Cold Days - Highs and Lows

My students have gotten lucky with another mini Winter Break!  They only had school last Wednesday.  No school Monday (President's Day), Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, or today.   Lucky little kiddos.  Teachers still have to report for cold days.  Ho hum.

I've been spending A LOT of time in bed since last Wednesday.   I got in a car accident. :(  I got rear-ended while at a stoplight....he thought it was green....but it was red.....   So, aside from appointments, taking my car in, and a short grocery trip - I've been resting and trying to heal. BOOO.

I thought I was feeling a little better so I went into work to get some stuff done in my room, but my back and neck were not havin' it.  I only lasted about 2 hours. Thankfully I had an early physical therapy appointment.  How on Earth am I going to be able to get through an entire day tomorrow? I think pain meds will be my new best friend for the next couple of days....over-the-counter pain meds, of course. :)

But, on a happy note, I have a real hard time sitting still and resting.  So, I made the most of it by making things for TpT and my class! :) Yay!  Click on the pics to check them out!

Oh, did you hear about the big sale going on this week...????

My entire store will be 20% off!  Lots of good deals! :)

Have a happy Monday!

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Teaching from the HEART

Unexpected day off!  Yay!  Thank you, freezing cold weather!

I guess that means I'll be using my backwards design lessons tomorrow! ;)  The assessments were created and the activities were planned...tomorrow it'll be time for the teaching!

Can I get mushy for a second?  I feel like I've grown a lot as an educator.  I look for fun, exciting, interesting ways to teach everything.  I rely less and less on those boring worksheets and workbooks.  I have to admit, it's because of all of the awesome bloggers I follow.  They are an inspiration - filled with creativity, excitement, and love for teaching.  And, boy oh boy, it's rubbing off on me!

Anywho, back to the normal, non-gushy stuff....

I {HEART} data!  I've been doing monthly fluency tests with my students and they are ROCKING them!  I had one girl read 51 words FASTER than she did in October.  I had a boy become 70% more accurate since October.  R.I.D.I.C.U.L.O.U.S!   

How are they becoming better readers?

I make Reading FUN! :)  We use my Fluency Cards every day (as a game) to warm-up and to practice our phonics skills.  My students LOVE them!

I just put all of my Fluency Card packs into a huge bundle and I'd love for you to check it out!  :) It's 5 packs in 1 for a super discounted price.  The best thing about it is..... it is a GROWING bundle.  So, all of my fluency card packs from here on out will be added to this bundle.  That's a lifetime of fluency cards for a super discounted price! 

These Fluency Cards are SO fun to use during Reading groups.  My students get excited when I make a new set.  And, I get so excited when they are learning those tricky words and reading them in sentences! :) 

Have a great Tuesday!

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Is It Too Late for Five for Friday?!

I'm super late to the Five for Friday party!  Oopsies!

Please forgive me... and catch up with some of the things that happened last week! :) 

 We did some Valentine's Day fun in the classroom last week.  We read some lovey dovey books.   One that we read was That Yucky Love Thing.  My students LOVED it.  It's not really a valentine book but it was about love, so we read it!

Then we read There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Rose and did this fun sequencing activity that goes along with the book. 

I found this cute little printable on TpT by Bright Concepts 4 Teachers. 

 We also wrote about what love means to us.  The students' responses were sooooooooooo sweet. :)

Here are some from the students!

His dad is giving his pregnant mom a kiss! AW! 

This is from one of the boys in my class.  To him, love is when his friend (another one of my students) gives him a hug before he goes home.  SWEET! And look at that heart over the I.  These kids make my heart happy. :) 

Look at all those hearts!  Usually I'm a stickler for a correctly dotted i....but not on Valentine's Day! ;)

Here is mine!  Ah, I love my Tobey!

 My little students are becoming such better readers!  But......we had a slight setback in my lowest reading group.  They were having SUCH a hard time reading sentences.  It was probably a bad day.  We went back to our words to practice sounding out.   :)

 I adore my class this year.  They are SO into learning.  During inside recess last week, they asked if they could use the fluency cards that I use at reading groups.   OF COURSE!  Any chance to foster their love of learning, right?  Here they are....so super cute.

Here's the best part - the boy (who was acting like the teacher) told the others that he's going to "work their booties off"!  WHAT?!  I asked him where he heard that.... and apparently I say that all the time.  Embarrassing! :)

Ugh, inside recess is driving me CRAZY.  Thank goodness for GoNoodle.  Have you seen the Inside Recess Brain Break Mega Mixes?! I'm LOVING IT!  We did the 13 minute one the other day.  AHHH it just kept the students so interested and busy.  LOVE!

I went to the Home and Garden Show with my boyfriend this weekend and we had sooo much fun.  Going anywhere with him is fun.  Here we are in front of the funhouse mirrors. :) I wish I was always that tall and skinny!

P.S....he doesn't have a cane... ;)  That's a 3 foot beef chew he bought for his doggy. :) :)

Whew, long post!  Thanks for sticking it out 'til the end! :)

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Sunday Scoop!

Is it Sunday already?!  Thank goodness for an extra day off tomorrow! :)

I'm linking up with Teaching Trio again this week for their awesome Sunday Scoop!

The teachers at my school are very lucky and weren't required to submit lesson plans this year.

But, that's coming to an end.  We were introduced to "backward design" lesson plans this past Friday.  The whole idea of backwards design lesson planning is to set the goals first.  Then, by setting goals and creating the assessment, you can plan the activities that will help your students meet those goals.  It keeps the teaching and learning focused on the end goal.

It makes total sense, right?

Luckily, we're only expected to do the first steps of the backwards design lesson plan.  :)

I have to re-create some assessments for next week.  We have assessment that go with our Reading and Math programs but they aren't that great.  So, it's my job to make them better. Blah.  I hate assessments but LOVE data.  It's a daily struggle. ;)

That's all for now, guys!  Time to create some assessments and hopefully schedule some blog posts for the week! :)  Happy Sunday!

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50% off! & Sunday Scoop!

Happy Sunday!

I'm LOVING our tiny warm-up here in Northeast Ohio (40 degrees....woo hoo!)!   

My little Tobey loves when there is snow on the ground {but without the frigid temps}.  Here is what he likes to do on our walks.  ;)  Silly guy!

This week we took out our Flip & Read Sight Word Sentences from Lakeshore Learning.  My students love them because you can make SOOOOO many sentences from just one book.  I love it because it is repetitive and the students feel proud because they are reading. :) 

Aaaannnnnnd...... for the fun of it, I'm discounting my top three FAVORITE products in my store....  50% off!  Today and tomorrow ONLY!  Click on any of the pictures below to check them out! 

#1 - Print & Go CVC Words GALORE!

45 pages of coloring, cutting, gluing, reading, and writing CVC words!  

ONLY $3.00 today and tomorrow!

#2 - CVC Cut & Paste Flap Books

9 Cut & Paste Flap Books for only $1.25 today and tomorrow! :) :)

#3 - Fluency Cards (long e words, spelled ee/ea)

40 Fluency Cards that have sentences with long e words (spelled ea, ee)!  

Only $1.00 today and tomorrow!

Make sure you stop by my store and check out the 2 day deals on my 3 favorite products!  Don't forget to follow me for more sales and freebies!

Now it's time to link up with Teaching Trio for one of my FAVORITE weekly linkies! :) SUNDAY SCOOP!

Ok, the weekend is almost over and it's time to plan, plan, plan for our fun Valentine's week! :) 

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Check Out My Sub Tub!

Well, my sub tub is finalllllllly done.  I find myself adding, revamping, and changing it constantly though.

Here's what she looks like!

Wanna read all about it? 

I put it into a plastic hanging file storage container.  All of the content areas are in their own file and their own hanging file folder.  Let me tell you.... it is jam packed.  I can't fit the lid on it because of my tall binder. 

About that binder... I put all of the important information in it. 

It has our daily schedule....

Extra info and procedures, safety drill information, information about some of my "special" kids, etc.

Okay, back to the actual tub... each file folder has a page in a page protector that gives an overview of the content area.  It also lists extra time-filler activities for each subject.  Here are some examples:

Here are my Reading plans.   I added a few books with activities - most with worksheets or activities that review story elements or sequencing.

Here are my Science Plans - Magic School Bus DVDs and books!  So simple for a sub!

I also put an extra file folder in the back that has rewards, stickers, and extra pencils. :)

I'm going to use mine for every absence - planned or not.  Do you have a sub tub?  Do you use it for every absence?

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I Want Thousands!

I want to be one of those super teacher bloggers who has thousands of followers.... with my blog, on Facebook, on Instagram, on Pinterest, and on TpT!

Let's start small.  :)  Wanna help me out by liking me on Facebook?!

K, that's all folks!

Have an awesome Thursday!

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My Best Yet!

OMG.  I did it.  I made my favorite, BEST, biggest product!

Let's start this with... I'm cheap.  It took me about 3 years to branch out and buy a big pack of CVC clipart.  But, I did it.  I am SO happy I did!  The clipart from Miss Laura got my creative juices f-l-o-w-i-n-g.

I wish I made this product months ago when my struggling readers needed LOTS of work with CVC words.   There's always next year though, right?!

There are so many PRINT & GO pages - lots of cutting, gluing, reading, and writing!  One of my favorite things about these printables is that all of the pictures are black and white.  That gives my early finishers something to do! :) :)  Happy teacher!

Click either picture to check out this 45 page PRINT & GO CVC pack! :)  P.S.. it's one product... I just wanted to show how many pages were included so I have 2 preview pages! ;)

Ahhhh I love it!

Have a great day!

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Snow Day Productivity! {+little freebie!}

We got some pretty crazy snow Sunday into Monday - which gave us a snow day on Monday! :)

I love a good snow day.... especially when it stops snowing and you can run out and get some errands done.  That's exactly what I did!

I went to Target and got some of those alphabet conversation hearts that I've been seeing on other blogs and instagram.

Can I be honest?  I'm not that happy with them.  Just peeking into the bag, the letters are very hard to read and some of them are just plain sloppy.  Maybe they'll improve them for next year?  Or maybe I only saw the yucky ones and there are great ones in the bag?  Who knows.

Oh well, I have to find something to do with them. :) :)

Then I got home and got to work!  I printed out and laminated my new fluency cards!  :)  These cards have long e words, spelled ee/ea.  I use these as a warm-up game in Reading groups.  It gives my students lots of practice reading long e words in context.  And, what kid doesn't love a good "game"?  Click the picture if you want to check them out!

I made new fluency strips with long e words, too! Click the pic to check them out! I put these on a ring and my early finishers can grab the ring to practice reading sentences fluently! :)

And since you've stuck with me through this long {maybe a little boring} post, here is a freebie!  Use these papers to make your products and projects pretty! :)

Happy Tuesday! :)

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