My Apologies...

Hello bloggy friends!

Are you even still there??

I am here to confess my bad blogging sins. 

I don't really have an excuse...well, I kinda do.

I have a super challenging class this year. I have tried all my normal magic, but things are just NOT falling into place like they should be. My kiddos are, well, kinda mean. I have had very little luck in getting them to gel & feel like a little school family. I am usually a behavior/family-building/discipline ROCK STAR with my littles. This year, not.so.much. I have just really been beside myself trying to figure out what I can do for these kiddos. 

The one thing I refuse to do is GIVE UP! 

That being said, I am embarking on the Conscious Discipline philosophy.

 I have just started reading/researching all the info, and while I feel a little lot overwhelmed, I am going full on. My ENTIRE school is getting on board with CD & I am excited to start this new journey! 

Do any of you have any advice for me?

What do I absolutely need to have to get started on DAY 1 when I go back to school on Monday?

Firstie Friends Winter GIveaway!

Hello friends!!! 

My wonderful Firstie Friends & I decided to host a giveaway in honor of winter! 

Brrrrrr! 

We have 18 super-terrific-awesome-stupendous products for you that are going to help you get through the weeks leading up to & coming back from winter break!!

That's a Winter Win!! 

Jump over to my sweet friend Cassie's blog to enter with the Rafflecopter.

Here is the link: 

Adventures in Teaching

The winner will be announced on Monday morning! 

Good luck!!

November Stuff & a Giveaway!

Hi blog friends!

I cannot believe that we are sitting at the end of November!

I don't know where the time has gone...the holidays are just around the corner!

Ahhhhhh! 

I'm.Not.Ready!

Anyway~ here are a couple of things that I have in my store for those of you that are like me & are usually scrambling to get some stuff ready at the last minute.

 Click on the pics & they will take you directly to them! 

If you have held on this long...leave me a comment with what you are thankful for & an email address & I will send everything you see here to one lucky winner!! :)

Operation SAVE THE INK!

Hey everyone!! 

Long time, NO blog! I am a bad, bad blogger!!

So sorry! But, I'm here now...yay!

So~ let's get on with it...

My class this year is HIGH energy & filled with SUPER challenging behaviors!

I have discovered that they LOVE math games...I have also discovered that making math games uses TONS of colored ink!

Well- I figured out a way to kill 2 birds with one stone & I started creating math centers that require NOOOOO colored ink & that keep my kids ENGAGED! 

WHHHAAATT??

Yep, you heard me!

These math centers are all games that my kiddos are familiar with (Go Fish, War, Matching) so I don't have to spend tons of time teaching them how to play the games. I simply bump up the skill level when they are ready. It is super important that they are independent during this time so that I can pull small groups WITHOUT being interrupted (novel idea, right)! I also want the centers to give them the important practice that they truly need.

The great thing about these math packets is that they will last me the WHOLE month of October!! 

WIN!!

Let me show you some pics...I'm a visual learner...

This packet is full of pumpkins!! Check it out by clicking on the pic!

This packet has cutesy Halloween graphics...there's really nothing scary here! Click the pic to check it out!

There are plenty of cards included with each game! 

I am just soooo happy about not using ANY colored ink!! 

I always like to use trinkets to keep things more interesting!

So much fun stuff!!! 

I get questions about set up of games so here you go...

I thought these teachers had some pretty creative options...

Anyhow~ thanks for sticking around until the end!!

Here's a little freebie for you!

Have a WONDERFUL Wednesday!! 

Apple Time!

Yay! 

I am so happy that summer is almost over & we are heading into my FAVORITE season...FAAALLLLL!!

I am so ready for all the fun fall stuff that I made this math packet that is FULL of apple math stuff!

You can check it out by clicking on the pic.

You can win a copy by going here!

Fall Freebie!

Hello bloggy friends!

I haven't forgotten about you. I have a super challenging class this year & I have been putting ALL of my energy into them! 

Anyway~

I am SOOO ready for fall!

I am ready for the cooler weather, the crisp autumn air, pumpkins, apples, Halloween....

Thinking of all those things inspired me to make this little freebie that I wanted to share with all of you! 

Enjoy & let me know what ya think!! 

Finding Solutions!

So~ I have been back to school for 2 weeks & I am already noticing that some of my cuties need LOTS of extra practice with literacy skills. Even my grade level kids could use some brushing up on things like high frequency words, conventions, spelling, fluency, letter formation, etc. 

Well, I knew I had to do something to help my cuties along so I made a fun little packet. 

I use this packet for a ton of things! It can be a shared reading activity, interactive writing, comprehension activity, visualization activity, ...there are so many possibilities! 

**There are 10 passages in this packet & I use one passage for an entire week! **

It is helping my cuties so much & I'm only in my 2nd week of using it! 

Here is how it works:

On day 3, the students get there own copy of the passage to begin working with. I add these to their reading folders so that they have things that I KNOW they can read! 

They get such a big confidence boost because they are familiar with the passage & don't need any help reading them! 

Here is one format that I have for the passages:
(click the passage to try it out in your class!)

As you can see, in the beginning of the year, the passages are pretty simple! They are also topics that most kids have some background knowledge about. It's always good to get that schema activated & build those connections! 

So, you can see that this is a repetitive skill & fluency building activity!

 My kiddos LOVE to write on the chart. It has brought many rich discussions to our lessons.

 I just LOVE that it is super meaningful to them! :)

Back To School Hop & Giveaway!

Hi bloggy friends! 

I am teaming up with some great bloggers for a Back to School Blog Hop!  Each day a new blogger will be posting Back to School tips, Freebie, OR both!

Today is my day!! Yippie!!

If you didn't see Sarah's post, check it out here & don't forget to enter for a chance to win some super terrific Back to School products!! Yay!! 

Soooo...I have already started back to school & wanted to share some freebies with you for when you start back!! 

Here is a fun little math freebie...

This one if for all my clip chart using friends! :)

Here is a freebie that I used just today, our very first day!! 

I hope that you all have a great start to your school year!! 

Don't forget to visit Ms. Smith tomorrow when she posts her tip/tricks/freebies for this awesome blog hop!

Don't forget to enter the giveaway!!

Good luck! 

Pictures & More Pictures!

Hello Friends!!

As promised, here are the pictures from my classroom.

WARNING: this post has LOTS of pictures!

I was going to arrange the pictures into some sort of order, but I am just too doggone tired from my first full week back! So, you'll just have to pardon my laziness! 

I decided to go with a rainbow chevron theme to bring a little happy to my room! 

I hope you like it!! :)

Off we go...

Here is the one lone window in my classroom. I am digging my chevron curtain & the dancing flowers on the sill. I do love the view!

This is the student cubbies & their mailboxes. I label the mailboxes, desks, & cubbies with sharpie because I HATE using those adorable little nameplates that start to look yucky after the 1st week of school.

 This is my leveled library & reading bulletin board. My anchor charts will be displayed here as we make them. I am loving the black bulletin boards! It really makes my colors pop!

 This is my counter/sink area. Again, I triple heart LOVE the chevron curtains that help to hide the stuff on my otherwise open shelves. 

 This is my math manipulative cart. It is loaded down with every kind of manipulative you can think of! 

 This is my easel/ read aloud area...ignore the little red stool, it's not supposed to be there! 

 We don't do calendar at my school, but I still have to have one just to keep myself on track! It also helps when we make our monthly timeline because I put up holidays, birthdays, special days, etc.  The table under it is my time out table. They go here when they get a time out & write a note about what they did & how they are going to do better. The grey cart to the right holds all the laptops for my class. The chart on the wall is our school-wide pledge. The green writing on the board is my "I can..." statements.

 Here is my job chart. I just love it! Simple & easy!

 This is where the magic happens! My small group area...no desk for me! Getting rid of that big clunker was the best thing I ever did! The red balls you see behind the table are brought out for my friends that have a case of the squirmies! 

 My math bulletin board & number line...

 Um...social studies

 This is the cutest little welcome banner and the picture turned out all wonky...fail.

 This is the view from my table...digging all the colors! 

 This is the view from the window...

 From the door....LOVING my paper fans!! :)

 From the door looking to the right.

 Daily schedule...again, simple & easy! 

 This is looking at the front of the room...

 Word wall & some table groups.

 Looking across the room from the word wall.

 From the front of the room...ignore the finger

 Another shot from the door.

 Back corner...

 I love the pennant banner above my promethean board. It adds so much color! 

 This is my door & a little close up of the nametags.

So, that's it!! I hope that you have enjoyed the show!