Oh boy, it's been a while! AND a giveaway!

WHEW! It's been a long, long time since I last posted.  Those first couple of weeks of school are so tough.  And...this years class is...well, hmmm, how to say this nicely....it'll be one of those years!


I have to thank so many amazing bloggers, I used tons of your ideas in my first few weeks of school.  What have I done in the past?  I have no idea! 

I also have to send a very heartfelt thank you out to a couple of super sweet bloggers: Mrs. Mac over at First Class With Mrs. Mac and Lori over at Bee the Change, they both awarded me with a Versatile Blogger Award.  How very sweet of you both.  I feel like I should have gotten an Absent Blogger Award since I've been MIA for so long!  


So, now I need to share 7 things about myself, and then pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs.  Oh so sorry, I'm pretty boring--try not to nap yet! LOL  Here we go in no particular order...


1.  I am originally from Minnesota, Land of 10,000 Lakes, but now I live in New York, in the beautiful Hudson Valley.
2.  I am a little bit addicted to QVC. (yikes)
3.  I'm a total teacher geek, almost to the point where I feel embarrassed to talk about teaching TOO MUCH.
4.  I love baking and candy making.  Some of my friends and family are slightly addicted to my Martha Stewart Golden Caramels I make every year at Christmas.  
5.  My mom is my hero.  She is amazing!
6.  I have to have my coffee every single morning, usually brewed at home, but on Fridays I stop at Dunkin', American runs on Dunkin', and so do I!
7.  Lately Amazon has become my favorite place to shop.  They have just about every single thing you could imagine.


So, onto 15 recently discovered blogs.  Well, these aren't necessarily all recently discovered but they are some faves:

Now, to pass the award on to another blogger...Hmm, since I'm so late in responding to this post, I'm sure all of these amazing bloggers have already been awarded.  I will however say that I am giving the Versatile Blogger Award to: Doodle Bugs Teaching.   Her blog is amazing.  Great pictures, amazing ideas, it's a must visit!

 Ok, so this post is super long, I know.  But here's a little giveaway.  I just posted a couple of new Nonsense Word Fluency games on TpT and TN.  I'm giving away a copy of both of them to the winner of this giveaway.  To enter:1.  Be a follower of this blog or become a follower, and leave a comment.2.  Add my Teachers Notebook to your favorites, and leave a comment.

3.  Follow me on TpT and leave a comment.

It's that easy! Three easy ways to enter.  This giveaway will end on Sunday, October 2nd at 9:00 PM EST, winner announced shortly thereafter.  

Ordinal Numbers and Math Stations

How many of us have heard this phrase?: "If you used to teach it...you should still teach it", referring to whichever Common Core Standard is being addressed.  In my district, basically everything that used to be part of the first grade math curriculum is now part of the kindergarten math curriculum, and much of what used to be in the second grade math curriculum--is now part of the first grade curriculum.  We've undergone a big shift in our math curriculum.  Some items are even listed in our district's curriculum as  "added to close the gap in instruction".  

Ordinal numbers falls into that category for my district.  To help "close the gap" I created these ordinal numbers anchor chart posters for my classroom.  I am offering them in both my TpT Store, and my Teachers Notebook Shop for just $ 3.00.  

I am also giving away this math stations pack for a limited time.  If you download, please leave me a note. {expired} ☺This is now available on TpT with new recording sheets included.    

This past week has been a crazy week.  Our district had Superintendent's Conference on both Tuesday and Wednesday this week.  Then we had two half days on Thursday, the first day for students,  and Friday, as our district is implementing half day kindergarten this year, and they are working out the kinks.  (Due to extreme funding cuts, our inner-city school district had to cut our full day program, a truly sad cut.)  As the remnants of Hurricane Lee came through our area, we had severe flooding, which came on the coattails of the flooding from Hurricane Irene.  The flooding has been so severe, some of our families are living in homeless shelters at the moment.  Our school cafeteria was so flooded on Thursday, our students didn't get breakfast, and lunch was delivered to our classrooms in bags.  Yikes, what a start! 


I have many more pictures of my finished classroom, and I will TRY to get them posted tomorrow.  Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone!

September 11th

With the anniversary of September 11th quickly approaching, our thoughts often turn to where we were, what we saw, what we felt...that day.  My incoming first graders weren't even born yet.  I wanted to recognize the anniversary of 9/11, but I needed an activity appropriate for primary aged students.  This simple coloring page was created using graphics I purchased from scrappindoodles, and a free coloring page which I found on About.com Family Crafts.  I hope you are able to use this activity for your students. September 11

Back to School Sale!

Well, Irene left a hot mess in my classroom.  My classroom is entirely set up, which doesn't normally happen until the day before school starts,  and as luck NOT would have it, I was on task this summer.  Then a nasty mess of a storm blew through our area.  I know she was downgraded to a tropical storm as she passed through, but boy did she leave a hot mess.  I had water damage in my classroom, and huge mess to clean up!  Forgot to get pictures of my wet, crumbling ceiling tiles, as the panic attack took over and I went into clean up mode.


On the upside, the lovely Jersey Shore was spared, Wildwood Crest, New Jersey, to be exact.  Such an awesome summer getaway, and I spent the past 4 days there.  Ahhhh ☺

So now it's back to reality...Even though I'm not ready for it, summer is coming to a close.  I'm throwing a 20% off sale on every item in my TpT Store, and my Teachers Notebook Shop.  Click on over and check it out.