Happy Mother's Day!

This one goes out to Moms! 

I hope you have a wonderful Mother's Day! Thank you Moms for all that you do! 

If you are looking for some great books to read with your class or your own kids here are some of my favorites:

Someday by Alison McGhee is my favorite, but beware...you might cry! If you haven't read it, you have to check it out!

I am hoping I become a mom today, but we will see when baby girl wants to make her appearance! 

Again, Happy Mother's Day! Now go an enjoy your day!

Winner Wednesday! STEM Memorial Day Challenge

To keep this wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week going I am linking up with Jennifer from A Day of Glue Will Do to bring one lucky teacher the chance to win a product from my store for FREE! All you will have to do is enter your name into the rafflecopter below! EASY! :)  

The product I have chosen for you to win today is new to my store! It is a STEM Memorial Day Challenge, perfect for the end of the month. Memorial Day will be on Monday, May 25th this year. To celebrate in your classroom, I have designed a full lesson plan to teach your students about Memorial Day and a challenge to allow them to work collaboratively with other students in their class to build a free standing flagpole structure. If you aren't too familiar with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) projects, take a quick look back at my post all about using STEM projects in your own classroom {HERE}. 

Included in this STEM Memorial Day Challenge is a lesson plan and teacher preparation instructions. Also, a 5 page printable packet is included for students to help walk them through the process of designing a free standing flagpole structure with a group of students. Finally, I have also included a Engineering Design Process poster to include in your classroom! 

My students love STEM challenges because they get to collaborate with other students, build structures with fun supplies from around our classroom, and be creative inventors! Here are two examples of students working on freestanding structures:

If you would like to enter to win this product for FREE please enter below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The drawing will end tonight at midnight so make sure to enter right away! I will email this product to one lucky winner! 

If you can't wait to get your hands on this copy, visit my TPT store and grab now! Also, feel free to follow me on Facebook or Bloglovin' for other future Winner Wednesday FREEBIES and giveaway updates! Winner Wednesday happens the first Wednesday of every month thanks to Jennifer's wonderful link up!

Happy Teacher Appreciation week!!!

Secrets From The Classroom

First, Happy Teacher Appreciation Week! Thank you for all that you do each and every day to make the world a brighter place for each child in your classroom. 

Teachers are hard workers, there is no doubt about that! That's why I am so excited to have linked up with Lisa from Pawsitively Teaching and Marissa from Inspired Owl's Corner in order to bring you a giveaway to honor all of your hard work!

Now it's time to get this party started!

Secret 1: Magnetic Word Wall

In my first classroom I had a huge chalkboard in the back of my class. That year I decided to make it into an interactive word wall where my students could take down any words from the wall and take the words back to their seats. Making the word wall magnetic really helped my students because they were eager to go up to the wall and take down the words they needed. 

A few years later, when I moved into a different classroom the magnetic chalk board was out of their reach, but I put it up anyway in hopes that students would continue to use it when working on writing at their seats. However, that year I saw a drastic change in my students writing and noticed that they weren't using the the wall like my students did in years past. 

So it was time for a change. I came up with this magnetic board below using galvanized steel sheets that I found at HomeDepot. 

I bought 3 sheets and it wasn't very expensive! I then used duct tape to wrap the edges of the sheets because I wanted to make sure they weren't too sharp if my decorative boarder came off. Then I used hot glue to secure each sheet to the wall under my SmartBoard. It worked like a charm! It was easy for my students to access and it was magnetic so my words would stick to it with magnetic tape. 

I added bulletin boarder around the outside edge to clean up the look a bit, and what teacher doesn't love bulletin boarders?!?! I also used black electric tape on top to make a grid in order to keep the wall organized. But, you definitely don't have to do that in order to keep the wall up. I purchased these Polka Dot Letters and Words from Love to Learn on TPT. If you like them make sure to visit her store! 

Secret 2: Greeting Mat
Each morning I greet my students at the door. I have found it really benefits the students to start each day with this routine. By greeting them at the door I can gauge their mood, ask questions, listen to a quick story, help them transition from home to school, and show them that I care that they have arrived at school. It is one of my favorite parts of our morning routine because for 10 minutes I focus just on the students entering my classroom. I put aside attendance, homework, lunch money and all of those other parts of our morning in order to start each day with a smile and greeting for each child. 

Since I started teaching I have been using this greeting mat. I put it outside my door each morning. I stand to the side of the mat and students get to choose how they would like to be greeted by standing on one of the symbols:

• Smile= A verbal "Good Morning" from the teacher
• One Hand= A high five from the teacher
• Two Hands= A hand shake from the teacher
• Heart= A hug from the teacher

Having the students stand on the mat really helps me understand their morning and their personalities at the beginning of the year. Some students pick the same greeting each morning and others try to do a different greeting each day. However, it can be very telling how a student is feeling that morning if they usually go for smile each day but then come in one morning and stand on the heart. I love giving students choice throughout the day and this is just one way of allowing my students to make their own decisions. 

I made the mat by purchasing a cotton mat with rubber backing at Walmart. Then, I used permanent markers to draw my symbols. This baby has held up for 5 years and is still going strong! :)

Secret 3: Table Partner Team Tags for Cooperative Learning 
I love using numbers, shapes, and colors to help keep my student teams organized. I usually put my students in teams of 4 when forming desks. When I taught 1st grade though, we had trapezoid tables so I had my students in teams of 6. I always try to put my students in even number teams if possible so that they always have a partner to work with for different activities we do throughout the day. 

When I use desks I put each students team numbers on my table bins that hold supplies. However, when I used trapezoid tables I taped their team numbers down to the desk. 

So each student at a table gets a number, shape, and color. I do this so that I can quickly and easily partner students at their seats. When I assign partners I might say the following:

• "Find the same color partner at your table" (blue 1&2 partner, green 3&4 partner)
• "Find the same shape partner at your table" (triangle 1&4 partner, square 2&3 partner)
• "Even numbers partner" (2&4), "Odd numbers partner" (1&3)
• "Find the same number partner from another table" (#1 finds #1 from another table)
• 'Find the same shape partner from another table" (a square finds a square from another table)
• "Find the same color partner from another table" (a blue finds a blue from another table)

Just like that, I can quickly assign them 6 different partners! 

If I need just one or two students to do a job at their table I also say, "Number 3's from each table please collect that papers from your table". It makes assigning certain jobs to one or two students at a table quick and easy...and who doesn't love a quick set up or clean up?!?! 

I like using these table team tags more than table captains, just because it gives multiple students the opportunity to do different jobs throughout the day in order to feel more a part of our classroom.

This week I am offering these table numbers as a FREEBIE at my TPT store! I have made these table numbers in multiple colors to fit your classroom theme. I have also given you the choice to use numbers 1-6 or 1-4 depending on how you have your classroom set up with desks or tables. 

Now it's time to get this giveaway started! Remember, the more entries you have on the rafflecopter the more chances you have to win! 

Take a look at everything you could win...

One lucky reader will win this entire prize package!!!

Prize Bundle #1 Includes

Mountain Math/Language Resource of your Choice (up to $99.95)

$100 Gift Card to Teachers Pay Teachers

$50 Amazon Gift Card

Smart Class Website Designed by Flapjack Educational Resources

Pencil Sharpener by Classroom Friendly Supplies

Year-Long Writing Prompts by Mrs. D's Corner

Mentor Sentences Unit by Jivey

Dealing with Math Homework by Teacher's Clubhouse

Your Choice of Melonheadz Graphics (up to $7.00)

Growing Bundle Purposeful Problem Solving by Pawsitively Teaching

Pop Art Coloring Page for Seasons and Holidays by Art by Jenny K

Game Pack from Flap Jack Educational Resources

PLUS....$140 Gift Box of Fabulous Teacher Supplies sent to you from Amazon

We aren't finished yet....

Take a look at everything a second lucky winner will win!!!

Prize Bundle #2 Includes

Mountain Math/Language Resource of your Choice (up to $99.95)

$100 Gift Card to Teachers Pay Teachers

$50 Amazon Gift Card

Smart Class Website Designed by Flapjack Educational Resources

Pencil Sharpener by Classroom Friendly Supplies

Year-Long Writing Prompts by Mrs. D's Corner

Mentor Sentences Unit by Jivey

Dealing with Math Homework by Teacher's Clubhouse

Your Choice of Melonheadz Graphics (up to $7.00)

Growing Bundle Purposeful Problem Solving by Pawsitively Teaching

Pop Art InteractiveColoring Page for Seasons and Holidays by Art by Jenny K

Mega Task Card Bundle from Flap Jack Educational Resources

PLUS....$140 Gift Box of Fabulous Teacher Supplies sent to you from Amazon

Be sure to enter both rafflecopters for a better chance at winning one of these amazing prize bundles!

Enter to Win Prize Bundle #1 Here

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enter to Win Prize Bundle #2 Here

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You won't want to miss out on all the other great secrets being shared by successful teachers!  Be sure to check out all the other great posts below.

An InLinkz Link-up

Thank you for stopping by! I hope you have a wonderful Teacher Appreciation Week! Thank you for all that you do!

Mathematician Detectives: Discovering Clocks & Time

I had the BEST math lesson the other day and I had to share it with you! After 5 years of teaching, I finally found the most engaging way to introduce the concept of the clock to my students. I even incorporated a bit of number sense, counting, and fractions into the lesson! Sneaky, Sneaky!

So my students became DETECTIVES during our math hour. I didn't tell them that they would be learning about clocks, I simply started the lesson by telling them that the would uncover a special math tool that we use everyday! To discover the math tool they received a series of clues that led to constructing a clock out of paper, string, and snap cubes.

Here is any example of a detective envelope:

So through the series of step by step clues they started to uncover that the math tool they were discovering was round, had something to do with the number 60, and could be divided into fourths like a pizza! We also got to review skip counting by fives to make sure we evenly placed the numbers around our clocks! :) Wooooo were our math brains working!

So after being "Kid Tested and Teacher Approved" I made a few tweaks and got this downloadable PDF ready for you! I have added a "Detective Challenge Contract" to support collaboration in teams and to help students recognize that they are working together as a group rather than individually.  I have also differentiated clue cards into three groups:

• Set A: Student examine the clock by hour and half hour
• Set B: Students examine the clock by quarter hours
• Set C: Students examine the clock by 5 minute increments 

So based on the abilities and needs of your students you can have the class complete the same clue cards or put students into different groups to complete a certain set of clue cards.

We completed this activity during our one hour math block and all students worked in teams of 4 during the whole hour. However, you could also put together a detective envelope for a center if you do guided math.  We usually do guided math, but this certain day I decided to mix it up a bit and not do our normal guided math centers. My students ended math by saying "WHAT?!?! Math is over already?" because they were so engaged the whole time. Math flew by the day we were detectives! I used this as an introduction to clocks but you can also use it as a review at the end of the school year because it does touch on counting, skip counting, fractions, geometry, and measurement. I would love to hear how you end up using it, so please feel free to leave me a comment below! :)

Visit my TPT store to grab your copy before the school year ends!

Happy Teaching!

Liebster Award!

I am happy to announce that I have been nominated for a Liebster Award by Melanie at Confessions of a Kodaly Music Teacher! Thank you so much for your nomination! It means so much to me! :)

If you haven't heard about the Liebster Award, it is awarded to blogs with growing audiences. It is also to acknowledge up and coming blogs and share them with the rest of our blogging community! 

So what exactly is a Liebster? Liebster is a German word and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, pleasant, valued, and endearing.  I am so flattered to be chosen for this awesome recognition as part of the blogging community. After all, teachers are neat, sweet, and hard to beat! :)  

To accept this award I need to answer 11 questions. So it's Q&A TIME! 

1.  Why and how long ago did you start blogging?
I started my blog only a few months ago to connect with other teachers! I love sharing ideas and always find inspiration in connecting with other educators. Learning from other educators keeps me motivated. Not to mention, connecting with other bloggers benefits my students because I gather inspiration from other teachers from all over the world. 

2.  What one word sums up the heart of your blog and why?
Engagement! The ideas I share on my blog are focused around engagement! I want my students to be collaborative, creative thinkers. So when I plan lessons I try to make sure my students are communicating and collaborating with other students as much as possible. I do this to provide opportunities in the classroom that allows students the chance to practice important social skills.  I believe the more students talk about their experiences and knowledge the more they will retain information and become more accountable for their own learning. I always strive to create life long learners in my classroom.

3.  Is there something you learned late in your blogging journey you wished you knew before?
That connecting with other teachers through blogging is so empowering.  I wish I had known this earlier, so I wouldn't have waited so long to start my own blog!

4.  What is your favorite pastime other than blogging?
Spending time with family and friends, decorating, and gettin' crafty! 

5.  How many hours per week do you dedicate to your blog/TPT?
Not nearly enough time on my blog. I usually spend the majority of time on TPT products because I love creating activities for my classroom. Once I have had time to create and use my own TPT products, I finally get around to blogging about them! 

6.  What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most?
Really anything about teaching! I enjoy reading about strategies that work in other classrooms so I can reflect on how they could be used in my own classroom. I also like to get new picture book recommendations from others bloggerss. 

7.  Where does your blog inspiration come from?
My inspiration comes my own classroom. I love sharing what I have done that works well for my students. I also enjoy linking up with other educators for inspiration.

8.  Which post that you've written are you most proud of?
I think I'm most proud of my Virginia is for Book Lovers post because it was my very first blog hop! It was so energizing to connect with other bloggers from Virginia and it shed light on how much I can grow as an educator by blogging with other teachers. Not to mention, I also love the book The Adventures of Beekle! 

9.  Is there any post you have been planning to do, but have been postponing it for a while now?
I have been wanting to share about a clock activity I recently did in my classroom, so I am hoping to get to that next! I have just been busy preparing for the arrival of our first baby!

10.  What is your favorite aspect of blogging?

My favorite aspect of blogging is linking up with other bloggers through blog hops and linky parties. Through hops and linky parties I am learn from other's ideas.  As Dr. Seuss says "The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go!" Through blogging and reading others blogs I can help my students go more places! 

11.  Which idea from a blog would you like to try yourself?
I am actually getting ready to have my students work on using their senses when writing poetry this coming week, after being inspire by Carla's post at Comprehension Connection.

Now it's time to get to know some more bloggers!

I now nominate these fantastic teachers for the Liebster Award:

1. Stacy at Made with Love
2. Amy at Teach! Sparkle! Smile!
3. Julie at Creatively Crazy with Learning
4. Jayme at Teach Talk Inspire
5. Melinda at Tales of a Sassy Teacher
6. Miss M at Crayons, Pencils, and Students...Oh My
7. Mrs. Richardson at Happy Days in Fourth Grade
8. Breanna at Learning, Labs, and Lattes
9. Jessica at Row into Learning
10. Miss Giraffe at Miss Giraffe's Class
11. Christina at Whale-Come to 2nd Grade

The rules for receiving this award are to:

1. Link back to the blog that nominated you.
2. Answer the 11 questions posted by the nominator. 
3. Nominated 5-11 people (blogs with less that 200 followers) and link them in your post.
4. Contact the nominees and let them know that they have been nominated on your blog.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Nursery Sneak Peak

Yesterday, April 4th, was one month from baby girls due date! I know due dates are just estimates, but if it is accurate, baby girl could be here May 4th! :) 

To celebrate that baby girl will be here soon, why not share a few pictures of the nursery?!?! It is just about done and ready for her arrival.

If you follow me on Instagram then you already know I LOVE monograms. So with that being said... of course there had to be a monogram somewhere in the room (meaning it became the focal point, just above her crib).

Her name will be Madeleine Maria.  It just so happens that her initials are symmetrical when made as a monogram ;) We will be pronouncing Madeleine as Mad-e-lyn. Her middle name, Maria, is a middle name that has been passed down for many generations on my mothers side of the family.  So Maria is my middle name, my mother's middle name, my grandmother's middle name and so on. 

The monogram came from FromMeToYouMonograms on Etsy. I ordered it unfinished and painted it once it arrived. I was definitely happy with the quality of the monograms and highly recommend that you check out this store. 

When starting the nursery, we bought her bedding first. It is from Pottery Barn Kids, the Harper collection mixed with the Lara collection. The bumper is Lara but the quilt and crib skirt is Harper. The curtains also came from Pottery Barn Kids and is their "sailboat" cloth. 

The glider we ordered from Babies "R" Us.  It is the Kersey upholstered swivel recliner that we ordered in 'burlap'. I shopped around and I was definitely happy with this purchase! It is super comfortable and I love the burlap color.  

It took me forever to figure out what I was going to put above the dresser/changing table that we bought from Ikea's Hemnes collection. At first I was going to do a collage of different frames but after hours of searching on Pinterest, I decided to keep it simple with these three frames below. I ordered these water color prints from TheDaisyFields on Etsy. She was great, she can customize the colors in the tree to match the colors of your nursery. 

I originally saw her print with a coral tree but wanted a bit more light pink for the room. After ordering she sent me a proof and they arrived a few days later. I definitely recommend checking our her shop if you are looking for something for your nursery.

I ended up making the alphabet picture with my Cricut machine. I bought paper from The Paper Source for the background and then cut the letters out on white and silver paper.  Then I glued the letters on to the pink paper and ta-da! Of course this teacher has the alphabet in the nursery! 

I had to share this little guy... he was a gift from baby girl's Great Aunt Donna. It is an elephant chair that came from Pottery Barn Kids and she added the little bows to match the nursery! I love it! 

 And last but not least I had to add this photo...

 When I was taking all of the photos of the nursery Dillard came in and brought his pink pig, "Squeakers"! :) He wanted to make sure he got to make another appearance on the blog! 

If you have any questions about where I bought anything please feel free to comment below. I am happy to share anything about the nursery with you!

Thanks for stopping by!

A STEM Project Just in Time for Earth Day

I must admit the very first time I ever attempted a STEM lesson I was a bit nervous...but once I saw how hooked my students were I knew it was something I needed to implement more of! If you haven't heard too much about STEM, here is a quick rundown:

1. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics
2. STEM lessons provide hands-on experiences for your students that involve real world problems and students LOVE to get working right away!
3. STEM lessons are guided by the engineering design process. (see below)
4. STEM lessons incorporate 21st thinking skills such a communication, collaboration, and critical thinking.
5. STEM lessons allow for multiple right answers and provide an environment for students to generate creative solutions.

   

   Click here to get your copy of this poster in my TpT store!

One thing you must know is that sometimes students projects will fail, and their design might not work. Students may experience some disappointment but that is also when we gain those teachable moments.  When using the engineering design process in a STEM lesson, students can learn from what went wrong and make improvements to try again! 

So if you ready to try a STEM lesson in your classroom or looking for more STEM lessons to add to your collection I have one just in time for Earth Day (April 22nd)! This lesson focuses on the real world problem of littering. In this lesson students design mechanical grabbers to help their community become a cleaner, litter free place! 

Stop by my TpT Store to get your copy of this lesson.  It includes a lesson plan, teacher prep instructions and and activity lab book for your students to use throughout the challenge. I hope your students love the project, just as much as my students did! They definitely were excited about Earth Day so that they could use their grabbers to help clean up our school and teach other students about recycling!