Motivational Monday

Is Motivational Monday a thing?  If not, I'm starting it!  

Saw these on Twitter today and I think they are so important to remember, especially as teachers.  They just spoke to me today.

Hope you find them inspiring too.

It's My Birthday!

Today is officially my birthday, but it's been a great weekend for me (despite being sick).  Here's why:

1. My grandmother gave us her couch so we've created a TV room in our spare bedroom.  Our living room only fits about 3 people, so I am so excited about this!  Here's my dad moving furniture yesterday:

2. My husband took me shopping so that I could use my birthday coupons that I got in the mail.  First stop was Vera Bradley ($20 off - woohoo!).  I had finally decided on something when the sales lady asked me if I got my extra coupon.  I said no and she had me reach into a purse to pull out a random coupon.  This is what I got:

$50 off any purchase?!?  I was so excited, I almost hugged the lady!  So I obviously had to do some more shopping.  I ended up with a wristlet and laptop bag (for my new laptop) in the new Breast Cancer print.  So beautiful!

We then headed to Ann Taylor Loft to spend my other coupon.  Brand new shirt for $3?  Yes, please!

3. My husband planned a birthday dinner for me at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for tonight.  I was so happy that he planned a night out for me, but 7:00 on a Sunday night is a little difficult for this (sick) teacher.  So we decided to go out last night.  We got to The Cheesecake Factory and the wait was too long.  

So we headed to Marchetti's, an Italian place near us.  Again the wait was over an hour.  We went to the car and ordered take-out from Marchetti's instead!  It was chilly so we sat in the warm car for a 1/2 hour while they cooked our food.  And, well, the car battery didn't like that too much.  The car wouldn't start when it was time to go!  Asked the nice people next to us to help us jump-start the car and we were off!  What a night.

And Fall has officially hit New England.  It was 30 degrees out when I took the puppy out this morning - brr.  I was in the Fall mood, so I whipped up some Fall Words!

Click the pictures to check them out.

And my Birthday Sale is still going on!

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We Have A Winner! And a Sale!

Congrats to our winner, Sara V.!  Check your email!

And to continue the celebration...

Both of my stores are 20% off this weekend!

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Some of my best sellers:

Happy shopping!

RAiSE Up Your Writing Skills

Our district started an initiative called RAise Writing.  It stands for

Restate

Answer

include:

Support with Evidence

Extend

The goal is to have students use this strategy when answering a constructed response question. 

Today, I asked the students, what is your favorite season?  Here is our practice response:

Notice the colors?  They correspond to each part of RAiSE:

We have the students go back and underline each part of their response with the corresponding color.  This way they take ownership of their writing and make sure that they used each part.

They did a really good job with it today!

And for today's laugh of the day...

I have a pretty large room, so during Reader's Workshop I let the students choose any spot around the room to read...

...and this is where I find ALL of them:

Yep, squished on that small area.  Cracks me up.

And guess what?  I won the Classroom Decorating Contest!!

Thank you so so much to all who voted!  I'm so excited!

You still have two days to enter my Hobby Lobby Giveaway!

TGI{almost}F!

I May Have Promised a Freebie...

So here it is!

A vocabulary book for your students to use to keep track of all those terms they need to know for Common Core.  It works perfectly for any grade!

Get it here for free!

It also works really well in conjunction with my 2nd Grade Common Core Math Vocabulary Words.

On another note, my friends and I went apple picking this morning!  It's my favorite part of fall!

I may have spent more time taking pictures than picking apples!  If you want to see more, head on over to my photography blog, Sara.Elizabeth.

But, now it's time for dinner for me!  My wonderful husband is not only making dinner (chicken parm - yum!) but he has made oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies and apple crisp for dessert.  The house smells amaaazingg!

P.S. ~ My giveaway is still going on!  Click the picture to enter!

Sunday Smorgasbord

So I let the cat out of the bag and my co-workers now know that I create and sell products on TpT.  They offer to buy my stuff but I won't let them - they're my colleagues so they get stuff for free!  The funny thing is, now they have started making requests.  Ok by me!  So you get to see what I am making for them now.

I spent all afternoon Friday and all day yesterday working on this baby.  I was sick, so it made it that much more challenging!  We are going to be creating Math Word Walls in our classrooms.  Studies show that students who are exposed to the vocabulary in class, will perform better on tests.  And, ladies and gentlemen, isn't that what teaching is all about?  Those @#$%^& tests.  Moving on.

Here she is, in all her glory!  There are over 100 words with colorful picture definitions.

They can be picked up in either of my stores:

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Be on the lookout for a freebie that goes along with it in the near future!

Also, don't forget about my Birthday Giveaway!  Just click on the picture to enter.

And here's my Sunday randomness...

My birthday is coming up next week so my mom took me to buy a new pair of Danskos this weekend since she had a coupon (gotta love coups!)  I wanted the metallic, shiny ones but they didn't have any :(

However, there was a Dansko rep at the store and he told me about a pair that hasn't even been released yet, called Shooting Star.  He had one in his car (not a pair, just one shoe) and showed me.  And, oh goodness, I fell in love!  I had to order them because the store won't get a shipment in until the end of the month.  I found a pic online, so check em out:

How awesome are those?!  I am so excited about them!!  My students love my plain, shiny black ones, so I'm sure they will be ecstatic abou these.

It's a chilly damp day here in RI (helloo Fall) so my husband and I picked up some delicious soup from a restaurant down the street.  It is sooo good and was perfect for today.  Yum!

And it is Sunday, so that means Patriots day!  Sporting my jersey and we are on our way to my grandmother's house to watch the game.  Go Pats!

And her is my poor helper of the day:

Sad, little man had "the surgery" done this week and is stuck in the cone for two weeks.  Let's just say that Raleigh doesn't like it and neither does Mom.

If you have a 3-day weekend like me, enjoy it!

Currently...It's My Birthday Month!

So I totally missed last month's Currently.  Back to School sure was busy this year!  But I am back in business.  It's my birthday month and I couldn't miss it!

Love this book!  It's so cute.

Speaking of birthdays...go enter my Birthday Giveaway!