New job and Back to School Sale

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In the world of The Bomb-Diggity Classroom, it is kinda strange that I am not getting my own classroom ready for a new group of students. I definitely would be stressing as many of you are.  I am totally loving my new job, but I am going to miss my former coworkers and the students!   

 My world recently has been getting ready for technology training in all of the elementary schools.  It's a daunting thought that I am now responsible for technology professional development...However, I am excited about all the possibilities for the upcoming year!  We will be learning all about Google Apps for Education and how to implement it in the classroom!  We also will be implementing a few other things and continuing training in some other technologies.

As we have been preparing for the upcoming year, one of the items on the agenda was to train the new teachers.  I had three sessions on Mimio, which is an interactive whiteboard application, and my partner had three sessions on Google Apps.  We both were extremely nervous since it was our first official presentations with our new jobs! 

On a different note, I would like to invite you to my TeachersPayTeachers Back to School Sale coming up August 4th-5th.  Stop by to pick up your back to school items.   

                                              

Till next time...

Happy Mother's Day and an End of the Year Freebie

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      Better late than never, but Happy Mother's Day to all my blogging friends! I hope it has been the best one ever! Over on my facebook page, I posted a picture of the craft that we made for our awesome classroom mothers! In case you missed it, here is a little looksy!

I have made these for my classroom mothers and through multiple siblings.  It was awesome to hear that some of them still have them and treasure them!

      I know many of you are only a FEW days away from summer vacay!  Please, please don't rub it in!  We have to go until June 6th!  I know, right?!   We still have 19 days to go!  I'm looking so forward to summer, but another part of me is soooooo sad!  I have a great group of sweet kiddos and am going to HATE to see them go!

Anyway...

      Many of you are looking for a great activity to share with your kiddos for the end of the year.  My students have always loved this next little freebie!  It is a little memory booklet that the students will be able to take home that includes things that their classmates liked or remembered about them.  It gives them a way to practice those writing skills that you have been working on all year long! I have included some color versions and black and white versions. Just click on the picture to take you to TeachersPayTeachers.

I hope you and your kiddos enjoy!

BTW, I guess I'm just begging for a letdown, but how many days of school do you have left??  I promise I won't cry...well, maybe... ;)

Till next time...

It's a Sale!

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           Hi y'all!  I hope you all have been having a great week so far!  It's only Tuesday and I'm exhausted already!  This is only my second week working a full week since Christmas!  That is really hard to believe, but because of holidays, Snowmageddon, and Icemageddon, we have not had a full week!

          Anyway, I wanted to stop by and remind you about the Teachers Pay Teachers sale!  This is a fabulous time to stock up on your wish list wants!  See you at the sale!!

                                                

Till next time...

February Currently

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I seriously cannot believe it is time for the FaBuLoUs Farley's February Currently!

This year is already flying by and it just started!!  Here's mine!

I'm LISTENING to Jack Hanna!  I love animals and learning more about them.  I have loved Jack Hanna since, well forever, I think!  My family thinks I'm a little nuts, but oh well...

I'm LOVING this lazy Saturday!  

I'm THINKING that next week will be a little cray-cray!  Since we were out 3 1/2 days last week with snow and ice, next week is going to be a flurry of activity!

HOWEVER....

I am WANTING more snow!  There is just something magical about snow here in the south!  I can do without the ice, but bring on the snow!  (I know my friends up north and the midwest are wishing that snow would leave and never come back!)

I am NEEDING to be more productive today...like actually get out of my pajammas!

TRUTH - I love winter!  I am so cold natured, but I can pile on some blankets!  I love summer too, but the heat and humidity can sometimes be completely stifling!

FIB - I was never a jump rope champion.  Maybe in my mind, but not in reality!  LOL!

TRUTH - I could eat Mexican everyday of the year!  Love it!

That's it for me!  Now go link up with Farley and let us know what you've been up to!

Oh, and don't forget I'm having a Super Bowl Teachers Pay Teachers sale today and tomorrow!  You pick up my latest Scan and Listen March Listening Center (using QR codes!)

Till next time...

Five for Friday: Snowmageddon 2014

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Hi everyone!  I know, I know, it's been a while!  A LOONNGG while!!!  I'm here to do a quick Five for Friday post ---the Snowmageddon 2014 edition!

Here in Georgia, it has been absolutely cray-cray!  I'm sure you've seen the news!  People were stuck on the interstates, kids stuck in buses and at school...  But, out of all the horrible things, there have been lots of stories of heroes!  This picture says it all though:

We went to school on Monday and planned for an early release day on Tuesday ahead of the storm.  We waited all day for the storm to arrive.  Well, not really.  We waited until about 12:30.  We had a little wintry mix, but by the time we dismissed just 30 minutes later we had full-blown SNOW!  We hadn't seen snow for about 2 years so excitement was abounding!!  All of our school system's students made it home in plenty of time before it got really bad in our county!  Thank goodness!

We were really down in attendance on Tuesday however.  We really couldn't do a whole lot so we did all things snow-related.  We wrote about snow, made snowflakes, measured the temperature, etc...  Here is a little picture of our 3D snowflakes that we made.  

Mainly because of ice, we did not have students Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday.  I don't remember ever being out this many days for snow/ice!!  In the meantime, we got to go sledding!  I absolutely LOVE to sled!  I met up with one of my kiddos at the local park for some sledding on the golf course!  (Her mom is also our media specialist.)  

That's ME going head first!  And, my son trying snow-boarding!

 


Today, staff had to go in at 11.  I got a good bit done!  I think I'm caught up!  Haha!!!!! Said, no teacher EVER!!!

Super Bowl Sunday is coming up!  In honor of the event, I'm having a Super Bowl sale on Saturday and Sunday!  Everything is 20% off!

Thanks to Ideas by Jivey for this graphic!

                                       
Wipe some of those things off your Wish List!

Till next time...                                      

Happy, Happy, Happy for Place Value!

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Hi y'all!

      I'm stopping in quickly tonight to share some fun place value task cards that I set up for my class to use! They will be happy, happy, happy when they see these Duck Dynasty themed place value task cards!
Who doesn't LOVE Duck Dynasty?!?!

      I have created two versions.  The first version is just regular task cards with a recording sheet.  The second version has a QR Code checking option.  They are aligned to 2.NBT1 and 2.NBT3.

      Just click on the pics to take you to either version.

**This 2nd version is the exact same set, except that it has a QR Code checking option.

And, for sticking with me through this post, the first 3 comments will get the set of your choice!  Just leave your version choice along with your email!
Whoo-hoo for FREEBIES!!

First 3 comments - GO!!

Till next time!

Five for Friday and a TpT Sale!

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I MADE IT THROUGH WEEK 1!!

       I just finished my first week back to school!  It has been rough!  My kiddos are great --talkative, but great!  The only snafu has been transportation!  When it takes almost an hour to get the kids finally out of the building, that's a problem!  On the first day of school, one bus didn't even show up!!!  They finally had to call the kids' parents to come and get them.  CRAY CRAY!!!!!! And, the worst part, it wasn't just our school involved in the bus debacle of 2013!  It was the WHOLE county!!  Talk about frustrated parents! ( Not to mention the teachers!)  It even made the Atlanta news!  

    But, it's Friday, Friday, Friday!!!!  And that means it's time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!  I'm so excited to get to link up!  This is the first one I have done since they started back in August!
                                      

      Since I haven't been able to blog for the past couple of weeks, I'm going to give you an overview of getting my room ready and a peak at my classroom and our first week.

This is a mess, but it is starting to take shape at this time!  Also, a little panic was taking shape too!!!

                                     

Still working...

This is right before open house for Meet Your Teacher Night.  The top left shows the wreath I made for Monday Made-It over the summer.  The top right shows my wish list.  We put things on it like glitter, brown and white paper bags, popsicle sticks, etc.  

                                        

      

      The kiddos have arrived!  This is one of my sweeties with the frame I made for the first day!  I don't think I ever posted about it, but I got the super-cute frame from Michael's and painted it and added the tag.  

      And, here are some of them working on our first "real" math task from our math frameworks.  They did a fabulous job and I already know they are going to be great mathematicians.  I can hardly wait to dive head-first into our math talk!

      Also, this Teachers Pay Teachers is having a little sale.  Stop on over and pick up all those things on your wish list!  My whole store is 20% off from August 18th - August 19th.  Enter the code BTS13.  Hop on over and check out this huge sale!!

                                         

Till next time...

Classroom Catalog of Good Behavior

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Hi y'all!

      I've had several people ask me about my classroom management system so I'm here today to explain what I do. :)

      I know so many of you use the clip chart, but for me, I don't think I could keep up with it.  I love the idea of the clip chart and maybe one day, but for now, I'm sticking with what works for me!  Kudos to all of you that can keep up with it, but man, it's enough to keep up with just this!

      So, I have this wooden clip stand.  The best pic I can find on this computer is this one...and it's from 3 years ago!!!

       At the top is a green circle, in the middle is a yellow circle, and at the bottom is a red circle.  As you can see, the red is at the bottom and you can't see the green at the top.  Sorry...that's the best I could do...

                          

      All the clips are clipped to the green at the start of each day.  If they have an infraction, they move down a level to yellow.  If they have another infraction, they move to red.

      At any time, they may work themselves back up a level.  Each level is represented by a number.

Green = 5

Yellow = 4

Red = 3

      At our school, they are given a spiral bound agenda.  I write the number that they earned each day in the agenda and I expect my parents to initial each night.  That way, the parents are always aware of how each day went for their student.  If they have a number less than a 5, I always jot a little note telling the parents what the issues were.  This also gives me a chance to write a little good note too :)!

      At the end of the week, I tally up their points that they have earned for the week and based on the points, they get to pick out of my Classroom Catalog of Good Behavior!!!  They absolutely LOVE this!! 

      I am pretty strict with the points so they really strive to keep their five for each day.  It usually just takes one time to miss out on catalog orders and they are right back on track!!

      This little catalog has been a great classroom management lifesaver, as well as a teacher budget saver. No longer am I purchasing lots and lots of items for my treasure box because my students are choosing rewards that don't cost me a single penny! 

      I just print out the pages I need, place in sheet protectors, and then place in a binder.  That way, they can browse through like a real catalog!     

  Now, that's what I call AWESOME!!!!

Five for Friday...Wait! What? It's Seriously Friday?!?!

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      The last Friday of June is among us!  I can't even believe that!  I have always felt that once we get to the 4th of July, summer is almost over...and July 4th is NEXT week!!!!   This year, we don't go back until the middle of August so we get a little more time for sweet summa time!

      Friday also means it's time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!  Whoo-hoo!

                                               

      One of the places that is a must visit place {{many times}} is Crystal Springs Recreation.  It is about 35 minutes away and it is a pool that is spring fed.  The water is a constant 66 degrees all year long!  On our H-O-T Georgia days, that feels heavenly!!  Crystal Springs originally opened in 1859!!!  Of course, from the pic, you can tell they have made many improvements over the years!

      

      On Wednesday, my son had his last double header of the school summer league.  He got to show off his talent in several positions!  In the first game, he got to play 2nd base, pitch, and catch!  In the 2nd game, he just caught.  That's his normal position and I love to see him do his thing behind the plate!

                          

      On Thursday, Mac and I, and my bestie went to the Atlanta Apparel Mart!  This is where all the boutiques get most of their merchandise.  My bestie owned a little children's boutique and we are still considered buyers!  Whoo-hoo!  It's just not summer if we don't make a couple of trips to the mart!!!!!  I hardly EVER pay retail for any type of jewelry!  The JCrew bubble necklaces that sell for $150, I got for $5.99.  That's right - less that 6 bucks!  They have costume jewelry and fine jewelry.  You can see some of the costume jewelry on Mac!  He had to put a little BLING BLING on!

      We also had to have a little lunch while in the ATL so we stopped by Hard Rock Cafe.  It was the first time I had ever been to this Hard Rock!  It's way bigger than it looks and we decided we'd like to live in one of the apartments above it!

      I also have been wanting to dabble in creating QR code activities for Teachers Pay Teachers.  I created this I Spy QR Codes Addition for addition within 100 (no regrouping).  I cannot wait to let my kiddos use it!  The first 3 people to comment with their email addresses will get it free!  Yippey!!!

      Our washer has been acting a little wonky.  The repairman came today and look what he found in the drain hose!  Yuck!  About 4-5 dollars, an earring, paper clips, and the torn off section of an Under Armour shirt!  That's why the washer was acting wonky!  Then, when I went to wash after the repairman left, my washer leaked all over the floor!  Thank goodness I was watching it and caught it before it was horrible!  Needless to say, the repairman is coming back tomorrow!

Sorry for the blurriness! You can still see how yucky!!

      And last, but not least is coming this weekend is...DUH, DUH, DUHMMMMM...the end of Google Reader!  If you haven't followed me over on Bloglovin, please do that before the end of Google Reader as we know it!  You can push that button over on the right OR click on the picture below!  Easy-Peasy!!

      Have a GREAT weekend!!

Till next time...

Robin

   

Monday Made-It {#1}

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      Hi everyone!  I'm linking up tonight with Tara from Fourth Grade Frolics for her Monday Made-It!

                                            

      I've been soooo wanting to make some of those c-u-t-e clipboards that are all over Pinterest and the blogs.  Well...I finally made one!  I absolutely love it!  It is so cute!  Now, it just have to get about 10 more done!

      Sooooo, that may be my Monday Made-Its for the rest of the summer!!  Hahaha!!!!
                               
                                                     Just kidding......... Maybe...............  ;)

Cute, right?!?!

      I also just posted a two new math resources.  One is to guide your math instruction and it is called Math Talk Conversation Stems.  Your math discussions in your class are sooooo important for student understanding!

      The 2nd math resource is 11 Back to School Centers.  I know I just blogged about both of these yesterday, but they still count for Monday Made-It, right?!

                                        

   

                                       

      Anyway, go link up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made-It!

Till next time...