Oops... I Did It Again!

LOL. Can I just say that I couldn't let another St. Patrick's Day go by without letting you know about my mischievous actions (INSERT EVIL LAUGH HERE)!
Let me take you back to St. Patrick's Day 2013 (when I was teaching a 1st and 2nd grade split classroom)...

Linsay over at First Grade With a Twist made this adorable St. Patrick's Day Scavenger Hunt:


We did the unit and the kids LOVED it!
They used their SCHEMA! They INFERRED! They PROBLEM SLOVED! They FOUND THE GOLD! I mean, the morning, could not have gone any better!
BUT, SOMEHOW, I MANAGED TO SCREW IT UP....
We got through our activities, then the kids started hearing small random noises here and there; in there eyes it was this guy:

but in reality it was the heating vents.
No big deal right?!
WRONG!
They were OBSESSED with these noises, so I sit them on the rug and decide to look where they told me to look.
I looked in the behind the shelves, in our bathroom, in our large closet and NOTHING.
Then a student says: "Teacher, that closet wasn't open before," as she points to my smaller closet/large cabinet.
So, of course, I tiptoe toward it and, in my quietest whisper, ask "should I check in here?!" They ALL nod "yes!"....
that's when I got my sneaky idea....
I slowly open the cabinet door and as soon as it is wide open, I let out the most blood curdling scream I can possibly do! "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Imagine 30 students with the following faces:

LOL!!! Is it terrible that I found it so freaking amusing?! I mean, I was surprised there were no wet or brown spots on my classroom rug (Thank GOD!)! Thinking about that moment still tickles my funny bone. =)
By the time lunch rolled around, I could not get them to stop talking about that darn Leprechaun so I figured that while they were out of the room, I would make the naughty Leprechaun go away by leaving a trail of tiny footprints from my trashcan to the bathroom, making it seem as though he flushed himself down the toilet...
Perfect plan right?!
WRONG!!!
When I came back from lunch, I found every single one of them looking like this:

They were crying because the Leprechaun was REALLY there! Lol.
Needless to say, my plan backfired, and I vowed never to scare them again.....

Fast forward to St. Patrick's Day 2014.....
I DID IT AGAIN!
(INSERT EVIL LAUGH HERE)

Problema Del Dia

Even on a day off, teachers work. Doesn't it feel like our brains are on work mode 24 hours a day? I was making a purchase today and saw two children not being very friendly towards one another and I tried very hard to not to say something as I would in my own classroom, but I failed miserably and had to say something about their behavior. Needless to say it stopped, but I wouldn't be surprised if one day someone decides to punch me in the throat and tell me to mind my own business. Luckily today was not that day. =)

Teaching is a disease and there is no cure..... no one is safe around us. Lol.

Anywho, Do you guys solve a daily math problem? I started doing this a couple of years ago with my Firsties and it has been very successful in my classroom (in the past).
My first year teaching first grade I didn't do this until January (when I was sure that all but a handful could read and handle their own). Last year, I started at the very beginning of the year, but only because I had a high group of 1st and 2nd graders.... we solved a problem every day until school was out.
Below are some sample images of their P.O.D. notebooks.

Not bad for Firsties, right?

Although they have been successful before, this school year I tried to implement them a bit early, but it didn't go as well as it had in the past. Maybe the problems were a bit overwhelming for the little ones due to not all of them being able to read just yet. I'm going to try a different approach this week as I make an attempt to implement P.O.D. yet again. For this purpose I made a cute little pack of Halloween themed word problems to get the excitement going.... I mean, who doesn't love Halloween, right?

CLICK HERE for a sample of this packet.
For the full product CLICK HERE to go to my TPT Store!
If you do grab a copy PLEASE leave a comment below and tell me if you like it. If it's a hit, I can try to make a pack of word problems for November.

As usual, thank you for checking out my page! See you soon, Lovely Peeps! =)

Thanskgiving =)

I'm on a roll with a second post in November... say what?!? Lol.
Happy belated Thanksgiving Bloggy Friends! I hope your Thanksgiving was Fantabulous... more than likely, you all are working off the extra pounds by doing some Black Friday shopping for yourselves, the family, and the non-related little ones. I'm sure the deals are amazing, but I value my life waaaay too much to risk getting trampled by all those crazy deal hunters.... call me crazy but I rather pay full price. =)

Top 10 Things I'm Thankful for this year...

10. My alarm clock: God only knows how hard it is for me to wake up in the morning.

9. My neighborhood Dunkin Donuts: I go there so often that when I pull up, the guy pretty much says my order before I do and I’m outta there in NO TIME.

8. Starbucks: even though they require more of my bucks, their hot latte’s are incredible and always at the perfect temperature!

7. My Pathfinder: OK, so it finds more potholes than actual paths, but it gets me to work and right back home AND keeps my bottom warm in the brutal cold.

6. Facebook: It keeps me in contact with the people that actually matter in my life, aside from my immediate family.

5. My Dog: her looks alone make people weary and I know that as long as she’s around, not only will I be “safe” but also, there will never be any leftovers.

4. My job: My coworkers continue to be amazing and my students are incredible this year… except for one or two. Lol.

3. For old and new friends both online and offline: Let's face it, as teachers we are SUPER busy and it's nice that there are people that help you stay grounded and keep you from losing your mind half of the time... it's also nice knowing that I'm not the only one going through those things. Thank you Blog friends for helping keep the sanity under control. =)

2. My family: They support my decisions and I love them for it.

1. My Incredible Little Boy: he’s makes me laugh, he’s smart, he’s talented… he’s me in a nutshell. lol.

OK, enough yapping and onto my original reason for this post...

Every month we have family projects. Our project for November was our Turkeys in Disguise Family Project. Have you had your students and their families disguise paper turkeys before? The results are AMAZING!

I usually kick off the project by reading the following book:

It's about a Turkey that knows he'll probably be eaten for Thanksgiving so he decides to disguise himself as other farm animals. It's such a CUTE book!

Then, We send home a family letter pleading to help us save the turkeys (along with the turkey template):

And TADA!!!!!!! You get the most incredible results! Some are better than others... can you figure out what they are? My favorite is the very last one! Lol.

Did you guess the last one? Lol. It's Psy... the Singer and creator of Gangnam Style!

Good Kids + Good Parents + Good Teacher = Good Combo =)

Veteran's Day!

So grateful to live in a Country with such honorable men and women that serve and protect us! We are truly blessed!
In honor of Veteran's Day, I created a worksheet for my kiddo's which they filled out only AFTER reading a Veteran's Day book. I have to admit, I had to read the book 3 TIMES, so it was definitely a bit of a challenge for them! I guess I could have made it a little easier by making it a cut and paste activity for this time of year being that they are still in the beginning stages of writing, but my expectations are HIGH! We're reaching for the stars, BABY! =)
Click on the title of the link to download.

Una Celebracion Especial