Tech Thursday

I'm linking up with the Teaching Trio for Tech Thursday!

I really love the iPad app EPIC!!! I use it during my Daily Five for Read to Self/Listen to Reading. Basically, it's a $4.99 Netflix-type app for reading books BUT it's FREE for educators!!! So cool. I got my free subscription (free for life, FYI.), added my student names, and started using the app right away. Kids log in, find their name, and start choosing books based on their reading level and interests. Some are books that will read aloud to the kids, and others the kids read on their own. As the teacher, I can track how long it took kids to read a book (if they are just flipping through or really reading, and if they give up on a book after 20 seconds). Plus, there are tons of recognizable books, and different books for kids to experience. Anyway, for a free app, it's definitely worth checking out!

Try Epic, ASAP! :)

The Sunday Scoop

I'm a first timer linking up with The Teaching Trio for the Sunday Scoop!

3 things I HAVE to do:

I've been teaching the CCLS Second grade ELA domain 8, Insects, for about a week now. It's been a blast! Each story is told from the perspective of a new insect. The kiddos love that I wear my antennae while reading the stories. I tied this unit into writing by sending the kids letters from an entomologist each day during writing. This mystery entomologist gives clues about the next insect they will learn about. The class guesses the insect, then completes a close read and text dependent questions about that insect. I work with my lowest kiddos, and I let the higher kids work independently with support from a TA. It's been going really well! So, I want to plan a VERY exciting end of unit review. I saw Hope King, from Elementary Shenanigans, plan a SPY DAY! Now I'm thinking about doing a secret agent day. She used white string ALL OVER and black lights to look like lasers and I already downloaded a fun (free) finger scanner app. Here are the insect review activities we can do that can go along with a SECRET AGENT room transformation:

1. Insect Riddles

2. Kids create their own insect riddles to stump their peers

3. That vocabulary guessing game where you have a word on your forehead and peers give you clues to guess what it is. You know what I'm talking about? I'm thinking about making these as headbands.

4. Insect researchers

Maybe the kids would have like 4 different missions throughout the afternoon. I want to do this on my double special day so we can have a normal morning, and then I can use my special and lunch to transform the room and get it ready for an afternoon of review.

Next up? Authors Purpose unit. I made 12 different short passages for my kiddos on Friday. I labeled pie plates as Persuade, Inform, and Entertain. Each group of 3 had to read through the 12 passages and sort by author's purpose. The first team who finished got to play PIE FACE!!! Everyone eventually finished, so we all got to play. I want to add more passages, an answer key, directions, and more ideas to complete a TPT mini unit. 

After that....I volunteered to be on a Strategic Partner team at my school. We're working to improve our school's academics with some outside help. Every once in a while we have a four hour meeting from 5-9. And it's tomorrow. The meetings are interesting and go quick and we get pizza....but thinking about teaching all day and then going to a meeting is a bit daunting.

2 things I HOPE to do:

My kitchen is messy. I never cook more than grilled cheese and yesterday I experimented with a casserole, leaving behind a mess. I contained most of the mess to the sink and stove top...but it still needs to be cleaned.

It's a chilly, rainy day. Perfect for lounging around all day. But, I have an energetic dog who will whine and cry until she gets some exercise. She loves walks. So, I might have to bite the bullet, get out my rain boots, and the her for a walk. Up here is western New York, we're pretty lucky to have rain in January and not 3 feet of snow, so I should just grin and bear it. :)

1 thing I'm HAPPY to do:

Obviously, hanging around in my comfy, cozy pajamas on my couch is the ideal way to spend a Sunday morning! It's even cozier with my dog's head resting on my leg, keeping me warm on this chilly day. I have made a resolution to be a better blogger this year! That means posting regularly and finding some great link ups to contribute to, so here I am! A week and a half into January, and I am totally keeping up with this resolution. :)

P.S. I'm having a 20% off EVERYTHING sale on TPT. Check it out!

Spark Student Motivation Saturday - January 9, 2016

I'm here, linking up with Joanne from Head Over Heels for Teaching, for Spark Student Motivation Saturday!

This year, I have a lovely class. But they need a lot of motivation! I feel like I'm constantly one upping myself to make our lessons even more engaging and exciting to get them going! In order to introduce my latest read aloud, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, we had a yellow brick road leading us from the classroom doorway to our meeting area, where the book was located and introduced.

While reading this beautiful pop up book, we enjoyed a visit from the Wicked Witch of the West. (I stuff striped tights with newspaper and hung the legs from behind a curtain in the classroom.)

Next, we ate cupcakes make to look like witch's hats with ice cream cones on them!

We're finished with the book, but we'll be watching the movie and doing some comparing and contrasting next week. In addition, I'll be baking a layered cake with the colors of the rainbow on each layer for the kiddos to enjoy while watching the movie!

Happy weekend, everyone!

P.S. I'm having a 20% off EVERYTHING sale on TPT. Check it out!

Five for Friday

It's been a while, but here I am, I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching this week for Five For Friday! 

I've spent a lot of my winter vacation setting up new home improvement goodies!

I got the NEST!!!

I immediately downloaded the app for my phone and I am CONSTANTLY pulling it up and changing the temperature in my house just because I can.

And a brand new ceiling fan! The old one was white, and kind of looked like it belonged in a little girl's bedroom. Plus, it blended right in with the ceiling. This one is better! :)

I did go into school a few days over this vacation. We're starting a new read aloud, a GORGEOUS pop-up version of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.  So, I did a teeny tiny mini yellow brick road in my classroom to get the kids excited about the new read aloud!

I printed off bright yellow paper and all different fonts saying, "Follow the yellow brick road." I then used some packing tape to tape them down to the floor, leading the kids from our doorway to our meeting area, where the new book is set up.

Obviously, I dressed my dog, Lucy, up in her holiday pajamas frequently over vacation. 

And yes, I woke her up to dress her up.

Um, hilarious, right?

I also wound up driving down to Long Island to spend the holidays with my family. It was such a whirlwind trip! Leaving right after school on December 23 to drive 7 hours from Rochester to Long Island...BUT I SURVIVED!

                                                

And now it's time to mentally prepare myself to head back to school! Here we go for the second half of the school year!

P.S. I'm having a 20% off EVERYTHING sale on TPT. Check it out!

Have you tried Hello Fresh?

This is me:

Can't cook. It's hard.

But, I can follow directions pretty well.

So, I tried Hello Fresh because my mom tried it and there was a Groupon. FYI, there is ALWAYS a Groupon! Basically, you pay this company money, choose some meals for the week, and they deliver to your doorstep in a cute box. (I save the boxes and use them for school because they are STURDY!)

There are step by step directions. Even I could do it!

I feel like I've learned a lot. And I'm branching out from grilled cheese and tomato soup! Also, the recipe cards that come with Hello Fresh boxes stay on my fridge and I can remake the recipes any time I want! (Okay, I've only remade one recipe so far, but I can. And that's the point. :) )

Check out some of my tasty creations from Hello Fresh!

Currently: January

I'm a little bit late but....here is January 2016 and Currently!

As always, thanks Farley, for hosting Currently!

Listening:

I'll admit it. I love Kitchen Nightmares with Gordon Ramsey and I've seen every episode. It's one of those go to shows that I can throw on in the background while doing school work or cleaning the house and just giggle at every once in a while. Love it. Don't care that it's a bit naughty. And it is. :)

Loving:

Winter vacation is almost over and I am SAVORING my last day. My body is already getting back into school mode, waking me up bright and early today. But that's cool - I'm usually an early riser. Here I am, blogging a bit while my little puppy went back to bed after I woke her up!

Thinking:

Yes, tomorrow is back to school. I went into school a few times over break to get myself ready for tomorrow, but there's always something else to do! So, of course, I have a mini to do list for tomorrow morning before the kiddos arrive. I am thinking about the fact that I woke up "early" today (6:00am), but that tomorrow morning the alarm will be set to 4:45am. That's going to be a toughie.

Wanting:

I really want to go shopping at Target and get myself something cute to wear tomorrow for the first day back! I wear dresses EVERY DAY, so a new dress would be lovely for tomorrow. Usually I have some cute new clothes from Christmas, but this year I got mostly home improvement stuff. We'll see if I make it to Target today. :)

Needing:

I made myself some coffee here at the house, but I'm thinking about stopping off at Dunkin Donuts for an extra boost today! A sweet treat for my last day of winter vacation! And I got like a million Dunkin Donuts gift cards for Christmas gifts. I think my students know me a little too well.

One Little Word:

Relax. Today, I am not doing any school work. (Well, maybe like one little thing...) But I am going to focus on just enjoying the last day of vacation. Which didn't even really feel like vacation because between my boyfriend's family and my family I think we drove for like 20 hours, celebrated like 8 Christmases, and were sick the entire break. So, last day. Relax!

Happy 2016, everyone!

2getherwearebetter

It's been a long while, but I am ready for 2016!

I'm linking up with SchroederShenanigans in 2nd for... #2getherwearebetter!

My word for 2016 is...

ENGAGE.

Inspiration.

Now, I love teaching and I do my best every day to keep these kiddos wildly engaged in our curriculum, but I think we can always amp it up a bit. I get really excited when I watch a Periscope by Hope King, displaying a massive classroom transformation and I think, "WOW! My kids would go bonkers for something like that!"

So, I've slowly been integrating those engaging classroom transformations into my classroom, too! Well, on a smaller scale. And I plan on continuing in the future because stuff like that works wonders. Kids get excited to learn. We get excited to teach. Win/win!

I stated smallish with a cute yellow brick road addition to my classroom as a book introduction for our newest read aloud. Can you guess it? :) I think this will hit the engagement  button with my second grade cuties when they return from winter vacation!

I upped my game a notch in the engagement department with a Winter Solstice Campout! I brought in real tents, created some fake tents using bulletin board paper, used our Flashlight Friday flashlights, and had a fake fire with wood and a touch light. The best, most engaging part, would have to be the stores we made. Hey, you can't compete with scores. We used graham crackers, chocolate bars, and fluff!

Planning.

Being highly engaging includes planning your brains out. You totally lose the kiddos when you're looking for the new activity, or reading through the lesson on the spot. A goal I have for this year is to make my transitions in the classroom seamless through intense planning on my part. No losing kiddos in those precious seconds and then spending minutes getting them back and re-winning their attention. Plan, be prepared, and save time in the classroom!

Make our year memorable.

A lot of my kiddos come from not so great homes. I can't change that, but I can make their eight hours a day in my classroom memorable and special. I want them to go home and talk about their engaging and exciting days at school!

Before winter break, I received a little surprise in my mailbox at school. Tons of little cards written in Spanish (and translated into English) from students I had 4 years ago. Their Spanish class had an assignment to write a holiday card to a memorable teacher and I was touched that so many chose me. 

Those kiddos had been in my fourth grade class four years ago. Now, I taught fourth grade for five years and I KNOW that I was an engaging teacher because I knew that curriculum inside and outside! Now, I switched to second grade, and I feel like I'm still learning. I need to teach the curriculum and prepare these little ones for next year, but I want to put my engaging touches on everything and make sure that these kiddos remember me and our experience just like my fourth graders did!

Balancing act.

I will engage my kiddos in the classroom each day. But I will also have my own life. Sometimes it gets easy to just keep finding something else to do in school (because there is always something), but it's better to just go home some days, too! I'd like to focus this year on balancing school, family, friends, my own stuff, etc. Just having a well-balanced life! (I think this might just be something that many teachers struggle with!)

Welp, there it is! I've been MIA in the blogging world for a while, but I'm back and ready to jump right in! :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!