Summer Makeover Madness

Summer is off to a great start! I have been spending time with friends and family down in Michigan, pretty much doing whatever my toddler wants to do (circus, zoo, beach, aquarium, mini golf, and Chuck E. Cheese), and working on making over and completing my Wonders Extending Phonics activities! I joined up with the #TpTSellerChallenge and I am having a blast! I am amazed at how much I have learned about creating products, since my first product went live *almost* one year ago!

Here's the first of MANY summer makeovers! Follow the link below and remember it's on sale through Saturday!

Extending Phonics with Wonders for First: Unit 1 Week 1

This product was one of my very first ones and it needed a refresh! I changed the fonts and clipart mostly, but also added some design elements and revamped a few of the pages to make them easier to use for first graders. I am working on revising and completing the rest of the first grade phonics extension activities too! I have created my first growing bundle and I will have these weekly sets finished by the middle of August. Click the link to check out the growing bundle! 

Extending Phonics Growing Bundle

While on vacay, I gave myself a summer makeover too! I got a new haircut and hi-lites and a few new tops when I went shopping! 

Are you ready for one more makeover? My blog got a mini-makeover too! I thought it was time to add a direct link to Bloglovin' and Instagram!

I hope you are enjoying your summer or getting ready to if you are still in school. 

Until again, I wish you well!

My Home Office {Work in Progress}

There are some gorgeous home offices out there! Just look at the offices of Ashley from Schroeder Shenanigans in Second or Angie from Lucky Little Learners. I've linked up with these ladies for another month to showcase our home offices!

That being said, mine is NOT one of them. It is totally a work in progress, like most of our home. Now, I love my house! It has an open floor plan, laminate floors, and a newly remodeled bathroom that turned out gorgeous! The hubs did a fabulous job on it! 

I have several areas that I work from. First off, the back deck. We have had gorgeous weather so far this summer in Southeast Alaska and I spend as much time out there as I can.

I have also been known to work on the couch. From the couch is where I do most of my social media and marketing tasks. 

I also have a home office, or extra bedroom in our house. Now this is one of the few rooms that we have done nothing to since we moved in. Unfortunately, it's the home office in our house, where everything gets dumped; mails, bags, papers, papers, and more papers! Don't worry! I did a little straightening before the camera was allowed!

This is the view outside from my office. See that sidewalk? That was my landscaping accomplishment last year. As you can see, our yard is a word in progress too!

I have a big papasan chair in the corner. This is also another drop zone. Especially for me and my 31 bags. Those are currently hanging out on hooks in the office closet.

My little helper is usually in the office with me too!

I needed some extra storage space and I had extra cubbies at school that I was no longer using, sooooooo..... this little creation was born! Seriously, besides Mr. and Ms. Mac, this room has not gotten any financial refurbishing resources!

One day when I asked my little helper why he was in mommy's office, he said, "Cause it has all my colors in there!" 

Well, that's it! Thanks for checking out my home office. Be sure to check out the rest in the #2getherwearebetter link up!

Until again, I wish you well!

My First Currently!

I am super excited to participate with Farley for my very FIRST currently! I love the month of June; summertime, sunshine, flip-flops, father's day, and traveling! The best part though...we are out of school in May, so June is a school-free zone! {Unless you agree to teach summer school, in which case you start back on the 22nd}. We shall see if that was a good move on my part...

Listening to "Country Man" by Luke Bryan: Whenever I listen to some good country music, I think about home (rural Michigan). It makes me feel closer to friends and family!

Loving the light: In August, we will be transplants to Alaska for FIVE years! I can't believe that it's been that long! I still love the late night light. I'm still not quite use to the early morning (3:30ish) light though. Thank goodness for curtains and blinds!

Thinking about a fairy house cleaner.... I think that since kiddos get tooth fairies when they lose their teeth, we should have fairy house cleaners when we lose our minds..... Just Sayin'!

Wanting to reconnect: It has been several years since we've seen friends from home. It's been too long. I can't wait to see them! Maybe we can even recreate this pyramid. Our kids will probably be trying to help this time around!

Needing to pack: Well, the first step is getting the laundry caught up so I can pack. Yep, I'm still behind in that department. But wait, I got the suitcases upstairs. That counts, right?!

Summer lovin': We have had ridiculously warm weather in Southeast Alaska so far this summer. I have worn my flip flops more in the past month, than I have in the past year. I am totally loving that the rain doesn't come back until after we are on the plane! Score!

Well, that's my first currently! Thanks for reading!

Until again, I wish you well.

I'm Thankful for the Past Year

Last Thursday, was our last day of school for the 2014-2015 school year. It was really bittersweet for me this year, because I had such an outstanding class! There were kind to each other, showed grit, put forth effort, and were just plain nice to each other. It's sad to think that that group of students will never be all together to like that again and it worked so well. Sometimes, I think that if we have a class that just gels so well together, we should keep them together through high school!On top of a super school year, I am also coming up on my TpT anniversary! I can't believe it was almost a year ago, that I decided to give this adventure a try. I have enjoyed every part of it for sure! The blog (which is so cute, right?!), Instagram (@mrs.peyerksporcupinepals), FB, and my love for Pinterest has grown even more! I have had some great experiences during this first year on TpT.

First, I was chosen to be a part of the TpT blog in April. Here's the link if you want to read all about it! TpT Loves Books: A Celebration of School Library Month. The following month, I had a freebie featured in the newsletter! You can find that featured freebie here: Newsletter Freebie. I also had my post on regrouping in addition and subtraction showcased on Teach Junkie's Website a couple of weeks ago! The last year has been super, but the last two months...EPIC!

So then, yesterday, I open up my email and find out that I've been nominated for the Liebster Award by Diane @ Spreading Joy One Giggle at a Time. I was like, "What's that?" The blogging world is all still very new to me. I'm about five months in is all, so I did a little of looking and a little bit of reading and found out that it's an award to welcome new bloggers, who are in the process of building their followers, feel excited about entering the blogging world! I am really excited and honored that Diane @ Spreading Joy One Giggle at a Time, found my blog and nominated me. Thank you, Diane. 

As part of the nomination, Diane sent me a few questions to answer about myself, so that all of you can get to know me a bit better. Here we go! 

1. Why did you start blogging and how long have you been blogging? I started blogging as a way of sharing my ideas that I use in my first grade classroom. We all do things or have super strategies to share and I wanted to share mine! I started blogging in the spring of 2015.
2. What one word sums up the heart of your blog? Useful! I hope that the topics I blog about are found useful to someone {other than just me}.
3. How many hours a week do you dedicate to your blog/TPT/social media? I would say that I probably spend about 20 hours a week between the three. I plan on going back and revising some earlier files and adding more this summer.
4. Where does your blog inspiration come from? The inspiration from my blog comes from everyday classroom life. We might be working on something and it is turning out very cool and I think, I have to blog about this. It's great!
5. What category of blog posts do you like to read best? I like a lot of topics, but classroom organization is probably my most sought after blog posts!
6. What is your favorite aspect of blogging? I love that I can write everything down {I love writing} and I learn that I can do a lot of self-reflection when I blog. I think it has definitely made me more reflective on my practices this year.
7.  What idea from a blog would you like to try yourself? I have a Must Make and a Must Do board on Pinterest. Yep. There's a lot of things I want to try!
8. What do you like to do when you are not blogging or teaching? I am a wife and mommy to a toddler, so when I have down time, you can find me doing laundry and cleaning the house. I do enjoy yard work and reading if I can make it all work!
9. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Well, I've been to Europe and a good portion of the US. Five years ago, we packed up and moved from Michigan to Alaska and I have to say that I am pretty content here in the great north. Oh, Hawaii. I've always wanted to go to Hawaii and as of right now it's in the plan for the summer of 2016.
10.  If you weren't a teacher, what career would you choose? I think I would have tried my hand at being an author. Someday, I will write a children's book....someday :-)
11. What is your favorite grade to teach? My teaching background is two years of pre-kindergarten and five years of first grade. I have to say that first grade has been my favorite of the two. I love seeing the growth; academic, social, emotional, and just figuring out how the world works. It's an Ah-mazing year!

I would like to nominate the following teacher-authors for the Liebster Award!

Kristin @ Teaching in a Nutshell
Jill @ First Grade Made
Brittany @ Tickled Pink in Primary
Ha @ Happy Days in First Grade
Kristy @ Primary Ideas Reading Room

I would love for these bloggers to answer the following questions! Thank you for reading!
1. Why did you start blogging?
2. What one word or phrase sums up the heart of your blog?
3. Where does your blog inspiration come from?
4. What is your favorite topic to blog about yourself?
5. What is your favorite topic to read about on other blogs?
6. What types of social media do you use and what's your favorite?
7. Have you ever been featured on another blog? If so, please link back to that blog post. We would love to read it!
8. What is one topic you plan to blog about over the summer?
9. Fill in the sentence. To me blogging is.....
10. What is a hurdle for you when it comes to blogging, marketing, and/or promoting your ideas and resources?
11.  If you weren't a teacher-author-blogger, what would you be?
  Here are the Liebster Award Rules:

• Link back to the blog that nominated you (me!)

• Answer the 11 questions posted by the nominator

• Nominate 5-11 blogs (with less than 200 followers) and link to them in your post

• Provide them with 11 Getting To Know You Q &A's (the same you were given, or some of your own)

• Contact the nominees and let them know they have been nominated

Thank you again to Diane at Spreading Joy one Giggle at a Time for nominating me! Until again, I wish you well!

It's That Time of Year Again: Testing {with a Freebie}, Balloons and Memory Books, Yee-Haw!

Wow! I have eight kiddo days left of school and a teacher workday after that. I can't believe how fast this year is FLYing!

Well, my goal is to be finished with end of the year testing by Wednesday. Then it's onto grades, report card narratives and end of the year awards.

Most of my class finished their MAP testing last week. MAP is a computer assessment that we take three times a year. MAP stands for Measure of Academic Progress. For more information on MAPS, click here! My kiddos LOVE taking "the fun test on the computer"! I have always done goal setting with my firsties but this year, I thought I would make it a little more exciting, so I created play doh goal setting cards for MAPS!

I printed them 1:2 sided and cut apart. On the front I added their names and on the back I added their EOY goal in the goal circle. The EOY goal is located on the website under the student goal setting worksheet tab. There is space to write both of their scores from both parts of the test and a spot to total the two tests.

                                                                 

My kiddos were so excited to see their score and their goal! It was great to hear comments like, "Whoa! I beat it by a lot!" and "Oh, I missed it by one. I need a little more grit."

Their favorite part was playing, creating and building with play doh after the test. Each student had a piece of wax paper and a little tub of play doh. It was the perfect end to some hard working testers!

Can you see the snowman?


You can pick up the MAPS goal setting cards for FREE in my TpT store! Remember to leave feedback if you download!

MAP Goal Setting Cards


This upcoming week, we are starting our first grade EOY memory books. This year we are creating cowboy and cowgirl memory books! It's called, "I'm Giving First Grade the Boot!" I made a total of 26 books and made the boy and girl versions with different colored card stock front and back pages. There is also a version for kindergarten and second grade! Check out the link to this memory book below!

I assembled the books last weekend and totally took over the binding machine in the staff workroom! Oops!

I bound the books with the binding at the top, so it will be a flip from top to bottom.

I can't wait to see their faces tomorrow when they get their memory book!

This is probably THE page that will be a huge hit! Boys can sign their names and draw a self-portrait in the boxes on the cowboy page and then the girls can sign their name and draw their self portrait on the cowgirl pages.

TIP: Students may not get autographs until they have finished the rest of their memory book. This helps to keep kiddos on track with completing work, EVEN during the last couple week of school!

Have your measuring tape handy! I'll spend a good part of tomorrow helping kiddos measure their heads to figure out their 'hat' size!

Yee-Haw!

End of the Year Memory Book for Cowboys and Cowgirls

So, one more EOY activity that has been ah-mazing is the balloon popping countdown! We started last week with 13 blown up balloons taped to the edge of our stairs. Inside I wrote up 13 different, fun low-prep activities on little notecards. Each day, I pick two kiddos: they must decide which balloon they want to pop and then how they want to pop it! It's been great so far! Activities include: 10 minutes of extra recess, 10 minutes of watercolor time, each person at the green table picks out a brain break for the day, everyone eats lunch in the classroom, etc. It's been fabulous and the kids love seeing what's inside the balloon!

Thanks for poking in! I hope your journey to the end of the year is filled with fun!

Until again, I wish you well!

Home to School Communication: Keeping Everyone in the Loop

I've linked up with Mrs. Olson's Lucky Little Learners and Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd for their monthly link up #2GETHERWEAREBETTER! Check out many more communication ideas at the links above. I hope you have a great takeaway and find something that you want to implement!

Parent communication, for me, is something that starts off really strong each year and then it gets harder and harder for me to maintain throughout the year, especially if I'm trying something new! Case in point. As I looked through old text messages, I realized the last time I sent a Remind text was in November {ugh}.  Now I really enjoyed sending these text reminders, but I had a hard time getting parents to sign up. {Parents/families have to enroll in the program to receive texts from me}. I found that after winter break, I didn't resume sending them because I only had 6 parents that were receiving them. For next year, I plan on starting it day one. I'm thinking a little business card to pass out as parents drop students off the first day, with important contact information, email, phone and Remind sign-up :-)  For more information on this tool, check out the REMIND website!

Two things that I DO maintain and have for several years, is a weekly newsletter {paper based} and a monthly homework calendar. My newsletter consists of the basics: what are we learning, a home-to-school connection piece with important announcements, and a section for upcoming dates/assemblies/field trips, etc. On the back of the newsletter is a break down of our reading series. That includes spelling words, high-frequency words and our reading comprehension skills and strategies. Oh, and I print them out on colored paper for extra fun!

The monthly homework calendar is something that my first grade team started a few years ago. The calendar breaks down all of the monthly homework into 4 columns; words to know, math, spelling, and vocabulary. It's a nice little EXCEL document that gives a monthly overview for me and parents. We align the calendar with our curriculum pacing calendar. To set up my homework folders, I use folders with the 3-prongs. I try to find the perfect, thickest, heaviest, I hope it will last all year long folders! At the front of the folder is a pencil pouch.

This is where students can store their necessary homework tools for the year. My parents have RAVED about these pouches! Behind the pouch is the homework calendar and then the homework for the rest of the MONTH! I know, I send home an entire month's homework at a time and it has been fabulous! On my end, I don't have to re-stuff homework folders every weekend and I only have to fight with the copier once a month for homework related materials. On the parents end, they have been excited to have all the materials they need to complete homework and they enjoy looking ahead to see what is coming in the curriculum. I also include a monthly calendar for all upcoming dates.

So to answer the question, I would say that the homework folder (aka my CAMP folder: Collecting And Managing Paperwork) is my most successful tool. It is definitely one that takes a great deal of time to get set up and then to prepare every month, but it feels well worth the time for me, my students and my parents.

Until again, I wish you well!

A Special Send-off!

For the last three months, I have had a little girl in a wheelchair. She had been ice skating and somehow fell on her leg. The fall caused enough damage that she was in a thigh high cast for 6 weeks and needed to have some accommodations to manage the school day. So since spring break, she has been using a walker around the classroom {when she started using it the hallway, we found the tennis balls were leaving marks on the floor, so some apologizing to the custodial staff was in order} and slowly not even using that to get around the room. When her dad picked her up from school, one day, I told him that she wasn't really using the wheelchair anymore, but it didn't look like she was ready to give it up yet. He agreed. Hence, the wheelchair good-bye party was formed!

This little girl was very excited to have a send-off party for her wheelchair! She dressed-up for school on Friday and her family brought in treats. The mom congratulated the class on being such great helpers and so supportive during this challenging time for her daughter. This party was the high-light of my week and I'm sure hers too.

Here are some pics that we had of the party!

 It was so great hearing the rest of the class talk about why they would miss having the wheelchair or why they wouldn't miss it.

There were a variety of cards that I didn't take pictures of, but they included  feeling sad because they didn't get to sit in the chair or feeling happy that she would be able to go outside and play again.

 It was great to help this little girl make sense of the changes that were taking place and offer closure to our whole class. I can't wait to see her running around the playground again!

Until again, I wish you well :-)