Testing..123

First of all, YAY for being the winner of Rebecca's St. Patrick's Day Giveaway!! I got to pick anything I wanted from the FABULOUS TpT stores of:

Rebecca from Darlin' In First
Abby from The Inspired Apple
Amanda from One Extra Degree
and
Gladys from Teaching in High Heels

I got some excellent units and am SO excited to use them!! I will definitely post links once I receive them all! :)


Ok, so this is a quick test to see if I have actually figured out how to upload my documents on here. As I said before, I now have a working computer, but there is just one thing I am lacking in order to get my TPT store up and running: TIME!!! Things have been so crazy around here lately with school, dance competitions, the upcoming recital, wedding stuff, and a few things in my life I cannot yet mention that are in the works. ;) So I am using literally my only free time {my prep time} to test this out. Your feedback is definitely MUCH needed and appreciated on this one!! I can't haven't had the time to figure out how to work google docs, so I am trying scribd. For a test I am just going to upload my most simple and generic contractions worksheet that I use as a recording sheet for one of my literacy centers. Also, for some reason, the cute font didn't save. You all probably think I am the most incapable and ridiculous person in the world as I see all of these AMAZING units and other things being posted, but next week is Spring Break, and I am hoping to get to that point when I actually have some free time!! Anyway, for a plain, boring contraction worksheet.....click here.

Once again, feedback is much appreciated!! What am I doing wrong?? HELP!!!! :)

Thank you! You guys are awesome!

Much love,

Hooray for Working Computers! Annnnnddd a Freebie {Kinda}

First of all, I have to make a very exciting announcement! My laptop is fixed and I finally have a working computer again!! WOO HOO!!! I am officially in the process of setting up a TPT store and uploading LOTS of my goodies! Mostly freebies to start out with so please please please stay tuned and pleeeeease spread the word! I am still fairly new so I am know I am not very popular, so if you guys could get my name out there that'd be great! :)


As for tonight's post...I am starting my new workout tomorrow at 4:30am so I'm gonna leave this one short and sweet so I can get to B.E.D.!


As I may have already mentioned, I have a HUUUUGE range in reading this year as far as my high kids and my lower kids. I have 2 students who are reading at a 4th grade level, and some who couldn't even read the word "lost" today. My biggest struggle this year has been challenging my high kiddos without overwhelming my lower sweeties and leaving them out in the dust. So for the month of March we have been participating in a challenge. Once {sometimes twice} a week I pass out seasonal poems for them to put in their binders. This gives them something to look at or read during transitional/down time, and also helps them practice fluency at school or home. Last week I gave them a poem entitled "Where is Spring?" The poem is at school and I do not know the author off the top of my head! :)
I gave them each the opportunity to memorize this poem before April 8th, and all who do get to participate in an ice cream party with myself and all the other winners! Now, of course they don't HAVE to do it, but they have been so excited that I only have 3 more left to go and the challenge has been going on since this past Wednesday! They were so excited to hear about this and I am pumped that we have already had so many participants! I am hoping for a whole class ice cream party! :)

I will upload the poem itself as well as the parent letter I sent home some other time this week!

So that's all I got for tonight, but I hope you enjoyed it!

much love,

My kind-of-alomst-sorta Friday

Hello my sweet teacher loves! I want to say thank you to all who gave their fabulous words of wisdom on how to help with the storm victims in our area. Our fifth grade teacher has not been back to school all week, but we have collected enough items such as clothes, food, toiletries, legos/games for the boys, school supplies, etc... to get them back on their feet for now. They have a house to stay in until they build their new one, and the two boys came back to school today, so it seems as though things are looking up! We are also collecting money as a school to try to send their whole family on a vacation over Spring Break. I think this is a TREMENDOUS idea and give props to my wonderful co-workers who thought of/organized it!

Anyhoo, today was kiiiind of like Friday for me...why?? I am going to be out tomorrow and Friday! Why would I put myself through the torture of gathering things for a sub you ask? Well....if you want the short list:

1. We have not had a snow day all winter.
2. My fiance is on spring break from nursing school
3. We have not had a snow day all winter.
4. My fiance and I barely get to see each other due to our conflicting schedules.
5. We have not had a snow day all winter.
6. My fiance and I are taking a {very small} mini-vacation to Cincinnati and then Belterra overnight
7. Did I mention we have NOT had a snow day ALL WINTER?!?

Now, I know you West-Coast warm weather people are probably laughing at me and my lack-of-snow day whining, but believe me, when you get used to AT LEAST 5 or 6 unexpected days off a year, a snow-day-less winter is absolute TORTURE! Especially because the kids are W-I-L-D.

Needless to say, I am taking the next two days off to spend time with my fiance, and steal a couple of snow days from this unecessarily warm winter! I am going in tomorrow morning until 9 though because the other first grade class (who I teach religion to) is having their first Mass tomorrow. We have Church once a week and each class takes turns reading the parts and being in "charge" of the Mass. Last week was my class's turn, and they did SOOOO good! This week is my partner teacher's class, and since I am their religion teacher, I had to plan the Mass. So I am going in for Mass and then I am splitting! I do hate missing school for several reasons, but I found the most wonderful invention that makes me feel a weeeee bit better about leaving. My girl Rachelle posted a unit on her TPT store, called The Substitute Survival Kit and let me tell you, I feel SO much more prepared now! I have been wanting to organize something like this for quite a while now, so HUGE props to Rachelle for beating me to the punch!


I also have to give a big thank you to Katie Smith over at First is a Fairytale who awarded me the One Lovely Blog Award! Thank you so much Katie, you are so sweet!

Here are the rules:
1. Link back to the blogger who gave it to you.
2. Pass the award on to 15 other lovely bloggers.
3. Follow the person who sent it to you.

So, here are the One Lovely Blog Award winners that I have chosen:
Chalk Talk: A Kindergarten Blog
Queen of the First Grade Jungle
Teacher Bits and Bobs


Ok, so I know that is nowhere NEAR 15, but it is WAY past my bedtime and even though I don't have to teach tomorrow, I have to get up at the same time!! I will most definitely type more tomorrrow!!!

Much love,

March! Yay!!

Hello teacher loves! I cannot tell you how excited I am that February is FINALLY over and March is here!! Even though we've had a mild, not to mention SNOWLESS winter, (which I am NOT happy about btw!) I am definitely ready for some light at the end of the dreary January/February no-break-in-sight tunnel.
Yesterday we celebrated one of my favorite days at school, Dr. Seuss Day! We paired up with one of the second grade classes, and had a FUN-TAB-ULOUS Dr. Seuss Birthday Party! We had so much fun! I got to steal use a TON of cute ideas from TPT! Erica Bohrer's activities were a life saver! She had so many cute literacy activities in her Seusstastic Literature Response Activities packet, that we almost didn't have time to fit them all in this week! I absolutely LOVED the Horton activity! You guys should definitely check it out! :) I also got a way cute packet from my girl Rachelle. Her Centers For March 2nd unit helped furnish my entire literacy centers this week! The kiddos loved it!!

We also got to have some yummy treats at our party! The second grade teacher and I brought in these two super cute pinterest-inspired snacks! We had so much fun with it!

Green Eggs and Ham! (The "ham" is two pretzel sticks, and we got bigger marshmallows than what the website called for, so they were a litttttle large!)


Of course I am a loser and didn't get a picture, but here is the picture from pinterest. It looked somewhat like this, except I put the whole thing into a big "fish" bowl instead of individual cups!

And of course, to end our party successfully, we got to watch one of my FAVORITE movies!

LOVE IT!! Got it for 6.00 at Kroger! So excited!! :)



So that about sums up our way fun, and super successful Dr. Seuss Party! I love this day, and am so excited that I now have so many cute and creative lessons to share thanks to so many amazing teachers!!

Now, I wanted to end this post on a more serious note. Yesterday we had some very serious and violent storms in our area. If you live in the Ohio/Kentucky/Indiana area, I am sure you have already heard about it. My town did not get hit directly, but it affected several people at our school. A neighboring town got hit really hard, lost their high school. and several houses disappeared. I believe one person died in that town as well. Our fifth grade teacher lives in another neighboring town that got hit pretty badly, and lost everything. She and her two boys were in their tornado shelter, and their entire house got blown away, with them still in it. She and the boys and her husband are all ok, which is the most important thing, but my heart just breaks for them. I can't even begin to imagine what they are going through, and will be going through for quite some time. Also, one of the teachers at our High School lost her husband and house in the tornado all at once. I don't know all of the details, and really don't know the teacher that well, but my heart breaks for her as well.

So, I am calling on you wonderful, caring, sweet people to help me out. All of your thoughts and prayers would definitely be appreciated at this terrible time. Also, I want to do something for these women but don't really know what to do or how to go about it. Does anyone have any advice? This is such a devastating tragedy and I would love to do something to help, but I just don't know what to do. Any advice you guys might have for me would be MUCHO appreciated, and of course, your thoughts and prayers always help!

I hope you guys had a wonderful Dr. Seuss Day as well, and I look forward to reading about and seeing all of your fun activities for this wonderful day as well! Have a great weekend!

Much love,

Tri-State Blogger Meet Up, Valentine's Day, and CALLING ALL CREATIVE MINDS!

So, since my computer at home is on the fritz, and I am pretty close to being caught up with everything, I thought I would use my only free moment of the weekend to do a quick post!! Since we have had a snowday-less year so far, we have a long weekend, which is fabulous, but super busy! Things are finally starting to come together with the wedding, and with our last competition in 2 weeks, the dance season is starting to wind down, so I will have a liiiiittle more time to blog! Hopefully!

First of all, I know this is a little delayed, but I have to tell you how much fun I had at our Tri-State blogger meet up in Cincinnati on the 4th! Thanks SO SO much to Michelle and Abby for organizing the whole thing! We had such a great turn out and I got to meet so many sweet, fun, and interesting teachers! We met at the Cheesecake Factory at the Kenwood Mall, and spent 4/5 hours just eating, talking, gossiping, etc... It was a BLAST! I hope we do it again sometime!

What a turnout!! Incredible ladies right here!! 

Myself and these FABULOUS hostesses! Michelle (above) and Abby (below)

LOVE you girls! :)

New Friend! Amanda from One Extra Degree!

Second of all, I have to post about how much fun my kiddos and I have been having with all of this Valentine madness going on around us! Even though this January/February, no-break-in-sight gloom is my least favorite time of the year, I LOVE Valentine's Day! There is something about it that just brightens my life! Probably because I am a total girl and love all things pink, frilly, sparkly, and lovey! This year I was so thankful for the blogger community because I have gotten to use SO many of the fabulous ideas I have swiped borrowed from you fabulous, creative people! :)

First, my kiddos made these "love monsters" for their valentine holders! I got the idea and all of the templates from Lindsey at The Teacher Wife. I downloaded her All You Need is Love Unit from her TPT store. We also got to do all of the other fun activities in the unit, but the kids absolutely LOVED making those little love monsters! One of my little sweeties even made one for me at home on her own time, so that I could have something to put my valentines in! :)

I also took full advantage of a few other awesome Valentine Units, but of course, I left my camera at home and did not take pictures on the days we did them!
The first activity is Abby's Sweetheart Snatcher Unit. I used her Candy Corn Bandit unit back in October and fell in LOVE, so I knew this would be just as fabulous! My kids were SO excited to have a candy caper back in our classroom! They immediately suspected the Candy Corn Bandit when they discovered our candy hearts were missing!!

I also used her Mustache Activity, which was SUPER cute!! My kids had so much fun making them, and the parents LOVED them! They also made one for our 6th grade buddies that we meet with for weekly activities! :)


Well, that about sums it up for now, but I do have one tiny favor to ask: HELLLPPP!!!! Every year our kindergarten classes come visit first grade for a day to see what first grade is all about! My partner and I usually have two different activities and take turns with each class. They are coming on Thursday and I am having a very hard time coming up with an activity!! I am trying to stay with my garden theme, but can only think of like one idea. So please please PLEASE, let me know what you think: I was thinking maybe we could read a story and then do a main idea flower as a craftivity. I would have the materials copied onto construction paper, and the middle of the flower could be the main idea of the story, and the petals could each include one detail. Do you think this is too difficult for Kindergarten? Do you guys have any other ideas?? Please please let me know what you think! I am open to any and ALL suggestions!!!
Thank you SO much!!! You all are fantastic!
Much love,

Three Weeks of Broken Promises and a Game of Tag

Ok, so no more promising to get my life together because this week, I came to the conclusion, that I will NEVER have my life together! I will say, however, my mom and I got a LOT of wedding business accomplished this week, so head on over to Soon to be Mrs. C. and check it out! :)
I have been so behind on everything I can't even see straight. My attempt at the clutter free classroom project was an epic fail, as I never posted my pictures or updates and stopped having time to even check the site for updates sometime after the second linky party.
As if I haven't had enough going on with the wedding, mid-quarter assessments, and getting my high school dance team ready for their next performance...this week was CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK. Now, I'm sure some of you are thinking, "Ok, so what's the big deal?" Well, when you work in a Catholic school, at least I know in my Catholic school, it is the single most time consuming and exhausting week of my life!! I did take the day off yesterday to go wedding dress shopping, but as fun as it was, making decisions SEVERELY stresses me out! So, after a week filled with faculty recognition breakfasts, open houses, PTO meetings, and a day full of wedding shopping yesterday...a quiet Friday night at home is EXACTLY what the doctor ordered!

I do have some really great pictures to share with you guys from this week AND a couple of ideas to post, but of COURSE I forgot my memory card at school!! But since I obviously stink at making promises, I am not going to promise that I will post them! At this point, I can only hope I remember in the next two weeks!

In non-teacher related news, Jessica from Apples and Papers has included me in her game of tag (which I am SURE everyone has already been a part of since I am so behind the times!). That being said, I am going to participate, but if I tag you and you have already been tagged, don't feel obligated to respond! So, here goes!!
The rules are:

1. Tell 12 things about yourself.
2. Answer 12 questions from your tagger.
3. Make my own 12 questions.
4. Tag 12 people

First thing's first, 12 things about myself:

1. My nickname in college was bird because I take tiny bites when I eat and only eat a little bit at a time.

2. I get along better with 6 and 7 year olds than I do certain people my own age.

3. I watch entirely way too many movies and television shows. I kind of live in a fantasy world in which I believe random song and dance numbers should break out at any given moment.

4. I would give anything to be in a broadway musical. Or the movie version...I'm not picky.

5. I absolutely HATE it when people use the wrong there/their/they're, your/you're, its/it's, and ESPECIALLY when people use an apostrophe to make a word plural. I mean really people, it's NOT that hard!

6. I am currently teaching at the Elementary School I attended when I was younger. My principal was my first grade teacher, and is one of my best work friends, along with my 4th grade art teacher! I absolutely love it!

7. I am from a small town and went to an extremely small high school. I graduated with 22 people and 8 of them are going to be in the wedding.

9. I worked at Red Lobster for two years during college.

10. I have exactly two words that I absolutely cannot stand to hear. Seriously, my face turns red and I feel like I am going to throw up. Seeing how this is a teaching blog, they are not quite appropriate to post, not that I would be able to stand to type them anyway. :)

11. I collect season DVDs of all my favorite shows and watch them incessantly. It also stresses me out when I have an incomplete series of said TV shows. Yea, I know I have issues.

12. I have a huge dance background. I love dancing and choreographing dances. I coach a high school dance team, danced in high school, and was a cheerleader all through high school and a year in high school. I love everything about it!

Jessica's Questions:

1.If you could meet anyone in the world, living or dead who would it be?

Ok, this list is like 20 miles long, but I guess if I have to just pick ONE...I would say...

Jack Johnson. He is seriously my idol and I have spent the last 8 years worshiping his music. I love his island like music, his beautiful voice, and most of all...his genius lyrics. Yes, I have a weird obsession with music and his makes me happy no matter what the circumstances. So I would love to meet him and get a feel for where all of his genius came from!

2. If you weren’t teaching what would you be doing?

Either photography or cooking professionally. Even though I have absolutely zero experience with either one, I have always been interested in a career in either of those things. Actually, my number one dream has always been to be a broadway musical star or actress on a hit TV show...but that just isn't going to happen now is it? :D

3.What was your favorite thing about school when you were a student?

Grades K-3: Reading. I couldn't get enough of it. I was always reading my Goosebump or Bailey School Kids books and couldn't wait to tell my teachers about what I was reading. No, I was not the teacher's pet...just a slight nerd. :)

Grades 4-12: Socializing...and boys. :)

4. What do you wish you were better at?

Arts and Crafts. I can come up with so many cute and creative ideas, I just don't have the talent to execute them. Seriously, I can't draw a straight line to save my life. I know, I am sure you are wondering how I could be a first grade teacher being so terrible and artsy things, but somehow, it works. :)

5. What is your favorite store to shop at?

While Francesca's Collections and Forever 21 take a great deal of my paycheck each month, I have to say Target will always have my heart as my number one store. I can seriously stay in that store for HOURS on end. My college roommate and I used to make a day of it and spend the whole afternoon just walking around looking at EVERYTHING! I could spend my whole life savings in that store (And then some, because let's face it...my life savings could probably only buy me a couple of tops, and maybe a Starbucks:))

6.What are two things you need for your dream classroom?

More organizational tubs, drawers, and bins ...and... self discipline and organizational skils!! It seems like every time I get organized, it lasts abouuutttt 30 seconds and then my life is back to chaos! So I definitely think that if I could just keep my room the way it starts out looking, I would have pretty close to my dream classroom right now :)

7.Where do you want to travel to?

Italy or Greece. I went to France on a high school trip when I was a junior, and absolutely fell in love. I have always wanted to go back to Europe and go to Florence and Santorini Island. The pictures are just beautiful and the experience would be even better! :)

8.Favorite TV show?

Well, I'm pretty sure you guys know how much of a 17 year old girl I am when it comes to television, and how much of a TV junkie I am with my 3 shows a night all week long, so I won't go through my whole list of extremely slightly embarrassing shows. I also go back and forth on which show is my favorite each week depending on how exciting each show is, so I will just pick one. I have to say right now that Glee is taking the reigns. I was a little let down at the beginning of the season, but they have really stepped up their musical numbers and storyline these past few weeks...not to mention this week was a Michael Jackson episode, so of course I was pumped.

9.What is your least favorite chore?

Doing the dishes. I absolutely hate hate HATE dishes. I always lose patience with them and never get them clean enough. I would take laundry or bathroom cleaning any day over doing one little dish. Now dishwashers are a different story, so if I always have one of those, I will be just fine. :)

10.Would you rather be an actor, singer, or athlete?

Actress for SURE. I am obsessed with movies and tv and even though I wouldn't trade my life for anything in the world, I think it would be fun to pretend to be someone else for a while.

11.Who or what inspires you?

My mom. She is my best friend and is one of the hardest workers I know. She never gives up on anything and has taught me so much throughout my life. She and my dad have done so much for me in my life and I am so thankful and lucky to have such positive and influential role models in my life.

12. What’s your favorite children’s book?

Now One Foot, Now the Other by Tomie DePaola
I can't even read it to my kids without bawling, but it is such a sweet story.




Ok...TAG!


Caitlin from Ms. Preppy

Erin from Teaching With Love in Heels

Alicia from First Grade Factory

Farley from Oh Boy Fourth Grade

Alissa from Frolicking into First Grade

Kelly and Diane from Made for 1st Grade

Rachelle from What the Teacher Wants

Mrs. Nunley from First Grade Magic

Michelle from Fabulous in First

Ms. Thomas from The First Grade Jungle

Jennifer from Rowdy in First Grade


My Questions:
1. If you could eat one thing all day everyday, what would it be?


2. How long have you wanted to be a teacher?


3. What is your favorite book of all time?


4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?


5. Have you ever wanted to be anything other than a teacher? If so, what did you want to be?


6. Who is your favorite musician or band?


7. What is the best concert you have ever been to?


8. What is your biggest fear?


9. What cheers you up when you are sad/angry?


10. Who or what inspired you to be a teacher?


11. Who is your best friend?


12. If you got to choose to go back to high school or college, which one would you choose and why?


Ok ladies...have at it! Can't wait to read your responses! Happy tagging! :)

Much Love,

Oh.My.Word.

Oh my goodness I am falling into my old habits of posting every 3 weeks! Let me sum up my life right now for you in 3 words...Wedding, Wedding, and WEDDING. Between bridesmaids dresses, and bridal shows, photographers, nd not to even mention the whirlwind that was wedding dress shopping {which I just got back from and am EXHAUSTED}, I have been a total ball of stress slash craziness! So this post is basically to apologize for my slacker-ness (Is that a word? It is now.), and to tell you that I PROMISE I wll get my life together tomorrow. I started the Clutter Free Classroom Project, and have lots of pictures and info to share with you! I feel so far behind and it's starting tostress me out, so I promise I will get my life together this week and share all that I have to share with you! Just wanted to let you guys know I am barely still alive!

Hope you guys had a wonderful long weekend! {For those of you that had long weekends, the rest, I just hope you had a good weekend!!! :)}

Much love,