It is currently almost January and almost the new year!  Wow, this year blew by for me!  I'm linking up with the fantastic Farley from Oh' Boy Third Grade to share my currently for the month of January.


Listening - I'm so blessed to have two boys that love to play together!  They are a week shy of being exactly two years apart.  Right now they are playing with their new Ninja Turtles that Santa brought.  They LOVE Ninja Turtles!

Loving - I live in Texas, so it hardly ever gets cold but today it is 45 degrees and I LOVE it!

Thinking - I've been going to Jazzercise and I love it but the last few days the late classes have been canceled because of the holidays.  I need to make a schedule and attend classes regularly in the new year!

Wanting - My husband actually just got home as I was typing up this post!  Now our new year celebration can begin!

Needing - I really need to do some organizing around the house.  I still have clothes in drawers that don't fit the boys anymore.  Hopefully the new year will motivate me to get it done.

Yes - I do need to lose weight and be consistent about it.  I do really well for a long time and then I eat horribly for a week or so and all my hard work goes down the drain.  No excuses this year!

Maybe - I'm a HUGE worrier!  I worry about everything and I worry all the time!  Maybe this will be the year that I stop.

I Wish - This break has gone by so quick and I only have a few more days left.  I love spending time with my boys (my husband is included in that) and I try to savor all of the free time I get with them.

See you guys next year :)....





Is it really almost 2015?  I'm finding it hard to believe that half of the school year is already over!  As a teacher, I love setting goals and even better meeting those goals!  Today, I'm linking up with my new friend Stephanie from Mrs. D's Corner to share my New Year, New Goals for 2015.

http://www.mrsdscorner.blogspot.com/2014/12/new-year-new-goals-for-2015.html

Personal - I started my weight loss journey last January and then I started attending Jazzercise pretty regularly in August.  I'd been doing pretty good, and then November came.  I totally have been regretting my food decisions and my lack of attending Jazzercise.  My goal is to make a schedule and stick to it!  I also need to start meal planning again.

Professional -  I took a huge break from TpT at the beginning of the school year, and I noticed I hadn't created very much.  Over the last few weeks, I've been creating a lot and it feels so good.  Right now, my goal is to start with more reading comprehension packs.  I would love to structure them with close reading in mind, because I'm always looking for more ways to have my kids respond to the texts that they read.

Planning - My goal for the second half of this school year is to work on planning out my math small group instruction and what I need to re-teach my students.  I have two groups for math, and I want to be more planful...(totally made up that word) when it comes to my small groups.  I want to really hit them hard when I get back in January to get them ready for third grade!

Organization - My station tubs are a mess!  They need some organizational love and some new activities!

Students - Since I love setting goals, I want to have my students set their own reading and writing goals.  Of course I will need to guide them in setting their goals, but I know it will be more meaningful for them when they meet the goals that they set for themselves.

Motto - I shared this motto with my kids at the beginning of the school year and I plan on sticking to it!  There isn't anything that you can't do if you word hard to achieve it.

http://www.mrsdscorner.blogspot.com/2014/12/new-year-new-goals-for-2015.html

Make sure you click on the button above to head over to Mrs. D's Corner to check out some of the other teacher blogger goals and then link up with your own goals for the new year.
http://theelementaryentourage.blogspot.com/

I am linking up with The Elementary Entourage to bring you a special present from your Secret Santa.....me!!

Before I reveal my present to you guys, let's look at a few clues.



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>>  Did you guess what your present is?

If you guessed a Read and Respond Flap Journal for The Mitten, then you are RIGHT!!

Click on the product cover below to grab your freebie.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Mitten-Read-and-Respond-Flap-Journal-520003

Now, make sure you click on the button below to hop back over to the Elementary Entourage blog to grab some more freebies.

http://theelementaryentourage.blogspot.com/

http://theprimarygal.blogspot.com/2014/12/unwrap-gift-from-me.html

Today is my birthday y'all!!  But...today I'm letting you guys unwrap a special gift from me!!

It's such a busy time of year and I know that saving any bit of time is so appreciated!  Right now, I'm loving the no-prep/easy print reading activities for my kids.

Imagine me singing...ok nevermind!  Imagine Meghan Trainor singing!

Because you know I'm all about no-prep, 
easy printing, save your color!
I'm all about no-prep, easy printing, save your color!
I'm all about no-prep, easy printing, save your color!
I'm all about no-prep, easy printing, save your color!

I'm bringing black and white!
Go ahead and tell all the busy teachers that!
I'm not kidding!
I know you think your stressed.
But I'm here to tell you,
All you you need to do is hit print and sit back and relax a bit.

Now, let's unwrap your gift!

I don't know about you but my kids can always use more practice responding to a text.  My kids love all things about animals and they fell in love with the arctic fox.  They thought it was so interesting that their fur is brown in the summer and white in the winter.  One of my students asked if she could color her arctic fox.  This is what she turned in.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Arctic-Fox-Informational-Text-Sampler-Easy-Printing-1596417

My kids complete these texts as one of our reading stations.  They find a quiet spot in the room and read the text at least two times before they start the response questions.  This last week, we worked on the main idea.  This was perfect for them to get that extra practice.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Arctic-Fox-Informational-Text-Sampler-Easy-Printing-1596417http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Arctic-Fox-Informational-Text-Sampler-Easy-Printing-1596417

I hope you enjoyed unwrapping your gift from me!  Click on the product cover below to grab your gift.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Arctic-Fox-Informational-Text-Sampler-Easy-Printing-1596417

If you LOVED this sample pack and want to check out some more easy printing informational texts, you can find them HERE.  This pack will be growing and I will be adding 5 more animals this weekend.  I'm adding a polar bear, orca whale, snowy owl, penguin, and a walrus.  This weekend only, it will be on sale for $2.  Grab it now before the price goes up and you will be able to re-download it after I add the new animals.  Click on the product cover below to put it in your cart.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Arctic-Animals-Informational-Texts-Easy-Printing-1596420

Also, make sure you check out my Facebook page later today for a birthday giveaway from me!

We have even more bloggers who are ready to share an amazing gift with you!  Check them out by clicking HERE or by clicking on the button below.

Happy unwrapping!

http://theprimarygal.blogspot.com/2014/12/unwrap-gift-from-me.html

Yay!  I finally made the first page of Farley's currently link up.  I normally don't link up till the second or third day but since I'm home with a scratched cornea, I figured I could sneak in a few minutes of computer time to link up :).  Don't tell my husband!


Listening - Both of my sweet boys are super congested, so they are staying home with me today.  They are watching their new favorite cartoon Blaze and the Monster Machines.

Loving - I love the Christmas season!  I am super blessed and thankful to have two little boys!  I have to stop myself during the busy-ness that the season brings to thank God for his many blessings.

Thinking - I'm so behind in school work and TpT work, but my eye needs to rest today.

Wanting and Needing - After this post, I really need to rest my eye so that it can heal.

Giving - I love giving out freebies.  My kids still need to practice 3-digit subtraction with regrouping, so I thought this Christmas themed freebie would be great practice for so many kiddos.  Click on the product cover below to grab this freebie.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B3uIRrgwSu0VLWxLeWZhMFlJR3M/view?usp=sharing

Now, time to rest my eye :).

Are you looking for new ways to review with your students and ways to have them work collaboratively in teams?

http://theelementaryentourage.blogspot.com/2014/11/teaching-ideas-i-am-thankful-for.html

Make sure you visit The Elementary Entourage blog HERE to read my post about a teaching idea that I'm thankful for.  I even shared student directions and how to get started using Collaborative Color Posters.

http://theelementaryentourage.blogspot.com/2014/11/teaching-ideas-i-am-thankful-for.html

Hi y'all!  This month, I'm joining back in with Buzzing With Mrs. McClain for her You Oughta Know blog hop.  I'm so excited to share because....I think you oughta know about how to use Google Forms to collect responses during Guided Reading groups.


This year, I've really been working on my book clubs and having students respond to the books that we read.  I love integrating technology into my small groups too!  It's that hook that some of my kiddos need and Google Forms are a perfect way to easily collect their responses.

Creating a Google Form is super easy too.


Then, add in your questions.  I normally create text and paragraph text responses.  I also like to give the students sentence stems to help them write out their responses.  I did that with the prediction question above.  I then add the link to take the survey in edmodo and the kids take the survey after our small group.

I also really love that I can quickly look at the responses and see which concepts need to be retaught.  The responses are collected in sheets and you can see each student's responses, which makes it super easy to collect and review your data.


I hope you can start to use Google Forms to have your students respond to texts that you read in your Guided Reading groups.


I'm so excited y'all!  Today is my day to introduce myself and share a special freebie on the brand new The Elementary Entourage collaborative blog.

Here is a preview of my introduction picture....

http://theelementaryentourage.blogspot.com/2014/11/meet-elementary-entourage-freebie-and_5.html

Also, you will totally want to head over there now because we are having an amazing giveaway.  Here is what we are giving away.
 



Click HERE to head over to my blog post to enter the giveaway and grab my new freebie. 

Here is a hint about my freebie....if you loved my freebie that was featured in the newsletter this weekend, then you will super LOVE the freebie.  Click HERE to go see my post in The Elementary Entourage.


I LOVE November, it's one of my favorite months of the year.  I love sharing what I'm thankful for and spending time with my family.  I also love the pumpkins, the cooler weather, and the excitement of the coming holidays!

This month, I'm so excited to be linking up with Farley for her currently.  I totally missed last month...boo!  So, I knew I couldn't miss this month.

Here we go...


LISTENING
I'm not a fan of Daylight Savings Time but today my two boys did pretty good with the time change.  They woke up pretty early, but they both went to sleep early.  Let's hope they continue to adjust well to the time change.

LOVING
I was so excited to see that my Place Value Pumpkins Craftivity made the TpT newsletter.  It's been like Christmas morning for me all day!  I'm so thankful!!


You can grab the craftivity HERE.

THINKING
Today was my son Mason's fourth birthday!  Boy has time flown by!  He loves Legos, firetrucks, policemen, and singing Taylor Swift's Shake it Off.  He is so polite and is such a loving big brother.  He has brought so much joy into our families lives and I love watching him grow up.  I love you to the moon and back Monkey Mason!



WANTING
I'm so wanting to watch the new episode of The Walking Dead, but I have to wait for my husband.  He is working on his car and should be done shortly.  I could start it without him but I'll be a good wife and wait for him.

NEEDING
I need to grade my kiddos math test badly!

READING
I've been reading The Fault in Our Stars for awhile now, but I haven't found the time to finish it.  I know I can finish it during Thanksgiving break, then I can watch the movie.

Thanks for reading.  I hope you guys have an awesome week!

http://mrsplemonskindergarten.blogspot.com/

I'm super excited to be joining Jessica from Mrs. Plemon's Kindergarten for her Tricks and Treats Blog Hop.  Isn't her blog hop button just adorable!  It makes me super excited for this season and I know my boys are so ready for Halloween!  Actually, they would both wear their costume every day if I let them.

Let's start off with a short classroom management TRICK...

I don't have a bathroom in my classroom and it's always been a bit tricky on how to handle who is in the bathroom and who has already gone.  My awesome teammate from last year shared this bathroom clipboard trick with me and I've used it ever since.  Thanks K!!  I just added the clothes pin passes and BOOM a new bathroom management procedure.


I have the bathroom clipboard hanging right by the classroom door and I use this simple sign out sheet.  There is a column for the morning and a column for the afternoon.  The students sign out before they leave the room and they pin the clothes pin onto their shirt.  If the clip isn't on the clipboard, it means someone is already in the bathroom and they will need to wait.


The kids don't have to sign out if we are at lunch or recess, so the morning and afternoon sign out only applies to when we are in the classroom.  It is so easy to monitor who is out of the class and the clothes pins are the perfect pass for our class.  I just labeled them with a sharpie marker.  The front says "boys" or "girls" and the back has my last name and grade level.


I hope this little classroom management TRICK will make your bathroom procedure less frightful!

Now for a little TREAT...

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Place-Value-Pumpkin-Patch-Craftivity-1478239

My kids and I are just finishing our Place Value Unit and we needed more practice with standard form, word form, and expanded form.  I came up with this simple craftivity to give my kids some extra practice.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Place-Value-Pumpkin-Patch-Craftivity-1478239http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Place-Value-Pumpkin-Patch-Craftivity-1478239

The kids counted the base ten blocks to find their number and then they wrote the word form on the line below.  Then they wrote the standard form and expanded form on each of the pumpkins.  They LOVED it!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Place-Value-Pumpkin-Patch-Craftivity-1478239

Make sure you click on the product cover at the top to grab this freebie.  I hope your kiddos have lots of fun practicing place value.  I can't wait till my students see the bulletin board tomorrow!

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Place-Value-Pumpkin-Patch-Craftivity-1478239

 I have one more TREAT planned for you guys.  I have all of my fall products discounted at 50% off through October 5th.  I hope it helps you get in the fall spirit.


http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Stephanie-Chambers-139


Fix It Up Fall Sentences - First Grade
Fix It Up Fall Sentences - Second Grade
Fall Word Problems Mini Unit
Apples Word Problems Cards
Fall Word Building Printables


Ok, so I'm a little late but here is a tour of my classroom.  Better late than never....right?!?!


This year I decided to continue with the bright chevron and polka dot patterns, but I added a lot of black elements for a more simple and clean look.  I still have a few pieces that I'm working on....my husband is painting my storage tubs and I'll share some pictures as soon as he finishes :).

First up is my small group table/desk.  I ditched my desk about five years ago, and I haven't gone back!  I love having all of the extra space in my room and the cute little organizational bins that I use instead of desk drawers.


I got these awesome black stools at Jo-ann Fabrics and my kiddos LOVE them!  My goal is to recover my teacher chair, but it hasn't happened yet.  You can also see the bulletin board that I painted.  I used Behr premium paint from the Home Depot and the name of it is Beluga.

Here is a closer look at my organizational drawers.  The labels are editable and they are from Learning in Wonderland and you can find them HERE.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Lets-Get-Organized-Melonheadz-Kids-Edition-Teacher-Toolbox-and-More-1270171

Another one of my favorite parts of my room, is my new focus wall.  I love that my students use it as a reference each day.


The bunting banner is my favorite and I got it from the party aisle at Target.  I got the gum ball machine and strawer dispenser from Amazon.  They dispense erasers and pencils.  My students were not handling the eraser dispenser very well, so the sign says "no erasers today."  Hopefully, they will earn them back soon.  The pencil dispenser label and eraser subway art are from the very talented Hope King.  The turquoise frame is from Michaels.  Also, you can see my black pocket chart for workstations in the corner.  I had a blue pocket chart that I used RIT dye to make it black.


These are my students' math tubs.  Inside the tubs are base-ten blocks, unifix cubes, and some dice.  Later I add a few more things, but for now that is all that is inside.  I got the green tubs at Dollar Tree.


Here is a quick look at my writing table and word wall.  I'm in love with the chalkboard alphabet that is above the bulletin board.  I found the chalkboard writing decal at Michael's.  It came with two handwriting lines, but I cut it in half and it was long enough to fit the whole alphabet.  The word wall headers are also from Hope King.  You can find them HERE.

Here is my students' favorite part of the classroom...the class library.


I only made a few changes this year, I tried to open up the space a little more by taking away some of the shelving.  I also FINALLY found a big book tub.  I was in love with the one that Reagan Tunstall has but I never could find one.  One day, my husband suggested looking at a Supply Store and I found one!  I got this one at Tractor Supply and my hubby spray painted it for me.


I also added a "please read" section to the library.  These are books that I will use during our class read aloud time and that I want the kids to read before hand.  They can read them independently or with a buddy.  It gives them more background knowledge before the lesson.

Last but not least, I wanted to share my table groups.  I changed two main things this year.  Last year, I had huge supply tubs on the tables and they always got in the way.  I found these small pencil trays at Jo-Ann Fabrics and they matched my colors perfectly.  They work great and they can easily be moved out of the way during group work.


I also wrote numbers on the desk this year with a sharpie marker.  Since I teach in a Dual Language classroom, my kids are constantly moving desks and it's easier than writing their names and moving the desk around.  It is perfect for our class!

I hope you enjoyed looking into my classroom this year.  Please visit Just a Primary Girl's linky party to see other wonderful classrooms.



http://justaprimarygirl.blogspot.com/2014/08/setting-up-success-classroom-pictures.html
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