Happy Easter!

Happy Easter to our beautiful bloggy friends!! Have a blessed day with your family and friends!
xoxo

poster from early learning hq.org

Spring Cleaning BOGO!!

Happy Saturday!!
I can't believe my break is coming to an end sooo soon. I definitely enjoyed my cuddle time with my lil girly girl and relaxation. It was too chilly to go to the beach, so we pretty much hung around the house... it's pretty sparkly clean now too. I didn't think about the stack of papers that I brought home, or the third grade number of the day pack, so I'm going to tackle them next so I can enjoy my family Easter time tomorrow.

paper by Ashley Hughes, clip art by Clip Art Cuties, frame by The Enchanted Elephant

I'd like to Spring Clean my wishlist on TPT, and I'm sure you do too!! We've put our store on sale for the whole weekend. We're even going to offer our TPT followers the opportunity to buy one get one {of equal or lesser value}. If you buy something from our store today or tomorrow, please let me know what else you'd like for FREE by emailing us at sisterteachers@gmail.com. In your email, please include your TPT user name so we can verify what you've purchased. Click the button above or below to find our store. =)

button created by Creative Clips {Krista Walden}

We've linked up with Where The Wild Things Learn, so head on over there and check out the other amazing stores who are also having sales this weekend!

We wish you all a very blessed Easter!! Enjoy your time with your loved ones! 

Five for Friday, A Freebie, and a Sale!

It's Friday which means just two and a half short days left of my Spring break... waaaaaahhhhh. I wish it was longer! The upside of going back to school is that the last marking period always FLIES by! I'll definitely miss this bunch of sweeties though...they are an awesome class.

I'm linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for her weekly Five for Friday linky!

We've also got a freebie for you, so we're also linking up with Teaching Blog Addict's Freebie Friday!! 

1. Since it's Spring Break, there wasn't any exciting classroom stuff going on this week, but I want to share something fun that we did a few days before spring break started. I didn 't get a chance to talk about it last week, so I thought I'd share today. On the Wednesday before spring break, I was formally observed by my principal. I decided to teach math instead of reading because I wanted some really good feedback about how I can improve my math teaching skills. I wanted to teach something that wasn't in our EnVision math series, yet a required Common Core skill so I decided to create my own graphing mini unit for my whole group and small groups. I made a prezi presentation to go along with my lesson. I also used fabulous centers during my independent math time created by Reagan Tunstall of Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits and Jamie Pink of Bright Concepts 4 Teachers.  My kids were awesome during the whole thing, and they really impressed me! Overall, I think my observation was a success. I haven't had my post observation conference with my principal yet, but in passing he informally said it was great. Phew!! Thank goodness it's OVER!! =) For obvious reasons, I did not take pictures of my kiddos engaged in their learning, but I did take pics of some of work that they produced.

This is a picture of the mini-unit that I created. It's kind of budget, so this summer I'll work on beautifying it and putting it up for sale in our store. 

This is a picture of work my students did during center time using Jamie Pink's Graphing Through The Year packet. My students LOVED it. There are SO many graphs to pick from, it's common core aligned and it's completely differentiated for all ability levels. I also used some of her graphs for homework that night as well. If you click {HERE} you can find her post about how she uses the packet in her classroom. =) If you click the picture below, you'll be taken right to Jamie's Bright Concepts 4 Teachers product page in her TPT store where you can purchase the packet for yourself. I LOVED using it!! Thanks, Jamie!!   =) 

During center time, I also used a super cute center called Spring Spin Tally Add created by Reagan Tunstall from her awesome Spring Centers pack which I won through a Facebook giveaway!! My kids loved the graphics and had tons of fun spinning their paperclip spinner, tallying and adding it up! I wish I could have taken pictures of them. If you click {Here} you can see how Reagan uses these centers in here class {she's got a freebie there for you too!}. If you click the picture below, you'll be taken to Reagan's product page in her TPT store where you can purchase these fabulous centers... they're for literacy AND math! Thank you for the terrific centers, Reagan... I'm looking forward to using the rest them after our break! 

2. Have you ever used a prezi presentation? OMG. Once you use it, you'll never want to do a presentation using plain old power point again!! Check them out: prezi.com!There are so many to chose from, or you could be super creative and create your own!!  I LOVE Prezi!! Here's a picture  from my observation lesson presentation... I was also able to add Jamie's anchor charts found in her Graphing Through the Year pack to this presentation! Thanks again, Jamie!!! 

3. If you read yesterday's High/Low post, you'd know that I lost my wedding ring, :-( GOOD NEWS!! I found it!! I searched my car again {really well this time} and found it under my seat! Hallelujah! It was pretty far back there and the first time I checked it must have been just out of my reach. Thank you SOOOO much for your St. Anthony prayers!! They really work! =) I'm a happy girl... and my hubby's a happy guy 'cause he doesn't have to buy me a new one! =) 

4. Check out the pretty new Vera Bradley phone case I got this week! I LOVE it!! If you know me, you know that I am a little bit OBSESSED with  ANYTHING Vera!! My purse, wallet, teacher bag, makeup case, lunch box, and a few other purses are all Vera {lots of different patterns, I don't discriminate}. It's about time my phone was Vera too. I accidentally {I swear} dropped phone with my old case last week and cracked it right in half {not an intentional break!}. So this was the perfect opportunity to buy the Vera case that I've wanted since they came out with them last Summer! Now I need a purse to match my phone... maybe some sunglasses too. Just saying.=) 

5. Here's a freebie for you!! We worked on a new digital paper pack this week just in time for your Spring creations, and wanted to give you a couple pages from it as well as a couple more frames from our Spring Swirly Frame Set! Click the picture below to find the freebie in our store.

 Click the pictures below to find both packs in our store. They're both 20% off this weekend!! =) 

On that note... you should "chick" out our store this weekend!! EVERYTHING is 20% off!! It's time to stock up and do some FUN spring cleaning of your wishlists!!!  

Thanks to Ashley Hughes for the pretty paper, Clipart Cuties for the super cute chicks and eggs, and The Enlightened Elephant for the cute frame!! 

I've blogged every day this week... it's definitely a record, so I may or may not take the weekend off! If I do, have a beautiful Easter filled with lots of love, blessings, and family! xoxo

High/Low linky

I'm linking up with Katie from Teacher to the Core for her monthly High Low linky party. I've seen this linky the past few months, but never had the time to jump on the "linky wagon". I do now! =) Gotta love Spring Break!!

click to find this linky

I'm going to start with my lows so I can end on a positive note! =) 

I lost my wedding ring! I can't find it anywhere! I am so distraught right now. It's not like it was super expensive or anything, but it's the sentiment that means the most to me. I don't wear my rings while i'm hanging around at home, so I usually just put them on my watch band. Yesterday we went out to Target and I remember placing them in my pocket as I left the house. I remember taking the rings and watch out of my pocket and putting them on in the car. The next time I actually looked at my hand I had my blue topaz ring and my engagement ring on my left ring finger, but no wedding ring.  It wasn't on my right ring finger either. I checked my car, but it's not in there. The only thing I can think of is that it might have fallen on my lap and as I got out of the car, it fell on the floor. I went back today, and checked the ground, but no ring. I'm hoping it's in a crevice of my car that I overlooked. I think it's time for some St. Anthony prayers. Please say one for me. =) ***Update: 3/29/13: I found it!! I searched my car again {really well this time} and found it under my seat! Hallelujah! It was pretty far back there and the first time I checked it must have been just out of my reach. Thank you SOOOO much for your St. Anthony prayers!! They really work! =) I'm a happy girl... and my hubby's a happy guy 'cause he doesn't have to buy me a new one! =)***

Another low is that our refrigerator kicked the bucket the other day too. We were able to save some stuff in our cooler, but not everything. Bummer. I'm waiting for a new one to be delivered right now, so my low is looking up! =) 

One of my highs was going to see Wicked at the beginning of the month. It was AWESOME!! It was so much fun to watch my lil girl enjoy her first musical. I also loved spending time with my sis and my Mom. =) 

Another high was some more family fun time with my hubby, Makenzie, Dad, Step-mom Elaine, my sis, and her boyfriend at the Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament last Sunday. It was Makenzie's first time at a golf tournament. I was kind of nervous as to how she'd behave, but she was fabulous and amazingly quiet when she needed to be. =)

 We had a great time walking around and watching lots of golfers play the first hole. We were there for a few hours before we had a crazy thunder storm with 80 MPH winds. Other than that, it was a great family weekend! We have to get lots of time in with my Dad and Elaine before they migrate back to NY. Can't wait to see them again on Sunday! =)

Link up with Katie to tell about your highs and lows of March!! =) 

Some Bunny Loves Your Blog and some Blog Lovin'!

Last week, sweet Melissa from Don't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late  gave our little blog some love through the "Some Bunny Loves Your Blog" linky party hosted by Christina Bainbridge of Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge.  My sister was here with me as I read this post and we were both giddy with excitement because of this super sweet gesture!  This linky part is such a great idea, and it's "filling buckets" all across the bloggy world! We wanted to send some love back to our bloggy friends!! This is really hard to do though because there are SOOOOOO many awesome and amazing blogs out there! We are picking two blogs... 'cause there are two of us!! =) 

We're giving love right back to our friend Melissa!! You MUST go check out her blog! She's a title 1 reading specialist in Virginia and she makes some super cute and super fun products and ideas for students in 3-5! She has some great posts about the different books she uses with her groups. About a month and a half ago I reviewed and edited {not really, they were already awesome} her St. Patty's Day literacy centers. They were great, and my kids loved using them {wish I took pics of the kids using them}!!  

We're also giving love to Smedley's Smorgasbord of Kindergarten! I absolutely love reading his blog posts.  He's witty, hilarious, super creative, and so engaging. Even though his kiddos are covered with cute little mustaches, you can tell that they are learning SOOO much and having a grand time doing it! Anyone who has ever taught Kindergarten knows that Kindergarten teachers are born, not made. It's evident that he's found his niche, and he's loving every minute of it! I also LOVE, LOVE, LOVE his crazy hats!! They're so much fun! I wish I lived in Nashville just so Makenzie could be in his class. =)



I LOVE following blogs! There are hundreds, maybe even thousands of super creative teachers with blogs out there. I follow A LOT of them. Following them isn't the easiest though. I use the reading list found on blogger. I can only use it when I'm on my computer though. Many people use Google reader, but as of sometime this Summer, it's not going to work with blogger blogs anymore. So what do we do? Follow through Blog Lovin'! I just found it yesterday, and it's already my new favorite thing! You can follow your blogs on a computer or if you have an iPhone or iPad, you can download App from the app store. It's really easy to use and to set up with your blog. I LOVE the fact that I can check out blogs where ever I go with my iPhone APP. Now, I won't miss any important posts!  So... Follow my blog with Bloglovin!
Happy Wednesday!! 

Tried it Tuesday and a little freebie!!

Our friend, Holly is hosting her first ever linky party called Tried It Tuesday! I love this idea, since I like trying new things... some are successful and some are not. =)
Back in the beginning of the school year, probably around the end of September, I came across this pin and traced it back to the original post written by Amy from What Happens In First Grade.  She explained that she uses mystery walker as a way to manage her class in the hallway. I LOVED the idea since I have some kiddos that have trouble controlling themselves once we leave our classroom.  You can find her original post about how she uses mystery walker by clicking on the picture below. 

I tried doing this idea a few different ways. First I tried remembering my mystery walkers. After three days I couldn't remember who I had and hadn't picked. Duh... sometimes I can't even remember what I wore two days ago. I can't believe I tried remembering.  Then I tried this by printing off a roster and crossing off kids as I picked them. This worked, but I'd forget to pick a kid, and then cross it off. Or I'd forget that I needed a new roster etc...  Finally, I had my hubby make a sheet of numbers inside circles {green, pink, and zebra print, of course!} and I cut them out, laminated them, and placed them in a cup labeled "mystery walker- not picked". Once I secretly picked the two walkers for the day, I'd place their numbers into a cup labeled "mystery walker- picked".  My rule for mystery walker is that I pick two kids {they each have a number} and I monitor how they walk in the hallway {to lunch, to specials, to recess, during a fire drill etc...}. At the end of the day, my students remind me to tell the class who the mystery walker was... If they did a great job, they move their clip up on my clip chart. If they didn't do a good job, I explain that the mystery walker had a hard time {staying quiet, keeping his hands to himself, walking, etc...}. That person's number stays in the "mystery walker -picked" cup until the next time around.  I don't say who the mystery walker was when they didn't do a good job because I don't want them to realize that since their number is in the "picked" cup that they won't be picked for a while, and therefor mess around in hallway. I LOVE the mystery behind it!! 

For the most part, this works like a charm. We're always getting compliments about our hallway behavior. I still have a few kids who are either completely clueless about how they walk in the hallway, or they could careless about moving their clip up on the chart. If you're having trouble in the hallway, I highly recommend this method!! =)  

Here are the numbers my hubby made. Click on the numbers to find this freebie in our TPT store! 

Happy Tuesday!! I love blogging during the middle of the day!! I could seriously be on Spring break FOREVER!! =) 

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Let's Get Acquainted... NOUNS! And some giveaways

Happy Monday!! I'm usually not a fan of Mondays, but I'm LOVING this Spring-break-Monday! I'm also LOVING Flying Into First Grade's weekly Let's Get Acquainted linky parties! I think everyone else is too! They're a big hit!!

This week's theme is the noun game! You have to name your favorite person, place, thing, and animal! Here are mine! 

This was pretty hard 'cause I have LOTS of favorite people, but my MOST favorite of all is my baby girl, Makenzie!! She is truly the light of my life. She's the kindest, sweetest, most loving, and most hilarious little girl I know. I'm so blessed to be her mommy. This is a picture from the first day of pre-k this year. I can't believe how much she's grown in these last 8 months! I also can't believe i'm signing her up for Kindergarten next week! Waaaahhhh.... I wish she would stop growing up. We have a "boo-hoo" breakfast at our school every first day of school for our kinder mommies and daddies. I get it now... {tear}

This was a LOT easier! My all time favorite place is Key West, Fl! It's SO much fun!! My husband and I decided that we'd probably have the MOST fun on our honeymoon if we just drove down there... and we DID! I hope we're able to go back this Summer. It's been 6 years since we've been there, so I think it's time!

Hello my name is Jackie, and I have a technology addiction. If I'm not on my laptop, I'm on my iPhone. God help us all if I ever get the iPad that I want! 

This pup is my old dog, Cassi. She passed away in November of 2010 at the age of 14. She was the quirkiest dog ever, but she was SOOOO sweet, and she was my first baby. She was originally my sister's dog. My sis got her the day I graduated from high school, and she was hers until she went to college. My mom couldn't bring her to her new condo when she moved, so I brought Cassi down to Florida with me when I moved here. We haven't had the heart to get a new dog yet, even though Makenzie asks us almost everyday. Maybe one day soon. 

Now for some giveaways... check them out by clicking on each picture... they're all awesome! 

  

 

Hope you liked my "nouns" and all of those giveaways!! I'm off to do something springy... maybe rake up some leaves from this past winter, or work on my 3rd grade number of the day packet. =)  Enjoy your day!! 

Let the truth be told and a 1,000 follower giveaway!

Hey Friends!!
I'm on Spring Break and I've been busy doing family things, but I wanted to let you all know the truth from the Let's Get Acquainted post from the other day and let you know about an AMAZING giveaway!
Let's recap...

1. I LOVE to scuba dive! I dive as much as I can. My favorite dive spots are in the Florida Keys!! My husband and I went scuba diving 3 out of the 6 days on our honeymoon. =) 

2. When I was in high school, I was in an award winning show choir. I also sang a solo to "What a Feeling" by Donna Summer. My show choir was kinda like Glee... but BETTER! =)

3.  When I was little, my grandparents used to take care of me for the whole entire Summer. They lived in Montauk, NY, all the way at the end of Long Island. I spent every day at the beach, and loved every second of it! 

Number 1 is the lie!! I've always wanted to try scuba diving, but haven't had the chance yet. I did go snorkeling a few times in the keys, but I definitely didn't dive too far down! 

Number 2 is so true! I thought it was better than glee... our dancing was way more intricate and there were 27 of us completely in sync. My sister was also in the same show choir when she was in high school too... SHOCKER! 

Number 3 is also true... I stayed every summer with my grandparents,{Mema and Pepa} from the time I was about 6 until I was 16. I'm so grateful for the time spent with them. There isn't one day that goes by that I don't think of them and miss them. 

SO... if you picked number 1, you were CORRECT!! There were five of you who were right, but our winner is Marissa from Wild About 1st Grade!! Congratulations, Marissa!! Stop by our store, and let me know which item you'd like! You can email me at sisterteachers@gmail.com

Do you follow Mr. Greg from Smedley's Smorgasboard of Kindergarten? If you don't already, you MUST go check him out!! He is a phenomenal teacher in Nashville with Amazing ideas and CRAZY hats! I smile every time I read his posts. His kiddos are so engaged in everything that they learn. Mr. Greg is having a HUGE GLITTERY 1,000 follower giveaway with TONS of amazing prizes from SOOOO many amazing bloggers! We're a part of it, so go check it out and enter today!! =) 

I'm off  to The Arnold Palmer Invitational golf tournament with my family for some more Spring Break FUN!! 

-Jackie- 

Let's Get Acquainted... two truths and a lie edition!

click the picture to link up with Latoya! 

I'm linking up with Latoya from Flying into First Grade again for the next FUN edition of her Let's Get Acquainted Linky Party! This week's topic is: 2 truths and a lie! Your job is to figure out which is the lie. =) I'll let you know later on this week!! 

1. I LOVE to scuba dive! I dive as much as I can. My favorite dive spots are in the Florida Keys!! My husband and I went scuba diving 3 out of the 6 days on our honeymoon. =) 

2. When I was in high school, I was in an award winning show choir. I also sang a solo to "What a Feeling" by Donna Summer. My show choir was kinda like Glee... but BETTER! =)

3.  When I was little, my grandparents used to take care of me for the whole entire Summer. They lived in Montauk, NY, all the way at the end of Long Island. I spent every day at the beach, and loved every second of it! 

Which one do you think is a lie?? Let me know... I'll chose one random person who is correct to receive an item from our TPT store!!  Please leave your email address.  =) Jackie

It's Your Lucky Day and a Giveaway!

 Top of the mornin' to ya!

Today is your lucky day!! There are tons of bloggers out there who have put their stores up for 20% off today {our sale is going to last until Tuesday}!! We're one of them, so we're linking up with Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade to tell you all about it!

{Button designed by Mrs. Wheeler with graphics provided by Mrs. Stanford, Creative Clips, Primary Paradise, and Mrs. Cupcake}

When you click the pictures, you'll be redirected to our store. Here are a few of the many items that you can find  for 20% off today through Tuesday: 

If you're a first, second, or third grade teacher, this number of the day pack will work for your class! It's based on 2nd grade's CCSS, but your high firsties or third graders who need some extra practice can surely use it! This pack comes in seven different themes, so you're sure to find one that matches the decor in your classroom!  It's my plan to have them for all grades k-5 by the end of the summer!! 

Do you create products for your own class, TPT, or TN? The frames and digital paper below would be a great addition to your collection!!

Be sure to check out Beach Sand and Lesson Plans Birthday Bash Giveaway!! Gina has featured us in her giveaway today!! We're so excited!! WOW!! 

Hope you all have a SAFE and very lucky St. Patrick's day!! If you're having a sale today, be sure to link up with Mrs. Wheeler's First Grade too! 

Slainte!