Terrible Blogger!

So yeah, I am a terrible blogger, it seems! I fill my life with a ton of stuff to stay busy, but maybe a little too busy!

Let's catch up.

I love my class this year, but have a few little, I mean huge, challenges. We are making it through though. I love them all and want them all to succeed and do well, even though they are hard. I do want to take a nap everyday though, if that tells you anything. :)

Right now I have 2 full time assistants. Thankfully, I don't mind people in my room. I just do what I do . They can laugh at all my dumbness. Haha. I do!

I am starting my last semester of Grad School! Did you hear that?! I am starting my last semester of Grad School! I graduate in May! It really hasn't been bad at all, but it will be good to get done. It'll be one less thing on my plate. Yeah, right! Who am I kidding, I live to be busy and full. I'll just add something else to replace it. My whole family thinks I'll go back and get my Doctorate before too long. I say no. We'll see. I do like learning.

My oldest kiddo just got a car. What!? Yes. How did that happen?! He still has his Learner's Permit, but this car fell into our lap and is perfect for him, so why not give him lots of practice now. He loves it and is driving us everywhere. It is newer than mine though and much nicer, so I am jealous.

My youngest started Middle School. He hates dislikes it. Probably cuz he doesn't get to be with his mommy anymore. I know that is devastating. ;) Really though, he would rather be in the gym. He already spends more time there than he does at home. Gymnasts rock.

I get to teach summer school this summer. Yes, I am excited for it. I am weird. I just can't wait to give those kiddos a head start. Plus, again, I like to be busy. Might as well be helping children while I am it, right?

Ok, I think we've caught up enough. Maybe next time I'll do a real teaching type blog post. I love, love, love this time of year because they are just exploding with their knowledge and learning. Plus, there are so many fun themes to teach.

In fact, I am excited because I have my February Printables pack done and I got to look at all the things we will be learning. Cuteness and fun are coming up! Anyway, since I am done with the packet so early, I am giving it to you for $1 off through the month of January. It'll go back to full price in February. If you have my other packs, you will love this one, too. I added a few more pages and already have some new things in mind for March. Check it out and get it while it's cheaper!

Be fun and Fabulous!

~Mrs.Sweeney

Fun and Fabulous!

Write the Room August to June is done!! Over 200 pages of awesome ELA and Math Write the Room Sets. I love, love, love it!

Kiddos love to “write the room”! This product is perfect at center time for both Literacy and Math. Just print, cut, and “hide” words around the room for a fun way to get kids writing, learning vocabulary, and practicing skills.

This product includes:
August: Back to School, Friends, Short Vowels, Colors, and Shapes
September: Apples, Rhyming, Punctuation, Number Words, Addition Dice, Ten Frames
October: Fall, Pumpkins, Halloween, Nouns, Ten Frame Addition, Odd & Even
November: Thanksgiving, Nouns & Verbs, Syllables, Sentences, Tally Marks, Counting On
December: Christmas, Nouns, Verbs, & Adjectives, Long & Short Vowels, Sentences & Punctuation, Numbers Before & After, Making Ten
January: Winter, Contractions, Black History, Polar Habitat, 3-D Shapes
Fractions
February: Groundhog Day, Dental, Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day, Commas,
Fact Families, Word Problems
March: St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Dr. Seuss, Compound Words, Tens & Ones,
Adding 3 Numbers
April: Spring, Insects, Earth Day, Weather, Subtraction, Measurement
May: Families, Space, Field Day, ABC Order, 2 Digit Addition, Unknown Numbers
June: Summer, Beach, Farm, Mixed Up Sentences, Time, Ten More, Ten Less,
One More, One Less

Here are some of the cute newest pages for you to see.

Kiddos love to “write the room”! This product is perfect at center time for both Literacy and Math. Just print, cut, and “hide” words around the room for a fun way to get kids writing, learning vocabulary, and practicing skills.

This product includes:
August: Back to School, Friends, Short Vowels, Colors, and Shapes
September: Apples, Rhyming, Punctuation, Number Words, Addition Dice, Ten Frames
October: Fall, Pumpkins, Halloween, Nouns, Ten Frame Addition, Odd & Even
November: Thanksgiving, Nouns & Verbs, Syllables, Sentences, Tally Marks, Counting On
December: Christmas, Nouns, Verbs, & Adjectives, Long & Short Vowels, Sentences & Punctuation, Numbers Before & After, Making Ten
January: Winter, Contractions, Black History, Polar Habitat, 3-D Shapes
Fractions
February: Groundhog Day, Dental, Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day, Commas,
Fact Families, Word Problems
March: St. Patrick’s Day, Easter, Dr. Seuss, Compound Words, Tens & Ones,
Adding 3 Numbers
April: Spring, Insects, Earth Day, Weather, Subtraction, Measurement
May: Families, Space, Field Day, ABC Order, 2 Digit Addition, Unknown Numbers
June: Summer, Beach, Farm, Mixed Up Sentences, Time, Ten More, Ten Less,
One More, One Less

Set 1: August to December is available for purchase.
Set 2: January to June is also available for purchase.

January Is Upon Us!

Man! The years just fly by! How is it 2015 already? That's like the future! I remember the 90s, for heaven's sake, and that was just like 10 years ago, I'm pretty sure!

This year will be full of new for me. It starts out with my first semester of Grad school. It's a little scary, but  exciting , too. I am excited to learn more, work on some of my weaknesses, and delve in to what I love. I'm also excited because I get to help future teachers learn about the classroom. I am working with Lipscomb to allow students changing careers to come into my classroom to see education in action.  Should be fun!

Some other newness will happen in my family. My oldest will get his Learner's Permit this year. My youngest will start Middle School. I will have no more children with me at school. That's a little sad. How do they get so big?

I'm excited for this part of the school year. The kids just explode with learning. Plus, all of my favorite units and activities happen in this half of the year.

I actually was a little lazy on this break. I relaxed, watched tv, read a book, and some days did not think one bit about school. I know I'm going to be insane after this break, so I wanted to decompress. I did, however, make some new products. Fun, fun!

First, I finished up my Homework Packet for Unit 4 Reading Wonders. Only 2 more units left! If you haven't checked it out yet, and use Reading Wonders, you should. This homework goes right along with each story. It includes reading comprehension, fluency, spelling, and math. It's everything you need in homework so each week is easy and ready to go. Here are some pages for you to take a look.

Make your life easier for the rest of the school year. Easy peasy.

I am super excited about my next product. My January Print and Go packet is up and ready. More pages, more cuteness. Can't wait to use it!

Back to work on Monday. This will make my life easier and yours, too. 

Be fun and fabulous in the new year!

~Mrs. Sweeney

December Already?!

How is this year just about over? How is it Christmas time? How is the school year so far along?  I had so much to get done these few days off for Thanksgiving Break. I didn't do a very good job at getting them done. I kept doing other things that needed done instead. Sigh. So a lot has been going on around here.

First off, I haven't been observed yet! What?! I have been waiting and waiting and waiting. I don't like to wait. I don't like to procrastinate. I like things done. I NEED things done. Waaahhhh. I don't want to be first, but I don't like to be last. In the middle is perfectly perfect. It's especially hard this year because I only get one observation, ONE, and it's a surprise visit. I REALLY don't like surprises. I am little miss planner, after all. Plus, I don't know who is coming. This is pretty much my nightmare, unexpected, unannounced, secret, everything rides on this one visit test. So yeah, I have been a bit stressed and need this done. You hear that people?! I need this done. :)

Second, um, I'm starting my Masters. What?! Yep, it's happening. At least I think it is. I have done my part. Next week I have my interview, and then I guess that is it. Lipscomb, here I come. It's not online. I can't work at my own pace. I have no time, but somehow this is gonna happen. Why do I do this to myself? I just kept finding myself filling out the application, taking an entrance exam, applying for scholarships, etc. It was pretty much an out of body experience. I know I shouldn't do it. I do too much as it is, but at the same time, I want to do it. I NEED to learn. It's in my nature. I guess there are worse things to give my time to.

Good news! I have partnered with Peekapack.It's an educational storybook that comes to children monthly. It's got props, materials for crafts, a learning guide for the grown-ups, etc. It's so cute and perfect for ages 4-8 to bring stories alive. They are offering a freebie e-book right now. Go check it out.

Finally, I have finished my December Printables pack! I added a few more pages. I used pretty much every single page from my November packet and I can't wait to get started on this one. I got tons of good feedback from my 1st grade teammates. I hope you like it just as much!

Here are some of the pages, so you can see what is included. 

Have a good start to December!

Be fun and fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney

Venturing into New Territory!

So, this will be a quick post! I know I'm terrible about blogging this year.

Oops! Hello Friends! :)

I have Progress Reports to finish up, so this has got to be quick, but I posted a new product to TpT. I'm so excited about it! I have gotten my feet wet in the world of printable packs. This is my first time doing this type of product, but I think it turned out awesome. At least I hope so!! Guess we will see what you guys think! Haha.

Since it took me longer than I thought, I'm a little late to the November party, so I put it on sale for the next few days.

I have a bazillion pictures and posts to write. Maybe one day.....

Be fun and Fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney

Snow Day!

We finally got a snow day with a miniscule amount of snow! Woohoo! Usually, I hate being out because all of my plans get messed up, but I wasn't really planned for this week anyway, so it worked out perfectly. They canceled early enough that I hadn't started my frantic planning. It is Dr. Seuss week though, so I am a little bummed about that. Hopefully, I can fit in all of our fun stuff. Who knows if we will be closed tomorrow, too?  Maybe some of you are out of school today, too. Check out my newest products.

Unit 5 Selection Tests for 1st Grade Wonders Reading. A comprehension test for all ten Anthology Stories. I can't believe there is only one unit left to go!

My next product is something that the lower grade teachers in my school wanted in poster form. I really liked how it turned out, and hope it is what they were looking for. I thought I'd go ahead and put it on TpT for everyone to use.

There is one in color and one in black and white. It can be blown up to poster-size, put in your Math Center or given as a student helper. My kiddos love looking at our Math Strategies and trying to pick a way that no one else does. It really helps them grasp the different ways to make numbers. This has helped our Math Tasks so much!


Enjoy your snow day!

Be fun and fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney

Long Time, No See

I know, I know. I've been missing in action for quite a while. Here I am! December is busy, what can I say?!

I'm on Winter break now. I took last week to celebrate Christmas, spend time with my family, and catch up around the house. This week will be all about getting ahead for school. I hope!

We did do some fabulous stuff this last month though. I was so busy trying to get everything done that I didn't take many pictures though! I know. I'm terrible.

I'll backtrack a little and show you what we did though. For Thanksgiving we made our own pumpkin pies. Cuteness!

 We started out by crushing up graham crackers for the crust. They LOVED this part!

 Then we got our filling all ready.

 Mixed it all up.

 Filled our crusts.

 Then completed the pies with whipped cream, of course!

We did LOTS of other things. We learned about that Bossy E, became Pilgrims and Indians, learned all about the Mayflower, and so much more.

Let's skip to December. It was filled with present making, adjective finding, Christmasy things, Polar Express, and so much more. I wish I could show you more, but alas, I was a terrible teacher photographer.

Look at the super cute presents we made though!! LOVE! Don't mind my messy area. Don't try to say yours doesn't look like that the day before the Christmas party, too!  We did Handprint Santas, Melted Glue Snowmen, Thumbprint Reindeer, and Frosty kids. We also made a handprint calendar, but no picture of that. I love them. I hope their parents did too.

Finally, I made something for you! Unit 4's Wonders Selection Tests. Hopefully, I'm ahead of you! I hope they are helping you out! Enjoy!

Maybe you'll see me again before the break is over!

Be fun and fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney

Testing or Teaching?

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I'm drowning in a sea of tests. I totally get that testing is part of the process, and I want to know exactly where my little kiddos are at, etc, but goodness! I feel like I should really be testing, testing, testing instead of teaching. I'm never gonna get all of these done. Whew! K, just had to get that off my chest.  Testing is the pits.

We have done lots of learning though, which is why I'm drowning in testing. Haha! I keep teaching instead. Silly me. ;)

Part of it is that I am out 2 days next week for training, and I NEED to get the kids in some sort of structured schedule. Oh well, my job is to TEACH, right?! :) I'll get done with them eventually. Someday. Right??!!

Anyway, since I am still teaching, I made some cute writing paper that I am going to share with you. :)

Our new Reading Series, Wonders, has Jack and the Beanstalk as part of the Smart Start program. I decided to do some writing that goes along with it. These firsties need some guidance, so I've included a Jack tree map and the writing page to go along with it. Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done.

Click on the pic to take you to the writing pages. Enjoy!

Be fun and fabulous!

~Mrs. Sweeney