I am Thankful for...

Thanksgiving Break! But really though. Are you with me?

I cannot wait to catch up on sleep, errands, and even some school work!

Now that is definitely not all that I am thankful for, I have been so blessed lately! 

If you are not new to my blog then you know I have been CRAY cray busy since oh... last January when I started planning a wedding. Life has not stopped since. However, I love every minute of all of the new things that have come with being a newlywed. Especially during the holiday season. 

 Like our first Halloween. I cannot explain how excited I was to sit outside and pass out candy! Ha. It could have partially been because I ate  candy the entire time.

The boy and I in our Halloween costume, which was my old dance team costume with some diy accessories. 

I am so thankful for him! 

I am also thankful to be at an amazing new school with some amazing new teachers. So let's catch up on what has been going on in my classroom...

Election 2012:

I was 100% inspired by Cara Carroll's Presidential Unit last year. The girl is creative! It was the perfect way to discuss the election with my littles. 

We read these three books and then did a mock election in class. 

The littles made posters to persuade other voters.

My favorite was the one of my husband and I... he's my First Man obviously.

 

 Here our the students self portraits and writings "If I were president..."

 

Another cute activity we did for Thanksgiving {which was also inspired from Cara Carroll}. 

I hope you all have a fab Thanksgiving Break! I am so thankful to you for reading and following my blog.

Next week I plan on posting about a few new TpT items I have FINALLY got around to making for work stations! :)

Lots of Randomness and Updates...

Well first off my little bloggy venture with Ffion from The First Grade Jungle is up! Please go check it out and enter in our giveaway! We are super excited about it! 

Second, since I have been absent for sometime now I figured I would catch you up and unload everything I have been storing on my camera. This means picture overload! Sorry. 

 Generating Questions before reading (inspired by The Inspired Apple)

Character Glove thanks to inspiration from Debbie Diller. I use this during small group as well.  

New workstation I added this year: Overhead. So far my students can write their words, make their words with magnets or letter tiles.  I will be added sentence strips I made which I will print on transparencies and students can fill in the blanks. (Hopefully I will add this to TpT soon!)

I just purchased the clear tiles and then wrote letters onto the tiles. Very simple and the kids LOVE this work station. 

 

 Writing/ Handwriting Workstation. This will be transitioning into only writing next week. 

Another new workstation I added was the Non-Fiction Reading Station. I really wanted to promote my students to read to find out new information about a topic. I added a variety of books on various levels. I discussed with the students that they would still need to use the "good fit book" strategy to find books to read during this time. 

This year my kids REALLY love the Poetry Work Station. They get upset if they do not have time to finish and illustrate their poem. Love it. 

ABC/ Word Study Workstation

Library Work Station

Anchor Charts: 

Behavior Chart

And a little reminder…

Happy Monday :)

Classroom Sneak Peak...

I was fully prepared to take pictures of my finished classroom before our Open House tomorrow. However, sorry ladies… it just not in the cards to happen! That little hurricane about to hit the South is messing up my blogging plans! Tears. However, I will eventually do a full post of my classroom pictures! Pinky swear. In the meantime, please keep those in the line of the hurricane in your prayers to be safe during this time. 

Since I cannot do the full unveiling of my new 1st Grade home… I will do a sneak peak of what I managed to snap on my camera phone. 

My new math tub area, and AR Quiz Line {which I posted about last year/ but I will post my new AR Line soon for you to download and use in your classroom}. BTW I am loving the picture frame that says Math Tubs… in my shopping spree for teacher goods I could not pass up some cheap frames from target. I figured eventually they would come in handy. Glad I listened to my shopalolism voices. :)

Last year, like many nights I randomly stumbled upon whole brain teaching you tube videos… who knows what I was actually searching for. However, I am so lucky to have found whole brain! If you have not yet, youtube search for whole brain videos! Worth the few minutes of your time. 

Below are the posters I made to go with our rules that I adapted from some of the videos I found. I added the sassy ribbon… because I felt like it. No other reason. 

Now here is my little piece of home in my classroom. Feather lamp? Necessity. Three sassy frames with a picture the band took from our wedding… best night ever, a picture of my little nuggets, and my BFF Ms. Thomas. She only deserves the best hot pink sequin frame, am I right?

Lastly, I am just proud of my bow I made for my pointer holder. If you only knew how many SAD attempts it took before I made ONE decent looking bow. Bless my soul if I have a daughter… I guess I will be purchasing those overpriced bows in order to spare her from the embarrassment. 

I am SOO excited to show you the entire room! 

Until then, I hope everyone is safe during this time and that all we get in LA is some rain… I finally found my rain boots and gosh darnit' I want to wear them on my day off playing in the rain! 

Giveaway Winner!

Congratulations Tamera! 

1. 
   TameraAugust 3, 2012 2:13 PM

   I am a follower of your blog.
   :)
   Tamera
   http://myheartbelongsinfirst.blogspot.com
   Kaizactan2001@yahoo.com

   ReplyDelete

You are the winner of my Lakeshore Learning Back to School Giveaway! I will be contacting you in order to get your information! 

In other news, I am excited to share with you my classroom pictures… however it is still a work in progress! I am so swamped with my long to do list from all of these transitions into the new school year that I promised myself I would have it ready for open house completely! Everything is done expect for a few touches here and there! 

Good luck to those of you who are back in school already with me! Bless your hearts… seriously! 

Mqgnetic Display Clips

Hi Lovies! 

Tomorrow I meet my firsties and I am so excited! My new school does a little teacher meet and greet before the kids come on their first day. Then, I start school FRIDAY! Wish me luck! Where did the summer go? 

I am very excited to post classroom pictures soon! However, in the meantime do NOT forget to enter my Lakeshore Learning Magnetic Display Clips giveaway! They are amazing and I know you do not want to miss out!

Click here to enter! 

It ends Sunday! So good luck!

Lakeshore Learning Giveaway and Reviews!!

This week was my FIRST week in my classroom! I am officially in my room decorating like a crazed woman! Why? Because I report to school Monday and my kiddos Friday. Uh huh. You read that correctly. Therefore, I pretty much need to be almost done tomorrow. I feel like I have decorated my classroom in record speed. I mean you guys have probably seen my classroom pictures? I am a mad woman with decorating. I LOVE it. But this year has brought on a huge challenge! 

Below are pictures of my new room… with the other teachers belongings in it still. It was a blank canvas when I walked in Monday, with some desk and a odd array of old furniture that was left over. Needless to say, I discarded most of the things I did not need. Including my teacher desk and then got to work. No worries… pictures will come. But I promise this new room looks very similar to last years classroom. I didn't have much time to change it up much, sorry. 

Now on to my GIVEAWAY! 

I know some y'all have been waiting for this, and now that I have a minute I will post about these gems. 

I teamed up with Lakeshore Learning… you know that amaze lil' teacher store. They so graciously gave me a few items to review for them! 

First up are these Work in Progress Folders. 

Last year in my classroom we had a folder called the "Safe Place" folder. The folders were used to store any papers we were still working on and did not have time to finish. These Work in Progress Folders would be PERFECT for that! Plus, they are a durable folder unlike those paper ones you may get from your school supply lists. 

Next, is the School-To-Home Organizer. These are not only great for sending home work but, there are a ton of more ways to use these little organizers. They could be used to send home take home books with recording sheets or they could be used to store workstation recording sheets, along with items for that work station. Even better, they seem to be durable enough to take the beatings from my 1st graders! :)

Now this may be my favorite item. The Student Work Organizer, which is currently on sale online. 

Below is the sad excuse for my students "mailboxes" I used last year. I used these babies to hold everything I wanted to go home! Any worksheets, classwork, art projects, etc. would go in their mailboxes for the students to take home once a week. This eliminated the hassle of passing out papers everyday. 

However, those Lakeshore ones are beyond awesome. First, they are prettier. Second, I love the stand that comes with it to hold them in an organized manner. And lastly, they are the perfect size for storing papers. Can you tell I am a little obssessed? Now I just need to buy another set for my classroom this year :)

Now on to the giveaway…

One lucky follower will win these Magnetic Display Clips, which are AWESOME! They are the perfect way to display your student work. Simply add student work to the top of the papers already displayed throughout the year. Then at the end of the year you will have a fab mini-portfolio for the students to take home to show their progress in the classroom. 

This brand new box can be yours!

You have up to FOUR chances to enter. Just leave a post for each one you completed. 

To enter:

1. You must be a follower of my blog.

2. Go and follow All That Glitters in Teaching… it is my new blog, partnered with my teaching bestie Ffion!

* There is nothing there yet… thats a whole other thing we will be working on soon. STAY TURNED! Ffion and I are so excited! 

3. Follow me on Teachers Pay Teachers!

4. Blog about this giveaway… and my blog! :)

Giveaway ends Sunday, August 12th. 

Also, Lakeshore was awesome enough to give each of my followers a promo code. 

ENJOY 25% OFF FROM LAKESHORE: www.lakeshorelearning.com/savenow 

Big thanks to Lakeshore Learning… this is EXACTLY why you are my fav teacher store!

Best of luck teachers in the giveaway! Happy new school year :)

BIG NEWS, Giveway and a Name Change!

No, I am not changing the name of my blog. However, I am changing my last name! I am officially a married girl!  

Here is a quick pic my bridesmaid snapped of me before we headed out of the room. As soon as my photographer gives me pictures I will share some more pictures of my big day along with our honeymoon. It was everything I could have dreamed of and more! 

Now, on to the BIG NEWS. 

If you have been following my blog for a few months now, you all know I have been on the hunt for a teacher home! I just moved to a new city (thank you to the new husband) and left my old teaching position behind. Such a bittersweet few months! I just kept faith that God would put me in the right position as I continued to search for a new job in a new city!

The week before my wedding (2 weeks ago) I received a phone call from a principal who had seen my resume, I went in for an interview and I loved her, she was amazing! ONE hour later… my phone was ringing from HR asking me if I wanted to accept the position. Did I possibly squeal in the phone? Yes. It is what I do when I am BEYOND happy. PTL! 

Even better news… I AM BACK IN FIRST GRADE! God knew exactly what he was doing. So, this week is go mode. I get into my new classroom today, filling out paperwork galore, and I am still trying to unpack our house. Think of an episode of hoarders in a bachelor pad. Ugh, it's not good.  

So onto my giveaway. In honor of all of the amazing changes in my life and my fab followers who read,  comment and support, this one is for you! 

I have teamed up with the fabulous Lakeshore Learning to host a little giveaway. Tomorrow I will be doing a full post on a few items they graciously sent me to review, including the giveaway item. I mean seriously? I love ALL of their products. They also are giving my followers a promotional code to use during these back to school weeks. Seriously? Where did my summer go? Oh yeah, to planning that wedding of mine. :)

Want to know what I will be giving away in tomorrow's post?

Yes! Magnetic Display Clips! 

I have had sooooo many comments on these bad boys that I figured this would be the perfect Back to School Year Giveway! So PLEASE check back tomorrow and enter yourself! I promise you will LOVE these as much as I do!