Happy Holidays!!!



As I sit downstairs and wait patiently for my family to wake up, I am reflecting on the year that has flown by too quickly.
I am so grateful for many things. 
I wanted to thank all of you for being positive and helping me learn new things. 
I appreciate each one of you. 

Have a wonderful day!
5

Since the world didn't end...

I am joining up with a whole bunch of bloggers to celebrate winter.


Since I am a little late, I will be extending my sale into next week. (Tuesday)

Casey, at Second Grade Maniacs, is hosting the blog hop.


Head on over to check out all the great people having sales!!!

Everything in my TpT store will be on sale until Tuesday. :)

Happy Holidays!!!



0

Freebie Friday Photos

It's our last day before break.

Many people posted this on FB. I couldn't resist.
I think I can...I think I can!


We are having PJ/ Board Game/movie DAY!!!
YIPPPEEEE!
Wait until you see my PJs...if you love OWLS you will LOVE these!


Last photos for the season.
I can't wait to see what my kiddos write for the candy cane photos.




Looking up at the Christmas Tree. What would you see?


What is your favorite ornament? Why?


Outdoor lights are the best.

I have some freebie products coming up in the next couple days. 
Look out for them.

2

Walking Prayer Vigil for Sandy Hook

We walked.
We prayed.
We mourned.
We cried.








0

Advent Calendar Swap



I was paired up with Jennifer from Live, Teach, Create for the Advent Calendar Swap.


Of course I got the idea from Pinterest.


We adapted it a little bit.


My daughter and I made it together. We had so much fun!


We took an aluminum background and put some festive paper behind it.


We painted 25 little wooden circles in Jennifer's favorite colors and added lots of trinkets and of course the numbers. We put very sturdy magnets on the back of the circles.


We added Christmas to the top and a little tag and added a border to the top and bottom. 
I think it turned out so cute.
I hope you are enjoying it Jennifer. :)

2

A Day of Remembrance

0

Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary


0

In Our Prayers


1

Freebie Photos on a Friday (Imagine That!) and a little giveaway from me if you look for it.

I will stay with the holiday theme this week.
We have been working so hard on our How-To Books we haven't been able to do many prompts. This is one of my New Year's Resolutions.
Here are some pictures that may get your student's creative juices flowing.



If you can guess what this is, I will send you my new Christmas Unit. 88 pages with 10 activities. I will GIVE it to the first three people who respond correctly.



I hope you can use these. I can't wait to see what my little ones are going to write about.

Speaking of giveaways. Have you checked out Alison's giveaway?


WOW!!!!! Click the picture to head on over and enter!

Have a wonderful day!



12

Happy 12/12/12 and a FUN Linky Party

I am linking up with Kristen and Hadar.


A Teeny Tiny Teacher


So much fun!!!

12 Favorite Things

12. Favorite Movie


My family LOVED this movie!

11. Favorite TV series


Laugh Out Loud FuNnY!

10. Favorite Restaurant

We don't go out to eat. So, I thought I would share that our family tried a Pinterest week of dinners. They were so wonderful. We don't get much variety with our busy schedules. This forced me to cook, which I really do enjoy, and sit down as a family. 

9. Favorite New Thing I Have Tried


I have been knitting for years. My grandmother taught me to crochet when I was very young. I haven't tried it since. I picked it back up this year and have really enjoyed it.

8. Favorite Gift I Got


One of my friends started a Pandora charm bracelet for me with the little camera. I had done a senior photo shoot with her son. So thoughtful!

7. Favorite Thing I Pinned


I have become a Subway Art Junkie.
I can't stop myself!!!

6. Favorite Blog Post

I don't really have one. I have to say all the linky parties I have joined have been so much fun and I have met many great bloggers.

5. Best Accomplishment

This doesn't have to do with teaching. My best accomplishment will be on Thursday when I officially put my photography business as a DBA!!! :)


4. Favorite Picture


I have so many favorites for so many reasons. This is my favorite one from December. 

3. Favorite Memory

Our yellow lab of many years passed away this weekend. He was happiest at my parents cottage. He was ALWAYS wet!!! He didn't stop smiling though!


2. Goal for 2013

Focus on the important things.

1. One Little Word

Positive
I am going to try to be more positive this year. 
I think I have been sliding down that slippery road that we all try not to follow.
Positive, Positive, Positive


Thank you Hadar and Kristen for hosting such a great Linky. It was very fun to sit back and reflect.

4

It's a Common Core Christmas Unit

Do you need something last minute for your last two weeks before Christmas?
This is the unit for you. :)
There are TEN activities included.

Common Core Standards
ELA
1.RFS.2, 1.RFS.3, 1.L.2
Math
1.OA.1, 1.OA.4, 1.OA6, 1.MD.3

TEN Activities
Making Words Merry Christmas
Writing Paper Christmas Theme
I Have...Who Has?...
Seasonal Words/Write the Room
Syllable Sort
Roll and Record Addition
Roll and Record Subtraction
Color by Number
Number/Number word match
Time to the half hour

It's only $8 for 88 pages of activities.


Click on the picture above to check it out!

Have a wonderful day!

0

Project Based Learning Day 2

We had a week break in between the first two sessions. It was enough time for us to get our homework done and really think about our projects. 

The second day started out with us making a poster of our project.

Then we went around and did the activity "I like..., I wonder...". I did not realize how powerful this was until I sat down and reflected on my project and their critiques.

We had to sit down and look at all the sticky notes we had on our poster. 

These comments made me think more than if I reflected on it on my own.
POWERFUL!!!
These are the notes I took from my colleagues comments.

We talked about Voice and Choice and Building 21st Century Skills.
Then we were given some time to work on our projects.

I learned so much! I don't go back until January 16th. At that time, I am suppose to have almost everything done. I have a lot of work to do!

Have a wonderful day!!!






0

Project Based Learning

I have been to two out of three sessions at our BOCES for Project Based Learning.
I LOVE it! (of course I get to spend all this time with one of my favorite people)
I will talk about Day 1 today.

Day 1

We looked at the standards I wanted to teach and cover in this project. 

We looked at the things that we teach throughout the year. This needs to be a broad subject. What could we take from Social Studies or Science and merge with everything else? It doesn't have to be a specific subject. I looked at Social Studies and Science because they contain the closest thing to units that I teach. It can be any subject area and any grade level.

It was hard to settle on one thing. I went back and talked to my colleagues about what they would want. We decided on community. I searched all the Social Studies standards that would be taught in a community unit. After I settled on these, I looked at "Driving Questions". I went through many. "How can we as mayors of Cazenovia make our town better?", "What makes Cazenovia a great place to live?", etc.. I finally found a pretty good one. "How can we, as members of the Cazenovia community, make our town better?".
I am pretty sure this is the one I am going to use, but it's not set in stone.

We researched other projects. This was amazing. There are so many great things out there!
This was as far as we got on Day 1.

We had homework to really get into the heart of our project...the standards.

If you want to check out the process, we have been following the Buck Institute for Education.


Click on the picture above to check it out!

Have a wonderful day!!!









0

Photo Freebies Friday on Saturday

It is a crazy time of the year for everyone! Concerts, parties, tree lighting ceremonies, etc. etc. etc.
Don't get me wrong, I love this time of the year. It's not being home all the time...and I am a homebody!
Here are some holiday photos for you. 
I can't wait to use them this week for writing prompts.





I put the photos up on my SmartBoard. We discuss what we could write and then I send them off to write their own piece. 
They have come up with some interesting stories. 
When they finish next week, I will share some of their stories.

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post about Project Based Learning.
It is my new passion.

Have a wonderful day!
2
Back to Top