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Sunday, July 14, 2013

New Look



Hey y'all I got a brand new look!!!

I'm so excited to have a brand, new blog design made by Erin from Creating & Teaching who also does Creating & Designing
I’ve wanted a new one for a while just to keep things fresh! I LOVE the new design! 

If you ever need a new blog design Erin is wonderful to work with and great at creating exactly what you have in mind!

Well just wanted to throw out a quick blog post because I’m so pumped about my new look! It’s like getting a blog makeover!

I have a big day tomorrow. I’m going over to Disney (about 30 mins from my house) for a Kagan workshop. I plan to blog all about it this week as well as our new reading series Journeys. Next week I’ll be focusing on our new math series Go Math!

I’m getting ahead of myself and before I go on for too long.goodnight fellow bloggers!





Friday, July 12, 2013

Favorite Pins Friday!


It's Friday again already! The week goes fast when you have guests in town and fun lunch dates! 
Here are some of my favorite pins from this week: 


Favorite teaching pins: 
Daily 5 Read to Someone & Listen to Reading Packet (FREEBIE)
Daily 5 Freebie from Mel D! 


Freebie... I wish I would have seen these about 4 days ago before I created my own...lol
Another little freebie from Peace, Love, and Learning!
A Cupcake for the Teacher: Clip It! Behavior Chart {freebie}
I mean who wouldn't want to be in the hall of fame?! I think this is awesome for all those super well behaved kids who always get on blue! I know my kids will LOVE this! From Cupcake for the Teacher.
Management Tools for Teachers: Surviving the First Week of School and Beyond www.amodernteacher.com
Very cute and editable welcome to first grade information packet from A Modern Teacher.



Favorite fashion pins: 

Monogrammed Hamptons Gold Braided Wrap Bracelet
Adorable monogrammed wrap bracelet! 
Building a Wardrobe
Great guide on upgrading your wardrobe! A summer job of mine is always to clean out my closet!




Favorite food pins: 
Reese’s Pieces Soft Peanut Butter Cookies

Reese's Pieces soft peanut butter cookies! 
No-Bake Key Lime Cream Cakes -
Key lime cakes



Favorite home decor: 
8 Awesome ways to make a small room feel big
Trying to make a little bit go a long way! 
cozy bedroom | cottages and bungalows magazine
Beautiful room! Click on the picture to check out this cute bungalow house! 


Favorite quotes: 

Greatest gift

Haha Laminator review- this laminator is awesome!


Thursday, July 11, 2013

Kagan Cooperative Learning

Hey bloggers! 

I will be at the Kagan Cooperative Learning training at Walt Disney World next week. I'll be going Monday-Friday and I was wondering if any other bloggers were attending this training? 

If so I'd love to meet up with you! Just send me an e-mail! 

I'll try to debrief  you on everything I learn during this training next week. Hopefully, it will be a highly effective way to keep kids engaged, interesting, and learning cooperatively! Kagan Summer Academy 2013
Click to learn more about Kagan!

If you've ever been to a training or use this model I would love to hear more about it before I attend! 
Thanks,

Monday, July 8, 2013

Daily Schedule



Welcome to our world in first grade this year!

I'm starting to really think about the 2013-2014 school year now that it is mid July! So I thought I would take a look over my curriculum schedule. I've have the same schedule now for 4 years and this year it will be different! I've always had lunch around 11 and specials around 1:45 so a new schedule will be a big change for my first grade team. 

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday all look exactly the same but on Wednesday the kids get out of school an hour earlier and so our schedule is slightly different. The teachers still stay on Wednesday and usually have staff meetings, professional development, or work with our teams.

I love how much time we have for writing this year! It will truly make the process so much easier with first graders. It was always a struggle in the past because we had 20/30 minutes to teach and write which wasn't enough. Now we have time to teach and time for them to write. I think we'll get so much more writing done this year!


2013-2014
 Curriculum Schedule
First Grade
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
7:55 - 8:40
Planning
8:45 – 9:00
Phonics/Morning Work
9:00 – 9:30
Enrichment
9:30-10:00
Whole Group Reading Instruction 
10:00–11:05
Small Group Instruction (Literacy Centers, Guided Reading Groups)
11:05-11:45
Specials (Art, music, P.E., computer lab, library, Spanish)
11:45-12:36
Writing
12:36-1:03
Lunch
12:55-1:15
Physical Movement (fancy word for recess) 
1:15-2:15
Math
2:15-2:45
Science
2:45-3:00
Dismissal
Wednesday
7:55-8:40
Planning
8:45 – 9:00
Phonics/Morning Work
9:00 – 9:15
RTI/Silent Reading
9:15-10:45
Reading Block (Whole Group Instruction and Small Group Instruction)
10:45-11:15
Specials
11:15-12:15
Math
12:15-12:36
Writing
12:36-1:03
Lunch
12:55-1:45
Writing
1:45-2:00
Dismissal



What does your schedule look like? Do you have any questions about my schedule? Does it look similar to yours or completely different? I would love to see other bloggers schedules. 

Thanks for reading! 

Friday, July 5, 2013

Favorite Pins Friday!


Coming to you from The First Grade Parade Favorite Pins Friday! I'm so excited about this because I just loving pinning on Pinterest and getting wonderful ideas! 


So here are my favorites from this week. Some links are the pictures and some of the text. Enjoy!


Favorite teaching pins:

Subject Labels FREE!!
Free chevron classroom labels from Proudly Primary! 



Editable signs for your meet the teacher night, back to school, kinder orientation, etc.

Great signs for meet the teacher or open house. From one of my favorite blogs Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits.
Precious Parent Handbook Flip Books!
This adorable parent handbook flip book. I just found this blog through Pinterest!

Laminate and velcro name tags to desk instead of taping them. Lasts all year and easy to switch out!
Laminate and velcro name tags to desk instead of taping them. Can easily switch out and lasts all year. Why have I not already thought of this! Great idea from: 



I love the shoe racks being used like this!
This whole writing table is awesome! 
Favorite fashion pins:
Set Your Sails On Anchored Clothing



Citrine Swim
romper

Favorite food pins: 
July 4th Recipes | 12 Easy 4th of July Food Ideas | Patriotic Food



Star rice crispy treats for 4th of July

Favorite home decor pins:love this patio seating area
Lovely porch with some of my favorite colors.
Gather & Build: The Bradford Project coffee table
Love the table, couch, and hard wood floors!
 Decorating in the Dining Room
Beautiful dining room! 



Favorite Quotes: 

Love is
House on Ashwell lane: The best 4th of July party printables all in one place

Happy pinning friends! Go join up with The First Grade Parade for this fun party!
Have a wonderful weekend!






Monday, July 1, 2013

Summer Time {Wedding & Honeymoon}



It all finally happened! My wedding that is! I just got married on June 15th, 2013! Then we took a two week long honeymoon to the British Virgin Islands. It was all like a dream come true and I couldn't be happier. Let me walk you through out wedding day and tell you a bit about our honeymoon.

My husband's six year old cousin drew this picture of our wedding and handed it to be at the reception saying "Welcome to the family!" She melts my heart!


On our wedding day we had the most beautiful Florida weather sunny and breezy. We had a intimate ceremony that took place on a lawn overlooking the ocean. Our longtime friend and my maid of honor's boyfriend married us with a heartwarming and personal ceremony.













Then the guest moved to the pool deck area where they enjoyed cocktails and the view. We took as many pictures on the lawn, the beach, and around the beach club that we possible could.




A bagpiper started to play and guest moved across the street to the main clubhouse. This was where the major fun took place! We listened to touching speeches, ate delicious food, drank fine wine and champagne, and danced the night away with a funky band. Every detail was perfect from the flowers to the cake.


Our first dance to Eric Clapton's Wonderful Tonight.

It was the best day of our lives!


Then we hopped on a plane and went to BVI! We enjoyed visiting many island including Tortola, Virgin Gorda, and Jost Van Dyke. The highlights of our trip include visiting private beaches, boating, snorkeling, hiking, romantic beach dinner, gourmet picnic lunches, and spending much need time relaxing together.

The past few months we're extremely stressful leading up to the big day but these past few weeks have been worth all the effort and time.

I'm officially a Mrs. now!


I plan to be blogging a lot this summer and revamping this blog! Look for more to come! Hope you are having a wonderful, relaxing summer!