Five for Friday...Better Late Than Never!

Hello there! It's been a long time since I have visited my blog. I have been so busy with moving, setting up my classroom, and school starting that I just have not had the time to dedicate to my blog or my TPT store. With that being said, I am now going to try to blog more frequently now that things have settled down and we are in the swing of things at school. So here we go!

I recently ordered a Scotch Thermal Laminator when it was the Amazon deal of the day. It was quite a steal, if you ask me. It finally came in the mail! But I'm still waiting on the laminating pouches...

In  my classroom, we were reading some Splat the Cat books. These books are so funny and the students really enjoyed them! I decided to read Secret Agent Splat in order to discuss main idea and details. I then found this item on TPT...

And it was perfect! My students loved making the duck craft to go along with all of Splat's ducks. They made their "Missing" poster to go along with it. I then hung them in the hallway (sorry, no pictures). It was great to see the different ways that they decorated their ducks and it was great to see because I love ducks! They're my favorite!

Have you ever heard of Stitch Fix?!? I recently placed my first order with this website and I am super excited! It is like having a personal shopper and you don't even have to leave your house! You get to choose the styles and types of clothing that you like, place your order, and voila! The clothes come right to your door and you can also return them for free. I placed an order for my first five items and they should arrive on September 10. I will post about what I got when it gets here!

I have recently become a board game fanatic, courtesy of my husband. Among other games, our newest favorite is Power Grid. This game has many different rules, but changes each time the game is played, which makes it more fun and interesting. Even when we're only playing with each other, we can always end up with a different end result. I love games that challenge the mind, and this one definitely makes me think!

Check out the description here on Amazon! I highly recommend it!

http://www.amazon.com/Rio-Grande-Games-RGG240-Power/dp/B0007YDBLE

Stay tuned for a blog post about my new sight word strategy!!!

Have a great long weekend!

Michelle

August Currently!

Where did the summer go?! Suffice it to say I did not get anything accomplished that I wanted to over the summer as far as work goes. I wanted to spend a lot of time creating TPT products. Now I did make a few things, but not as much as I would have liked. I also joined many giveaways, which helped build my store and Facebook following, so I'm not complaining there. I guess I was at least successful in getting my store name out there.

And now, it's back to school again. I'm starting in a new school and a new grade this year so I definitely have a lot of planning to do. I am feeling nervous about all that needs to get done in the 10 days that I have before the kids come. Yikes!

Anyways, despite all of the planning and decorating that is going on in my head, I always have time for a linky party. I am linking up with Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade for the August Currently.

And here it is!

Listening - There really isn't much to listen to when you are just sitting at home working. So a little white noise is always nice too.

Loving - I recently moved into a new apartment and it is so much nicer and bigger than the one I had before!

Thinking - As I mentioned above I only have 10 days left to work on my classroom and I have a lot of resources that I want to print and laminate and cut and hang up. Phew!

Wanting - Summer went by way too fast. I had a relatively short summer this year. I ended school in the first week of June and am starting now mid-August, which is the shortest amount of summer I have ever had. I'm excited to go back, but would love a little more time to myself first.

Needing - I have SO MUCH to do in my classroom. Enough said.

Also, this year is the most amount of professional development that I will have prior to school starting. In my old position, we only had one teacher work day before school started. Now I have 5. It will be nice though to learn all the ins and outs of my new school.

How was your summer? Too fast? Too slow? Just right?

Don't forget to link up with Farley!

Michelle

Five for Friday July 11, 2014

It's been a few weeks since I posted a Five for Friday, but a lot has been going on so I thought I would share.

I recently took a trip to my local Lakeshore store and I stocked up on items for my new classroom. I decided on a chevron theme with gray, turquiose, orange, and white!

Here is my latest product! I'm so excited and proud of this product because I think it will be very useful for PreK and K teachers.

You can find it in my store here. And it's 50% off through tomorrow (Saturday, July 12)!

I've been working on the Blog Hoppin' Scavenger Hunt and having a blast! I have a long way to go though.

I bought my first maxi skirt (JCPenney)! I can't wait to wear it!

Here's a great recipe for you. I don't have a picture but it is DELICIOUS!

Yogurt Pie

1 crust (graham cracker or Oreo)

2 yogurts of your choice

1 small Cool Whip

Mix the yogurt and Cool Whip together. Pour it into the crust. Freeze the pie for a few hours before serving.

So easy and so simple! I hope you try it! My favorite flavor is raspberry yogurt in an Oreo crust. :)

Have a great week!

Michelle

July Currently!

I'm so excited to post my very first Currently! After June had already started, I realized that I had missed the June Currently, but I was so excited to post in the next one! And here it is!

Listening: There were some wicked storms that blew through the Midwest this evening and I'm hearing the last of the thunder as it rolls out of sight (earshot?).

Loving: I am loving the time I get to spend on the computer to blog or create things for my classroom on TPT. I was feeling motivated when summer started, but I just haven't been able to find the time that I was hoping for. But I'll take what I can get.

Thinking: Many wedding plans are on my mind these days as the wedding is rapidly approaching!!!!

Wanting: To be married of course!

Needing: In our freezer, we have some cheesecake pops. Oh.my.goodness. They are absolute perfection. I sure could go for one of those right about now...

4th plans: Last year I was in Texas enjoying the fireworks. This year, I will be enjoying the fireworks while at a baseball game with my parents. So exciting!

Have a great day!

Michelle

Five For Friday (June 20, 2014)

I have had quite the busy week! As you can see, I haven't posted since last week's Five for Friday. I have been traveling for a week and today was the first day that I was able to sit down and blog. Hopefully next week I can get in some other posts and join a few other linkies. We'll see. But for now, here is my Five for Friday:

I mentioned that I had been traveling. I visited 8 states since this past Saturday. I left my apartment in Indiana on Saturday and then traveled all the way down to Texas to move into my new apartment where I will be living soon!

Here are just a few of the places that I had visited.

During one of our many stops on the road, we ate at an Outback Steakhouse. I don't go there very often but they had an amazing dessert! I didn't realize I was a cheesecake person until I devoured this:

Mmmmmmm!

I'm heading out today to buy my copy of The Daily 5 Second Edition! I can't wait to read it and implement the Daily 5 in my new first grade classroom. It worked great with my kinders last year and I can only hope for the same results this year! Plus, I love reading and deepening my knowledge on various topics. The Daily 5 is one topic that I am very passionate about. I think it will be an essential part of my day.

I made peanut butter and chocolate cookies! YUM!! I must really be into food this week with all of the food posts. :)

I'm thinking I might get this adorable turquoise chevron alphabet for my classroom next year. I love chevron and I love this color. Enough said. They are by Carrie Lutz and you can find them here.

Enjoy your week!

Michelle

Another Five for Friday!

This is my second time linking up with Doodlebugs Teaching for Five for Friday! I have never linked up to the same event more than once, so this is very exciting!

I am currently in the midst of my summer reading. My first book? The Fault in Our Stars! I'm really trying to read it before I go and see the movie. I have a pretty long car trip coming up, so my goal is to have it done by the time I get back.

Last week I posted about GoNoodle and how great it is for brain breaks. This week I would like to share another computer program, Xtramath. This program is basically just flash cards that the students complete every day on the computer. The program tracks their progress and their mastery of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division facts. I have students in Kindergarten who were able to master all of their addition facts because of this program. It is a great resource for any elementary teacher or for any student who does not know their math facts fluently. Also, the best part, it's FREE! I also have students who complete the program at home. I kept a graph for the students to color every time they mastered 5% of their facts. It was a great motivator.

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of listening to Tara West's presentation on guided reading over at her blog, Little Minds at Work. It was very informative about the guided reading process and she included some great activities that can be used in your groups. I was definitely jotting down some notes while I was watching so that I could come back to them later in the summer! I highly recommend it!

I ordered my Erin Condren Life Planner 2014-2015!! This is my first one and I am so excited to use it! I can't wait to be all organized :)

I'm definitely thinking about chevron for my classroom theme next year. I wanted to go with a more decorative theme, as opposed to a topic theme, like the Kinder'garden' theme I had last year. I'm moving on to first grade, so perhaps my room could also use a face lift. Here are a couple of things that have caught my eye.

This Behavior Chart from A Cupcake for the Teacher

I absolutely LOVE this job chart from the Clutter-Free Classroom!

And, I'm even trying to make my own chevron word wall letters and possibly table numbers. Stay tuned!

Well that's it, there are my 5 for today! Until next week!

Michelle