way. One of these days I will become organized! I found this saying that makes me feel a little better about it:

Go link up with Amber to share your great & not so greats of the school year!!