Fabulous Feedback!

Who doesn't love positive feedback?  It's a wonderful thing!  Did you know you can leave feedback on your purchases from Teachers Pay Teachers?  You can!  You even receive credits for the comments you leave to use towards future purchases.  It's a win-win situation for everyone!

Sometimes buyers leave comments that say, "great" or "thanks."  While we all appreciate a good thank you, these just aren't super special.  However, there are some comments that are out-of-this-world!  These are buyers who go above and beyond and really put some thought into their comment.  As someone, who works super hard on all my products, it feels great to hear how much someone appreciates it!  It makes my heart smile!

I thought I would link up with Christina Bainbridge for her Fabulous Feedback Linky Party.  I am going to showcase the best feedback that has been left in my store.

Here are my 3 most favorite comments that I have received.  Seriously, these guys are wonderful!

 1. Writing Journal Prompts

2. Writing Mini-Offices

3. Owls in the Classroom

Do you see your TpT name on any of those comments?!  Today is your lucky day!  Leave me your email address in the comments below and you get to choose any item from my store for free!  Thank you for sharing your thoughts, you are awesome!

If your name isn't in those comments, no need to fret!  My entire TpT store will be 28% off tomorrow and Wednesday in honor of Teacher Appreciation Day.  That's right, I appreciate YOU!

Happy Shopping!

Nature's Classroom

This week I was offered an awesome teacher opportunity.  I got to accompany 120 5th graders on a 4-day, 3-night field trip.  Sounds like a great time, right?!?  Haha actually it was a lot of fun.

We got to go to Nature's Classroom, which is a residential, environmental educational program.  Basically, the students (and 8 teachers) got to live on the campus for the week and learn about science from the leaders that work at the site.  I really wish I had taken more pictures, but I have about 3, which I posted yesterday.   I'll just have to tell you about it instead!

The kids arrived at school and we loaded them onto the bus.  We loaded all their stuff onto another bus.  Yes, their luggage filled an ENTIRE school bus!  They had to bring really warm clothes since they were going to be outside for almost 12 hours each day and it's only about 40 degrees here in New England.

When we arrived at Nature's Classroom, all the leaders were there to greet us as we pulled in.  They jumped on the bus with this incredible energy.  I want to know what is in their coffee since they kept this energy up ALL week - it was amazing!  The students got off the bus and formed a line from the bus to the dorm and unloaded the luggage assembly line style.  So funny to watch!

The students were assigned "field groups."  There were about 12 students to each group and one Nature's Classroom Field Group leader.  They would meet with their field groups a few times a day to hike through the woods and learn about nature.  They learned about animal tracks and sounds, how to build shelters, how to camouflage themselves and much more!

In the afternoons, the students got to pick classes to attend.  These were also taught by the field group leaders.  They got to do the coolest experiments!  For example, there was pig, shark and turtle dissections.  One class was how to make hot air balloons (then they got to actually fly them).  In another, they got to make a maze for a rat and then tested it with a real rat - so cool!

At all the meals, there was one student in charge of each table (they signed up a for a meal at the beginning of the week).  They were called waitrons.  The waitron was in charge of bringing the food to the table (served family style) and cleaning it up when the meal was over.  If a student wanted to get up to use the bathroom or to get a drink, they had to ask their waitron for permission.  It was great to see the students have so much responsibility!  Each teacher and field group leader chose a table to sit at for each meal.  It was a great chance to interact with the students and learn about their day.

We had a great time and the kids talk about it for weeks.  I definitely didn't do it justice with this post.  If I get to go again next year, I will bring my camera and be sure to take lots of pictures!  I highly recommend this program if you are ever given the chance.

And don't forget!  Today is the start of the Spring Cleaning Sale - clean out those TpT wish lists!  My TpT store will be 20% off today and tomorrow.

My friends are also having sales!  Check out their great deals!

Five for Friday {Linky}

Yay for Friday!  And yay for a Friday off!  Since it is Friday, I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching again for Five for Friday, where I share 5 random pictures from my week.

I don't have any pictures from my classroom this week since I was out all week.  I got the awesome opportunity to go on a 4-day, 3-night field trip with the fifth graders in my district to Nature's Classroom.  If you haven never heard of it, I highly recommend it!  Tomorrow's post will have more details  but here are a few sneak peeks!

1. The motto of Nature's Classroom is IALAC - I Am Loving and Caring.  Or you can make up your own phrase to fit the acronym. I Am Learning And Curious was mine.  The teachers and leaders wore these pins all week.

2.  At Nature's Classroom, the students are constantly learning (they just don't know it).  At mealtime, the students learned about ort.  Ort is leftover food from a meal that isn't compost.  Here's a picture of our compost plate from lunch.

3. At each meal, the students got to be a waitron.  They were in charge of getting all the food for their table during that meal and cleaning up afterwards.  They loved the responsibility!

4. While the students were in their groups, the teachers had a little downtime.  We decided to go for a walk and came across a part of the town that had been destroyed by a tornado in 2011.  Most of the houses had been rebuilt, but we saw the destruction of the trees.  New England rarely gets tornados, so this was an eye-opening experience for me.

5. And last but not least, tt's time to clean out those TpT wishlists!  I'm having a Spring Cleaning Sale!  Everything in my TpT store is 20% off this Saturday and Sunday!

Happy Weekend!

It's a Game for the Big Sale!

It is Super Bowl Sunday and we are playing a TPT SUPER SUNDAY SALE GAME!! Yup! A group of bloggers have gotten together to shake things up a bit. Do you plan on shopping on Sunday? If so, check out some of the items below and see if you can win our TPT Super Sunday Sale game. 

Here is how it works. All of the resources posted below have a hidden letter in them. You can find this hidden letter on the second page of the resource. All of the letters will spell out: 49'ers or Ravens. So, for example, if you buy my Reader's Companion for Enemy Pie, you will find the secret letter "E". If you buy Valerie's St. Patrick's Day Craftivity, you will find the letter "V". Collect as many letters as you can and then root for your favorite team!! 

After the game, check to see if you have enough letters to spell out the winning team. If you do, be the first to post your name and email address AND the items you purchased that spell out the winning team. Within 24 hours all of the sellers listed below will email you one free item from their store. 

Sound easy??? Of course it does!!! Follow the links below and check out all of the items that have hidden letters. Only the items on this linky qualify. While your at it, be sure to follow these TPT stores to get updated every time new resources are added! Enjoy your Sunday, Happy shopping : ) 


4 CUPID-A Sweet Sight Word Game
9  Valentine's Day BINGO Game
E Enemy Pie Reader's Companion or, Super "e" Heroes-A CVCe Word Game, or It's About    Elapsed
    Time
R Prefix/Suffix/Root-of-the-Day-Book-and-Bundle
S St. Patrick's Day Craftivities

R Roll and Graph a President
A American Symbols Activities
V Valentine's Literacy Centers Aligned to Common Core
E Enemy Pie Reader's Companion or, Super "e" Heroes-A CVCe Word Game, or It's About Elapsed  
    Time
N Mixed Numbers Concentration/Matching Cards
S Iditarod Themed Bulletin Board Project with Student Activities and extra clip art images

Five for Friday {And a Sale}!

I have another reason to love Fridays (like I needed another reason)!  Doodle Bugs Teaching has created a Five for Friday linky party.

I like linking up and sharing my random things from the week for you!  This week, I really tried to stick to a "school theme."  Here ya go!

1. Compound words with a Scoot component!  The students had so much fun with this.  It took a few days to complete this project, but that was okay.  Day 1 was for drawing.  The students chose a compound word.  Then they drew the first part of the word on the left side of the paper and the second part of the word on the right hand side.  

Day 2 was for scooting.  I have no idea if I play this game the right way or if I am just making up my own version.  I numbered the drawings and put one on each desk.  The students numbered their lined paper and moved around the room, writing down what they thought each compound word was.  For example, here is rain+bow=rainbow:

2.  At snack time, I read aloud a chapter book.  It keeps the students calm and gets in an extra read-aloud during the day.  We usually read Magic Tree House or A to Z Mysteries.  I love leaving them hanging at the end of each chapter and they get so into it!  This week we were reading Dolphins At Daybreak and Jack and Annie have to find a pearl.  I just happened to wear my {Hawaiian} pearl necklace on the day we read it.  I was so excited to be able to share what a pearl was with my students.  {And I love anything that reminds me of Hawaii!}

3.  We go mail!  We started our postcard exchange this week and we got our very first postcards!  Okay, okay, technically I already have most of the postcards but the kids don't know that.  You should've heard their gasps when I said we had mail - so exciting!  I'll post more on that later.

4.  We started Daily 5 (read more here) this week!  Here is one of my little ones checking out the chart.  So responsible!

5.  I didn't have such a great day today.  :(  So, what's a teacher to do?  Have a good drink?  Nope, don't drink.  Have an extra large sundae?  Nope, too cold out.  Shop for clothes?  Nope, not really my thing.  Organize?  Heck yes!   I love the way Jamie Rector over at 2nd Grade Stuff has organized her room and I'm going to copy her make mine similar!  I like the book bins in my class library but none of them match.  It drives me bananas!  So I picked up these lovelies at The Dollar Tree today:

Well that was my week!  How was yours?  Go link up with Doodlebugs!

Don't forget, this weekend is the big game sale!  The Patriots are out of the Super Bowl so I may or may not be boycotting the game...  Instead I'm joining up with Teachers Pay Teachers and throwing a huge sale in my store!

                Thanks to Ashley Hughes for the graphic!

My store will be on sale February 3rd and 4th.  I plan to do a LOT of shopping as well!

It's a New Year!

Well, almost.

Jen over at The Teacher's Cauldron wants to know what are New Year's Resolutions are!

Personal Resolution:

Save some major money!  2012 was a big year for the hubs and I.

Hawaii, Disney, Georgia.  A new house.  A new car.  A new puppy.  It was a busy one!  I hope we get to have just as many experiences in 2013.  However, I am taking on the art of extreme couponing.

The hubs has even signed me up for a class to learn more!  Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Blogging Resolution:

To expand more through social media.  I want to be more active with:

Click on any of the links above to make sure I keep my resolution!!


And to end the year, I am having a 20% off sale in both of my stores!

Graphics by Aisne's Creations, Scrappin Doodles and Sassy Designs

Get it?  Sale-ing??  I know, creative.  Everything is 20% off, not just the items in the picture.

{TpT}

{TN}

Happy {almost} New Year!

Winner's Choice Giveaway - Last Day!

Yikes!  Today is the last day to enter my Winner's Choice Giveaway!  You don't want to miss out!  You get to choose over 30 items to win from some wonderful stores!  Can you say shopping spree??

Just click the picture to head on over to enter!

I also wrote two more books to add to my retelling collection!  I know my resource teacher is just going to love me now ;)  I wrote some Thanksgiving ones for her too.

These ones are winter themed!  And I really wanted to print them out and put them together to show you what they look like.  But printer is refusing to cooperate.  I blame my husband.  Just don't tell him.

There are 2 stories included as well as three retelling activities to use with your students.  Check em out!

And don't forget about the Cyber Monday plus Tuesday sale over at TpT!

I know my cart is LOADED up!  I need to make up for not shopping on Black Friday!

Cyber Monday-Plus-Tuesday Sale!

Click the picture to go my store!

Please join us in our Cyber Monday plus Tuesday Linky and our stores will offer up to 28% off our products.  TpT sellers are throwing a HUGE sale on November 26 and 27th and you don't want to miss it.  I am linking up with a fabulous group of TpT sellers and you can find all of these fabulous blogs linked up together on Michelle's blog by clicking on her button below:

Yes, it is that time of year when Thanksgiving is celebrated and "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday" become a part of our shopping.  I don't know about you but I try to stay away from any store on Black Friday and strongly prefer Cyber Monday instead.  If you are like me and enjoy Cyber Monday then come on over to my TpT store and fill your cart with things you want and have before the sale actually begins.  Here are a few of my best sellers:

Writing Journal Prompts

Writing Mini-Offices

Non-Fiction Text Features Book

Also, my Winner's Choice Giveaway is still going on!  Yes, you get to choose the prizes - over 30 of them!

Click the picture to enter!!

A Spooky Sale!

It was a last minute decision, but I will be having a {short} Halloween Sale in my TpT store!

Click the picture to check it out!

Tonight and tomorrow night only!

Happy {almost} Halloween everyone!

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!

{TpT}

{TN}