If you're reading that title and thinking I'm crazy, let me explain. Both the number line and the 120 chart are important tools for our kids to use. They are equally important and make wonderful resources for our kids to use when problem solving, counting, etc. I think it's extremely important to equip our kids with the tools necessary to be successful. I display the number line (0-120) in my classroom and all of my kids have a personal number line they keep in their desks. Their personal number line contains the numerals 0-20. The reason for this is so that we can practice with the numbers we will more … [Read more...] about 120 Chart – Moving Beyond the Number Line
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Columbus Day in the Primary Classroom
If y'all are anything like me, you're probably trying to wrap your mind around the fact that it's MID-September (how'd that happen?!?!). You might also be trying to "plan ahead". I say that loosely because planning ahead may look more like planning for tomorrow's activities instead of planning into the next month. This week I received a couple of emails from readers who wanted to know how I incorporate Columbus Day into my plans and if I acknowledge that holiday at all. Since we typically have the day off for Columbus Day, I do acknowledge it. However, instead of focusing on Columbus being the first to discover … [Read more...] about Columbus Day in the Primary Classroom
Apple Fun For EVERYONE!
How many of y'all felt a little shift in the weather this past weekend?! I woke up to a beautifully crisp (what felt like Fall) day and it progressively got hotter as the weekend went on. As they say here in Texas, "if you don't like the weather, just wait 5 minutes." With the change of seasons impending, I couldn't wait to recap some of my favorite apple themed activities for you today and share with you some freebies a new addition to my little shop. One of my favorite things to do with ANY theme is to incorporate it wherever I can in the classroom. The easiest places to incorporate a theme...IMO....are in literacy … [Read more...] about Apple Fun For EVERYONE!
I Remember
I remember September 11, 2001 like it happened yesterday. I was student teaching in a 4th grade classroom. I wore a lavender quarter length, v-neck sweater from Express to school that day. And a long, black skirt. (That's not important, but don't you think it's crazy how we remember the smallest of details of a traumatic, life altering event?!) Our team sat down to plan after we dropped our kids off at specials. The secretary walked in and told us there was a plane crash at one of the Twin Towers. Someone on that 4th grade team had family in New York or knew someone who worked at the Twin Towers. We shakily rushed … [Read more...] about I Remember
Fitting It All In – Names, Week 2 (Part 2)
If you visited the blog on Monday, you might have read my post detailing my lesson plans for week 1 on Names (a thematic unit I like to incorporate at the beginning of every year). I love incorporating name building and identification because these are the most important words our kids will read. I love to see their sense of accomplishment when they correctly identify their friends' names or use them in their daily writing. If you didn't have a chance to read about my first week of name plans, you can check those out HERE or just scroll down to the next post. As I said before, I love incorporating this theme and I usually … [Read more...] about Fitting It All In – Names, Week 2 (Part 2)
Fitting It All In – Names, Week 1
Happy Labor Day, y'all! I hope you were able to get some much needed rest this extended weekend. We went fishing and crabbing and I taught my oldest to play Monopoly. He's finally starting to take an interest in board games and he is obsessed with this one! OF COURSE...the longest game in the history of ever ;) Haha. I said I'd be back this week to share my plans with you for my name unit. I often get asked how I'm able to fit things into my day and I'm hoping this helps give you an idea of how that looks. Let's go ahead and start with the plans. These are plans for the 3rd week of school and the … [Read more...] about Fitting It All In – Names, Week 1
Teacher Week – My Favorite Subject
Happy FRI-YAY!!!!!!! Friday is always a good day for a selfie and today's is extra special because our little family is wearing blue in support of our law enforcement. My heart is sick for the family of the fallen officer, Deputy Darren Goforth, our city lost last week. So senseless and tragic. My grandpa was a police officer before he retired from the department a few years ago and we have nothing but respect for those who lay their lives on the line to protect & serve ours. And yes. There are bad apples in every bunch, in every profession, but we love and support our #brothersinblue. I … [Read more...] about Teacher Week – My Favorite Subject
Teacher Week – Sanity Savers
Welcome back for day 4 of Teacher Week! Today we're talking all about sanity savers... Let me tell you what works for me when it comes to keeping my sanity both in and out of the classroom. Here are 7 tips I have found invaluable through the years. Let It Go. Let go of the control. If you're anything like me, that's HARD for you to do. Start small. I released some of the control when I let my kids started choosing their own centers. Hard at first, but the payoff was HUGE!!!! And this is how I like to do that.... I keep a laminated class list at each of my … [Read more...] about Teacher Week – Sanity Savers
Teacher Week – Classroom Tour
Welcome back for another day of Teacher Week!! Today's post is all about the classroom... I thought today would be the perfect day to take a look back at my classrooms through the years. Well, the last 5 years anyway ;) Since my classroom has always been my home away from home, it was important for me to have a space that was comfy, cute, and functional while being suitable for my babies at the same time. I think my past classrooms were all that, but when I return to the classroom I think I'll do everything different. I'm sure my husband will love that ;) Kindergarten 2013-2014. My second … [Read more...] about Teacher Week – Classroom Tour
Teacher Week – Make Ahead Meals
Happy Tuesday, y'all! Welcome back for the 2nd day of Teacher Week presented to you by my dear friends at Blog Hoppin'.... Today's post is all about FOOD! My FAVORITE subject :) I know how important it is for teachers to have access to quick and easy meals. The last thing I want to do at the end of an exhausting day is come home, cook an elaborate meal, and clean the aftermath. Inevitably my kitchen always looks like a war zone when it's all said and done. Thanks, but no thanks. I LOVE quick and easy. I love making food that will last me several days. I chose some of my … [Read more...] about Teacher Week – Make Ahead Meals
Teacher Week 2015 – 5 Fun Facts About Me (& a Deal of the Day!!!)
Hey y'all! Happy Monday! Have you heard?! It's Teacher Week!!! We're celebrating on Blog Hoppin' and would love for you to link up with us!! Here's what we have planned this week... So let's get started with today's topic... 1. I have taught for 13 years...10 in Kindergarten, 2 in First Grade, and 1 in 2nd Grade. First is my most favorite :) I mean, I loved Kindergarten, but there's just something about the curriculum in first grade that has my heart. This is my second year out of the classroom and while I really do miss it, I sure do love what I'm doing … [Read more...] about Teacher Week 2015 – 5 Fun Facts About Me (& a Deal of the Day!!!)
Phonics Friday – The Short Vowel Edition
I know most of my Texas teacher friends started back to school this week. If you're in the same boat, HAPPY FRIDAY TO YOU!!!! Whether you started back this week or a few weeks ago, you've definitely earned your weekend!!! FRIYAY !!!! Now let's get on with Phonics Friday, shall we?! One of the first phonics skills I cover at the beginning of the year is vowels. I introduce both short and long, but focus mainly on the short vowel sounds until that concept is mastered. However, I think it's important for our kids to know BOTH sounds since they'll encounter those sounds/vowels in their reading. When I … [Read more...] about Phonics Friday – The Short Vowel Edition
All About Word Walls
If you’re a teacher, there’s a good chance you’ve got a Word Wall in your room {either by desire or demand}. 9 times out of 10, the Word Wall you spent hours planning, setting up, & prepping is just a piece of wall décor. Am I right or am I totally off base?! Maybe I’m just speaking from experience. Hopefully you know what I’m talking about! I’ve always had a bit of an issue with my Word Walls. They’re not conveniently located. At all. And really, that’s all my fault. I could make it more accessible. I would always start out the year with a BANG….like we all do. I would … [Read more...] about All About Word Walls
Organizing (& A B2S ONE DAY Sale)
Okay. So I wanted to pop in real quick talk about organization. I'm asked this question often in various forms... "How do you organize your clip art?" "How do you store your center activities?", "What is your favorite planner/organizer?", etc. I figured it would easiest to just lump it all together and tell you a little bit about the different ways I organize just in case some of these ideas are helpful for you, too. I've been using Erin Condren planners (Life Planner) since about 2010. I absolutely LOVE her stuff. I was having a really hard time justifying the price tag because I don't utilize all of the … [Read more...] about Organizing (& A B2S ONE DAY Sale)
Phonics Friday – Small Group Phonics Activities
These last few weeks have been 50 shades of cray. I'm not sure if I told y'all, but we got a roommate :) She's actually a friend of my niece's and she was starting her first semester of student teaching here in town. She had never been to Texas before and was a little wary of living so far from home (Indiana), so she was going to be staying with us until December. Remember how hard it was to student teach all day & not get paid?? And then rush home, get changed, and wait tables until midnight?? And then wake up at 5:30 the next day and do it all again? Or was that just me?!?! We were excited … [Read more...] about Phonics Friday – Small Group Phonics Activities
Building Relationships (The Teacher-Parent Edition)
Today we're talking about something that's near and dear to my heart as both a teacher AND a parent... Establishing and maintaining relationships with parents!!! When I first started teaching about 13 years ago, I was a very timid and insecure 23-year-old. I was unsure of myself as a teacher and I was nervous as all get out about talking to parents. I remember being asked (by several different parents) on meet the teacher night my first year, "how old are you?!?!" I remember thinking how they must have thought I looked too young to be teaching their babies. Oh, how I wish I still had that … [Read more...] about Building Relationships (The Teacher-Parent Edition)
Writing Center Fast Finishers
Happy Tuesday!!! (Is it Tuesday already?!) I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off today and completely forgot to post. I wanted to talk to y'all about building parent relationships starting at the beginning of the year. I have some great tips and suggestions for you, but I'm going to save those for tomorrow since I have a lot to say about that and I want to give it my full attention. In the meantime, I just wanted to quick tell y'all about my newest addition to the shop....Writing Center Fast Finishers! Eeek!! I've been presenting these ideas at conferences for the last couple of years, but haven't gotten … [Read more...] about Writing Center Fast Finishers
Launching Small Groups & Learning Centers (Literacy)
How many of you have already gone back to school? One question I'm often asked at the beginning of the school year is, "When do you start guided reading?!", so I thought we'd chat about how all that gets started in my classroom today :) The beginning of the year is important not only for establishing rules and routines, but also for assessing our students. We need to know where are babies are so we can determine how and what we need to teach. We're all given grade level objectives and standards to teach, but our kids also need differentiated instruction to meet their individual needs. Where does this … [Read more...] about Launching Small Groups & Learning Centers (Literacy)
B2S Bash 2015 GRAND PRIZE!!!
Have y'all had fun hopping around to all 18 of our Bash Baskets? If you haven't done that yet, please start HERE and make sure you do! You only have until midnight on August 2nd to enter! You may be thinking "Ohhh, I'm not lucky enough to win... I never get picked for prizes...There's just no way that my name will be selected!" But, I would say: YOU NEVER KNOW UNTIL YOU TRY! So, go for the gold, folks! Here's what you NEED to do FIRST... like RIGHT NOW! We are doing an Instagram Hop with a secret message. This secret message MUST BE entered on the Rafflecopter below or you will NOT be chosen … [Read more...] about B2S Bash 2015 GRAND PRIZE!!!
Back to School Bash Basket #4
Today is the day! Our Back to School Bash is all kinds of ready for you to ENTER to win it BIG! We have EIGHTEEN {YES! EIGHTEEN!} amazing bash baskets for you this year! At each blog you will find a little bit of info about the prize that you can win, a Rafflecopter to enter, and a button to hop on over to the next blog! While you are hopping around, we would love for you to follow our blogs so that you will always be "in the know" about what's going on. You will even be able to pick up some pretty nice teaching tips as well throughout the year! So let's get this thing rolling! Y'all! I can't even get over how cute this tent is. … [Read more...] about Back to School Bash Basket #4
B2S Bash 2015 – PRIZES!!!! Get EXCITED!!!!
Friends! Get. Excited! No REALLY excited! :) If you aren't excited yet, you will be once you see the amazing sponsors that we will be hosting for giveaways this year during the Back to School Bash 2015. Check them all out below. Then be sure to join the hop beginning tomorrow so you can enter to win some of this amazingness! Just a few things before we begin... Remember to look for this little guy at the bottom of each post to hop to the next giveaway. There will be 18 prizes, and you won't want to miss a single thing! Along with the 18 Bash Baskets, there will also be a HUGE GRAND PRIZE! And I am talking HUGE! This … [Read more...] about B2S Bash 2015 – PRIZES!!!! Get EXCITED!!!!
B2S Bash 2015!!!!!
That's right, my friends! It's that time of year. Back to School Bash 2015 begins tomorrow where we will introduce you to all of the amazing prizes and sponsors. Then you can enter to win big beginning on July 31st. This year we have over $5,000 in back to school swag! No, no...you read that right! $5,000!!! People love them some teachers y'all! So join me and some of my blogging besties below for some amazing giveaways this week. It all begins tomorrow when we will introduce our 18 BASH BASKETS! Be sure you get yourself a head start and follow all of these amazing blogs and their instagram accounts. Believe me...this year you don't … [Read more...] about B2S Bash 2015!!!!!
Meet the Teacher Tips & Ideas
Well...it's about that time. Time to go back to school. Do I hear a resonating sigh?? Or are you ready for routine and structure?! Me personally...I need routine! At any rate, with the approach of a new year also comes the anticipation of Meet the Teacher night. I absolutely LOVE Meet the Teacher! I love meeting my kids and their families. I love seeing my students around their parents. I mean seriously. The kids I'm always nervous about at the end of the night are typically my most well behaved kids! They're just really comfortable around their parents :) And that's … [Read more...] about Meet the Teacher Tips & Ideas
Math Center Set-Up & Organization
With the start of the school year rapidly approaching, I thought it would be the perfect time to talk to y'all all about how I set up my math centers. This seems to be a frequent question I'm asked. Let me just tell y'all that by NO means do I think I have it all figured out. I just want to share what's worked for me over the last 13 years in the classroom. As with anything, you have to find what works best for you as a teacher and what best fits the needs of your kids. What works for me may not work for you. What works for me one year might not work for me the next...especially considering the dynamics of … [Read more...] about Math Center Set-Up & Organization
