Hi y'all!  I'm Stephanie and this is my seventh year of teaching.  This is my second year teaching in Second Grade, and I teach in a Two-Way Dual Language classroom.  I don't speak Spanish yet, but I really need to learn!

Most of you know already that I'm a boy mom...

I have 3 little boys.  Mason will be 4 in November and Maddox will be 2 in October.  My first son Tyler is in Heaven, but he would be 5 years old this October 6th.

My husband and I went to the same college, but I met him a year after I graduated.  I was on the four year plan and let's just say he took a little longer than that :).  We've been married for six years.

This summer, we re-started our weight loss journey and we've lost about 30 pounds combined.  I can't wait to take new pictures and share them :).  We started with the Advocare Cleanse and now we are half way through the Whole 30.

 

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

My boys!  A good book.  Going swimming.  Crafting of any kind.  Texans Football.....well ok, mostly JJ Watt :).  Toms shoes.  Pickles.  TV....my favs are ....Friends, Project Runway, The Walking Dead, and  American Horror Story. 

IF YOU WEREN'T A TEACHER, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?

A labor and delivery nurse.

THREE LITTLE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU.

Loving.  Empathetic.  Passionate.

 

FINISH THE SENTENCE, "________,  SAID NO TEACHER EVER!!"

"I love attending the same professional development twice...said no teacher EVER!!"

Q: IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY AND YOU CAN INVITE ANYONE {DEAD OR ALIVE} TO THE PARTY. WHO ARE YOU INVITING?

Matt Wertz.  I love his music!!

And of course, my boy JJ!  

Q: IF SOMEONE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD BE THE TITLE? 
 

Living the Boy Mom Life

Q:YOU GET TO PICK ONE SUPERPOWER. WHAT IS IT?

 

Teleportation.  I'm always late, even when I try so hard.

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE OR SAYING?

"Dream Big, Work Hard!"

 

Q: IF YOU HAD TO SING ONE SONG ON AMERICAN IDOL, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

"Even Angels Fall" by Jessica Riddle.  Yes, one of my favorite movies is still 10 Things I Hate About You!!

Q: ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL?

I'm actually a little of both, if that makes sense.  After I get going, I love working in the early morning but I totally can stay up late too.

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCE THAT YOU'VE CREATED IN YOUR TPT SHOP?

My new favorite one is my Back to School Comprehension Unit.  I can't wait to introduce it to my kiddos next week.

Q: SHARE SOMETHING WE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU! 

I'm a small town Texas girl!  Like super small, less than 500 people.  Now, I live in a big city.  I like the convenience of having everything so close, but I miss the quiet of the country.

Make sure you click on the blog button below, to meet some other amazing teacher bloggers.

I also linked up with Blog Hoppin' for Teacher Week.

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Stephanie

I'm linking up with Buzzing With Mrs. McClain for the "You Oughta Know About..." blog hop to share with you a Math Facts website that I used last year with my kids.  I think that teachers "oughta know about" Xtra Math!

I know that we all have a love hate relationship with math facts and getting kids to practice their math facts can be frustrating at times.  I  heard about Xtra Math at the beginning of last year at a math training.  I signed up my class that night and it was super easy.  Plus it's free!  Nothing can bet that right?!?!

I have two different math classes, so I created two lists of students and named them their class names.  I would open XtraMath on one of the class computers and then the first student would click on their class name.

Then the first student would put in their Student Pin.  I gave each student their pin ahead of time and had them write it on the back inside cover of their math journal.  It was a great place to store our pins and none of my students ever asked for their pin again.

I don't have my classes divided into groups just yet, so I just added my name to show you guys what it looks like.  When you enter your students' names, it will give you the student pin numbers.  I gave each student their pin number ahead of time and had them write it on the back inside cover of their math notebook.  That way they always had their pin number with them.  After awhile, most of my students were able to memorize their pin number because it's only 4 digits.

 It's also great because once the first student is finished with their math fact practice, it goes to the next student on the list.  If the student is absent or busy, the first student has the option of selecting the busy or absent button below.  Then it just goes on to the next student.

The very first time the students log in, it gives them an intro video to watch to help them get started.  Then it gives them a math facts quiz based on the grade level you entered.  In second grade, it starts with an addition quiz.  It keeps track of the facts that the student missed and you can view the reports online.  My students really enjoyed XtraMath and even reminded me when I forgot to turn it on.  I can't wait to use it with my kids this year.

An InLinkz Link-up

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Stephanie

I'm linking up with my new friend Jessica from Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten to share my top 5 favorite pins from this week.  Click on the blog button above to read Jessica's favorite pins and to share your favorite.

My teacher partner and I are super lucky to have backpack hooks right outside our classroom.  Last year we made cute name tags to label each student's hook.  About a few weeks into school, half of the labels were gone and the other half were crooked and falling off.  I love this pin  from Vinyl Outlet.

Last year on a few planned absence days, I would leave sticky notes for some of my students with little notes on them.  Mainly a "please be good and follow the subs directions" notes.  The kids loved them!  I found this pin by Mrs. Lyons from Teaching....the Art of Possibility and I can't wait to leave more notes for my kiddos.  This will also help me make sure that each student gets a note or two :).

Do your kids have to give you an exit ticket at the end of a lesson or at the end of the day?  I found this pin from Teach From The Heart of a genius anchor chart using sticky notes.  I think my kids will enjoy writing what "Stuck with them" after a lesson.

My husband and I just started our Whole 30 on the first and we've been searching for new recipes.  We made these mini egg pizzas from  Paleo Parents and they were delish!  My boys loved them too!  They don't like black olives or mushrooms just yet, so we left those out.

The last pin is from me!  I'm really trying to work on my kids responding to more stories through writing this year.  I created this little freebie for you to check out.  Let me know what you think!

I would love to read about your top 5 pins for this week, so make sure to click on the linky button at the top of this post to go link up on Jessica's blog.

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Stephanie