Spring Break!

 I actually have a little time to blog today! Our Spring Break is this week. Hallelujah! My kids were getting on my nerves and I'm sure I was getting on theirs.

We've done a lot since I last blogged but I haven't taken many pictures. We did this little writing activity for Dr. Seuss Read Across America. We read The Cat in the Hat and then the kids responded to this question, "Would you like the Cat in the Hat to come to your house?" I found this idea and the craft idea off of pinterest or somewhere.

There were some funny ones. One said he would like him to come because he didn't want to be in a no fun house. 

This is an activity we did for I'm a Caterpillar. I created it to try to finish part 2 of my craftivities for Unit 3 to put on TPT. I finished crafts for the first half of Unit 3. However, I could NOT find the time to finish it. But I did do a craft for this story. Hopefully, I can finish the entire Reading Street series during the summer. 

 This one cracked me up! "He went to get something to eat and he got a woman."  Technically true, I guess except I told them she got a mate.

Last thing- I finished the fry phrase cards for The Dot. We did that story last week. The Dot is one of my favorites. Next week is Mr. Bones- ugh. The kids are interested in it because it's about dinosaurs but in my opinion the story is dry and hard to teach. I wonder if there is another book about Barnum Bailey that's better. Is it just me or is the story really boring? 

I posted the cards for The Dot on TPT. I did all my own clipart except for the gold frame. Here's the link. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/The-Dot-Fry-Phrases-Reading-Street-1178956

Happy Spring Break! 

Snow Day and My First Math Product!

I live in Alabama. We had an unexpected snow/ice storm Tuesday. I was lucky. I was able to get home thanks to my awesome vice principal. He drove me and another teacher. We picked up my baby girl on the way. She was the only one at daycare left so her teacher took her home. I was prepared to spend the night at school and Joy was going to stay with TyTy. They closed school at 11 but I had to stay with my kids. Parents couldn't get there. People were sliding all over the road. My husband tried to leave his job and nobody could get out of the parking lot. Then he told me how crazy it was and NOT to leave school. I stuck around until 330. Then my vice principal said he would drive me home. So I was able to get my baby girl but my husband had to spend the night at work. Tons of people were stuck on the interstate. 3 friends of mine were driving back from Selma and they had to spend the night in their car. It was CRAZY! 

Someone put this up. Walking Dead/ Birmingham Alabama Can You Tell the Difference? 

This one took me a minute. Oh yeah, it's the one with the snow! 

      Anyway being stuck at home has given me a chance to finish my first math product on TPT! I started working on this months ago and kept putting off finishing it. But finally done! Woo hoo! I made fairy tale mini flashcards. I've made others that I didn't sell because they were Batman/Spiderman and I figured they were probably copyrighted. But my kids really like those, so I decided to make cards for fairy tales.

                                    Here is a link.
 Fairytale Flashcards- mini flashcards for independent practice

          I also hit 100 followers on TPT this week! Gotta start somewhere, right? I love comments so if anyone out there is reading this and wants a free copy of the flashcards, just leave a comment below! I will send one to the first person who comments. I am trying to do one giveaway every time I post something new on TPT. Sometimes I forget.

By the way, I have insomnia tonight. I woke up at 4am and cannot go back to sleep. Why? Why? 

Unit 3 Craftivities Part 1 Finished

I just (like 5 seconds ago) uploaded my craftivities for Unit 3, Pt 1. These crafts cover An Egg is An Egg, Ruby in Her Own Time, and Jan's New Home. It took me forever to finish them. I've been busy, busy, busy. Here is the link if you'd like to check it out.

Well, I can't find the link. It must not be up there yet.

Anyway, I will give one away to the first person who leaves a comment. Just leave your email address.

Happy New Year!

It's up now. http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Unit-3-Craftivities-Part-1-1040149

Cyber Monday & Tuesday Sale

My entire store will be 28% off during the Cyber Monday & Tuesday Sale on TPT.

Spinning Plates

I can't think of a title for this post. Maybe it should be something like "I can't do it all" or "Balance is Impossible!" That's a good one. Or Pinterest may be from the devil.

Just lately I've been feeling just a tad overwhelmed, to say the least. I try so hard to do everything. I've always been that way, but it's gotten worse since I discovered all these great teaching blogs- and don't get me wrong, they are great. And helpful and full of new ideas. BUT, lately I've been wondering if reading the blogs is doing more harm than good.

I find myself feeling like I'm not doing enough anymore. I'm not making homemade applesauce for Johnny Appleseed day or carving out pumpkins or making an anchor chart every week. I don't do visual lesson plans and I can't seem to get math stations going at all.

Pinterest- this is a whole other kettle of fish. What was perfectly good enough last year no longer seems quite right. Everything has to be "cute." I love cute. But sometimes I think I'm pampering my own vanity with all these "cute" things I want to make.

I am very crafty and I love drawing and creating. Lately, though, it's becoming just too much. The other day, my bishop's wife was praying for me and she said, "you're just doing too much. It's like one of those plate spinners who has too many plates to keep spinning. Some of your plates are falling." 

She's definitely right. My plates are falling. (The housekeeping and cooking plates fell right around the first week of school and I haven't even tried to pick those back up! My poor husband hasn't had a home-cooked meal in so long, it's sad.) I just keep spinning those plates and I'm getting tired.

So, I'm going to try and reevaluate what's important in my life and in my classroom. Do I really need to make everything picture perfect? What's the best possible way for my students to learn this, not is this pinterest worthy? I just want to breathe. Take a breath. Play with my baby girl.

I love Joy. Being a mommy is one plate I just can't afford to drop. Look at that face!!

That being said, I still want to be the best teacher I can be, but I'm not perfect. Far from it. I hereby quit competing! I'll blog when I can blog and I'll make products for TPT when I have time. I love my job but it is not my life.

I read these blogs and I wonder: when do these women go home? Do they ever go home? They must have more energy than I do. I wish I could do everything I see, but it's just not possible.

Before I log off, I wanted to post some pictures from October. 

 We've been studying habitats. I don't even want to tell you how long these papers have been in the hall.

            Our Columbus Work- I have taken this down by now :)

 I bought two awesome units on Columbus from TPT. Both had books that were easy to understand and both had great activities. The kids really learned a lot. Highly recommend both units. I wish I had taken more pictures of the activities. No, wait. This is good enough. Trying to prioritize:) How easily I forget.

 http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/All-About-Christopher-Columbus-884739
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Columbus-Day-Social-Studies-History-Pre-K-and-Kindergarten-345986

So to wrap this up, I encourage all teachers and moms to quit beating yourself up. It will get done. Just find fewer plates to spin or better yet give a couple of those plates to somebody else!

Have a happy Thanksgiving!!

Spooktacular Fry Phrases Sale and Giveaway plus Max and Ruby Freebie

I created my Spooktacular Fry Phrases last October. My kids love them. I put them up on the Promethean board. It has 86 phrases that go with our series (reading street), but really any first grade class could use them. However, nobody will buy it! I don't know why because it's really cute and a fun way for them to review their sight words. It's great in center if you want to print them. 

 

So anyway, I'm having a sale for 4 days. Here is the link. 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spooktacular-Fry-Phrases-for-Reading-Street-730529

Giveaway!

I will send my Spooktacular Fry Phrases to the first 3 people who leave a comment:) Just leave your email address. 

 

Oh, and I just uploaded a grammar freebie for Max and Ruby on TPT. It's just extra practice for nouns. 

 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Max-and-Ruby-A-Big-Fish-for-Max-Grammar-Supplemental-Materials-939675

Habitats, Spooky Subtraction

Wow. I haven't been able to blog in forever. In between school starting back and keeping up with (an almost) two year old, I haven't had time to blog or finish anything for TPT. I have a couple of things I'm working on, but can never find the time to finish.
I've been buying stuff like crazy on TPT. I figure I've made some money selling my materials, so now I get to spend it, right? I bought 2 different Columbus units (no pics yet) and we've been working on those.
I love to teach science. It's hard to fit it all in with everything else. We've been studying habitats. So far, we've learned about the forest and the desert. I took a little break from the desert because our story week before last was Animal Park. It's about going on safari, so I figured it'd be a good time to learn about the savanna. I got this great savanna unit from Fluttering Through First Grade. It went perfectly. Here is the link-  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Savanna-Grasslands-Habitat-for-the-Common-Core-Classroom-245291

So every day, we talked about 1 or 2 pages from this book. I also found some youtube videos on savanna animals to show them.  Then they did some directed drawings for each page. I think they did a pretty good job! 

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We talked about carnivores so this lion is very realistic! He told me while he was drawing, "Look, Mrs. Addington, he's a meat eater!"

"We go bump in the truck" is a line from our basal   reader. One of my boys wrote this on his drawing. Love when they make text to text connections.

What else have we done since, oh say, August? Subtraction. I like to start subtraction in October so I can be Miss Take Away. Basically I go out in the hall and come back with a witch's hat and start taking stuff away. They scream and holler and go nuts. This year, they all surrounded me. I got a little scared! I know they know it's me, but sometimes they act like it's not. When I come back in, they all exclaim, "Mrs. Addington, there was a witch in here taking all your stuff!!!" 

I have a mask I wear too. 

So after I showed some problems as Ms. Take Away and we talked about the minus sign, they used these Halloween counters (erasers) that I got from Dollar Tree. 

 This is a little worksheet I made that they did the next day. The counters are little beads for making bracelets (also from Dollar Tree). Super cheap. I like them because the cubes take up so much room when they're trying to write and they knock them off their desks.

Last thing- This is something I am working on, but haven't finished. It's a set of addition drill sheets. I put them in plastic sheets so they could practice over and over. Each page reinforces ways to make that number. For example, this page has all the 10 facts plus a few others. Each page is that way.  

There is so much more that we've done, but I'll save that for later. Hopefully, I won't wait 2 months to blog next time.