Soooo EXCITED!

I am happy, happy, happy that I can finally announce this publicly! I am so excited to announce that I am moving back to my hometown of Louisville, Kentucky and I am transitioning from a 5th grade departmentalized science teacher to a 1st grade self container teacher at a private school there!

I CANNOT WAIT!! We are closing on our house THIS FRIDAY {HOLY. MOLY!!!} And we are set to move on May 31. Talk about a tonofstufftodoinashortperiodoftime. Geez o' pete. I am finishing out my school year, where my 5th grade friends have just started their science fair project work. And I cannot wait to post about that, because the ideas that were coming out of my 10 year-olds today were ah-mazing. Once we get knee-deep into that, I will snap some pics and post away to share with my bloggy friends (if I still have any left after this year of non-posts. Ugh.)

In addition to my move {packing the house, barf}, my last few weeks of school, chasing around my adorable, sweet, very mobile 1 year-old daughter, and hanging with my main squeeze, I am frantically trying to get myself mentally prepared to teach 1st grade. That is a HUGE shift. Fifth to first?! Am I nuts?!

Lucky for me, I have always envisioned myself as a self-contained teacher {though I have truly embraced the science teacher position and LOVED every second of it} - and I already have a theme. For those of you that don't know - I have another blog {that I have TOTALLY neglected over the past 2 years} - but kept up because I knew in my heart of hearts I wouldn't be teaching science forever. It's called the Circus of Learning {it's hideous right now. don't judge.} and I am going to re-vamp it and renew it this summer. Along with my blog, I am busy every single night pumping out some very cute carnival/circus themed decor. Not that circus crap you see on the backs of Wal-Mart shelves with very outdated, musty looking yellow and red colors, but very bold, cute and FUN {not scary clown stuff} circus/carnival decor. I have a TON of stuff going on -

•  Alphabet Mini Posters that you can actually already get in my TpT shop, 
•  Supply labels - that will include a few editable ones
• Word wall letters and header
• A welcome pennant banner
• Several pennant/bunting banners
• Book basket labels
• A behavior clip chart
• An interactive calendar
• A birthday chart with an editable birthday card
• Newsletter templates for every month
• Name labels for desks
• Schedule cards 
• Job cards
• Table numbers
• Basic classroom forms - checklists, class lists, sub tub stuff, etc. 
• AND more. Lots more.

Here are a few peeks:

I've also already adopted some things from The First Grade Parade - like her cute Meet the Teacher packet stuff. I made it my own, but I DEFINITELY borrowed her stuff to get me there. :) Her stuff is amazing and I have no idea when that lady sleeps. Or eats. Or does anything for that matter. I can't share these because of font copyright stuff, but you can get an idea of what my back to school forms will look like and what they will say. I totally and completely took Cara's "What is My Child Learning in 1st Grade" sheet because it is spot on with its explanations. I'm very thankful to her for sharing such cute, professional ideas!

As you can see, I am already fully involved in the first grade teacher thing. TpT is having a massive sale today and tomorrow and I have taken FULL advantage of that to stock up my cabinets for this fall. CANNOT WAIT!!

I've also put my entire store on sale - an additional 10% off - or whatever the maximum was that I could do, so go check me out!

Science Fair posts to come in about 2 weeks!!

SALE!

TpT is having a HUGE sale on their site tomorrow thru Friday. I am so excited to also add 20% off of what they are already offering. Click here to check out my store and to take advantage of this awesome crazy deal!

Got lots of stuff in the works and just running short on time these days. Been pretty negligent of this little ole' blog, but I'm still here cranking it out. Look for a new HUGE classroom pack in the upcoming weeks. Also in the works - a GIGANTIC science fair packet, complete with a writing section that will align with Common Core. So excited to implement this event and will post more later explaining what we will be doing.

Don't forget to take advantage of the TpT sale!!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Crazy Time!

Christmas is always so hectic. Sometimes, I feel like throwing my hands up and saying "Ok, do whatever you want." Wait. That sounds a lot like what I actually did on Friday! My team had a crazy day. First, the spelling bee took an hour longer than expected. Then, our math teacher's son got sick at daycare and she had to bolt outta here to go be a mommy. With no time to get a sub. EEEK! So, the three other teachers (myself included) decided to watch a movie for the rest of the day. The kids loved it (duh) - and yet I still didn't get anything done in the 2 1/2 hours I had left in the day. How does that happen!!!???

Well, anyway - I wanted to share a couple of things. I finally got motivated and revamped my Light Unit.

I use the Carolina Biological kit for some of my experiments - but some of those lessons in that unit plan are SO advanced, I don't even understand them. I still use a lot of the lessons that are already made, but I needed something extra, something more to make it my own. So I created a vocabulary activity pack to help reinforce key ideas and terms that students learn about throughout this unit. I made some Interactive Diagrams - activities that have students completing a diagram that's started on the sheets. This helps to show me that they truly understand the concepts. I have them do these after we have learned about (and practiced with through labs) a particular concept.

I am also reviewing concepts every single day, so that they don't forget them. We do lots of little quizzes and exit/entrance slips seem to really be helping, too. These concepts are crazy - so the more I drill them in to their heads, the better off I think we'll be. 

I have to admit that this is my least favorite thing to teach because the concepts are so difficult. But I really feel like this packet is helping.  Click here to check it out on TpT. 

I love Christmastime. It's times like these that I long for a self-contained room. I see so many cute activities and fun things going on and I just get sad. :(   I know I could probably cook up some Christmas/Winter-themed science experiments, but I am already pushing it trying to get this light unit wrapped up by next Thursday, so trying to add something else that has nothing to do with light just isn't feasible for my schedule. 

Well, it's a good thing I have a kid - because I can put these creative things to use at home! I designed my own Christmas card this year and am hoping to actually get them in the mail BEFORE Christmas....We'll see if that happens. I also found a cute, cute little footprint tree. We are going to go to the paint-it-yourself store and paint a little footprint tree plate for Santa's cookies. Speaking of Santa....I also helped Mr. Claus design some letter head this year. I'm super excited for Santa to come visit us and leave a little something for my sweey itty-bitty (who won't even know what's going on...so really, is this more fore me?! Yep!!) She's been a super-duper good girl, so I know he is going to leave lots of goodies for Olivia...and Mr. Brown if he plays his cards right! 

I hope everyone is enjoying their month of Christmas!! I hope to have more goodies {and even a few freebies} before the end of the month. 

P.S. I'm linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics to show off my Monday Made It!! :)

Happy Birthday to Me SALE!

In honor of my big ole' Birthday today - I am hosting a SALE on EVERYTHING in my TpT shop!
Take 20% off of every single thing in that little store. Enjoy! Sale ends 8/7/2013. {Side note: I tried to have the sale last all week - since I celebrate my birthday all week, but alas, I digress. Not allowed per TpT.}

Sunday, Sunday, SUNDAY!

It's Superbowl time! Hooray! I love the Super Bowl. Not that I have a clue who the heck is playing or anything. But I do love the commercials, halftime show, and {especially this year} - the snacks!! One of my favorite things to do is come up with fun foods that I can makeover to at least be somewhat guilt-free. This year, my line up is Pimento Cheese Sliders (using lean ground beef...that's healthy, right?!), Buffalo Chicken Tenders {a grilled alternative to wings}, Homemade Guacamole and Salsa with multigrain chips, and maybe a little something sinful to throw off the balance. Like gooey brownies or something equally filthy-delicious.

Anyway, the point of this post is not to talk about food {although my pregnant brain would like to think so}. It's to tell everyone about the TpT Super Sunday Sale coming up this Sunday! TpT is hosting their own site-wide sale for 10% off of everything. Just use Promo Code: SUPER. PLUS,, I am hosting my own little sale for an additional 20% off!! Click here to visit my store.

Happy Super Saving!