2nd day down and ohmiword. I need therapeutic boots, a bladder sling, and and IV of Red Bull. Dang. I know y’all are feelin’ me, right?! It’s Tuesday and it’s time for a little “teacher talk”. I don’t want to call this “advice” because I’m pretty sure I’m not the person to ask for help, but here are a few little nuggets of experience…things that have worked for me through the years! *You need to make deposits before you can make withdrawls. Spend lots of time praising your babies and sending home positive communication. If there should ever come a time you have to give a consequence or call home for a … [Read more...] about Teacher Talk Tuesday
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Meet the Teacher 2011
Hey sweet friends! Had my first day of school today and WHEW…I.am.BEAT. LOVE my new littles and I can’t wait to share with you some fun first day activities, but in the meantime, here’s a little more about me… That’s me & Mr. Spouse {aka: Coach Carroll}. I’d love to show you a family picture of all four of us, but my boys refuse to play nice with the camera, so here they are, all by their lonesome. Oh how I LOVE these two TOTALLY different, absolutely adorable little men. Landon {left} is my oldest and about as sensitive and tender hearted as they come, but don’t let that sweet disposition fool you…he’s got a … [Read more...] about Meet the Teacher 2011
A Blessing & A Prayer
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...] about A Blessing & A Prayer
Teacher Week 2011…Will You Be Joining The Fun?!
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...] about Teacher Week 2011…Will You Be Joining The Fun?!
Back to School Hallways/Bulletin Boards
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...] about Back to School Hallways/Bulletin Boards
Mixed Bag Designs {WINNERS}
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...] about Mixed Bag Designs {WINNERS}
The Ultimate Planner…AN AMAZING Deal!
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...] about The Ultimate Planner…AN AMAZING Deal!
Mixed Bag Designs {A Giveaway}
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...] about Mixed Bag Designs {A Giveaway}
The First Time
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...] about The First Time
Teachers Gone Viral
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...] about Teachers Gone Viral
Help A Sister Out!
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...] about Help A Sister Out!
New Friends, Good Food, GREAT Ideas!
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...] about New Friends, Good Food, GREAT Ideas!
Math Tubs
Alright ladies {and misters}. Time for a little Math Tub 101. I know I’m not the only teacher who implements tubs into her daily routine, so by no means am I the expert. I get lots of emails asking about how my math tubs are organized and how everything runs, so I thought this little topic deserved it’s own post. My math tub time lasts about 30 minutes every day. Last year, I only had 16 kids {it’s okay, you can totally roll your eyes at my good luck}. This year, I’ll have a full house {22 babies}, so I know I’ll need to change some things around.Each week, I had 3 tubs on my math station shelf and then one … [Read more...] about Math Tubs
When Virtual Meets Reality
Since I started this little teaching blog about a year ago, I’ve “met” lots of wonderful teachers…virtually, of course. Between reading about their posts, talking through email, and sharing ideas, you can definitely feel like you really “know” your bloggy friends! So, it wasn’t weird for me at all to ask my sweet friend, Abby, to meet me in Ohio for a little afternoon rendezvous :) We’re still up north, so we met half way at a little Panera in Dayton to have lunch at talk the day away. I gotta say that I felt like I was meeting a celebrity!! I was *12 kinds* of nervous ;) HA! Four hours later, we were exchanging hugs … [Read more...] about When Virtual Meets Reality
Ice Cream Day Freebies
I LOVE doing ice cream themed activities the last few weeks of school. Since I haven’t met a kid yet that doesn’t like ice cream…or some form of frozen treats…these activities always seem to keep them engaged when the chaos of the end-of-the-year is almost too much to handle :) I thought you might enjoy celebrating all things ice cream, too! So here's a little freebie for you! And if you're looking for even more math, literacy, and science activities with an ice cream theme, check out these resources & what teachers are saying about them! … [Read more...] about Ice Cream Day Freebies
Oviparous Animals, Earth Day, & a Diphthong
As much as I can’t stand those slimy little suckers, we’ve been learning about frogs the last few weeks. Amphibians {and reptiles} to be exact. Let me start by saying that our sweet little frog, Hopper, is officially DEAD. I found him belly up…on the bottom of the tank….this morning. YIKES. Apparently, my green thumb, or lack thereof, extends to aquatic animals as well as plants. Anyhoo…since reptiles & amphibians hatch from eggs, we’ve also been learning a little bit about oviparous animals. The kids LOVE that word…oviparous! We did a little craftivity today that the kids just loved!! Meet some of our oviparous animals… I … [Read more...] about Oviparous Animals, Earth Day, & a Diphthong
The cOOkie Monster Freebie & A “Bag”pack Tutorial
We finished up learning about the /oo/ {as in cookie} sound last week and I was so proud of my kiddos when it was time for our spell check on Friday. They did AWESOME!! One of the little activities we did for word work last week was “Feeding the Cookie Monster”. The kids had to sort through /oo/ words on little cookie cut-outs and feed the cookie monster with the cookies that had the /oo/ {as in foot} words. Click HERE to download :) We celebrated our learning with a little “Cookies & Bookies” party on Friday :) {I just passed out cookies while they read during D.E.A.R time. Put the word “party” in front of anything and the kids … [Read more...] about The cOOkie Monster Freebie & A “Bag”pack Tutorial
Fractions in Action
Ummm…would you think any less of me if I told you that I was NOT excited about teaching fractions?! When I saw what our TE was offering in terms of lessons and activities, I fell asleep. NOT my idea of a good time. So I spiced it up and made teaching & learning about fractions fun for me AND the kids!! I really do believe in setting high expectations and BELIEVING that ALL of my kids are capable of meeting those expectations…and y’all…they never disappoint!! After a couple of weeks of fraction activities, I’m excited to say that my kids now know the difference between a numerator & denominator {and use that verbage to distinguish … [Read more...] about Fractions in Action
Fractions, Editing, Compound Words, & Freebies
Since this is a post of a bunch of random things, I’m calling it my “potpourri”. {Does anyone dislike that word as much as I do?!?! Mark it under one of my most not-favorite things to say} Is anyone else BARELY getting to fractions?! We started our fraction unit this week and started by discussing equal & unequal parts. I folded a bunch pieces of construction paper {even & uneven} and passed them out to the kids after a little fraction introduction on the SmartBoard. The kids had to go back to their desks and cut the construction paper on the creases and then determine whether or not they had equal or unequal parts. Then we … [Read more...] about Fractions, Editing, Compound Words, & Freebies
This & That…and a Couple of Valentine’s Day {Gift} Ideas
Now onto Valentine's…because it’s just around the corner! How do y’all celebrate?! Do y’all do anything fun for the class party?! My last year teaching Kindergarten, I decided to make it cutesy…and I loved it. Y’all…I LOVE this commercial “holiday”! I made a little banner… I semi-decorated the tables… And we made these cute little bags to hold all our Valentines. What about gifts?! What do y’all like to give to your kids?! Here are a couple of fun, very inexpensive ideas!! I’m all about giving the kids something fun & cutesy without breaking the bank! Channel your inner Martha and make these fun little love pops! SUPER … [Read more...] about This & That…and a Couple of Valentine’s Day {Gift} Ideas
Brown Bag Book Club
Years ago I was lucky enough to attend a Linda Holliman workshop. It.was.AWESOME!! She is such a hoot and her ideas are SO inspiring!!! While she was explaining a few different ideas to us, one of them really got my attention. She talked about how her kids would complete a readers/listening response on a lunch bag and then she’d fill the bags with popcorn and have the kids partner up and share what they wrote. I LOVED that idea!!! Since I’m such a big fan of book clubs, I decided to incorporate this idea and turn it into a book club…hence the birth of the “Brown Bag Book Club”. Y’all…my kids are OBSESSED. And I gotta say…I’m LOVIN’ … [Read more...] about Brown Bag Book Club
Christmas Catch-Up & Happy New Year!
It’s been a BUSY holiday, but I’m back in town and trying to catch up on everything! I know this post is a bit overdue, but just incase you need some ideas for next year, I thought I’d share a few little things. We read this story. Then we talked about how grown-ups have to go through an application process to get a job. Then I had the kids fill out their own applications…to apply to be one of Santa’s elves! HA! They were ALL over it! I told them I was sending their applications straight to the North Pole. I’ve never seen such GOOD work!! You can download your application HERE. We also read this story… And then had the kids … [Read more...] about Christmas Catch-Up & Happy New Year!
Noun Town
Oh…I’m SO lovin’ all these fun little Christmas activities! There’s just something about this time of year, don’tcha think?! I’ve gotten SO many WONDERFUL ideas from blogland that I can’t wait to implement in my own room! Y’all are too dang much! Here are a few more things we worked on this week… I was so inspired by Sarah Cooley’s Noun Town that we made one of our own, too! Since it’s the holiday season, we decided to make a Gingerbread Noun Town. We did some “city planning” before we got started. We talked about people, places, and things that we might see in our town and brainstormed a list of each. After city planning, I had each … [Read more...] about Noun Town
Gingerbread & Christmas Stuff
Okay…still SO behind…but here are just a couple of things we’ve been working on! We’re still going strong with fact families, so I had my kids make fact family gifts. They rolled dice to get the numbers to add together for the sum. I also had them roll the dice twice and add those numbers together to practice working with higher numbers. As you can see, they made their own bows…but real bows would have been a great “addition” too! ;) Speaking of gifts, this is one of my most FAVORITE writing activities. I started doing this my third year of teaching and have been doing it ever since! I think it’s so precious and sweet and really gets … [Read more...] about Gingerbread & Christmas Stuff
