Are you bored on this cold Saturday night?

I don't know about you, but I've been inside for far too long and am currently experiencing cabin fever with my family. It was -6 this morning and didn't warm up very much today at all! Instead of cleaning I've been procrastinating and creating some great Teachers Pay Teachers products to use in my classroom in the next few weeks. I love being able to share what I do with all of you!

If you are a follower on my Facebook page you will see I give a lot of freebies out and hold contests almost weekly. If you aren't, what's stoping you? Check out the Facebook link over on the right. (It's a big F!) Currently there is a pin in to win it game going on that ends tonight! Pin as much as you want, for as many chances as you'd like! 

Have a great night! :)

One for ME linky!

I am linking up with my friend Tara at 4th Grade Frolics. First off, if you haven't read her great post about this linky, head over here and check it out. I seriously can relate to her post on every level. Being a hard working teacher, dedicated mother to two little ones (three if you count my husband), and a meal cooking/house cleaning wife I NEVER do anything for myself. Seriously leaving the house without a child attached to my leg or one crying in the window as my car pulls out of the driveway is almost impossible. I need more me time, I need to feel better about myself, I need my confidence back, and I need to do it for ME. I say it every year, but maybe this year I will finally get to it. I bought a gym membership and love going to zumba, yoga, and spin class, but I just need to be more consistent. My body image is my worst feature. We are headed on a family vacation to DISNEY WORLD in August and I want to feel confident and happy in the pool with my family.

So completely COPYING TARA (word for word)....

My 1 for Me is this:  Push ME up on my list this year:)  That's it.  If I do that, I know the stress will go down and the fun will go up:)  Everything will fall into place :).

To start the year off, my mom just signed us up for a color race in April. It is a 5k and I couldn't be more excited. Some of my co-worker friends are joining the team and I think it is going to be a blast. Who doesn't love running while people are throwing color bombs at you? If that isn't motivation to run, I don't know what is! I am heading back to the gym on Sunday morning for spinning and zumba. Can't wait! :)

Happy New Year!

We went back to school today, well sorta. Instead of a full Thursday and Friday, we are getting slammed with a snow storm. Sounds good to me. We really lucked out with weather in Connecticut lately. My son received a new bike from Santa and was able to ride it outside on Christmas day! There was no snow, rain, or ridiculously cold temperatures to stop us. It was awesome. In fact, the week before Christmas, the temps were up to almost 60 degrees here, so I guess we are due for some snow. Today we had an emergency weather dismissal and were out at 11:20AM. Chances are we will have a long weekend because of a snow day tomorrow. It's okay, I need some creative time and house cleaning time!

Anyways I am linking up with one of my best bloggy buddies over at Fifth in the Middle for her blogging resolution linky! Thanks Diane!  

 

I am also linking up with a new blog I stumbled upon called A Peach for the Teach (cutest blog name ever!). Brandi also has a great Resolution Linky going on!

So in my one hour and 45 minutes with the students today, I started some really fun projects. Pictures and posts will be up as soon as I get back in the classroom. 

One last link up is with I have few minutes to link up with my friend Erin from I'm Lovin' Lit for her Thursday Throw Down linky. The topic is about ways to make learning more interactive. Well I don't know about your students, but mine need all the motivation they can get when it comes to editing practice. It tends to get boring .... fast! 

I am really excited to print out and laminate my "Fix the Sentence" around the room editing activity for Valentine's Day.  We've been doing these weekly in the classroom, but my students are going to LOVE the special Valentine's Day themed story I created about Freddy the Frog. 

My students LOVE wandering around the room while staying focused on work. It gives my students, who need to get the wiggles out, the opportunity to walk around while being productive.

 Check it out in our TPT store!

Christmas Questionnaire!

I love linky parties especially when they are about getting to know fellow blogging buddies better! :) I am linking up with my new friend, Michelle, over at Fabulous in First.

 

Hot Chocolate or Eggnog? 

Hot chocolate. Just the name eggnog makes me want to gag! I made the BEST hot chocolate the other night for my husband and four year old daughter with a DD K-cup, whole milk, whip cream, chocolate chips, and rainbow sprinkles on top!

Does Santa wrap presents or just sit them underneath the tree? 

In our house Santa wraps all the presents. The only thing unwrapped are the stockings and they are full of small toys, gloves, a hat, nuts, fruit, and candy. My kid are both allergic to peanuts so we probably won't go with the nut tradition. 

Colored lights or white? 

I know it's boring but I love white, it looks so pretty from the outside! Maybe one of these years I will get colored lights!?

When do you decorate? 

This was our first year hosting Thanksgiving, so I needed a little recuperation time before decorating. We just did it this past weekend (12/7) and it really put us into the Christmas spirit.

Real or Fake Tree? 

I grew up with fake trees, but my husband is dead set on real. I'd love to go to a Christmas Tree Farm and start a new tradition, but we haven't yet. Usually we just go to a man on the side of the road selling Christmas trees.

What Tops Your Tree?

Right now a start, but usually it is an angel. 

Favorite Christmas Memories or Traditions?

We always had a huge Christmas Eve celebration with family at my Grandmother's house. Now it is at my parent's house. Like I mentioned before I'd like to add the tradition of getting our Christmas tree at a Christmas Tree Farm and also go to see Bright Lights, which is a whole street of people's houses decorated with lights. 

Do prefer giving or receiving? 

Giving! Not only do I love giving, but I usually over buy for my family.

What is your favorite Christmas song? 

 I absolutely love Christmas music and in high school participated in a Christmas concert around the town daily with Show Choir or Madrigals. My favorite song is either Oh Holy Night, Ave Maria, or In the Bleak Mid Winter.

Candy Canes. Yuck or Yum? 

I'd rather have cookies or ice cream :)

Favorite Christmas Movie? 

Elf!!! 

Do you shop online or at stores?

I hate shopping in stores with crowds. I am a HUGE Amazon Prime fan.

Photo Cards, Letter or Store Bought Card? 

Photo cards. I love seeing pictures of my family and friends as well as sharing pictures of my cute kiddos. :)

Hope you learned something new about me and will consider linking up! 

SIX more days until break!

Hot Off the Press: 2013 Winter Holiday Tips and Freebies {Grades 3-6 Edition} is OUT!!

We were so excited to be included in this year's version of:

50 amazing sellers have come together to create this terrific holiday gift for you! Each page was created by a different seller and includes a holiday teaching tip and a link to a free holiday product! We hope this will be a source of many, many great activities for you and your students.

There are four books total, divided by grade level. Check them all out by using the links below:

Pre-K and K 2013 Winter Holiday Tips and Freebies

Grades 1 and 2: 2013 Winter Holiday Tips and Freebies

Grades 7-12: 2013 Winter Holiday Tips and Freebies 

This is the third annual book put together, so be sure to check it out. Sadly, I had never heard of it before this year and now that I've looked through it, I feel like I've struck gold!! 

You will find our beautiful page on the LAST page of the book (they must have saved the best for last...hahaha). 

I really hope you enjoy our holiday treat and tip!

A special thanks to Rachel Lynette for putting everything together!

Hope you are all having a great week and a wonderful holiday season!

Tried it Tuesday (Kinda): NWEA & Giveaway

I'm linking up with Holly today to share something new we've been trying at school!

We have been using NWEA MAP testing. Anyone else heard of it? It is hopefully going to give us a better understanding of exactly what our students need in order to hit our curriculum and state standards. The MAP test (Measures of Academic Progress Test) is a computer adaptive test that reacts to the way kids answer. As a student gets more questions correct, the difficulty increases. As they get more wrong, the difficulty decreases. The test matches itself to the students abilities. Pretty high tech, huh!?  The data the test gives is pretty overwhelming, but it is supposed to be very helpful.

 

(These images were just borrowed from a simple google search, not my personal student's scores, but they will give you an idea of what I am talking about.)

 

more data...

even pretty charts!

There are so many ways to look at data. If you are a data guru, you would love this assessment.

Today I was included in an all day training to help me group my students by their RIT scores through a Des Cartes to put them into more selected groups. Got that? No?....me either....well not yet. :)

Seriously, there is a lot to learn and I am on information overload right now, but I have high hopes of understanding the information more when I share my new learning with my colleagues. 

What types of assessments do you use that correlate with the CCSS?

In other exciting news...I inspired my amazing reading specialist friend, that I've mentioned many times before, Kara, start a blog. Be sure to check it out by clicking on the link below. Give her some lovin' on bloglovin too! It is under construction, but she is an amazing teacher and writer, so I'm sure it will be a great read! 

 

Also, don't forget!! Erin at I'm Lovin Lit is having one of her amazing scavenger hunts again!!! The best part is... EVERYONE WINS! If you are visiting my blog first, visit this post for more info!

Winter Planning Giveaway Stop {C-12}!!

Happy December teacher friends! Believe me, I know how fast this month is going to fly by and certainly how crazy it is going to be. I hope you can find a minute to reflect on what an amazing job you have as an educator. There aren't too many people who can do our job and do it well. Give yourself a pat on the back, take a deep breath, and have an extra coffee...Winter Vacation is just around the corner!

In the meantime...we are sooo excited to be stop on a Scavenger Hunt Giveaway where EVERYONE wins!  We are just one stop on this scavenger hunt full of amazing products!  If you want to learn how to be a part of this scavenger hunt, head over to I'm Lovin' Lit to get all of the details and begin the hunt!

For our part of the hunt, please follow our blog through bloglovin (click the image below): 

We would also LOVE it if you could follow our Teacher Pay Teachers Store for updates on Freebies and New Products (click on the image below)! 

For this giveaway we have graciously donated one of our newest and cutest, print, cut, and hang bulletin board sets! This bulletin board states "Warm Your Mind...Read" in adorable block letters. It is student work based where the students are asked to recommend a book they are reading or have just finished. I had my students write their favorite part of the book and why a classmate would like it. I also included a blank sheet of lined paper if you choose to give your students a different assignment to add to the bulletin board. Either way, it is sure to look adorable! (Click on the picture below to see more images and the listing in my TPT store.)

If you haven't checked out our bulletin board sets, you should. We have a ton, basically a few choices per month. We love changing up our student work based bulletin boards monthly, but we do it in an easy, fun way. We'd love to help you decorate your classroom or hallway and involve the students in the process!

Besides bulletin boards Robyn and I love to put together mini units based on the CCSS and our curriculum standards. Our newest product, which is perfect for the winter season, is our Gingerbread Mini Unit! Check it out! It even has a research project for the students and an easy to use rubric for you to grade with. Everything is included and it is sure to be a lot of fun!

DON'T forget, everything in our TPT store is 28% off for the next two days! :)
 

Oh and before I forget, don't miss our secret code "Frosty" for the hunt!  :)