Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

Nomination Speech... and Reindeer Games!

I want to say THANK you to Teaching Special Thinkers, Richi Reynolds, Live, Laugh, I LOVE Kindergarten, Multiage Days, Resource Room Rules for ALL nominating me for the Liebster Award.  When I first read it quickly I thought it was the Lobster Award, I told my husband and he said, I quote, "Cool, you won 5 Lobsters! Let's Eat!"  So when he got home I told him it wasn't lobster. Needless to say he was a little annoyed and he told me he now wanted lobster for dinner.  So I was nominated to a Liebster award and got a Lobster dinner.  Win.. Win if you ask me!

 

Now, I will be answering ALL the questions from everyone who nominated me.  It will take me a little while but I will get it done.  I will do it this week.   To those blogger friends who nominated me, I checked your blogs and began to follow you too!  I was hoping to get 100 followers by Thanksgiving, but now I guess I will aim for Christmas Eve.  I would love to do a New Year's Giveaway.

 

 

Here are the new things that I completed this week, and yes, teachers are already grabbing them up.

Click each picture to go to the description.

This is a package deal now.  But I will unbundle it if you want.  Just ask.  The price is listed in the bundle description, just not uploaded yet!

I wanted to remind everyone about a little   BIG sale going on on Monday and Tuesday at TpT.  Make sure you jump over and follow me.  ALL of my materials will be on sale. Just be sure you enter the extra code at the checkout for even more savings. 

 

Thanks for the suport. 

Cyber Monday and Some Reindeer Games!!

 

I am linking up with all the amazing teachers and sellers at TpT for the BIG Sale. Add items to your wishlist and make sure you keep checking back for more goodies.  My store will have 3 NEW items by Saturday morning.  (Little does my husband and family know that tomorrow in between courses at our Thanksgiving dinner, they will all enjoy proofing the new items.)

 

Who Likes to play REINDEER GAMES??  Come back to check it out who likes them!

 

 

 

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

 

Sweet and Yummy Freebie!

Having been MIA for a lot of days and weeks, I thought 2 posts back to back were necessary. So as my husband was watching every football game yesterday, (not one was his team of choice) I created a little sweet and yummy math counting freebie.  I then went shopping and bought a gingerbread house to decorate and create with my nephews.  I have to keep myself busy somehow right... so TpT and shopping should do the trick!

 

So grab this freebie and have a SWEET time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Whole Month and A Lot Has Happened!

So it has been a while since my last post almost a month to be exact. That's really strange to think how fast time is going. Well a lot has happened since I was last here.

Let's see where should I begin.... Ok well I will start with the not so wonderful Frankenstorm AKA Hurricane Sandy. I am extremely sad to for all the people that have been affected by the storm. I have been to volunteer to areas that were effected more so than my area and I am happy that I was able to bring smiles to some faces. I also learned that I am thankful for my health and my ability to adapt to crazy situations. I can also live without power or heat for 10 days. I can also live without cable or Internet (that hasn't come back on yet!). My husband on the other end has a different opinion about the cable situation.

Ok that being said now that the Hurricane passed and left a tremendous amount of mess. NY gets hit with a SNOWSTORM!! The day after I get power! Really!!! Mother Nature is really trying to test my patience :(

I have been working on a few products. By working I mean in a book and the minute I has access to a working computer I made those ideas reality.

Winter alphabet and numbers. Gingerbread and Reindeer are getting me into the holiday spirit and something happy to look forward to after these crazy few weeks!!

SO I got my hands on a computer and I created for 3 days straight.  Here is what I have done so far and more will be on the way. 

 

 

 

Spread the word and feel free to pin.  Reindeer and Christmas fun are on the way! 

 

Enjoy your Sunday. 

 

 

 

 

 



Fabulous Fall Linky....

 

Happy Monday....  October is almost over and I can't believe it!  Where are the days going.  Shuna at Pocket Full of Kinders, a very energetic bloggy buddy, is hosting a fun Autumn Linky Party. Head on over and link up your favorite fall ideas. 

 

Up here in the Northeast... the leaves change colors, the pumpkins and applies look so good around the colored background and my dog loves to stay outside all day.  My students enjoy doing some fall activities and they talk about it at lunch!  I have other students coming to my class to ask if THEY can work with us.  Ahhh to be 5 years old and want to do pumpkin activities.

 

  Head over to Shuna's place and check it out. 

 

I've Been Boo-ed!!



So it has finally happened and I wasn't even scared! I was boo-ed by a bloggy buddy Amy over at Diving into Learning! Be sure to stop by and check out her blog, she has some super cute stuff! 

So let the games begin...

If you've been booed, copy and paste the above pic and these "rules" into your post.

1. Give a shout out to the blogger who booed you and link back to their site!

2. Share 3-5 October activities, books, products (yours or someone else),or freebie(s) that you love!

3. Share the Boo love with 5 bloggers- make sure you check this link to make sure you don't boo someone again:

 

http://toristeachertips.blogspot.com/2012/10/ive-been-booed-fun-october-linky.html 

 

And don't forget to tell them that they have been BOOED!

4. Link up {here} so that others can find you and read about your October ideas! And while you are there... check out the other great blogs!

 

 

OK so here are my favorite October activities, I have to admit, my students really seem to enjoy them and this year, a teacher on the grade actually asked to have a set because the kids talked about it then at lunch and asked when their class was going to do it!  They loved the little mini pumpkins and the different activities to do with  each center.

 

 

This acticity is a counting activity and math activity that they can create a spooky story with numbers.

 

Favorite October book... hmmmm.. so many to choose from but the best one would be.

And now for the blogs that I Boo-ed

A Special Kind of Class

Little Miss Glamour Goes to Kindergarten

Pocket Full of Kinders

Doodle Bugs, First Grade Rocks

Teach with Laughter

The 3am Teacher

 

 

 

Thanks for the fun and have a wonderful OCTOBER!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Differentiated Spooky Math Counting Books and Math Activities.

Just Updated, Uploaded and Marked Down! 20+ pages of Differentiated Math Activities and 2 Differentiated Spooky Counting Books. A little Happy Hour Special starting at 11pm on Thursday Night!

Practice number formation and creating spooky representational pictures to help read the story.   Differentiated story version is available, read the simple sentence I and see sight words. 
Counting items and locating the correct number to match each set. Addition and subtraction of spooky and fun Halloween items up to 10. Addition and subtraction of missing addends and subtrahend up to 10. Matching Game too!!

Friends if you are reading this I am VERY grateful and Hope that you continue to follow me. Please share this page with your followers and feel free to pin it too !  I would love to reach 100 followers and have a SPOOKTACULAR giveaway... or a THANKFUL for FOLLOWERS giveaway. 

Oh yes... BTW... Do you like my blog button?  If so please grab it and show me some blog love :)
<--------- LOOK HERE 

I LOVE THIS GERBER... I need to incorportate it into my blog!

AUTUMN is in the air!

I think Halloween is such a fun time for the students to get dressed up in characters and do fun learning activities.  This year of the 12 special education boys I have,  4 of them can't celebrate Halloween for various reasons. 

So I decided to make generic literacy and math centers that do not mention anything about ghost, goblins, monsters or anything Halloween related. 

 

My favorite October activities, I have to admit, my students really seem to enjoy them and this year, a teacher on the grade actually asked to have a set because the kids talked about it then at lunch and asked when their class was going to do it! They loved the little mini pumpkins and the different activities to do with each center.

 

This packet includes 3 math and 4 literacy centers for Autumn and pumpkins.  The activity set includes differentiated activities many of the centers.

 

Pumpkin Circumference Center
****Differentiated sheets included

Pumpkin Prediction and Weight Center
****Differentiated sheets included

3 Differentiated Autumn Math Centers
Counting (1-10)
Number representation
Simple addition problems

Pumpkins Details Center-- Writing and Creativity

Pumpkin Poetry Center
2 Differentiated Writing paper included in packet

How to Grow a Pumpkin (Sequencing) Center

How a Pumpkin Grows Booklet (How to) Center

Also included are center signs clearly labeled for rotation and management and teacher list of materials needed for each center.

 

 

Oh and I forgot to mention I also have two other activities that I created from a previous year (I made them fancier thanks to this awesome cheveron background paper!) and one for the after school program that I do in my school.  These activties are also available. 

Check them out and please spread the word. 

 

       

 



Coffee, Some Fall Fun Activities, a chance to WIN...

Good Morning.... It is a cool Saturday morning here in NY and while I am enjoy this amazing cup of coffee that the hubby made for me, wearing a cozy hoodie shirt, I am checking out all my favorite blogs and LOOK what I came across.

 Musing of Me has this amazing Fall Fun activity set....  This unit is MASSIVE!!!!! It is 184 pages long! So long in fact that I didn’t have the space to add my usual craft activities. I’m HOPING to come out with a “Fall Literature Fun” pack soon that will include loads of craftiness and writing activities. I’ve had LOTS of emails asking about the fall activities that were previously available on my blog….they’re all in here along with MANY others. Check out what you can find.

 

While you are here I am celebrating with Amy at What Happens in First Grade.  I have donated a set of literacy task cards that have not yet been released in my TpT store.  Check it out and spread the word.

 

I am also hoping to reach 100 followers by Halloween then I can have a spooktacular giveaway.  I also really, REALLY, REALLY  want to try to figure  HOW to make a BUTTON for my page, this weekend.  I am going to do it and I hope it's not a total disaster.   Oh yeah, and if there is time I will plan for next week, do laundry, go to the supermarket, and get some birthday presents for the upcoming events.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pay it FORWARD...

 

 

So a blogging buddy of mine, Hope at Teaching with Hope, has started a Pay it Forward campaign. 

 

I agree with Hope about this huge bloggy world I am now a part of.  EVERYONE is so wonderful and shares with all their friends and followers.  I personally follow more people then the number of people that follow me!  I have learned so much from everyone, everywhere!

 

I have learned what works well and what doesn't work.  I have shared lesson, ideas and also realized that the love for learning and teaching never stops.  :)

Thank you, to all of you! In honor of Paying it Forward I will be giving away a brand new product that has not yet been released in my TpT store! The only requirement is that you Pay it Forward... give something to someone else and share the love. In order to receive my yet to be realized TPT item here is what you need to do:

1. Be one of the first three to comment below

2. Then "Pay it Forward" on your own blog by giving away something to the first three that comment on your post.

3. After commenting I'll take a look at your Pay it Forward post and voila this weekend the  unreleased item is yours!

Thank you for sharing in the fun and helping myself and others grow as teachers! You are amazing people and I am so lucky to know you all!

Are you looking for another rhyming alphabet book?-- FREEBIE

I am always looking for new alphabet books.  I use the classics all the time.  I found this book called
 Q is for Duck and my students have fallen in love with an old book that has funny rhymes.  I create a class book or sometimes I do an interactive bulletin board with alphabet recognition and rhymes activity.
After reading the book Q is for Duck, by Mary Elting and Michael Folsom, the students will create their own page. I have created 3 different choices of fonts to create your own A-Z alphabet book or individual pages with the child's first initial. 


L is for OUR CLASS
Why?... Because we like to LEARN

HURRY this offer is only good until 5:30 EST today Wednesday, September 26 then it goes on sale at my TpT store.  Be sure ot follow the TpT store to get the newest materials and updates.

 

Oh My Apples...

Head over.....you must check this out ASAP a Five Dollar APPLE UNIT from  Musings of Me

Look at what you get.......

 

What Comes Next (letters)
Bushels of Sounds
Candy Apples (alphabetical Order)
Find and Write
Roll and Write
Apple Bobbing (upper/lowercase letters)
Apples (adjective activity with craft)
Apple Pie (game)
Apple Colors (pocket chart with book)
Apple Basket (poem and craftivity)
Apple Tree (poem and craftivity)
How to Make Applesauce
Johnny Appleseed (facts and craft)
Amelia Bedelia's First Apple Pie (book review)

 

 

 

 

Student Behavior Slip...FREE

I  love my job, and my students.  I don't love taking time from my teaching to write a note to a parent.  I just don't have enough time in the day to stop what I am doing to write a note, or to call home.  (Having a secretary to make calls would be a wonderful Christmas present.... Santa are you listening!) 

I began using this behavior slip with my older students as a way to have them take responsibility for their classroom behavior and inappropriate actions.  I copy them onto brightly colored paper and when the student is having a difficult day, I ask them to fill out a slip to bring home.  Of course, I use warnings, our class behavior system, all before I ask them to fill out a slip.  I find that by having them complete the form, they are able to better understand what they did.  After, they complete it and I look at it, they bring it home to their parents to get signed.  It has worked for some of my students and has saved me a few minutes.  I hope that you can use it too. 



Get your FREEBIE here! :)

Let's Celebrate 3 Different AMAZING Giveaways...

Happy Monday. It seems that many of my blogging buddies are all having a celebration THIS week. I wanted to help them celebrate and be part of the party too.

 

So I have joined Diving into Learning for her Fall Themed party!

 

 

Also, Third Grade All Stars is celebrating her 200 followers. I donated a yet to be released item from my TpT store.

 

Last, is my blogging buddy over at Flying into First has reached and has gone beyond 100 followers this week.

 

 

I love helping friends celebrate.... next time I will make sure they are not all in the same week.

 

Don't forget to enter these AWESOME giveaways and have a tons of chances to win awesome stuff!!

 

Help and spread the word about these wonderful chances to win and I guarantee that my first giveaway will be one to shout about!!

100 Follower Giveaway All Week Long!!!

I am so happy to be helping celebrate with  Flying into First for her 100 follower giveaway.  Head on over and enter this AMAZING giveaway so many things to be won!   Spread the word and help her celebrate.

A Saturday Night Freebie....

Dear Google Docs,

I want to give my friends and followers a freebie and I have dinner reservations at 8pm. Please work so that my friends and followers will continue to support me.

Thank you a Grateful Teacher,
A Special Teacher

PS. I hope this works :o)




 

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B92xvbDumgbPbWZQbWdvRlBBeGM/edit

Our Class is Not Complete Without You!

Here I am at home trying to catch up on rest, but also I have been jotting down ideas and my brain has been working on overload.  I can't get into my classroom until Tuesday and the students arrive on Thursday!  Yeah, I know not a lot of time. 

 

 I have made list upon list as what needs to get done.  I will also recruit everyone I know to help out.  I am a College Advisor to my sorority and I know those ladies will be looking for community service and they also want recommendations for work.  So I guess everyone gets what they want in the end.

 

I am trying to develop a TpT store with mostly free items for classroom use. If you have an account please follow me and I will follow you too.  (Who knows maybe I already follow you!!)

 

  Here is a very cute craft, bulletin board, community/character builder.  The packet includes a parent letter, and a cutout of the project.  That is available in the TpT store

 

This was my experiment to see if a picture and a link would work.  Let's hope it does. (Fingers crossed) 

 

  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Our-Class-is-Not-Complete-Without-You

 

Friends and Followers, I want to thank you for being here with me as I begin this blogging journey.  I would like to be apart of your blogging world too.  If you are having a give away or a blogging milestone, please consider me to be a part of it with you. I know many bloggers connect together to make their giveaway even better!!

Communication with Parents-FREEBIE!!

So I have taken a few pain pills, for my wrist, and I wanted to share with you this freebie, that I have on TpT.  I am working on another one but this wrist injury has me limited to my work. I would appreciate it if you could follow the TpT store, or share it with your friends. If you download the chart, please leave a quick comment. My friend and I are working on this operation together. I blog and keep up with Facebook like and she does the TpT.  

The parents of  the special needs students I have had need/like to know how things are going from morning to afternoon with their child.  Here is one behavior chart, I have used with a few students in my class. After creating the behavior chart, I am sure to inform the parent prior to starting the behavior chart about what the goal is for the chart.

For this particular chart I write the activity in (math, reading, centers, specials, etc.) and copy it for the week.  I give the student a double happy face for great behavior, a single happy face for acceptable behavior and a sad face for.... sad behavior.  If I am not the teacher for the period then I ask the teacher in the room to tell me the rating.  The icons you see at the top are also printed out for the student to have as a visual on their desk. 

This chart slips into a page protector and goes home to the parent for signature.  This chart is used in addition to a student chart in the classroom, this is just a quick way for the parent to know how their child did that particular day.




http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/My-Behavior-Chart



For my serious bloggers.  Does anyone want to take me on as a "student"?  How do I put the picture of the behavior chart on this posting?!?!?  How can I do all those fancy things to the blog also?  Some of them are so incredible and so pretty to look at.  :)   

Please help and spread the word about this blog. I am really trying to get use to it and make it more enjoyable to follow. 


I thank you for following me on this journey and hope to learn a lot from you.   What are some things that you would like to have shared on this blog? 

Ouchy...Ouch...Ouch!

I am sorry I have been away for so long, I have a partial stress fracture on my right wrist. :(  I need to get an MRI and the doctor told me that I need to limit my computer use and texting.  Talk about being in pain.  I have tried all different kinds of padding and building different things to help with pain at the computer, but it is really, really uncomfortable.

I want to thank you for following my blog and I hope that you can share my blog with your followers.  I want to try to reach 50 followers.  While I am not on the computer I am thinking and creating materials with the good old pencil and paper. 

What kinds of materials and ideas would you like to see on this blog?



:)

My very FIRST follower!!!

I am soooooo happy to have my first  follower!!! THANK YOU TO  smittenwithfirst.blogspot.com.

You made my Monday!!
:)

Think I will keep him!

My husband knows that school will start in a few weeks and he thought that he would brighten up my August Monday morning with a flower delivery.  Think I've been stressed? or think he is tired of helping me with class projects?

It's 10pm and I am now looking for a good blogger tutorial.  One that will show me how to add all the jazzy backgrounds, fonts, and photos.  Also want to learn and figure out how to "follow" people.

:)

August 5, 2012
Sunday night and the blogging has begun!  Will it work??