Tell all Tuesday!

Well thanks to buddy My First Grade Happy Place I found out about a fun new linky! It's hosted by Teach Talk Inspire and My Day in K and it's a little more personal. Let's you learn a little bit about some awesome bloggers. This week is 2 truths and a lie...

So here goes. Comment which one you think is the lie!

1. 

I have never been out of the country even though both of my parents were in the army! My parents were occasionally deployed (sometimes simultaneously!) but luckily my grandmother was able to come and live with my brother and I when needed.

2. 

I'm color blind but absolutely loveeeee clothes (& shopping!) so I tend to go for easy outfits = cute shirt + jeans! 

3.

I used to be a Hooters girl! My father wasn't the biggest fan of the job but he gave his approval so i went for it. For some reason I always wanted to work there!

All right...so which is the lie? First to comment correctly can have a freebie from my store if you'd like :)

Monday Made it

Well I still haven't been up to much and I'm loving it! Summertime really has been good to me. It seems like such a difference from last year since I worked a reading camp for the entire month of June. Besides going to class and the occasional appointment I've been wearing a nice dent into my  couch and watching re-runs. Here's a few updates though!

 

My new desk is assembled and she is a beaut!

 

 

Next month I'm going to Las Vegas for the Iteach1st! conference!!

 

 

 

And I actually made something on my computer which I guess means I haven't lost my touch!

 

 

It's just a cute little calendar I made for our fridge. It's laminated so we can just re use it. I'm thinking of making a set of them for TPT...

 

But that's all folks! Hope you're having an amazing week!

June's Currently!

I was so excited to see Farley post the new Currently! I look forward to them and I didn't get time to link up last month so here goes...

 

Listening & Loving

Since I'm currently on break I am enjoying my lazy time around the house. I've had the occasional appointment or studying for summer classes but overall I have been wearing a dent into the couch lol. So I make sure to do at least one productive thing around the house, like dishes, so I can head back to being a bum!

 

Thinking

I've been thinking about how to surprise my lovely mother for her 50th birthday! My Dad and I are trying to be sneaky and plan something but my mom keeps changing her mind about what she wants to do!

 

Wanting

I ordered a fancy new desk from Wayfair but I could tell just from the weight of the box that I will probably need some assistance and Mr. Handsome doesn't have summers off like me. I'm debating getting started on my own, I'm usually pretty good with those types of things but I can imagine him coming home to me surrounded by 27 random desk pieces lol

 

Needing

I'm taking 3 classes this summer and one of them meets tomorrow (for 4 hours!!! gahh). I need to read about 3 more chapters before tomorrow. I have plenty of time but NO motivation right now.

 

Summer Loving

I loveeee being able to sleep in! I can' wait to update my TPT store with new products and such. And some interesting travel opportunities are coming my way! I'll be sharing more about that later...

 

Thanks for catching up with me! Hopefully you join in on the fun! And check out the original post to donate to a good cause!

 

 

Five for Friday!

 

Well hello! I've been MIA wrapping up the school year and regaining my sanity :). You know you're tired when the school year ended a week ago and you're just now getting around to blogging about it. So here's my last month in a nutshell plus I wanted to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the 5 for Friday linky!

 

 

So number one is technically from April but I wanted to share! We had to cancel a field trip towards the end of the year which was a total bummer. Instead of sulking around I sent a few emails and was able to coordinate a visit from our local fire fighters since we were learning about community helpers! And they gave us hats!

 

 

 

My class also said goodbye to our amazing student teacher Ms. North. We had the pleasure of having her in our classroom since October! She was absolutely amazing and I can't wait to see her in her own classroom!

 

(The kids made cards to read to her)

 

 

For Mother's Day my class made these little flowers and wrote a reason they love their mom on each stem. The flowers are from Dollar Tree leis cut apart. You get a ton even if you only buy one pack (which has 2 leis) and they glue very well. I've used them 3 years in a row!

 

 

(This was my example, theirs were much cuter lol)

 

 

 

The school year zoomed by and before I knew it I was packing up! A tip as you prepare for the end of the year, take pictures! This year I got smart and took a panoramic pic too! They really come in handy when you can't remember where you stuffed all your junk last year.

 

 (Click to enlarge!)

 

 

And last but surely not least....my new Erin Condren Teacher Planner is here!!! It's my 3rd year ordering one. I'm a little addicted :)

 

 

Thanks for catching up with me! Hope your week/ month was fun filled as well! If you want to share join the linky!

 

 

 

 

April's Currently and my Disney Spring Break :)

Well this was supposed to be a book study post since I've been the worst at keeping up with them lately. But see what had happened was...(lol) I read up to Chapter 8 and noticed today's post was about 9 and 10. I'll catch back up...just wont be right this second!  So instead I'll do one of my favorite linkys, Currently by Farley

 

Let's just pause to admire how cute this layout is!!

Listening:

To good ol Saturday morning cartoons. I am so thankful to be home on the couch with my little family drinking coffee and enjoying this last little bit of Spring Break.

 

Loving:

The weather is amazing outside lately. I thought I'd be instantly missing Florida weather but TN has given me a pretty decent welcome back (not counting the pouring rain last night)

 

Thinking:

About how hard it will be to wake up Monday. This break has been amazing but Monday is creeping around the corner. Lately I've been trying to rid myself of the "Oh Crap it's Monday" syndrome, its all about perception people! But this Monday may be a slight exception lol

 

Wanting:

To go back to Disney!!!! Omg it is truly a magical place! I had the greatest time. And I have already decided I willlllll be back!

 

 

 

 

Needing:

To do some lesson plans eventually...just not that motivated yet!

 

Eggs-plain my name:

I have always taught 1st grade (currently in my 3rd year). Even when I student taught I knew 1st grade was my favorite. I want to experience other grades eventually but 1st is where my heart is!

 

Well thanks for catching up with me. Feel free to comment, especially if you share my love of Disney World! Have a great weekend!

 

 

 

Book Study - Strategy 4 Games

Well I'm a little tardy for the party with this chapter! But better late than never right? :)
Linking up with Queen of the First Grade Jungle
 

So strategy 4 was all about games which I am a definitely a fan of in the classroom. I try to throw them in whenever they can be effective and get the kids involved or moving around. The chapter starts off explaining how games can be beneficial at any grade level. They can help the students gain understanding and also motivate them to learn and show what they know! The instructional activities area contains a variety of game ideas and resources.

 

 

My math centers usually include a game like this one seen below that I created this summer. (Available in my TPT store of course!)

 

 

 

They also loveddddd hopping from seat to seat recording greater than or less than equations with this cute game by Adventures in Kinder and Beyond

 

 

 

 

Another suggestion was a game called "Loop" that most of us refer to as "I Have, Who Has". There are tons of free versions of it online!

 

 

I also enjoy quick little brain break games if we are about to transition or need a refresher. A favorite of my students is when I call out an adjective or describing phrase and the kiddos must find something matching the criteria within 15 seconds. Ex. "Yellow" or "Something with corners". I give them rules ahead of time like no running, no disrespecting someone else's items, etc. Then I have a few students share what they found and we return to seats or the rug for learning.

 

I could definitely broaden my use of games throughout the topics though. I tend to focus on math and literacy. But utilizing vocabulary game suggestions from this book in science and social studies would reach two goals at one time! Gonna be looking into that :)

 

This chapter once again just gives me a new angle to consider when reflecting on my teaching. "Where can I incorporate a useful game?" is a question I should be asking more often! What are your thoughts? Feel free to share and have a fantastic weekend!

Book Study- Strategy 3 Field Trips

Well good morning and Happy Saturday! :)

 

Hope you had a fun, productive week! Mine went well, especially with some Seuss sprinkled in thanks to Read Across America.

          

 

 

But lets get into the Book Study.
This week we are linking up through Mrs. Wills Kindergarten :)

 

Strategy 3 was about Field Trips. This is one of the chapters I could see people having a small issue with. Still some great information, but I must admit as I was reading a few suggestions I was quick to say "I can't do that with my kids!". I wasn't intentionally being negative but some of the ideas were things that I would need to tweak to fit with my group of kiddos.

 

With that being said I still found the chapter useful. One of the better suggestions was a reminder to move lessons outside of the classroom whether that means heading outside or taking an in school field trip. We used a lot of those at the beginning of the year to get our first graders used to our 2 story school building.

 

 

 

Pictures from our field trip to the Creative Discovery Museum last month :)