Spread a Little Sunshine- {Linky Party}

I joined in with Jennifer, over at Rowdy in First Grade, yesterday in thinking positively!

Today- I'm linking up with her in her "Spread a Little Sunshine-Linky Party!"

My School Positives

* I have some amazing parent volunteers! Seriously I would probably be off my rocker and drowning right now w/ out their support and help! {I have at least 3 that come in once a week to help!}

* I have math stations up and running :) I'm so excited- I love it!

* Daily Five is ready to begin- we have done weeks of setting expectations and procedures and now we are fully ready to rotate and for me to begin conferencing- double excited!

My Home Positives
* I am going on my first real vacation since my honeymoon (5 years ago) in October- and started finalizing things today! I will be in New Orleans and Leesville, LA in October for a family reunion and my mom's college reunion!

I have to say- I think the more I do this the easier it will get! :)

Positive Thinking...

Let me just preface this post by stating that I tend to be a very negative person....it just comes more naturally to me than being positive. 

With that being said- I have honestly been working for a few years now on how to change this trait...and let me tell you it's not easy!!! Especially in teaching- I tend to find the negative before the positive. There are always negative situations that arrive during a school year, especially during a the beginning of the year and it is so easy for me to get caught up in that negative web.  It's easy to get sucked into the gossip or the rut of the day to day or even just plain complaining. 

This year, however, I am reading "The Energy Bus"- and although my progress is slow- I am at least "aware" of my attitude and some of the things I can do to change it!! I have to embrace each new day as a blessing from above and be thankful for what I have. My attitude will show through to my students, my co-workers, administration, husband, daughter etc. 

I am coming to realize that this is my life and my path- no dress rehearsal! This is it and I have to make the best of it! I am trying my best to find a positive in every situation that I encounter! 

So for today 3 things I am thankful for:

-my beautiful daughter (she truly puts a smile on my face no matter what)

-my  ever supportive husband (he is amazing, enough said)

- my class ( I have a great group this year- I got to loop about half of them from last year and I have to admit it is nice having the majority of the class now how I run things)

What do you do to keep a positive attitude? How do you drive your Energy Bus? 

CAFE Question

well we are on the fifth week of implementing Daily 5/CAFE and let me tell you- I {heart} it! I LOVE LOVE LOVE the daily 5 block of my day. Mini- lessons and rotations are so much more fulfilling and fun than I imagined! I can't wait to get it fully up and running in about another week or two.

Here's my question- as far as assessments- in my district we use DIBELS....and the STAR reading assessment so as far as my grouping I mainly base off of that- BUT how do I assess based on CAFE strategy needs? How do I determine what strategy they should be working towards on their Cafe Menu?

I gave each student a copy of the CAFE menu and have a copy for each one in my daily 5 binder just don't know how to get that up and running....HELP??

Daily 5/ CAFE

I am taking on a new task- I am going to implement Daily 5 and CAFE into my classroom this year. I am so EXCITED but yet so scared! I have a fear of being overwhelmed and just giving up!

I am going to have to tweak it just a bit to meet my schedule needs but I think I can do that- for instance I will only be able to do 3 rotations a day but I'm excited to just get it started!!!!


wish me luck! I could use the help and positive thoughts!

I am reading The Daily 5 by "the sisters" and have the CAFE book on order along with the Book Whisper!

Finally- a peek inside my classroom!

So I spent Wednesday and yesterday at school getting somewhat set up and organized! I was lucky enough to be able to stay in the same room again (just switching grade levels)- so I just kept my same fadeless paper up and changed borders before school ended.

It's still pretty plain but compared to previous years- I don't have much to do! We also have back to school night this Friday so I've been consumed with trying to get stuff ready and done for that. Some of the stuff that goes on the walls- can't be added until the kids arrive anyways. Here's the tour:

Looking in from the door-when I first walk in. (the two doors agains the wall lead into our pod area-a center workroom for the four classrooms in my building)

the wall with the clouds is my focus wall for reading - I must have not gotten a close up of it...

Guided reading area- messy right now- with the Social Studies board- we are starting with Governing the People....after that unit I will switch it to a science theme. The green board will be an A.R. board.

Back wall-Theme wall. I usually try and do a glyph each month and it goes on the fence and then monthly portfolio writing goes up on this wall. 

Computers and Math manipulatives/Games

Math wall:
Language arts manipulatives/half of library

Word wall, word helpers and library:

half of my library- it is organized by genre. 

Looking to the front of my classroom from the very back.

This is the front door where you enter the room. Calendar and clip chart are here.

Counter/Sink/window wall. This wall is still not done and all my little trinkets that go on the window ledge are still all put away.

Got this GREAT bulletin board idea from Amy Lemons (Step into Second Grade with Mrs. Lemons)

Front- white board, teacher desk. (Did find out yesterday that we are getting Mimio's and I am super excited!!)

Pocket chart hanging from board is for centers. I have a lot of things missing from my board still. 

Word and Reading Focus walls-my computer and document camera.

Blog Mixer

So - I have a confession- I secretly wish I had more followers.....

With that being said- I am linking up with Yearn to Learn and joining in her See and Find Blog Mixer Linky Party.

New Kid on the Block: (we share the last name)

Blogger in my same gradelevel: (LOVE this blog!)

Blogger in a Different Grade Level: (SUCH amazing ideas & now a newlywed)

Cute Button Find:

Speaking of BUTTONS- I need one! I also need a new design- I have emailed several people about a new blog design but never hear anything back- I at least want a cute button somehow! 

A giveaway at....

I am super excited about this giveaway and SO HOPING I just might win!!! Anyways check out Ms. Male at A Day in the Life of a 2nd Grade Teacher and enter in her giveaway!

She is giving away a "Cootie Catchers" set from Creative Teaching Resources....one of my favorite places to buy from. 

Good Luck! 

Teacher's Notebook

I have to admit that I have never been able to get on board with TpT- I don't know why I just have not signed up for one reason or another. 

I do have a {minor} confession though- I just don't think I can bring myself to "sell" my stuff online when I hate to have to "buy" things other teachers' make. I just feel as though we as teacher's all make so little as it is and all work so hard for things we create- and so the stuff I make I usually just end of linking to my blog for free. I honestly cannot afford to buy a bunch of new things for the classroom- as much as I wish I could. 

I'm still thinking it all over though and figuring out if maybe it would be beneficial. I do put a lot of time and effort to my items that I create.....I may look into this new website. 

I stumbled across this website from Lindsay at the teacher wife. Some of the sites key points are: 

Selling on Teacher's Notebook:

-NO Listing Fees

-First Year FREE (yes that's right, no Sale's fees for a YEAR!)
-Unlimited FREE items
-Keep 100% of all sales (minus PayPal fees)
-It's risk free! (You can cancel at any time)

I think I may check it out....

If you post on TpT- is it worth it?
Do you make a significant amount of money???

I'm Back! Ready for 2nd grade!

Well- after taking a MUCH NEEDED month off to not think about school- I think I am ready to jump back in! I am {almost} excited about teaching 2nd grade. As much as I L.O.V.E teaching 1st- and that is where my h.e.a.r.t is I'm going to suck it up and give this new grade level a fair chance. 


So- that being said- I decided that since I have already taught a testing grade {3rd}- that I would modify what I did in 3rd grade to match the 2nd grade standards. 


One thing that we did as a team that truly worked was Daily Language Homework.  {I should note that we use HM for reading and so I base the HW off of the theme we are on}The kids have a page a night- and it encompasses many skills-daily language practice, vocabulary, spelling, phonics, grammar, structural analysis etc all in one week! It's a good way for the kids to keep practicing the skills they will need for the state test (California State Standards Test-or the CST). 


So this is what I have done for Theme 1 -Week 1 {Dragon Gets By}

Dragon Gets ByHW1

Clutter Free?? Yes Please!

I am all about de-cluttering and getting organized! Especially-in my classroom! I hate clutter-I have piles and I hate junk that can just easily be thrown away- anyways....back on topic. Over at Clutter-Free Classroom there is an Ah-Mazi-ing give away going on! (And I am hoping to win ;)....

Starting a new grade level this year- I would love to stay organized all year! :)

No phone- no internet- no computer....bad blogger!

I feel like I have literally been diconnected from the world for awhile! My phone went out on me so I had to wait for new one- then I had to get the software updated on my laptop in order to update and use new phone and our internet has been screwy and going in and out- so what does all this mean? I have been a HORRIBLE blogger......the school year is over- my classroom is ready for summer - and next year....just have to add finishing touches on walls.

With being moved to 2nd grade, now getting sick w/ a summer cold, phone/internet/computer problems.I haven't been able to do much! I need to get back on here and start sharing my ideas!

But first- I'm going to play with my beautiful daughter! ;)

The Good, the Bad and.....

It's been a CRAZY few weeks for me! We have exactly 7 days left of this year.....it's all been so bittersweet for me. Open house flew by and went great! I have pics of my room on my camera that I need to upload- We also had our first grade performance on April 14th and it was FANTASTIC. I can't believe how cute and perfect it turned out. We did the musical Bugz! and everyone LOVED it.

Now to my news- I'm going to start with the bad:
I have to switch grade levels next year. It was not my choice but my administrators. I LOVE first grade- I mean truly in my heart love it and this was my first full year teaching 1st, I was out most of last year on maternity leave. Anyways, I finally got all my binders, files, masters etc together and I find out this week that I will be teaching 2nd next year. I have never taught 2nd. Not that I'm that nervous....I have some great friends who have taught 2nd who are willing to meet with me this summer and prep me. BUT I just truly love 1st and I am a bit sad.

Here's what happened-
My administrator is changing a LOT of things. Basically my entire pod (building with 4 classrooms and a middle workroom) is changing over to the 2nd grade pod. The 2nd grade pod from this year is now going to be 1st grade :( I can't say exactly why this is happening (I know but it's best to keep it confidential) but I'm a bit sad.

I was told on Tuesday that I was going to be moved up to 2nd along with the other teachers in my building who also teach 1st. We were all being moved up to teach 2nd grade. My admin also told me that another option she has in mind for me is maybe teaching PM kinder next year so that I would have a more flexible schedule to be in the office more for administrative duties. I have my admin credential and masters in admin and I am ready to take on more responsibilities. I won't know until the beginning of the year though if I am going down to Kinder- So for now I am teaching 2nd.

The Good- yes there is some good in all of this change and I'm glad I see it. I get to stay in my room! WOO HOO I hate moving classrooms. I'll just pack my 1st grade binders and files and store them at home and everything else can stay. I have all fadeless paper up on my walls so I'm thinking I'll just change out some borders to make the room look a bit different because I get to loop about 18 of my kids from this year.

I'm pretty excited about looping my class. I have never done this and I really enjoy my kids this year. I have some GREAT parent volunteers (3 who help out 1x a week each) and have some really smart kids who I know I can challenge. So- a lot of change ahead for me but I'm going to keep my head high and faith strong and I know it will be fine...

No Internet!

I can't blog because our Internet has been out! I'm starting to get very frustrated......I've got lots of great ideas to share but can't :( hopefully the company will get it figured out soon!! All they are telling us is that it is an outage in our area...


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A very sad week...

It was a sad, tough week at school. Last Friday one of my little guys lost his mom to breast cancer. She has been very sick all year but yet it came as such a shock to me when I found she had passed.

I attended the funeral yesterday and it was heartbreakingly-sad! I feel for her little boys who don't understand the finality of what has happened. She was a beautiful women and I know she will be greatly missed by her family.

Having my own daughter now- really put this whole situation into perspective and I am really taking a look at my life and what I have to be thankful for.

Animal Habitats-some silly sentences!

We are now getting ready for Open House! EEK- my most stressful time of year....it's on May 5...so I gotta get busy! We are doing an Animal Habitat theme....Each week we are doing a new habitat- this week is just intro to habitats, animals and their needs etc.

So I came up with Animal Habitat silly sentences. We do silly sentences all year anyways- they are usually themed with each month.....I always put them in centers- my kids LOVE them.

They choose three cards- The who, what/how and a where. I run on three diff color construction paper and then laminate- my sets last for years.

They line up their three cards in order - then write their sentence down on the recording sheet and then draw and label their picture to go with. I have my kids do 6 sentences.

I started these ones today during centers- and my kids really, really enjoyed them.

Silly Sentences Template: Download Here



Writing sheet: Download Here



Enjoy!

Literacy Centers and Guided Reading

Another Linky Party-


This time on Literacy centers!!!

I run 5 centers a week in my classroom- the kids do one center a day. I do this between recess and lunch (10:30-11:30) everyday and while the kids are working at their particular center for the day- I pull 2 guided reading groups.

I have the following centers everyweek:

• Story of the Week 
• Reading Center 
• Writing Center
• Theme Center 
• Spelling/Word Work Center

Story of the Week- working on reading comprehension skill for the week or a review from last weeks skill. We use HM.

Reading Center- My administrator is big, BIG on A.R. (Accelerated Reader) - so my 1st grade team decided to do an A.R. center during the week. The kids have to read and take 2 AR tests during their time at this center- it's going great!!

Writing- various writing or grammar  skills

Theme-social studies or science themed center

Spelling-weekly spelling, word work or phonics skill activities.

I have a chart in the front of my room - with their group names- group members, and their center for the day.
Here are my groups:
 (I have a southwest theme)

Here is what I use to label all my centers- I have these on my chart- below my chart showing them what 2nd activity they can go to- on the center boxes- etc- basically everywhere.

Labels:



I store my centers in clear plastic scrapbook containers (LOVE THEM)- I got them from Michaels- they look like THIS.

I do have to say though- that I work in a pretty high achieving school/ district....we are pretty much left alone when it comes to centers/lit circles/guided reading....this seems to be working well for me though :)

10 Things I've Learned from Teaching...(Linky Party!)

I stumbled upon another AWESOME teaching blog and she is hosting a Linky Party (LOVE THESE)!!! 

Jennifer over at Rowdy in First Grade is hosting the party :)

So 10 Things I have Learned from Teaching....

I have been teaching for 7 years this year- I can guarantee I've learned *at least* 10 things...

1. I'm not at work to make friends- although it is a nice perk when it does work out- it usually creates drama.

2. The kid who *annoys* you the most- will NEVER miss a day of school, never leave early or come in late.

3.  When a kid feels "sick" they will not tell you ahead of time- they will tell you the moment they are going to puke that they don't feel good.

4. Every student is someone's "Baby"- that is their precious baby and will most likely have a hard time hearing something negative- so be careful how you present things .

5. Email-while extremely handy and quick- can be negative. Tone does not come across in emails and may be misconstrued by a parent.

6. Showing you have an interest in a child beyond their academic success sometimes means the most Ito a parent- By showing that I not only cared about a students academic success but also emotional well being- the parent actually went straight to the district with praise. All parents want to know and feel like their child is supported, safe and in a loving environment when at school.

7. It's OK if they don't get it the first time you teach it- especially first graders- they are still so new to school and so new the some of the skills they are expected to master. I am there to guide them through the learning process....
Learning is a process-  a journey- not a means to an end. It may take 1 time teaching something - it may take 10 and 10 different ways at that but as long as my students are in fact "learning" - then I have done my job at the end of the day.

8. CUTE clipart - such as DJ Inkers is a must in my book- EVERYTHING is much more fun with a little bit of cuteness. 

9. Sometimes the most important thing you can do as a teacher is build a personal connection with your students- get to know them on a personal level and let me get to know you. Let me see you act silly and joke around with them. Have conversations with them that are not academic.....it can make a world of difference in some students lives!!!

10. As a first grade teacher- I could not LIVE with out my Crayola Twistable colored pencils! I do so much coloring for examples and misc things and the twistable colored pencils make coloring so easy!!!

Random Thoughts....

My mind is in Spring Break mode already and so that last thing I want to do when I get home at night or on the weekends is think about school ( I know, bad teacher). I have been avoiding my blog and computer and instead spending much time with my precious Lyla and my husband!

We went to Disneyland this past Friday and had a BLAST! We are going back next week- when I'm on Spring Break and I can't wait!!!!

As I sit here eating my Spring Oreos and milk and watching Bethenny Ever After- I can't help but think this time next week- I wont' have to get up early and I can do what I want all day and night :)

In good news- my district will not be laying off any teachers next year! I get to keep my job! :)- I was safe last year but wasn't sure how deep the cuts would go if they had to cut at all this year. Also, 1st grade is staying at 24:1 instead of going up to 30- I am EVEN more excited about that. I hope I get to stay in my same room- I have been teaching for almost 7 years and have never been in the same classroom for more than 2 years in a row....

So- now for some things I have been working on - I got the cutest little domino pouches from Oriental Trading....
I created this worksheet for Math centers: (click to download-I'm feeling to lazy to show a picture)

Domino Math Center

OK- so I am having MAJOR issues with Google Docs- I save my things as PDF's but Google Docs is not uploading them as PDF's everything is getting all messed up and I don't know how to fix it- anyone out there know what I can do or another program I can use???

Accessories!!

Thanks to Elisabeth at The Adventures of Miss Elisabeth I got to participate in my very first accessory swap! I L.O.V.E.D it and will definitely do it again.

My partner was Kristen at First Grade Teaching!!! Can I just say that she is AMAZING and I love her blog-but she also sent me some amazing stuff and went way overboard on me :) I feel way spoiled and LOVE everything she sent me- here is what I got:

I can't wait to wear the jewelry and start using my fun stuff!!!!

Who doesn't love free?

I mean really!! I started using something called Swagbucks- about two years ago! I seriously just changed it so that it was my default search engine and use it whenever I need to search for things. I randomly get free swag bucks every time I search or take a daily poll, use the toolbar, or take a survey!

In December I turned them in and got $15 in Amazon gift cards...there are a TON of other rewards but I LOVE amazon!! Right now I have about 630 SB- I'm saving again for some more g/c's!

Click the button below to get started- I swear it is SUPER easy and you won't regret it- you will be addcited just like I now am! :) Happy Searching!

The Sickies....

Well....I will say this is how I have spent my weekend!



UGH- YUCK! The downside to first graders is the GERMS! I can't remember the last time I had the stomach flu.....well I was reminded yesterday or how HORRID it really is. I missed my sisters college graduation party....got NO laundry done and no cleaning! Plus I have barely even seen my baby girl all weekend :(. Trying to decide if maybe taking a day off tomorrow is a good idea or not?? I gotta up my vitamin intake and hand sanitizer use. I am not getting that again!

Stay Tuned....

I'm having MAJOR trouble with google docs and I am beyond frustrated with it right now so I'm going to go lay down and read on my kindle...

I had a great post- with a domino math game center, juicy words memory game and apple contractions but nooooooo google docs didn't like that idea and is completely messing up my PDF! It only uploads the text and in some weird font! Anyone got any ideas.....

On a good note- it is EXTREMELY beneficial having a husband who specializes in graphic and web design....and is honestly a PRO at photoshop- he is teaching me all the in's and outs and how to navigate this whole new web world :)

SO....I do have a great post - just can't get it to work tonight- will try again on Sunday- as tomorrow completely book and Saturday I have another completely full day.

Blogging addiction

Well my addiction to blogging just expanded! I can now blog from my phone! Although I will still mostly use my laptop so I can upload documents and read other blogs but this is nice to have....


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Egg-O Math

Since we are finishing up our unit on Relating addition and subtraction facts to 20...I pulled out my Egg-O math kits for the kiddos to do during independent activity time after they finish their math page. I took empty egg cartons and wrote numbers inside. For single digits- I only put numbers 0-9....for double digit addition I did double digit numbers.

I put two or three mini pompoms or bingo counters in each carton. The kids shake up the pompoms and open the carton....they add the numbers that the pompoms land on...I put two in for two digit adding and 3 in for adding 3 numbers. I made several sheets for them to write down their addition problems on. (I hope I explained that right)

Single Digit Egg-O Math

Double Digit Egg-O Math Sheet

Adding 3 Eggo-Math Sheet

I also made "money eggs" which is perfect since all the stores have plastic eggs out for Easter. I used another empty egg carton - and 12 Easter eggs...I put fake coins in each egg and numbered them. The kids take an egg and count the money in it...they do this for all 12 eggs....or 18 depending on the size of egg carton they are using....

Money Eggs

Book Giveaway!

WOW!!!- Erica at Erica Bohrer's First Grade is giving away a signed copy of her scholastic book- (ACK sorry I tried to get the picture smaller but photobucket is giving me major problems!)



This book looks SUPER cute and even if I don't win (but I HOPE I DO!) I think I may have to purchase it to use in my classroom!

Check it out!

Lady Liberty and some sweet $1 finds!

In our quest to learn about "Our Country" and American Symbols- we did a quick little writing/project today on the Statue of Liberty. We have already done a writing on the American Flag and the Liberty Bell (no pics of those) - so today I showed a quick video off United Streaming and then we wrote about the Statue of Liberty as a class and then put the art project together. Here's the finished project-...and yes- everything was done with DJ Inkers because I am obsessed!

My Example:

Two of the Kiddos finished project:

Now for the awesome deals I found at Target today- How excited was I to find some super cute file folders and dividers in the $1 section at Target! I couldn't resist- I even found two super cute clipboards.....the hubby wasn't as 'thrilled' as I was but he understands my 'addiction' to buying cute things for my classroom :)

Overall- it was a pretty good day!

Accessory swap! Ooo LaLa!

So one of the fabulous blogs that I follow-The Adventures of Miss Elisabeth- is having an accessory swap- I'm super excited because I L.O.V.E all things accessories!!! Head on over to Elisabeth's blog and join in the fun!

Freebies for now....

well until I decide whether or not I want to use TpT or something else to sell my creations - I am going to just put them on here for free. I am not that comfortable selling things I have made because I don't like purchasing things from other teachers- I'm broke as it is :) So since I LOVE downloading freebies- that's what I am going to offer.

For the past couple of weeks we have been working on Synonyms/Antonyms and contractions. My first graders are having a really hard time w/ both of these concepts. So I created a "Synonym Match" for them to do during free time or as a second activity after they finish their center. My class kept wanting to tell me the opposite for the word instead of the synonym...hopefully this helps.

I'm still new at this whole google docs thing so I also included a link to just directly download the files below the pictures. I want to figure out how to just have a picture and you click to download.....

Synonym Match Game

Contraction Worksheet (I used this for morning work)

Apple Contractions

Listening Centers...

My new obsession is making center time more 'productive' and not just busy work. I mean it's almost an hour out of our instructional day. So....with that said- in my classroom I run 5 centers a week. They kids do one center a day. I have a reading center (which right now is just for reading books and taking A.R. Quizzes), spelling center, writing center, Theme center, and Story of the Week Center.

I was not happy with the story of the week center....I hated having them do an activity for the story we would be reading because on Monday's they hadn't even read the story yet! So- I have now changed it to focus on the comprehension skill of the week that goes with our story. I have been using listening centers for this. I LOVE listening centers- but hate when all they do is listen to a story and there is nothing to go with it.

The past couple of weeks I have been taking a listening center and creating a worksheet (hate that word) an activity to go alone with the story they listen to and the comprehension skill.

We use HM and are on Theme 6. For week 1 we were doing Noting Details - so I pulled the listening center-Giraffes Can't Dance and created this to go with it:

Noting Details Center Full Download

For week 2 (this week for us) We are working on Making Predictions- so I took the story Giggle, Giggle, Quack and came up with this activity:

Predictions Listening Center Full Download

I'm working on one for next week- Slugs in Love (Problem Solving)....

Teacher's Help!

How do I upload documents from google docs to share with all of you??? Someone help me please!! :)

Meet the Teacher....

Time for a party! One of my favorite blogs to read First Grade Parade is having a Linky Party- and since I'm new to the "teaching" blog and need followers I thought I would join in! 

So, on to me! My name is Christine and I teach 1st grade in Southern Cali. This is my 6th year teaching- prior to teaching 1st grade I taught 3rd. 1st grade is where my heart is though! I absolutely LOVE it. The age group, the curriculum and the cute things my students come up with keep me on my toes all day everyday! I am constantly coming up with activities, centers and fun things to keep my 1st graders engaged. I L.O.V.E DJ Inkers - {read: OBSESSED} with anything that has to do with DJ clipart! Anything I can recreate or come up with using it- I will! 

I received my bachelor's degree from Cal Poly Pomona along with my Multiple subject teaching credential in 2005. I then completed my Master's degree in Educational Leadership and Administration and hold an Administrative credential. I hope to one day get out of the classroom and try my hand at leadership.....but that's all for another day. 

I am married to my wonderful husband-{we met in H.S.}- dated for 7 years and then got married in July of 2006.

Our Wedding Day: 

Some random photos of the Hubby and Me:

Vegas:

We have an English bulldog named Mason-

We also had our first daughter- Lyla McKenna in November of 2009. She is the absolute LIGHT of my (our) life and the reason I get up every morning. No matter how my day goes I cannot wait to get off work to see her smiling face waiting for me. We LOVE being parents {but how could we not when we have this little beauty}-

Now for the Q & A

Q: What would you be doing if you weren’t a teacher?                                             
A:  I would L.O.V.E to be a Stay at home mom! I want nothing more than to be able to stay home with Lyla and spend every day with her.

Q: What are your hobbies?                                                                                    
A: Reading- literally! I cannot get enough of books. The hubby gave me a Kindle for Christmas and it is my new best friend. I just finished the book Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers and it was AMAZING!

I also enjoy catching up on my sleep, watching movies with the hubby and playing with Lyla.                                                                

Q: When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?                     
A:  At first a dentist- then a teacher.
   
Q: What are your guilty pleasures?                                                              
 A: Reality TV....- I love all of the "Real Housewives of....", The City, Real World, True Life, The Bachelor, 19 Kids and Counting, Little People Big World, The Little Couple, Keeping up with the Kardasians, Kourtney and Kholey take Miami, Guilianna and Bill- I could go on and on...I like almost all reality shows!

Ok, Ok, ALL TV- I fill up our DVR - House, Private Practice, Grey's Anatomy, 90210. Southland, Friday Night Lights, Bones, Rookie Blue, Oprah, Ellen, 20/20, True Blood, Dexter, and loads more.

Q: What is your biggest fear?!                                                                   
 A: not living life to it's fullest......having regrets. Not enjoying time with my husband and daughter.

Q: When you’re on vacation, where do you like to go?                               
 A: Hawaii, Louisiana, Disneyland (OK- not vacation since I live 40 minutes away but still)
                                                         
Q: What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?                                                   
A:  Always treat other's the way you want to be treated {my mom}

Be the friend that you want to have.

Q: What do you value most in others?                                                                   
A:  honesty and trustworthiness.....as well as compassion.

Q: If you could choose one of your personality traits to pass down to your kids, what would it be?                                                                                                        
A:  My ambition and ability to achieve goals that I set for myself.

Q: If you could have lunch with anyone in the world….living or dead…who would it be?                                                                                                           
A: Jesus- I would love to have just a moment with him.


My MawMaw {mom's mom} and my husband's parents- all three have passed away and I would love the opportunity to just sit and chat with them all! Especially my husband's parents since I did not get the chance to meet them.

Now tell us one random thing about yourself:

I HATE cheese!  I mean HATE!! I won't eat it....ever. I order all of my food without it and even my own mom makes thing special for me- if what she is making has cheese in or on it. I take it off pizza, order mexican food with out it and will not eat something if it previously had cheese on it :) 

That's me! 

How to get....

FOLLOWERS? I need followers......how to get them? hmmm

Here we go...

Hello! I am Mrs. Reed- a 1st grade teacher in Southern California. I taught 3rd grade for 4 years before making the switch to 1st and I LOVE it. 1st grade is where I was meant to be.

I am married to my wonderful husband (married 4 1/2 years together for almost 11!) and we have one beautiful daughter- Lyla McKenna who is just turned 1 in November.

I will preface my blog by saying that I am A.D.D.I.C.T.E.D to DJ Inkers and anything and everything that I can make or re-make w/ DJ Inkers- I do!  I'm addicted to 'cute' in my classroom. I have everything in binders or files and organized by subject. Pictures of my classroom to come!

I stumbled across several (read-and overwhelming amount) of GREAT blogs by other first grade teachers and I was so inspired to create my own. I spend most of my time creating great activities, centers, resources etc for my kids and I'm sure other teachers could benefit.

I'll have to look into this TpT website but for now documents (all in PDF form) will be free :)

I'm so excited to get this up and running!