Guess Who Came to Our Class to Play!

Did you guess? Debbie Clement from {Rainbows Within Reach} was driving through Indiana and came to see us in little ole Carmel. Our 2nd grade had a lot going on that week, but she was able to come to my room at least! The kids had such a blast. They were walking down the halls singing all week long!

Ms. Debbie (as we called her) has some amazing books that she shared with us. She taught us how to sing them and even had us using sign language as we sang. One of my favorite parts was when she asked the kids how to blow on the horn. Of course, they said "Blow on it!" So, that's what she did! I love doing this with kids. It teaches them to describe steps more completely and helps them in their writing. 

We loved learning the sign language to go with the books and really got a kick out of the giraffe head Ms. Debbie put on for the 

{Tall Giraffe} song!

We had so much fun dancing, singing, and signing.

She shared her journey of writing and illustrating a book and, of course, the kids were obsessed with how long it took her and how old she was when she wrote them. It was awesome to see how she sewed quilts and then took pictures of them to put in some of her books. Here are the books she shared with us. 

I have tons more pictures and stuff to say, but we are heading to the movies!

Okay, I'm back . . . long movie, huh? We saw Oblivion and I thought it was really good. 

To welcome Ms. Debbie, we made a red, white, and blue quilt. We added pics of ourselves (with cut and paste, of course) to show how we all come together to make our wonderful melting pot of a country. (I borrowed some pics from Debbie, since hers look so nice. If you would like to see more, just head on over to {Rainbows Within Reach} . . . There are some from other schools as well. It's very cool to see, so check {it} out!) 

It was a WONDERFUL day!

           

Brain Breaks ~ Gangnam Style!

Today, my team and I had the pleasure of visiting another teacher in our district to watch her teach math workshop. It was AWESOME! Of course, as you all know, that isn't all we got out of our visit! 

There we tons of great ideas and I'm going to share some with you another day. But for today, I have to let you know that they did some of the coolest brain breaks! Of course, I want to share them with you! I can't wait to show them to my kids! They will FREAK! Check these out!

So . . . who's gonna be the rockinest teacher in the school? That would be me . . . and YOU can be too!  

Oh yeah, and don't forget to head over to {TpT} for the big sale! I just spent $90 and most of it was clip art! (Ummmm . . . sorry honey . . . I had to use your credit card!)

          

I Love Fab Feedback! Do You?

One of my favorite parts of selling on TpT is reading all the Fabulous Feedback people have left about my products. I love knowing how you use resources for your kids. It makes my heart smile knowing that other kiddos are benefiting from products I've created for my little munchkins.

Apparently, a lot of other teacher resource creators also love reading these awesome comments. Christina Bainbridge is having a {Linky Party} that celebrates these comments. We decided to share a few of the comments that have really made us smile and that help us to keep creating. 

Here's the fun part . . . 

• Read the fab comments on this blog and see if any of the comments are ones you wrote. If one is yours, email me at hilary35t@gmail.com and tell me a single product you would like for free. 
• Click on over to the {linky party} to see who else is participating.
• Check their blog and see if any of the comments are yours. (Some people may not be offering a free product.)
• If you find a comment that you left, you may be able to score another great product. 

Okay, onto the comments . . . Here are 3 great ones from  
{my TpT store}. These are by no means all of them, but I could go on for days! 

If you would like to check out these products for yourself, just click the pics!

Don't forget to check out the other {linkys} and see what other awesome products there are out there. AND, remember that you can get an extra 10% off your {TpT} order by using the code TAD13.  Hope you have a marvelous Monday!

More Paint Stick Phonics for You!

I'm seriously in love with all the clip art that is being made now! It has helped me on so many of my new projects. I've now got paint sticks for short vowel sounds and for digraphs! I'm working on a new one for blends as we speak. I'm planning a long vowel pack and anything else I can think of!

The coolest thing is that once you have the paint sticks and notebook set up, you can just change out the pics and pages! Here's a closer look. Click the pics to stick one in your shopping cart!

By the way, I have more good news! Have you heard about the big {Teacher Appreciation Sale at Teachers Pay Teachers}. It is going to be May 7 and 8. Most everyone is having a sale, and TpT is taking another 10% off the sale price! Can't beat that! The code ID to enter in at checkout is TAD13!

Teacher Appreciation from Others-Must Read!

Well, here we are again, wrapping up another school year. It's funny how sometimes it seems like time moves so slowly (like the week before winter break) and how it really moves so quickly! I never seem to believe that it is actually May/June.

I ran across an awesome blogger Jen Hatmaker who wrote an amazing post titled {Dear Teachers Everywhere . . .} and it is definitely a must read! 

Here's a clip of the beginning of the article:

Did you read the article? I hope so and I hope all you teachers know how much I appreciate you as well. That includes:

• My mom who was a teacher and who brought her wonderful ideas home and tried them out on her kids.
• Teachers I had in elementary school who put up with my talking and fidgeting.
• Teachers in middle school who . . . Oh we all know what middle school teachers put up with . . . YUCK! Not my favorite age. BIG kudos to you all!
• Teachers in high school who put up with my antics and tied a knot in my tail when I needed it.
• Teachers in college who taught me how to teach.
• Teachers who let me into their classrooms and trusted me to student teach their students.
• Teachers who had my kids in school and who put up with their antics. Oh, and don't forget the grief their mother (me) gave you about too much homework!
• Teachers whom I've had the pleasure of teaching with for the past 28 years and who have taught me more than they know.
• Then there are the amazing administrators who really helped me move forward in my teaching and who made me feel like I was a super teacher. 

I know there are many more teachers that I am probably forgetting right now, but to all of you, I say thanks. I know it isn't what you deserve, but if I could give you the world, I would!

Happy Teacher Appreciation week everyone!

PS There is a super sale going on at Teachers Notebook this week (May 4-10). Most everyone is having a sale and TN is giving another 10% off the sale prices. You can get 30% off my products in my store too!

Thanks again!

Drum Roll Please . . . and the Winner Is!

Well, we have a winner kids! The winner is Cheryl Saoud and one lucky friend! 

I wish I had more certificates. If people realized how conferences help re-energize our love for teaching, they would make SURE we could attend these conferences EVERY year. They want us to bring up the standard of teaching? Well, FEED US!

There is a book for administrators that has the best title ~ 
If You Don't Feed the Teachers, They Eat the Students.

Check it out! (Maybe a good principal gift!)

Congratulations to you Cheryl! Be sure to stop by and say hi when you are in Las Vegas!

News Flash! The Quiet Game Really Works!

Today, we were working on some of our fun Earth Day activities and we weren't getting anything done. So, I decided to pull out the old 'Quiet Game' to move things along. Now, I know what you are thinking . . . "That only works for a short time." Well, this is how it went. 

We played by table. I have 4 tables so if someone talks at that table, they are out of the game. The winning table won 3 points ({Dojo} of course), 2nd place won 2 points, and 3rd place won 1 point. Last place didn't get any points. Now-if their table had gotten out and a child decided to talk, they lost their own {Dojo} point. You could have heard a pin drop in there! Presto! We finished our neato-keeno {Earth Day flip books} by {Anna at Simply Skilled in Second} and were ready to get our 'learn' on! Be sure to Check out Anna's other awesome flip books and enter her giveaway too!

{Ashley at Just Reed} is also have a FANTASTIC giveaway. It is like Oprah's favorite things, but all the prizes are Ashley's favorite things. She has 29 teaching resources you can win . . . some she created, and some from other awesome TpT sellers. Oh, and did I say that one of those awesome sellers is me? You can win my {Reading Record and Response Packet}as well as the other goodies! Hurry and {enter now} for your chance to win!

Calling All Kinder Friends . . . You're Gonna Want to Check This Out!

How would you like to win a free pass to the 'I Teach K!' conference in Las Vegas this July? 

Oh, and it gets even better than that! You will also win a certificate to take a friend along with you! No one wants to go to Vegas alone!

There are going to be some phenomenal speakers at this conference, too! You may be familiar with some of these names . . . {Check this out}!

Do you see anyone you know on here? {Debbie Clement} and {Deanna Jump}? Well . . . It gets better than that! {Kathleen Pedersen}, {Deedee Wills}, and{Kim Adsit} are also presenting! Wow, right? Oh, and {Ron Clark} too!!

I'm just a small fish, but I have the opportunity of presenting at an itsy bitsy, teeny weeny, little workshop. I know what you are thinking . . . why is SHE presenting at a kindergarten conference?

Did you know that my very first job was in kindergarten? I taught the little guys for 8 years back in the 'morning/afternoon' class days. I want to share some of my ideas with you . . . and I think they are sorta cool. As a matter of fact, I still use many of these ideas in my 2nd grade classroom. Organization of stations is never an easy task, but I finally think I have it down to a science! (Yeah, and now I'm heading into retirement!)

 Here's my little presentation description.

I'm a wee bit nervous, but I'm hoping I'll have the privilege of meeting lots of YOU!

If you love Las Vegas and would love to attend an amazing conference, just enter on the Rafflecopter! Oh, and remember ~ 

if you win, you take a friend! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh, and I almost forgot . . . Congrats to Kim M.! 

She won a new pencil sharpener! 

Woo hoo Kim!