Back to School again!

Wow!  It's hard to believe we are two weeks into this year already but time flies when you're having fun!  This is our second year of team teaching and it's going great!  I've actually got the kiddos' names down already (which is amazing compared to last year...I swear I was still calling them the wrong names in December.  Of course, Lauren, had their names memorized by the second day! ha!) One day last week, one of our little guys decided he wanted to be called, "Dave" which is nowhere even close to his real name.  There was just something about him with his little face and missing front teeth that made his wanting to be called Dave absolutely hilarious and precious at the same time.

So, it's been two weeks and we've completed our milk carton communities http://simplysecondgrade.blogspot.com/2013/08/milk-carton-communities-map-skills-and.html and are moving on to directions and more mapping skills.  Lauren and I were the celebrities this last week to model what it's like to be the celebrities in our classroom (the kiddos cannot wait!).

One of the best days are always on Thursdays when they get to share 3 special items from home. Saying that, of course Thursday morning came and as soon as I got to school, I realized I had forgotten my 3 special items so I quickly scrounged around the classroom for something 'special'.   After finding and sharing my items, one of which was a gift that my mentor teacher had given me several years ago, Dave came to tell me how cool he thought it was that I had followed in my teacher's footsteps :) It was then that I realized that the very grownup name 'Dave' fit him well because he really is an insightful, old soul (even with the missing teeth!).... I have a feeling he's going to help make this year pretty memorable. Unfortunately, he's changed his mind about his new name....*sigh* :)

Bloglovin Finally!!

Better late than never, but I've linked up to Bloglovin. We'll see how it goes.

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Junie B. Jones....can you ever get enough? :)

I've been a busy bee lately working on more Junie B. Jones novel units!  I'm trying to get as much work as done as possible before my cousin's son comes to visit for 2 weeks.  It's going to be 2 weeks of trying to see as much of Oklahoma as possible - fun, fun, fun!  Anyway, I just love Junie B. - actually it may be Barbara Park that I love....I mean, how does she think of all the things that Junie comes up with??  I mean, I can honestly say I must have been a pretty boring child because I never once gave a single thought or care of what the tooth fairy might or might not do with my tooth!  As long as she left me some money, I was good to go!  So take a look at this hilarious novel and 42 page packet - Junie B., First Grader Toothless Wonder

Now, the next novel, Junie B. Jones and a Little Monkey Business was one I could really relate to - ha!  (Kind of embarrassingly :))  Let's just say I really felt Junie's pain when she found out her new baby wasn't a REAL MONKEY...  It was raining on the day my grandmother took me to visit my new daycare/preschool and I'll never forget this little girl telling me all about the 'monkey bars' that were on the playground.  I couldn't believe it!!  This school had MONKEYS!!  I couldn't sleep that night (I'm from the desert so there was no worry that it would be raining the next day) just thinking how much fun it was going to be get to play with actual monkeys!  We were going to play on bars together!  Well,  it took me about 1.5 seconds the next day on that playground to ask that little girl where in the world were those monkeys she had told me about!  *sigh* I'm pretty sure the disappointment has scarred me for life and I still think having real live monkeys out on the playground would be super cool!  But I moved on....I decided 'painting' the wooden fence with water and real paint brushes was my favorite activity (yep, I was weird...) but every once in awhile I would still look for those monkeys...(weird, I tell ya!) 

Sooo, yeah, anyhooo, take a look at my novel unit - 35 pages to go along with this fantastic story.  There's even a mini-lesson page on metaphors!  Metaphors are something all children should be taught about before they're scarred for life also :)) 

Newbie here, talkin' about GIVEAWAYS and FREEBIES, WOOHOO!

I am a newbie!  And even though it is fun, I can't help but look over at my 'followers' and see a whole ONE person and well, it feels a tad embarrassing...lol.  For instance, there is a really cool giveaway going on over to K-3 Connection (when I say cool, I mean REALLY COOL - LOTS OF STUFF - PLEASE OH PLEASE LET ME WIN!, cool....:)) and well, one of the ways to enter is to mention it on your blog...and I just have to sigh and think to myself, I hope someone reads this but as of right now, only one person will.  (One person who I happen to think is amazing and I am so lucky to have!)  So, yeah, if you come across my new newbie blog (that I promise one day is going to full of amazing ideas and hilarious stories) head on over to K-3 Connection and enter to win!  You have to hurry because there is only 5 days left....yep - 5 days!!  Wait, follow me first THEN go enter - ha!  Who knows, maybe one day I will be having my own '100 follower give away'! (fingers crossed!)

Summer Summer Summer!

Okay, okay....I know it's summer but do teachers ever really stop being a teacher?  I mean, it's kind of like being a mom...you don't get to just stop being one, right?  Even when you feel like your brain is a tad bit fried and your eyeballs are about to fall out of your head, you're still scrolling through Pinterest, reading books AND working on projects for your new Teachers Pay Teachers store!  Right??  Sooo, why don't you take a look over there ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------->>>>>>>>>>>
See it?? See that little sign that says, "PLEASE PLEASE visit my new store!"  It's a work in progress but I just posted a fun   Junie B. Jones has a Monster Under her Bed! novel study  and I'm about to post another.  I just love that little girl!

So, stop on by and check it out!  And while you're there take at look at my amazing co-teacher/friend/cohort/mentor (I could go on forever) Lauren Lynes' store!  She's got an awesome 68 page Fly Guy!  packet that is sure to get all of your early chapter book readers buzzing for more!

Happy Summer!

The Last Two Weeks....

Wow...where did the last two weeks go?  Not only did I manage to survive the last days of school, my son graduating high school (yikes!), and two weeks of relatives visiting (double yikes!) but tornadoes as well!!  (Friday night was my first time to ever be in a storm shelter....Welcome to Oklahoma!)  Now that I can breathe for a second, I just want to say that this year has been an amazing year of learning, awesome accomplishments and team teaching.  Looking back on this year just leaves me a little speechless....not because I don't have anything to say but rather, I have too much to say and I don't know where to begin!  So please stay tuned for next year - I promise it's going to be an exciting ride!

Congratulations Daniel Ray!!

P.S. Hey look!!  I finally figured out how to add that cool button that allows people to follow me! ha! Please check it out and give it a click!

The End is Near!

I have to admit that even though the end of this year is going to a painful one (we have some amazing kiddos!), we are just plain exhausted!  My awesome co-teacher Lauren and I have came up with some pretty exciting activities for our end of the year countdown and the kiddos are loving it....but I think we forgot how much energy it all takes! ha!  Only 5 more days....we can do this....I think...:)  

Minute to Win It was probably the kiddos favorite activity so far (or it could just be mine....we are still laughing!).  Here are some pics...it was a blast!

One minute to suck as many M&M's from the blue plate to the white plate.  And then they got to eat the M&M's they moved!

                                              We called this game "Bucket Head".

And she's probably going to kill me....but here is Mrs. Lynes demonstrating how to get the cracker from your forehead to your mouth....without using your hands!  Of course she made it look easy!

Definitely a great day for all!