linky party {and I'm it!}

I'd like to thank Jessica at The Polka Dotted Teacher and and Sandy from Soaring Through Second Grade for choosing to highlight my blog in their tag!  :)  {See my previous post where I tagged 10 others then go show both of these awesome ladies some love by following their blogs!}

{Jessica's questions}

What is your favorite children's book to share with your class?  I love them all!  But I do love seeing the looks on my students' faces when Junie B. makes a joke and they actually get it.

If you were not teaching, what career would you have instead?  personal stylist.  OR {even better} something famous enough to have my own personal stylist.  ;)

Besides blogging, what is your spare time hobby? after school "meetings" with my favorite teacher friend.  you know, at the porch of On The Border or something like that...

If you won the MegaMillions jackpot, what's the first thing you would do?  give 10% to my awesome church {Mosaic}.  then buy some louboutins...and maybe some outfits.

What do you eat for breakfast on school days?  we always keep hard-boiled eggs in the fridge so I just cut one up, throw it in a tortilla with a kraft single and some turkey and have a microwave wrap I can eat in the car on my drive!

Are you a dog or a cat person?  dog.  have you seen my precious huxtable?!  no choosing cats over him.

What is your biggest classroom pet peeve?  defiance.  as in, sitting down just because i said stand up.  ooooh that burns my britches.

If you taught one subject all day long what would you choose?  literacy!  Is that broad enough?!  ;)  I love reading a book about a topic, creating some type of organizer, writing about it and making a craft for display.  themes themes themes...my favorite days.

What made you decide to start blogging?  honestly, I stumbled upon them somehow and became a freaky hoarder that couldn't get enough of the freebies people were sharing.  {it was scary!!}  then I calmed myself down and thought, these are awesome, but I do awesome stuff all the time!  I wondered if anyone would be interested in my creations, started a blog and luckily you are!  {yay!}

What was the moment that made you laugh out loud in your classroom?  I had to bite my tongue and not laugh until later but one day a little girl in my class got picked up early.  She said she was going to the hospital to see her mom.  Surprised, I immediately said, "What happened?!  Is she ok?!"  Her response..."Oh yeah, she's fine.  She's just getting her boobies made big."  {bah ha ha!}

{Sandy's list of favorites}

color:  glitter.  ok, pink.

TV show: currently loving New Girl.  but I will always be The Cosby's Show's biggest fan.

sports team:  Michigan State Spartans.  {go green!}

ice cream:  Chubby Hubby by Ben & Jerry.  peanut butter.  pretzels.  fudge.  it's a good investment.

food: anything!  I'll eat anything covered in Buffalo Sauce and would eat pizza daily if it was healthier.

memory: has to be something with my family.  involving laughing.  and mostly likely a board game.

thing to do outside of school: relax in the sun, actually reading the magazines I subscribe to.

book: My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Piccoult.  Water for Elephants.  The Hunger Games.

beauty product: CoverGirl LashBlast mascara.

movie: Willy Wonka.  Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium.  In Her Shoes.

Don't forget to join in the Linky Party...share your classroom must-haves and get some new great ideas!  :)

classroom must-haves. {and some news}

As I told you yesterday, I have some news.  I've lost my mind with the new nail color trends.

Ok, no, that's not really it.

{deep breath}

I will be switching schools next year.  My current school is the only place I've ever taught and certainly feels like home.  I teach with my best friends and our staff has a definite sense of family.  I've grown up and learned who I am not only as a teacher, but as a person, within the walls of that classroom.  I've made mistakes, received recognition, worked toward a graduate degree and my National Board certification and learned what it really means to be an educator in today's world.

But next year I will be moving.

I'm excited and sad about it all at the same time.  I never thought I'd leave this school, especially of my own accord.  Nothing happened to make me transfer, the opportunity just kind of fell in my lap.  And while I know that the new school will be different {plus closer and with an earlier dismissal bell!} I'm so excited about the possibility of what can happen there.  Maybe I'll go for my doctorate!  This will be the place our kids will most likely end up for their first school experiences!  I can continue to learn and grow while sharing my ideas - and yours! ;) - with a brand new team of awesome educators.  I'm nervous because it's always hard to be the new addition to the family but I also know that change is good and this transition is one I am meant to make for the next season of my life.

One of the most exciting things is that I feel like I can start anew with my classroom!  I'll have no choice to break out of the same layout and routine I've used the past 6 years.  While my head is spinning with organization and possibility, I need to begin to narrow it down and think more concretely.  {After all, the only way to complete a Pinterest project is to choose just one and actually start it, right?!}  So that's why I've created this Linky Party.

What's on your Top 5 {gotta have it} list for the classroom?

Here's mine:

To play along just {right click} copy the picture below, paste it {in Microsoft Word} and add a text box over top.  Save it as a picture and upload it to your blog.  Then come back here with the link and add it!

Help me figure out what to add, delete, change, edit, create, toss or keep for next year!  Imagine it's your dream classroom.  Anything is possible!  :)  And hopefully you'll all find some inspiration as well!

sheep in a jeep.

What kindergarten teacher doesn't love this book for teaching double e??

I'm using it tomorrow...thanks to some new ideas from Pinterest!

{Saylor's Log}

{a faithful attempt}

{Life in First Grade}

I love that Leslie Ann's sheep are IN a jeep, but I couldn't find a pattern to use.  So...I made one!  :)

Click the picture to download it from Google Docs.  We're going to create small sheep, glue them on a piece of construction paper then cut this out and glue it over top.  Write -ee words in the jeep and display!  {no picture yet...brand new activity!}

Also come back tomorrow for a Linky Party...and BIG news.

{oh man...talk about Eeeeee!!!!}

Easter fun.

This little man had to go in to be fixed today.  :(

It left me lonely, but also completely free to do whatever needs to be done without worrying about what was laying around or on the floor!  {read: time to fix the living room!}  When we moved into our house last summer I wanted to bring in some color but hubs wasn't so sure about my bright choices.  I decided to tone it down a little...

...aaaaand have hated it ever since.  I am not a pastel person.  {gut instincts, ladies.  stick with 'em.}  So today while hubs was at work I went a shade darker than our kitchen/dining room and can sit happily again.  I love it!

Now for what you really came for.  ;)  I realized I never shared the fun activities we did last week on the day of our Spring Party and if you're in school this week, these are some great finds!

This jelly bean data sheet from Vickie at {Mrs. Plant's Press} is actually two pages but we combined to print them on one.

It has a graph, tally chart, asks for most and least and has a blank box for students to write any sentence about their data.  It was challenging, but in a good way!

Because I need to make a crown for every occasion {or just a random Thursday} we took this ancient coloring sheet and added numerals and number words.  The kids cut the bottom half of the egg {word} from a strip on the bottom and could color after the numbers were all matched up.

Ta-da!  Fabulous Easter crown...created during math.  :)

I don't have the original sheet to share, but you could use either of these to match numerals and number words, addition sentences and sums, capital and lowercase letters, etc.  Just print any Easter picture to add on!

{from printables4kids}

{from fambee.org}

This idea I can't take any credit for at all but I still had to share because it just ah-DOR-able.  {Don't you love fabulous student teachers who bring new ideas?  So refreshing!!}  I think the original idea came from Mailbox Magazine but {i heart crafty things} will walk you through it step by step.  This is so cute for a follow-up to hatching chicks.  I guess I'll have to do it next year!

Happy Easter friends!

keeping {the pout pout fish} out!

Have you read this sweet story?

 The pout-pout fish is all bummed out and spreading his dreary-drearies all over the place.

His friends try to cheer him up but it just doesn't work...until he gets a kiss from a pretty pink fish!  Then he realizes that when he turns his frown upside down it's really a smile and he swims around spreading cheery-cheeries instead.  :)

I love love love it.  The kids do too...especially if you read it with your mouth all pointed down and in a sad, pitiful voice.  {Note: this is hard to do after you read it a few times and your kids start doing the voice with you.  So funny!}

I used it this year as one of our Class Meeting focus stories.  We talked about what makes the kids sad and how we can cheer up our friends when they aren't happy.

I don't have a pattern for the fish, it's just a big jellybean shape with a spout for the tail.  The kids cut their own eyes, fins and hair from the scrap bucket.  Then we hang them in the hallway to keep his dreary-drearies out of our room!

Here's a {cuter version} of the sheet to print off to go along with your artwork.  We read the story, discussed and made the chart in our 45 minute meeting.  I put out the supplies for the fish for morning work the next day and they were easily able to make those within 10-15 minutes.

No spreading drearie-drearies today.  Just cheery-cheeries!  :)

{currently} April

I can't believe it's already April!  Was anyone else as excited as I was that we weren't in school for April Fool's Day this year?!

Miss Young!  There's a monster on your head...April Fool's!

Miss Young!  I see your mom...April Fool's!

Miss Young!  You have hair on your head...April Fool's!

April Fool's day.  Not made for kindergarteners.  :)

I'm hooking up with Farley again for {currently} in April.  Join us for the fun!

Also, while you're clicking around, check out Miss Tiina's fonts and graphics.  Tons of cute, free things to get you started plus she's willing to work with educators so you don't have to buy a commercial license.  Bonus!  Thanks girl!  I'll be using your stuff soon!!  :)

parent-teacher contact log

So it's Spring Break and the weather outside is...well...not great for my original plan of sitting by the pool all week!

But I suppose being stuck in the house will force me to get some things done and be productive!  I have big plans to make files for an organized notebook but {of course} my list of items to include is sitting on my guided reading table...at school.

So help me out.  What would you want to be included in an organization binder?  I'm thinking more than Running Record pages - there are already great ones out there - but places to jot down notes of ideas that come to you during your group, data pages to see all assessment scores at a glance, etc.

What would YOU want to see in a file of printable pages?  Here's a freebie to get you thinking.  ;)  The 2nd page is just the contact log without the title so you can reproduce as many pages as you need.

I'll be back tomorrow to get working on all of your brilliant requests!!  ;)