This morning was not the smoothest of mornings.  We were running just a *tad* bit late for church and when we got there, both boys were switched to new classrooms in Sunday school.  Neither of my boys were expecting the change…nor were we…so let’s just say they had a hard time adjusting!  After we dropped them off with their new teachers, we walked toward the sanctuary and I prayed for their little hearts.  And I prayed that God would open my ears to something I NEEDED to hear during the service.  It never fails to amaze me that God ALWAYS provides what we ask of Him. Most of the kids at todays service had their ... Read More

Hey there party people!  Me & my sweet friends over at Blog Hoppin’ are excited to bring y’all Teacher Week 2011!!!  The fun starts tomorrow, Monday (8/22), so get yourselves ready!!!  We’ll be kicking things off with Meet the Teacher Monday, so polish up your bios and get ready to introduce yourselves.  Each day this week, a different author will be writing a post over at Blog Hoppin’, so we hope you stop by every afternoon and link up!  ... Read More

If you’ve been reading this little blog for a while, you might remember the hallway decorations in my school during Open House this year.  I also spotlighted some of our school’s hallway décor at the beginning of the school year last year.  Well, it’s that time of year again!!!  Time for more back to school hallway decorations, bulletin boards, and themes!  Each grade level adopts a “theme” for the hallway.  This isn’t necessarily how we theme our own classrooms, just a way for us to start the year as a team and design brag tags for our grade levels.  Once we decide on a theme, our sweet grade level parents come ... Read More

So excited to announce the Mixed Bag Designs winners!!!  Without further ado, the winner, winner chicken dinner{s} are…   You guys have 48 hours {by Friday, 7:50 pm central/standard time} to contact me at thefirstgradeparade@gmail.com to claim your prize!!  If the winners do not contact me within this timeframe, new winners will be selected at random. If you just can’t take another day without some of these fabulous bags, you can shop the new fall line at Mixed Bag Designs and enter the code FIRST to receive free shipping!! I’d love to post more about the wonderful week I’m having back at school, but it’s Mr. ... Read More

I don’t know about y’all, but I LOVE planners.  Like, REALLY love them.  I love getting a new planner every year and filling in birthdays, important dates, y’know…all that good stuff.  I’ve been using a MomAgenda for the last few years and absolutely LOVE it.  One of my favorite planners for sure!  Last February, I was introduced to Erin Condren planners by a sweet friend of mine and ohmiword…my heart skipped a beat {or two}.  Pretty sure these are taking over as my new favorite!  These Life Planners are seriously the ULTIMATE planner and they come in the neatest designs!!    And y’all…she ... Read More

As a teacher, I swear I don’t know what I like more…pens, storage containers, or cute bags.  If you’d have asked me a month ago, I might have said pens…and Sonic coke :)  However, after I got these in the mail, I’m ALL.OVER the cute bags & totes from Mixed Bag Designs. Okay…so I *might* have a thing for zebra, camo, & damask.  Don’t judge.  Since these arrived on my doorstep, I’ve used them for EVERYTHING!!  They’re made from woven polypropylene so they’re SUPER durable and they wipe clean with a wet cloth, too!  That’s extremely important for me since I have two little boys who LIVE to make things ... Read More

Ohmiword y’all.  I went to school for the first time yesterday.  AFTER I had a cavity filled.  Did I mention that the dentist TOTALLY went drilling on the WRONG side of my mouth?!?!?!   But there’s nothin’ a little Chick Fil A can’t cure.  Chick Fil A & a Sonic coke, of course.  So I took my numb mouth, chicken sandwich, and Sonic coke up to my un-airconditioned classroom and got to work.  This is what I walked into…{Sorry about the quality!  My little ol’ iphone was all I had!}Not terribly unfortunate, but still A LOT to do!!!  We were able to keep up our walls, but as you know, with a ... Read More

Okay friends.  Abby and I have some pretty fun and exciting news we’d like to share with y’all, so we both made little videos to let you know what’s going on.  You can check out my video below and watch Abby’s video on The Inspired Apple! Just to warn you in advance, my voice is naturally deep & raspy…I promise I’m not nursing a cold ; )  And…I use my hands A LOT, but I’m Italian and that’s how we roll :)  Thanks for tuning in!   Enter video caption here You’re all teachers, so we know you’re great at following directions!!  We’d love for you to leave us a comment with the following info: 1.  ... Read More

Hey sweet friends!!  When one of our sweet Kindergarten teachers asked me if I knew where she could find a D’Nealian linking chart {with pictures}, I told her I had NO clue, but I knew about 500 other teachers who could help me find one!  HA!!  If you know where I can find an ABC linking chart…with D’Nealian manuscript…would you mind sending me in the right direction?!!  I’d really, really appreciate it!!  Dangit…I really LOVE this blogging community!!!  Thanks y’all!!! ... Read More

This weekend I had the chance to meet some FABULOUS Dallas area teachers for lunch.  I set up a little get together/meet & greet with some of the ladies in the area and I was so excited to pick their brains!  I gotta say that Dallas is home to some seriously talented teachers because these ladies had some AMAZING ideas!!!  I don’t even wanna know what the other patrons at the restaurant must have been thinkin’ when we all pulled out notebooks, pens, paper, and the ipads.   Only teachers, right?!?!  HA!!!    I scored some great ideas about Daily 5.  Gotta admit that it’s not my strong ... Read More