Tales from Outside the Classroom

Fabulous Feedback

2013-05-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

When I heard the idea for the Fabulous Feedback linky, I was all over it. I mean, I get an opportunity to showcase and share the nice things people say about what I pour my heart and mind over to create? Who wouldn't want to do that? And, honestly, we get some interesting feedback, and interesting might not even be the right word, so getting a chance to show the good stuff is great. It's not easy for anyone to accept constructive criticism, and I've learned teachers are even more bothered by it, but it's the name of the game. So, I try to accept each and every quality feedback I receive, learn from it, and improve my creations. Thank you for taking the time to leave worthwhile and quality feedback. It helps the sellers hearts and, at times, helps improve them too.

Here is some feedback that warmed my heart well.

If you are one of the 6 people whose feedback I featured, please send me an email because I want to send you something to show my appreciation for your sweet and quality feedback :)

If you'd like to check out the other Fabulous Feedback posts, check out the linky below!

I hope your school has some fantastic goodies lined up this week!

When I'm busy, you win!

2013-05-05T11:58:00.001-05:00

I've been busy as a bee the last few days. Bizzy. Bizzy. Bizzy. I found my mojo, I kept my ADD in check (self-diagnosed, of course). And I finished up two ideas I've had in my head, because no idea should be stuck in that craziness.

First, I fiiiiiinally finished the final set of my 3rd grade story problems so I could upload and bundle. Sheesh! It feels like I've been working on these forever.

They probably should have been one of the first sets I created, but, alas, I just finally got to them. They are set up with the same format as the others- so they could be used as task cards, worksheets, centers, basically any way that you could dream of! And just like the others, they're only $20!

But, my plan all along was always to bundle them all for you, so I finally got to that too! The bundle includes my Elapsed Time, Area & Perimeter, and the Beginning Multiplication & Division sets as well. If you buy the bundle, you save $1. I always like to do that :) If there's another set of story problems you think I should do and add to this set, just shoot me an email. I feel like I'm missing something. Also, just a word, the Elapsed Time set is HARD. They're multi-step. They're really pushing my RtI kiddos as we work on them together. You can try out a couple of the problems by clicking on the PREVIEW link.

And, I've been wanting to make these a while, but I finally sat my booty down and did it. My RtI kids need something different to do. I need to push their brains a bit. Plus, I need them to have something to do with their hands because if they rub on the table, tap on the table, pound on the table, fall off the table, roll over the table, one more stinking time, I just might lose my everloving mind. :) So we use number tiles that they can use and move around, instead of just a dry erase marker, and it helps my sanity.

While these don't exactly fit a Common Core standard, they certainly build students' problem solving and critical thinking skills as they're trying to solve the problem. Now, these are intended for 1st and 2nd grade classrooms so no multiplication is needed (except for understanding what twice a number means). They build students' place value understanding in addition to strengthening their math fact knowledge in more abstract ways.

They're set up with 4 to a page as task cards but they're versatile in that you could choose to use them as worksheets, a center, or however else you use task cards in your room. (How do you by the way? Read/Write the room? Independent centers?

I also included an answer key so that if you want it to be available for students to independently check their work, you can. It's also great to project on a whiteboard to explain to students the reasoning you used to solve the problem. Want to extend the rigor even further? Have students justify their answer by writing it on paper. It's a difficult task, but one students will need to be doing for the big, bad mandated assessments they'll face in a few years.

Of course, I want you to be able to try them out to see if you'd like them so I put a page free in the PREVIEW file. There are 4 different cards from throughout the set. It also includes black and white and colored number tiles in case you need them.

*I know this is long but you want to keep going. I promise!*

**If you'd like to win any of these 3 items, all you need to do is choose 1, pin it, then leave a comment here with the pin url and your email address. You may enter all 3 times if you wish. I will randomly choose 3 winners on Monday night. This should give email subscribers a chance to win too!**

If you saw my post yesterday, you saw that I'm having a sale at my Teachers Notebook shop! I'm offering 20% through Tuesday! This sale also includes my Math Warm Up bundles for 2nd and 3rd grades. Normally, I don't put the bundle on sale since you still get 10% off of it. But, this time I did so it's a great time to snag a set. Click the picture below to head to my shop and check it out.

But, I'm also participating in the TpT sitewide sale as well! TpT's sale runs just Tuesday & Wednesday and you must use the coupon code to get the extra 10% off from them. It's a great time to snag everything you need for the end of the year, and some items you want to get and have the summer to look over. Click the adorable graphic below (thanks Hadar!) to check out my store and get items on your wishlist now! A bunch of my blogger friends are also participating and you can see them at the bottom of this post.

Don't forget to leave me your pins and good luck!

Teachers Notebook Sale! and a random freebie

2013-05-04T08:33:00.003-05:00

What are you up to this weekend? I'm staying home and relaxing after the stressful week I've had. If you live in Indiana you're sure to know, and I wonder if others do too, but our state testing this week was a disaster!! The state mandated that all testing be online. And, well, they weren't ready to handle that. CTB, our provider, and an arm of Mc-Graw Hill, had their servers crash more than once. Then, yesterday, we were having issues with the accommodations for our accommodations students working. As test coordinator for my building, it was extremely stressful and tiring. And, if you're already not a fan of Mc-Graw Hill and the monopoly they have in education, and the fundraising they contribute to politicians, well that certainly didn't help things. So, I think I'll be spending time on the couch on a date with my computer and my dog- especially since it's rainy out.

Anyway, have you heard about the Teachers Appreciation sale at Teachers Notebook? They're offering a sale from today (5/4) through 5/10. That's long! And there are even some stores that are offering up to 50% off! Wow! I'm offering 20% off today through Tuesday. So, take some time on this weekend to pick out some items. One important note is that I AM offering my math warm up bundles at the full 20% off as part of this sale, but I never do that at TpT. So, if you've been eyeing them, make sure to grab them at TN this weekend! Just click the button below to go check out my shop.

Another random note, my first grade teachers asked me to come up with a poster of some sort to show the augh and ough words that say aw. At first, I was like "Those letters say aw?" But then they reminded me of some of the words. Oh yeah! So, if you can use this poster in your room, feel free to click the picture below and print it. It's just in picture form (I already deleted the rest of the file so it's too late for me to make a pdf) but you can print it out full size from there.

That's it for me for now. Sorry it's so short and random but I promise I'll be back with more soon!

Mother's Day

2013-05-01T15:00:00.000-05:00

Mother's Day is coming right up! To me, Mother's Day is the official start of fun. The weather is usually nice, and it's beginning to feel like summer. The school year starts winding down. And there's this calmness. Well, not a calmness while at school cause Whew! it's crazy in May. But at home, there's less and less to do, and more and more relaxing to do.

Last year I posted this free Mother's Day cupcake craftivity and took lots of cute pictures of it up all over my school. Here are a couple from some firsties.

It's pretty plain and is designed to be copied onto white paper for kids to color themselves. I love the sprinkles, and the cherries on top, of course! It's no prep except for the cutting- which makes your life much easier! I know it's not the cutest craftivity out there, but I think it does the trick. You can click on the picture below to head to my TpT store to download it for yourself for free.

I also asked some friends to share some of their Mother's Day resources

Reagan has some great gift ideas as well as a cute card! Click the picture below to check out her adorable post!

Teacher Idea Factory has a cute, free card idea. I love the way she's always using kids' pictures!
So creative, she is!

A Cupcake for the Teacher has an adorable craftivity (of course she does!)

Yvonne from Mixminder has this great Mother's Day thematic unit with activities and Common Core practice for 2nd graders.

And, of course, Miss Kindergarten has this world famous Mother's Day purse!

Best Practices 4 Teaching has a cute blog post with a cute, free craft and poem.

Denise from Sunny Days in Second Grade has this adorable and unique gift box template. I've never seen anything like it on TpT!

Falling into First has this cute new craftivity. That seems to be the new theme, ya?

Ms. T from Journey of a Substitute Teacher has this adorable and creative coffee craft!

Jessica from Mrs. Stanford's Class has a cute flower craft that she has templates for lots of important women in our students' lives.

Lyndsey from A Year of Many Firsts has a brand-new Mother's Day set with some cuties like these!

I really don't think you need to go anywhere else for your Mother's Day resources! :) Have you found something else to use?

1st Grade Math Warm Ups- Set 2

2013-04-28T10:22:00.002-05:00

Last year, I created these Common Core math warm ups for our kindergarten teachers. Our kids go full day, a long day, and come in knowing quite a bit of content. This allows them to go through most of the K standards by Christmas, and the 1st grade standards the second semester. Of course, they don't quite get it all, and they have to spend time reviewing. But it really prepares the kiddos for first grade. They were an immediate top seller. I ended up making similar sets for 2nd and 3rd, and then due to requests, made yearlong sets for both grades. The original set included practice of several K and 1 Common Core math standards. It also included pieces practicing calendar skills and money- we still teach that in K. They were super popular with 1st grade teachers partway through the year (and some in the beginning) because it was review and introduced a few new skills as well. There are 4 free pages in my stores (because that's before I knew to include them in the preview) and they are downloaded like crazy.

Well, the kindergarten teachers asked me to make a few more pages with some specific skills. Of course I obliged. But I also created many more pages, and included nearly every 1st grade standard. These are a great practice set for this time of year. The students are reviewing skills that were covered WAY earlier in the year, and they can practice a variety of skills in one day. I've heard many teachers say that this is the only thing they use for morning work, or some say this is the only thing they use for homework. I like it because it's versatile enough that one block can be completed per day, or a section of the day. They're also set up in a student-friendly way so the students can see the skill shifts. But, I know I'm partial to them :)

These are just a little different than the first set. They're set up the same. But this time I included the standard number in each box (duh! Should have done that the first time!) It also includes adding a collection of coins. However, it only includes pennies, nickels, and dimes and never nickels and dimes together. I know the CCSS don't have money until 2nd grade, but that money is a high level of money, and no one is going to get there without the steps along the way. Are you with me?

Of course, there are 4 free pages again so that you can try them out in your classroom. Just click on either of the pictures to head to my TpT store and check them out for yourself. The free pages are in the preview file.

I'd love to hear what you think!

Pets in the Classroom

2013-04-26T11:19:00.001-05:00

Here’s a great program you may or may not know about! Pets in the Classroom recently contacted me and asked if I'd share their wonderful program. Here's what they sent me!

Pets in the Classroom is an educationalvgrants program supporting responsible pet care for school classrooms. Sponsored by the Pet Care Trust, the goal of the program is to establish healthy child-pet relationships by supporting responsible pet care in Kindergarten-8th Grade classrooms across the U.S. and Canada. The Pet Care Trust sponsors this program to help teachers purchase or maintain pets in the classroom through direct, no-hassle grants.

Having a classroom pet opens up many opportunities for creative lesson plans and enhanced curriculum. Kids love projects that incorporate their favorite new friend, and teachers have told us that their classroom pets have motivated and inspired students to improve their skills in many areas.

There are interesting ideas for lesson plans and activities that include animals, nature and your classroom pet. Consider covering topics like “What is involved in caring for a pet?” which would include an overview pet’s basic needs and necessary supplies while building language arts and communications skills as well. Students can share their knowledge and understanding of responsible pet ownership through writing and illustrating stories. There are many ways to enhance your curriculum with activities that sharpen students’ academic skills while fostering a better understanding of the human animal bond and the responsibility that we have towards our pets in the classroom and at home.

Having a pet in the classroom is a responsibility and does require some advanced planning in order to provide the best possible care for the pet. However, the rewards teachers and students receive in return can be simply amazing. The Pets in the Classroom’s Executive Director, Steven King, receives great feedback from teachers across the country on the positive impact their classroom pet has had on all of their students.

We know that teaching isn’t just about reading and writing, but also about shaping children’s character and providing positive ways to reinforce their social skills. Pets provide a unique way for teachers to spark their students’ interest and inspire them to grow. The program was designed to establish healthy child-pet relationships at an early age by supporting responsible pet care in elementary and middle school classrooms across the country. Research has shown that caring for pets develops children’s sense of responsibility, respect for living beings, and valuable social skills. Children can develop an increased awareness of the needs and feelings of others by interacting with a classroom pet and sharing responsibilities with other students. Teachers report that classroom pets can create a new sense of enthusiasm in children, as children pitch in and help care for the pet as part of a team. Students also approach assignments with new energy

when the classroom pet is involved.

King says that the Pets in the Classroom Facebook page is a great spot to see what teachers are saying about how their pets inspire the students. One teacher commented, “This year we added a turtle to our classroom to go along with the gerbil we have! It has been a true life experience many of my students have never had. I am so greatful to Pets in the Classroom for helping me give my urban and ELL kids this opportunity!” Another teacher shares, “We have a pet rabbit in our Kindergarten classroom. He's called Toki, which is Korean for rabbit. Toki is a great help in making shy children feel comfortable in our room. He teaches us that we are here to care for all animals. Animals are a great responsibility. They must be fed and watered each day. Their needs are much like ours. The students really enjoy showing him to grandparents and parents when they visit.”

A classroom pet also allows for creative additions to standard curriculums across multiple disciplines. Science, math, art, geography and language arts projects can all be developed around a classroom pet. And while their creative juices are flowing, kids are also making a vital connection to the natural world. With children spending more time with electronic devices than ever before, a classroom pet offers a unique way to expose children to nature, which has been proven beneficial to health and well-being.

Pets in the Classroom have awarded grants to nearly 25,000 classrooms, giving students the opportunity to interact with a pet every day in their classrooms. The program accepts online applications from teachers, awarding grants from $50 - $150 to purchase, adopt or maintain a classroom pet. For more information or to apply, please visit www.petsintheclassroom.org.

Science Journals and BOGO!

2013-04-21T14:54:00.002-05:00

I've finally gotten back into the swing of products and blogging- I think. It's not been 10 days between posts and I think I know another couple posts I'll be doing in the next few weeks. That's remarkable for how I've been the last month or so. Most teachers get in their funk about this time of year (or March-ish). I'm usually coming out of my funk by then. My funk is like the end of January- March. I think it's the weather- the cold weather. I need sun, and warmth, and cute toes to make me happy. I need to be able to sleep in until the sun is calling me out of my slumber. These are the things that make me happy. Oh, and ice cream. Ice cream definitely makes me happy. I won't tell you the *ahem* 5 times I've had ice cream in the last 7 days.

Yesterday, I spent some time sprucing up my science journals, bundling them, and posting them in my stores.

There are 4 different journals: Butterfly, Ladybug, Plants, and Weather. This coves the topics we cover in science this spring. Each journal is formatted the same: date, place to record (life cycle, temperature, or measurement{US or metric}), space for writing, and space for a picture.

Each journal also comes with a scaffolded writing set. The scaffolded writing is set up so you can differentiate by student need, or so you can build into paragraph writing. The pages range from sentence starters {First, my plant}, just transition words {First,}, just broken up into fourths, and then a paragraph. This set is great for building students into paragraph writing. It's also a great piece that can be displayed for teachers, parents, and administrators because they will be shocked by your students' writing.

Just click the picture below to head to my TpT store to check it out. It's in my TN shop as well.

In honor of reaching a HUGE personal milestone today, I decided to throw a Buy 1 Get 1 sale!

I announced it on my Facebook page about an hour ago and it'll last until 8 pm cst. All you do is buy and item (or two) that you wish from my TpT store or TN shop, then email me (talesfromoutsidetheclassroom at gmail.com) with your username and what you purchased (so I can verify it), and then let me know what item(s) you'd like for free. Like any other B1G1 sale, the free items must be of equal or lesser value. I will work on getting everything sent out tonight or tomorrow. That's it! It's a great time to get some of those items off of your wishlists!

I hope you have a great week. For us, it's the last one before we start our never ending barrage of tests!

RtI Record Keeping

2013-04-16T17:44:00.001-05:00

I've been wanting to share my record keeping process for my RtI groups but my photos came out blurry. So, then I took some new ones. Those are still blurry but I figured I'd share them anyway! :) As many of you know, I spend a lot of my day working with RtI students and oversee my building's RtI program. I did this in a previous position at a previous school as well. The ideas I show work for me (I'm still a paper/pencil planner) for my pull-out groups, but I definitely think a similar system could be used within the classroom as well.

I have a binder that I use to write and store all of my plans. I called it Tier 3 because that's what my original plan was to do- only Tier 3 students. Of course, that didn't work out, but I just kept it that way.

I found these nifty dividers. Each one has a double sided folder as well as the tab. I love this because it lets me store copies of what we're working on next, and it also holds my index cards with skills. Of course, I forgot to take a picture of those. Each file has index cards with skills laid out. At the beginning of the year, after we did our NWEA Map test and I identified my students, I went through and identified the skills they needed to work on each strand. Each strand has its own card and that's where I recorded it. If I'm looking for something to work on instead of what they're doing in the classroom, I go back to the card to find skills.

Then I have lesson plan sheets depending on the group. I have 3 different formats at the moment. The one on the left is what I use for my 2nd grade reading students. I do a modified guided reading with them. On this form I identify the book, the reading strategy we will work on, and any words I'll teach them before reading. We read differently each day (sometimes they whisper read, sometimes we popcorn read aloud, sometimes they partner read, etc.). On the 2nd day, or whenever we finish the book, we usually do word work based on the book. This is usually phonics skills that are found in the book as well as sight words. I also record any observation notes, and an area for continued practice (like reviewing vowel sounds).

The lesson plan on the right is the one I use with most of my older reading groups as well as my math groups. I generally see each group 4 days per week so this lets me plan things out a week at a time. With older students, when we're reading a book, it's much easier to plan this way. As you can see this time, it was a hodge podge of multiple choice practice since we are prepping for the multiple choice state test.

That was my planning, but I also record my information for others to see. We have a shared drive in our building, so we put an RTI folder on that drive. Each grade level has a folder and each student has a file. This makes it easy for the classroom teachers to see what we work on.

The first page in the excel sheet is our assessment sheet. This is one from 1st grade. We do mClass so the left reflects that. The right shows other assessments that might be done (letter sounds or sight words, for example).

On the second tab of the file is where we record what we work on. We do this weekly (but quite often play catch up). In the instruction column we record reading level of book read, comprehension skill, etc. It's not extremely detailed. The in the observation column we record things specific to that child. Some may not have anything for a couple weeks.

We've also been experimenting with having the teachers record information on another tab. This allows us to see what interventions are happening in the classroom, or how students are doing. It's been difficult for the classroom teachers, especially since they record information in other ways, so we're still working out the general formats for that.

I hope this gives you a few ideas on how you can record information on your RtI students both in and out of the general education classroom. How do you record RtI information in your building?

Story Problems

2013-04-08T09:55:00.002-05:00

I'm heading back from California today. It was a great, but tiring, 6 days away. I managed to stay relatively unplugged while I was gone- shocking! I did some work in the mornings while everyone else was still sleeping since my body is still on Central time. I did some pinning from my phone here and there, and checked in on email as they came in. It was nice to get away, relax, and not worry so much about the day to day things that I'm stressing out about. I'm currently sitting outside in my pjs on this cold, dreary morning in San Diego, but I'm thinking I would totally love to start most of my days this way.

Over the last few months, I've been working on problem solving with a group of second graders and a group of third graders. I've been able to find some great resources for my 2nd kiddos, but not as much my third. So, I started creating some of my own.

First, I introduced Problem Solving steps to them, so they follow a plan when they solve them. I got these from TpT for free. Click the picture to head there and check it out.

Then, we were ready to solve! I created a few different sets. Each one has 24 different problems. I set them up to be versatile. They can be cut out and used as task cards. You can use them for Scoot or a Read the Room activity. I gave a recording sheet if you decide to use it that way. Or, I gave space for a name at the top and you can use it as a worksheet.

Click on any of the pictures to check them out or buy them from TpT.

I also have a freebie with two problems from both of these sets (for a total of 4). Just click the image below to grab it for free for yourself from Google Docs! :)

I also created Multi-Step Elapsed Time problems. These are quite difficult and from the feedback I've received, people think these are too difficult for 3rd grade. I use them with mine, but we work at a higher level. So, keep that in mind.

I'll be continuing to create more and will probably bundle some at some point. I'd love to hear what you think about them!

I hope you have a fantastic day! :)

How to reuse blog images

2013-04-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

One trick I've learned along the blogging way, is that it makes things so much simpler if I borrow images from old blog posts- both for myself and from others. Now, I will put a big disclaimer to please not steal people's images. But, if you're having a giveaway, it's super helpful to borrow the images from their blog to showcase their awesome products. AND, it helps keep you from uploading the same daggone image over and over to your blog, year after year, if it's a seasonal item. So, I hope this helps many of you make blogging simpler!

How to Make a Hyperlink Signature

2013-03-28T09:36:00.001-05:00

Hi there! Today I have a quick little tutorial on how to make a hyperlink signature for when you're leaving blog comments. I never remember the html I need to know so I use this handy, dandy ~~notebook~~ trick!

Enjoy!

Arcademic Skill Builders

2013-03-26T20:32:00.000-05:00

Um, hi. Remember me?

Yeah, you know how on my last fourteen way spread out posts I said I was going to get better at blogging again? Remember how I apologized for being random because it'd been so long since I'd blogged. Yeah, I'm just going to give in and say that it ain't gonna happen this year. Nope! There are many things on my plate right now, some of which I'll share with you as soon as I can (promise!) and I'm just busy. But, I went to a training with one Mr. Tim Shanahan a few weeks back and have been dying to share what I learned with you. It was epic and life changing and all things Common Core reading. But I've been a slacker. Since I'm on spring break this week I am required by law to actually write you a decent post. So that's coming right up. Sometime this week. Or this weekend. Maybe. But soon, I swear!

In the meantime, I thought I'd share one of my favorite websites with you and link up for

Techy Teacher Tuesday with Queen of the First Grade Jungle

You probably already know this fun, FREE website, but just in case you don't, I introduce you too....drumroll......
Arcademic Skill Builders!

Pardon the screen shot but they have their logo on lockdown and I couldn't steal it.

Arcademic Skill Builders offers single-user and multi-user games practicing a variety of skills. They have many options for math facts, but also some great grammar activities, and keyboarding practice.

I've used Verb Viper with my students since at least 2006. Subject/verb agreement is just something students need practice with.

All of the games are quick and easy to play with a mouse and a space bar. And, new to me, they have apps- both for Android and for Apple. Which means, if you are one of those lucky people who gets a bunch of technology in your classroom, they are free to download there as well.

You can check out their site by clicking on either picture, or you can see their complete game list here.

You can check out all of the other Techy Teacher Tuesday posts by clicking her cute button up on top or by clicking here.

Talk to you soon!

It's Your Lucky Day

2013-03-17T09:58:00.001-05:00

It's your lucky day! Why, you ask. Well, it's not because a leprechaun came and destroyed your house all in the name of "fun". It's because I'm (and a bunch of other bloggers) are throwing a sale in honor of St. Patrick's Day!
Megan from Mrs. Wheeler's First has put together a great linky and tons of bloggers have linked up. Click the picture above to head to her blog and see the other people participating.
Don't miss your chance to get my new Word Wall Word Work on sale for 20% off!

Word Wall Word Work is a great way to reinforce word wall words. You can offer some of the pages as choices in centers or in your Word Work bins. You can also give pages as morning work. Each page is designed with 3 different activities. To try it out, click any of the pictures to head to my TpT store or TN shop to download 3 pages for free! :)

AND, don't forget! Today is your last day to participate in the Hop to It blog hop where you have the chance to win a $100 TN gift certificate. Click the picture below to head to that post!

Hop to It!

2013-03-15T05:00:00.000-05:00

Easter is right around the corner so some of my blog buddies and I decided to do a blog hop. Hop from blog to blog March 15th - 17th to get your freebie and enter to win a basket full of units, plus a TN gift certificate. Make sure to enter to win on each blog so you'll have a greater chance of winning. Each blogger is donating a unit for the grand prize then each of us will choose a winner. The winners will get ALL the units, from ALL the bloggers. Steve, the owner of Teachers Notebook has also generously donated our grand prize which is a Teachers Notebook gift certificate. One lucky person will win it. The more blogs you visit and enter, the greater your chances are that you will win. So HOP TO IT!

My unit that you can win is my Nouns unit

I have two different freebies for you to download. Just click on the pictures below to head to Google Docs to download them.

This one practices reading CVC words

This one practices the 3 sounds of -ed

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now that you've entered it's time to hop to my friends' blogs to see their great prizes and freebies. Remember the more blogs you visit and enter on their rafflecopter, the greater your chances are of winning.

Michelle @ Teach123

Yvonne @ Mixminder

Fern @ Fern Smith's Classroom Ideas

Arlene @ LMN Tree

Jennifer @ Best Practices 4 Teaching

Heidi @ My (Not So) Elementary Life

Tessa @ Tales From Outside the Classroom

Alisha @ The Bubbly Blonde Teacher

Sally @ Elementary Matters

Tanja @ Journey of a Substitute Teacher

Jessica @ Mrs. Stanford's Class

Ashley @ The Teacher's Treasure Chest

Gladys @ Teaching in High Heels

The winner will be announced on our Facebook pages on Monday, March 18th.

If you are reading this post through feed or email, click HERE to view the Rafflecopter giveaway.

Easter Freebies

2013-03-10T09:45:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. Well, actually, I can believe it, it just disappoints me. But, I'm trying to make up for it today.

At this time last year, I was in crazy freebie mode. I was creating Easter freebies for just about anything. I even posted on Facebook and made something for everyone that requested it. Crazy pants. I don't have time to do that, but I do have time to share some of the great freebies I made and some great freebies I've found from my friends.

This was/is HUGE. I saw this cover all over Pinterest last year. I'm still getting a ton of traffic from pins from 50 weeks ago. Crazy! The words are the sight words my kindergarten team uses so they don't follow a strict program. There's also a blank one so you can use your own words. Click the picture to download it from Google Docs.

Because it was so popular, I created another set. This set includes the Dolch Primer words. Click the picture to download it for free from my TpT store. I wouldn't hate you if you rated it or followed me while you're there either!

I also created color by numbers for math. First, I created an addition set.

(Click the picture download)

And then I made a multiplication set.

(Click the picture to download)

And this year I've also found some goodies from my friends!

Denise is almost famous for her Bump games. I'm sure you know them, yes? If you don't, check them out!

On top of giving you one for addition and one for multiplication, she also has given you a blank one so you can use it to fit your needs. It's so stinking cute!

Mrs. Plant's Press has a super adorable graphing freebie using jelly beans or spring colored M&Ms. Click the pictures below to head to her blog and check it out!

Nicole from Rowdy in Room 300 has a cute alphabetical order center(this post has been full of math!) called The Bunny has Lost Its Way

and she also has a CVC word freebie

Kelley from Teacher Idea Factory has just come out with a new Easter Unit and has this adorable freebie on her blog. Head on over and snag it!

I hope you enjoy all these freebies!

HELPS Fluency

2013-02-27T17:00:00.000-06:00

A couple months ago I got an email with information on a relatively new, FREE fluency program called HELPS. The program is detailed in DEPTH on their website but I'll share with you how I use it.

(Click the picture to check out the site)

You have to register on the site for free. Easy peasy. Then you get access to the materials. The program is currently only suitable for one-on-one work with students (as many fluency programs are). But there is talk of getting a small group program into development. What I like best about this program, as opposed to many other ones I see like Read Naturally, is that fluency isn't the only focus and students are getting feedback on their reading. Since the program is one-on-one with an adult, you can easily coach students on ways they need to improve.

Here's how it works:

First, students are assessed on passages to determine which level of passage they should begin their instruction on. Students have a set fluency goal based on national standards, and also have to meet basic comprehension targets.

Once a level is determined, the program can begin. Students read the passage for 1 minute while the teacher records miscues. At the end, the teacher tallies the miscues to determine if the student is ready to advance. If so, they move on to the next set. If not, the teacher performs a miscue redirection and then the student reads the passage again. At the end of the reading, the teacher reads the passage aloud in cloze style (I think they call it something different but that's what I've called it for years!). Then students read the passage again. If the student passes his/her target, he/she advances to the next passage on the next reading.

Of course, this is a very quick version of the instructions. I'm leaving all of the information regarding goal setting, charting, comprehension, etc. But, the site includes VERY in depth directions and even videos to watch. This makes it a great program for assistants or parent volunteers to learn and use with students.

I've been using it with a few students for a couple months now and have started using it with a rotating group of 6. I have seen fantastic progress with one student who has been working on it for months. With my other kiddos, we've only been working on it a couple weeks and I've hardly seen them. BUT, it's helped me identify some issues they have as they do first reads and so I'm able to coach them on strategies for our state assessment coming up quickly.

I hope you are able to use this program to help your students as well!

St. Patrick's Day Freebie

2013-02-24T18:58:00.002-06:00

I'm pretty sure I don't know what happened to my life since I last posted on Monday. I worked, I remember that. But, uh, where has the rest of the time gone? I don't think I spent an evening at home. And I was busy all weekend this weekend too. I haven't done laundry yet. I haven't gotten things together for my evaluation tomorrow (eek!). I need to get some data together for a presentation and I might have, maybe, said it would get done by Thursday. I was working on it Friday and it wasn't going the way I wanted to. And so now I'm procrastinating doing that and thought I'd write a blog post instead. I wanted to share some St. Patrick's Day freebies with you. Most of these are items I posted last year at this time.

I *just* posted this digital paper pack. I love some of the new designs I tried out. Of course, there's chevron in there since I'm way obsessed.

Last year I posted these freebies. This is a game practicing Magic E words. Simple and straightforward.

This game can be used to practice addition or multiplication facts. Again, simple, but easy to differentiate.

These St. Patrick's Day Number Grids build students' understanding of the hundreds chart by having students complete the missing numbers.

I hope you enjoy these freebies and I hope to come back to blogging soon!

How I Spent My Weekend

2013-02-18T17:15:00.001-06:00

I had the best weekend evah! Like, seriously. But first....

I spent some time this weekend updating some of my journal products, found one I did and just never posted{what!?!?}, and then made a couple more.

I posted these a while back

And then I posted these today

And bundled them all together at a discount

I also uploaded this freebie(the one I forgot about!)

I needed some relaxing on the couch after the long, busy, and exciting weekend I had visiting some of my favorite people!

From the top down Megan from Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade, Monica from Treasures For Teaching, Jessica from Mrs. Stanford's Class, Hadar from Miss Kindergarten, Katie from Queen of the First Grade Jungle, Squirrels from Going Nutty in Miss Squirrels First Grade, Susan Moran from Thank God It's First, Stephanie from Falling into First, Michelle from Apples & ABC's, me, Kelley from Teacher Idea Factory, and Nicole from Teaching with Style

Nicole flew into Chicago and we traveled together to meet with everyone else.

Nicole and I

We ate lunch and then did some shopping at Target

Michelle, Squirrels, Nicole, and I

Monica, Hadar, Jessica, and Megan

Squirrels, Megan, Monica, Nicole, and I

We acted silly...

And met up with some more of our friends

Stephanie, Kelley, Monica, Squirrels, me, Nicole, Susan, Megan, Jessica, Katie, Michelle, and Hadar

And the friendship we've created online was even more solidified in person. I love these ladies!

All you Need is Love

2013-02-13T19:00:00.000-06:00

Hi there! I hope you all had fun in my birthday giveaway! The winners have been posted and I'll be reaching out to everyone soon.

I realized I hadn't shared my President's Day freebie with everyone since last year. We needed to practice fact and opinion around President's Day so it was a perfect combination! Click on the picture below to get it for yourself. {Please ignore the ugliness. I didn't know I needed covers for freebies then}

Also, I have some other exciting news for you!

I'm participating with some fantastic bloggers in a cute little giveaway. I'm giving away ANY one item in my store to 3 people! Just enter in the Rafflecopter for your chance to win. Then, come back here and hop through the linky for more chances to win from some fantastic bloggers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Bloggy Birthday

2013-02-08T20:17:00.000-06:00

It's been a week or so since I've posted- I'm struggling with keeping up with my blog with everything else going on! Early this week I made this sign as a reminder of why I do what I do each day. I shared it on my Facebook page and I thought I'd share it with all of you as well.

Also, I just celebrated my 1st Bloggy Birthday! Yay!! It's been a while since I've done a giveaway so I thought I'd do one to celebrate! Keep reading to find out the amazing items you could win! The giveaways go through Tuesday so enter soon!

First up, I have a $50 gift card from Shabby Apple! (what! what!) If you don't know Shabby Apple I'd recommend checking out their website or their Facebook page. They have some of the cutest dresses and accessories and I love their different themed collections! They have a body style calculator (uh, yeah, I know my shape well) but then you can check out dresses perfect for your body style. When you're curvy and curvy some more, it's always nice to find some recommendations before you shop online. Here's a few I'm thinking of snagging!

Oh, and some others :)

To enter to win the gift card (sorry, only US residents), enter in the rafflecopter below!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

I'm also giving away some goodies from myself!

First up, as you know, I recently started designing blogs. I'm giving away one custom blog design (full custom design) to the winner! If you haven't checked out Tales from a Blog Designer head on over and see the designs I've done custom to each blogger's taste! And then come back over and enter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Of course, I'm also going to give away some of my products! I'm going to choose TWO winners for each giveaway!

First up, a clip art collection including....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Next, a great giveaway for 2nd grade teachers!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

3rd grade math

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Language Arts

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good luck!

I'm Sure You've Heard About the Sale....

2013-02-02T08:23:00.001-06:00

Right? I don't need to tell you about it? Well, just in case....

(Thanks to the fantastic Ashley Hughes for the super adorbs button!)

TpT is having a HUGE sale on Sunday! Most sellers put their items at 20% off and then TpT takes another 10% off at checkout (yes, that equals 28%). One BIG note- TpT is only offering their 10% on SUNDAY so make sure you checkout then! But, if you miss it, you can still probably catch a few deals! Work on building up your wishlist now so you're all set to go!

Here's some items from me that you might consider!

These won't be marked at 20% off because they're already 17% off from buying each set separately. But, if you buy either one on Sunday, you DO still get the extra 10% off which puts them 25% off the original price. It's a great time to get a deal!

My Place Value Units

These guys have been updated the last couple weeks!

(It's a perfect centers set for this time of year!)

And my brand spanking new Area & Perimeter Story Problems!

And check out these fantastic bloggers/sellers for even more great deals!

Creating your own games in Word

2013-01-30T17:36:00.004-06:00

Hi there! I know I've been hit and miss lately. I hope that gets better soon! I feel a little test focused with my RtI kiddos, a little blog designed focus when I get home, and a little hectic in between. I hope to find some time to find my blogging ways again soon! :)

Today, I'm sharing a video I made a while back on creating games quickly & easily in Word. No, I'm not kidding. I much prefer to use Publisher to create things but this was the first way I learned how and I still think it's pretty easy for new creaters. Plus, I like to create things in the same format so students are familiar with it. I'm also linking up with Queen of the First Grade Jungle's Techy Tuesday linky (yes, I know it's a day late!) Watch the video and then click on her picture to check out the others! :)

AND, Fern's Smith Techy Linky

What do you use to create games for your munchkins?

Linking up with LOVE

2013-01-23T19:23:00.000-06:00

I can't believe I've been blogging for almost a year! It's crazy that time has flown by so fast. I've loved sharing what I've tried in my class and in the other aspects of my position. I've loved getting to "know" other bloggers and learn from them. And, I can't even begin to say how my life has been changed by the friendships I've made. As I've reflected on the last year, I discovered that the first linky I ever had was one for Valentine's Day and I did it REALLY early on (yeah, 4 days) in my blogging. I'm amazed that anyone linked up!

I thought it would be fun to come full circle (well, sorta) and do another Valentine's Day linky. This one has a little twist though. I don't want it to be a linky filled with only products, because, well, who wants to go explore through that? Instead, I want it to be all about LOVE: who you love, what you love, what products you love, etc. Yes, please showcase Valentine's Day products, but make it interesting for us too! :) To link up, just write a post including the image below and then come back and link up! That's it! :)

If I'm going to talk about people I love, I need to talk about some of the new friends I've made through blogging! I talk about them from time to time, but their amazingness continues to make me weep with jealousy! (Okay, not really, but they're phenomenal!)

Some People I'm Loving!

DeAnne from First Grade and Fabulous was one of the first bloggers I got to "know". She's always looking out for others and offers tons of freebies to her followers!

Nicole from Teaching with Style has also become a good friend! I love everything she creates, she's hilarious, and she stands up for what she thinks is right. She's my kind of people and I adore her!

I've made so many friends through blogging and you'd get bored if I went through them all! Those are just a couple ladies that I look forward to talking with often! There's many, many more!

Some Things I'm Loving!

I shared this with you before but I'm in L-O-V-E LOVE with these! They're creamy and sweet and warm and delicious!

I love all of my 31 items! I have a ~~slight~~ obsession with their Parisian Pop print. I have my school bag, lunch bag, purse, wallet.....I'll stop. :)

What can I say about TpT? Well, it's changed my life in so many ways: as a buyer and as a seller. If you're constantly creating resources to use in your room, seriously, sign up. It takes a lot of time, but it's so worth it! Click the link above to get started!
And, a product plug or two.... I don't have a lot of Valentine's Day items from last year, and haven't made anything new for it other than clip art, but click the pictures below to see more about each product.
Heart Hop- Subtraction without Regrouping

Sweet Treat Money Counting- with and without story problems

Valentine's Day Digital Papers

Heart Hop- Addition with and without regrouping

I can't wait to see what everyone links up with! :)

Character Traits and Cause & Effect

2013-01-19T15:30:00.001-06:00

Oh, hi. Remember me? I took a little break. I've missed you guys but I've been crazy busy! First up, as I warned before, I've spending quite a bit of time doing blog design and am LOVING it! There's been some hiccups along the way but it's been a blast! And, I've hosted bunco, and my water heater went out, and my brother went to boot camp, and my Christmas tree is still up, and I still haven't unpacked all of my sweaters, and I could keep going. Oh, and I've been working....

A little while back we worked on Character Traits in my groups and I totally forgot to share with you! I made this anchor chart (please pardon the GIANT wrinkle!)

And then my middle school students have been working on one as we're reading different books.

(Please ignore the spelling of does. I know.)

And with all of my groups, we worked on looking at a character traits and recorded our thoughts on this graphic organizer.

Click on the picture to download the organizer as a pdf.

We're still struggling with traits in many ways (especially with the support) so we'll be coming back to it shortly.

We've also talked about cause and effect in a few of my groups. My kiddos tend to confuse cause and effect and struggle to articulate it even in many real life situations. Because of that, I teach it to them backwards basically. Here's why.

beCAUSE

We focus on the word because or cause(pronounced cuz. Like they spell it. Okay, like how I spell it too but I swear I'm educated.)

When they visually see cause at the end of because it helps them to remember to put the cause at the end and then the effect at the beginning. And then they can do it.

For example, "The team won the game beCAUSE.......John scored a touchdown!" I stretch out the pause and they jump in with the answer. I'm telling you they can get it when we focus on the effect that way. And, they like saying "Cuz why?!?!?" What kid doesn't like saying that?

Here's a little poster to help illustrate how we learn it.

Clipart from Speckles and Spots

Yep, click this picture to download this freebie as well!

Most of my time the next 6 weeks or so will be spent on our big test. Remember, I work with the RtI kiddos. Many of my kids didn't pass last year and I'm determined to get them to pass. We're going to be moving from novels to short stories and passages. I hate not getting into the depths of a novel with all my groups but we have to practice some of our skills with smaller texts and in timed situations. I need to get my creative juices flowing to keep my kids engaged during this looooooooong stretch!

What do you do to prep for the big test?

Tales from a Blog Designer

2013-01-06T10:20:00.000-06:00

Remember how I said I had so much fun doing my blog design? Remember how I said I *might* start doing more designs. Well, a few people offered their blogs and I HAD to oblige, right?

Please check out my new blog Tales from a Blog Designer!
I knew I had to stick with a ridiculously long name with Tales in it :) This is my new site I'll use to share my designs (the portfolio page), information on getting a custom design, and premade templates (if I have time to get any up that is). I'm really excited about this new venture! I've already done a few blogs (plus this one and my new design blog) and have LOVED them!

My friend Tanja from Journey of a Substitute Teacher has been so kind as I've been showing off some of my designs. She knew much of what she wanted already! Plus, I LOVE the quatrefoil!

Shawna from The Picture Book Teacher's Edition commented on my design post offering her blog up. I wasn't sure how serious she was, but she emailed me and let me know she'd love a new design. This was my first official design for someone else and I adore it!

I promise not to show you every design I make here, that's what my other blog is for, but I'm hoping you'll head over and follow me. I'm not going to use it like a regular blog, though. There won't be any new blog posts that'll show up in your feed. You'll have to keep checking back ;)

As I've been designing, I've also created a few black frames that I can use on my designs. I thought I'd share with you. Just right-click the pictures to download them! :) I just that you please give me credit in your file.

It's back to work I go tomorrow! I have SO much to do! You probably won't be hearing from me for a bit. I hope your return was/will be smooth and painless!