I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs!  This week started out slow...but has gone by so quickly!!!  I'm so excited to have a long weekend with my family!  We will be traveling, so that will be even more fun :)

We have family nights twice a year....I went to a meeting where 20 schools shared their family engagement activities.  It was awesome...talk about amazing collaboration.  I believe our school's next event will be a Zainy, Brainy, Game Night!  The teacher's will play games with families and we'll have lots of door prizes!!!  I love this game for vocabulary development :)

We are headed to Union Station on Sunday!  This is one of my son's favorite places on earth!  They have a children's museum, plus trains are always going by!

I'm always afraid to try new candles.  It is like I have this commitment phobia :) I LOVE Pumpkin Cupcake.  It has the perfect blend of home baked goodness (which I fail miserably at attempting) and spice :) 

We are leveling!! It is not a quick process, but it does provide amazing data.  We are doing the entire school, and the goal is to be done by Sept. 12.  However some grades are already done.  I think we will be done by next Friday!

My friend has this in her family room....it made me smile, and I need to order it!!!!

Read more »

Literacy Without Worksheets

I love having a Pocket Chart Workstation.  They can easily be switched out to match the skills students are being taught.  The Pocket Chart Workstation is perfect in conjunction with a Learning Log.

Students keep track of their activities in their Learning Logs.  I learned about Learning Logs (that's what the presenter called them) at a workshop from the University of Arkansas.  Each workstation gets it's own page in the log, and students always include date and the title of the workstation.  They are an easy way to keep students accountable for their workstation, without lots of paper.  Students take their Learning Log to each workstation.  As you can see in the pictures below, at the beginning of the year, students could probably put two workstations on a single page.

I usually have a basket of colored pens for students to use at the workstations.  Students love getting a choice!  I'm always surprised when they pick blue :)

Read more »

Literacy Without Worksheets

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs!  This week has gone by VERY fast!!!

I'm the new head volleyball coach for the 6th grade girls team!  I'm excited.  I'm pretty sure they were desperate... I've never played volleyball!!!  I do NOT think I'll be buying this t-shirt!! :)

I'm getting excited for college football!!! Next weekend will be the kickoff and I cannot wait.  I'm happy that the opening game is on Saturday night.  It is hard to have Friday night college football, since we live over an hour away from the stadium.  I love this map.  I'm thinking it would be an awesome gift for my husband for his birthday!

I'm getting in garage sale mode. Our neighborhood has a HUGE sale. I believe I'm going to finally sell my jogging stroller :( It has thousands of mikes and was probably my favorite baby purchase.

This week my bracelets were featured on TPTs Facebook page!  They are FREE until Sunday.

"You are awesome!" A little kindergartner told that to me this week!  That made my day!

Read more »

Literacy Without Worksheets

Tomorrow, TPT is having a special one day only sale! Don't forget to leave feedback, so you can earn more credits :)

Read more »

Literacy Without Worksheets

Parker at PJ Designs Studios did an AMAZING, AWESOME, and INCREDIBLE job!!!  I wanted something simple and clean for the start of the new school year!  I simply told him the colors I liked, and tried to explain my style to him...this is so me!! 

 

 

Here's what I specifically love about my blog:

The 1 Column Layout (very neat and organized)

The Pin It Button is ADORABLE

The colors are bright and cheerful. 

I LOVE all the PINK!!!

The fonts make me smile!

 

I need to updated my Guided Reading and Literacy Work Station Tabs :)



Read more »

Literacy Without Worksheets

I like using the Sticky App in all grades!  We've been using the free version in some literacy work stations.  It works fine for right now, but ideally, if students have to share iPads, the full version would be much easier.   If multiple students have to share an iPad, students can create their own notebooks in the app.

Unfortunately, the free app limits you to two notebooks.   I also have students take pictures of their projects and they can email it to themselves and me.

We've used it to have students practice word families.  Having students practice writing word families on regular sticky notes can get kind of expensive.  This is a great alternative. 

It can also be used to help students organize their writing.  Once students have all their sticky notes, they can drag them and arrange them into categories (or paragraphs). 

Other Ideas For Sticky Notes:

• Writing summaries
• Coding Text as Students Read Independently (What Questions They Have, New Learning, Confirming Predictions)

Read more »

Literacy Without Worksheets

I'm back to school, and am linking up with Doodle Bugs!  It has taken me two weeks to complete this blog post done!

 Two weeks ago, we had the most amazing trip to Colorado.  We hiked to the top of a mountain, we climbed on a glacier, and were able to hike to the top of some waterfalls! The weather was perfect- most days it was around 65 for a high.  

This summer, before school started, I created a document that I filled out to help me better plan my wardrobe.  I have it hanging in my closet and it was soooo worth taking the time to complete!  I went through my closet and I created a months worth of "pinterest" quality fashion outfits based on what I had in my closet.  You can download the document here!  It makes getting ready in the mornings UBER easy!  I'm not rushed, and I'm having lots of fun wearing accessories that I would totally forget to put on when I dressed in a hurry :)

 I needed an iPad cover.  The iPad cover that the school district game me didn't seem very durable. I love the colors on this one.  I was able to get it for $12.50!!!  I've noticed that prices can fluctuate on Amazon!  I think I got a great deal!

I found this quote on Pinterest and I loved it :)  It expresses my sentiments PERFECTLY about teaching!

I have crazy curly hair...I've been trying two new products that I got on sale at Beauty Brands.  I LOVE THAT STORE! We'll see which one tames my crazy mess of a hair nest! 

Read more »

Literacy Without Worksheets

There are some things you must know about me before you contine.
1) I'm already pretty organized.
2) I'm a minimalist.
3) I have to use my iPad at work
4) Before I got my planner, I used a school calendar, pocket calendar, iPhone calendar, traditional family calendar at home, weekly planning board for my children's activities, weekly menu planning board, spreadsheets to log workouts, iPhone reminders, a journal for TPT and blog ideas, and lots of sticky notes.  That's 10 different ways to keep organized!

I also can get easily stressed if it looks like I have 10,000 things to do!!

Below is how I use my EC planner.

1) the monthly planning pages are for my workouts. I plan my workouts and then record what I actually did.  On the right side I write down goals or things I want to accomplish.  This can include blogging and Teacher's Pay Teacher's products.

On the Weekly Pages I do the following:

1) I changed the Goal Section to Menu.  I use a red pen for this.

2) Morning part is for HOME and FAMILY (a good example is doctor appointments or field trips or special things need for my children to bring to school...money, snacks, etc).  These are activities that MUST be done or have a deadline.  I do this in black.

3) Afternoon part is for SCHOOL (any before/school after school meetings, special team meetings, etc).  I do this part in green (our school color).

4) Evening part are my CHILDRENS AFTER SCHOOL ACTIVITIES (sports, practice, piano, dance, Boy Scouts).  I use black again.  

Anything in pink along the bottom are weekly "to do" things, but nothing that is life or death.  Things like...send pictures to Walmart, Sams Club run, clean out front closet, etc.

I still use my iPhone calendar for MAJOR events...It is now my back-up plan :)

Every Sunday, I still update our family planning board. This way my children know what is going on.

I've eliminated the following:
Running spreadsheet
School calendar
Pocket calendar
Weekly menu planning board
Journal for TPT and Blog

I've been using it for a month and a half, and it has kept me so organized.  Looking at next week, my life gets officially crazy...football, dance, Boy Scouts, piano, and volleyball (I'm the coach)! 

Read more »

Literacy Without Worksheets

I'm still on vacation (literally), so I'm not ready for back-to-school, yet!!!   The big sale is Aug. 4-5, and with the code BTS14, so you can get up to 28% off!

*Don't forget to leave feedback to earn credits!  I need to do this!!!

I also need to go shopping, I haven't filled my cart yet!!!

Make sure to check out this awesome giveaway with Nicole & Eliceo!

An InLinkz Link-up

Read more »

Literacy Without Worksheets