Pretend I'm Not Here...

I'm hanging out with Valerie today!  Go check out my post over at her blog:

All Students Can Shine

But I did want to share this with you too...sshhh...

I'm a winner!  Owl Things First was giving away some surprises from her school book fair, so I joined the fun!

She was giving away a variety of books and I got to choose which one I would like.  I chose Pete the Cat because I've heard SO much about him but have never actually read him!  How about you, are YOU a Pete the Cat fan??

In all the hullabaloo of the end of the year (7 more wake-ups), I actually forgot that I was a winner until I saw my mailman wandering around my yard with a package.  I'm not sure why he was wandering around.  Maybe he was new and couldn't find my mailbox?  Anywho, here are my winnings:

And aren't these erasers just the funnest (yeah, yeah, I know) things you've ever seen?  Let me tell you, they will not be used as erasers.  They are sitting right under my computer, looking all cute!

Now, I have a totally non-teacher question.  My hubs and I are looking to get a puppy.  As much as I want to adopt, I have a lot of allergies and it makes me nervous to not know exactly what breed I am getting.  So I've been looking into breeders but I don't want anything connected to a puppy mill.  

How do I know who to trust??  I am hitting a level of frustration.  Has anyone had any success with buying a puppy?  Any advice you can give me?  I'd love to get him over the summer so I can be home with him for awhile before I go back to school.

It's About Time!

Thank you for all your great ideas on how to make test prep more interesting!  That is another one of my favorite things about blogging.  I can post a dilemma and you guys are right there with so many different solutions!  I am very grateful.

I took a big step this weekend.  I told my family members about my blog and my TpT store.  Up until this point, the only people who knew about it were my husband and a few close co-workers.  I didn't want to say anything because I wasn't sure how they would react.  I come from a family of education professionals.  Like, principals, hs teachers, elementary teachers, school nurses, etc. - my family has 'em all!  I finally told my mom, and boy was she impressed!  She was so excited she showed my dad and both of my grandmothers right away! (if any of you are reading - hi!)

Which leads me to my next point.  My grandmother just retired from being a second grade teacher (like me!) and she is already giving me new ideas to create.  Her first suggestion? Telling time!  Such a challenge in 2nd grade!  I got to it right away with the help of graphics from The 3am Teacher.

And wa-la!

I am going to be using all the games as an end of the year review.  It's fun and educational!

Check it out!

{TpT}

{TN}

Test Preppiness

We are down to single digits!  Single digits people!  Only 9 more wake-ups till the end of the year.  And this year flew by - I can't believe it's almost over!

I have to say that I am pretty lucky that state testing doesn't exist (yet!) for 2nd graders in my state.  However, the minute they get into 3rd grade, they have to do a HUGE state test.  Seriously, can anyone think of a better time to give a major statewide test than a month into the school year?  Beginning of October my poor babies will be put to the test.  Literally.  Since Back-to-School isn't busy enough, let's throw in some bubble sheets.  Sheesh.

Needless to say, the last unit of math, reading and writing in 2nd grade is test prep.  BORING!  I need help!  What are some things that you do to spice up preparing for a test??  Any and all ideas are welcome!  Really.  I mean it.  ANY ideas.

Summer Reading

As a student, I hated, HATED summer reading.    I'm sure most students do, but, here's the thing.  I love to read!  I've always been an avid reader.  I just want to be able to choose my own books!  And now that I am an adult, I can choose my own summer reading!  I'm linking up with Clutter-Free Classroom to tell you about what I plan to have in my beach bag this summer.

I plan to re-visit these two bad boys:

I've read them both and I use pieces of both in my classroom but I want to re-read them so that I can incorporate more!

One of my biggest challenges in my class is guided reading groups.  I'm hoping to check this one out to see if it can help me in this area:

And I've heard lots of great things about The Book Whisperer so I plan to read this one as well!

And for my girly-side:

I actually just finished this one and really enjoyed it.  I want to read some of her other books!  

What are you reading this summer?  Link up with Clutter-Free Classroom to share!

Summer Fun!

Raise your hand if you are still in school.  Yep, my hand is up.  Only 12 more days though!  

I just won a gift certificate to Scrappin Doodles from Today In First Grade - yippee!  And I went ca-razzy!  I definitely have beach on the mind so I got all sorts of summer stuff!  So colorful and fun.  To celebrate the summer, I created a packet of activities and centers for students to do during these last few days.

There is a packet of word work activities as well as three different centers, which all come with cover pages and directions.

It's on sale in my TpT store right now!  It will only be on sale till tomorrow (or until I get to my computer!) so grab it quick!  

TGI {almost} F!

A Question For You

I don't have a job this summer.  By choice.  It's the first time I haven't had a summer job since high school.  And I'm excited!  Hubby?  Not so much.  I think I almost have him convinced that creating products for TpT is going to be my summer job.  Feel free to wander over to my store to help me sway him!

Anyways, since I'll have some extra time, I'm going to do some extra reading - my favorite!  This is where you come in.  I need some recommendations for professional books.  What are books that have really helped you as a teacher?  

All help is appreciated!

*Feel free to send some "non-professional" (aka read-on-the-beach) book recommendations my way as well!*

How do you spell...

Please tell me that your students ask that question just as much as mine do!  My response is always "What sounds do you hear?"  But then sometimes I get the students who are constantly asking about the SAME words.  Well, I decided to solve my own problem!  I created dictionaries for my students!  Each student has their own dictionary, which they can add words to, once they figure out how to spell it!  

I also thought this would be a great resource to add faculty and family members' names.  I've had students ask me how to spell their siblings' names...Nevaeh (Na-vy-ah)...Dulce (dul-say)...yeah, I had to ask parents for those!

My students keep their dictionaries in their desks so they are easily accessible at all times!  These would even work to create a "Class Dictionary" that all students could add to.

Check them out at my {TpT} and {TN} stores!