CCSS Gradebook for 20 OR 25!

The winner's of my Common Core Gradebook are Ashley from Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd and Wendy from Peace Love & Little People! I'll be emailing you shortly, ladies. 

I've already modified the gradebook for next school year as well (can not seem to stay away from my computer). I currently have a class of 20, but that will likely change next year. My class size will most likely increase to 25 like other primary classes in my district. Not even going to cry about it yet. I am trying to figure out how to reconfigure my room and where to put more desks though. Yikes! Back to the gradebook... I try to keep to as few pages as I can to save on ink and paper. I HATE having to flip through a million pages when reviewing data. So, I revised the gradebook for 20 and squeezed in room for 5 more students. Of course, that means it's a little more squished. I hope someone finds it useful. I'll definitely be using it next year.

If you still would like either Gradebook they're up for $1.00 on TpT until tomorrow morning. 

Click HERE to see the Gradebook for 25 students.

That's all for tonight friends!

Wanna see my lesson plan book?

Hello friends! I'm back.... from a mini-vacay that is. So, normally I hate going out of town this close to school starting. It makes me super uncomfortable... I mean errrr excited... as I start to write out my to-do list. Unfortunately Luckily, we had purchased concert tickets months ago for a show near San Francisco, so that meant I HAD to take a trip outta town! Darn! I mean, if you're going drive 3 hours away, you might as well stay and do some fun stuff. Right?! Also, the weather in SF is about 30 degrees cooler than home (102 degrees is no fun).

Sausalito & Muir Woods Monument

If you ever visit SF, San Francisco Sightseeing Tours is a great company to tour with. We hopped on a bus to Muir Woods and Sausalito, then went on a 1 hour bay cruise. My husband and I love to visit SF and manage to find something different to do EVERY single time. We were running out of ideas and decided to venture out a bit. We are really REALLY good at getting lost, so it was nice to have someone else drive for a change. Sausalito is a cute Mediterranean-like community across the bay from SF.

My bff lives in SF! She took us to the Marriott Lounge, which has a ridiculous view.
Ikea anyone? I think yes.
The Postal Service concert in Berkeley. Awesome!

Moving on to my school related post... I'm excited to link up with The Teacher's Chair and share my lesson plan book with you! This has been quite a process for me. I recall buying a pre-made lesson plan book with the intention of filling those little boxes with my plans. However, I thought it would be difficult and the boxes weren't the right size, so I created and printed my own. I created an Excel file with 3 columns and labeled the subject areas. I typically filled out the details in pen or pencil. Each day took up an entire page. Later, I began typing lesson details into the cells and printing them off Sunday night. 

I do not mind changing my plan book at all. So, I was super excited last year when I found that Luckeyfrog's Lilypad had created a lesson planning template that could be customized FOR FREE. I love creating and customizing my schtuff! I especially loved this because the layout allowed me to view the entire week's plan. In the last column I chose to write in my center plans, focus students, and groups. My focus students were those that I chose for tutoring to ensure that they were making progress in reading comprehension. I met with these students weekly to work on a particular skill. My reading groups were constantly changing based on student growth, so I had to keep a list of each group. I'm SUPER forgetful and must write everything down (including assemblies, meetings, etc.). I wrote these notes down and sometimes highlighted them after printing. After completing my lesson plans for the week, I printed, hole-punched, and placed them in my binder. Of course, there are changes that happen. If it's a big change I would reprint, if not I'd write in the change on the printed copy. I plan to keep this plan book for next year as well. Of course there will be modifications and some schedule changes. But for the most part I'll be keeping this format.
*I typically keep the digital copy open on my computer and the binder on my desk (as requested by my admin).

I have to have some pretty stuff to look at, so I started adding clip art &color at the end of the year.

I also keep a birthday page in this binder, my pacing calendar, and district calendar. I created my own Lesson Plan Binder Cover as well. Click HERE to download them for free.

Now, last week I shared about my new CCSS checklist and gradebook. Well, I FINALLY finished my Gradebook. Yippee!! I created it in a portrait format. This will make report card time so much easier because I'll have a specific document to refer back to and record student progress. It'll be up for $1.00 until tomorrow!

Go to TpT for the NEW Portrait Gradebook 

Go to TpT for the Landscape Gradebook

Happy Monday!

The Celebration Continues!

Wow! So what are the odds of having a repeat winner?! This winner actually won my Bloglovin Giveaway last month. So crazy! Congratulations Tessa M. you've won even MORE prizes!!! I'll be contacting you shortly. I'm still trying to reach a previous winner: Leslie E. Please check your Gmail email/spam.

Thank you again for following! If you didn't win there's a consolation prize. Well, kind of. I'm going to throw a sale this week! Is there something you've had your eye on or something you'd like to have before school starts? Take 20% off at my TpT store! Enjoy!

I would love to win $100 to spend at School Outfitters! Wouldn't you?! I could buy so many classroom goodies! 
Cick HERE to head to Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for a chance to win

Winner & a FREEBIE for you

I'm linking up with my friend Amy's Summer Celebration Linky Party because I have much to celebrate. 

Click HERE to join the party

First, it's still summer. YIPEE!! I didn't realize some teachers go back to school so soon. It makes me anxious to see them getting ready and preparing their rooms (on Instagram). I'm like "How do I skip all those photos that make me so uncomfortable?" Are you on instagram? You can follow me if you click on the photos on my sidebar. My next celebration is not school related, but it was a very special day. My godson was dedicated at church today. Yeay! He's super sweet and my husband and I are looking forward to guiding him throughout his life. Finally, I'm still celebrating all of you fabulous people who are visiting my blog. I even have a FREEBIE to share with you! I'll get back to that in a second...

Hooray! We have a winner for Giveaway #1!!! Holly S. please be on the lookout for emails and start looking for those winner's choice items.

Obviously, there was only 1 winner. Boooo!! Oh, you'd probably never boo. I boo at things ALL the time (I try to keep it to myself). Like on Big Brother when mean-spirited people win things. Anyways... I thought I'd share a freebie with EVERYONE. Woohoo! One of my current projects is a money unit. Sidenote: I LOVE teaching math. It's my absolute favorite thing to teach. By the end of the year all of my students are happily chanting "Math time! Math time" in a sing-song voice. It's a fun transition. Common Core is shifting the introduction of money and coins to second grade. Yikes! That seriously terrifies me. So, I'm working on a unit with some games to build students' understanding of money and coin recognition. The freebie includes the money posters and Money Poem. I included two sets of money posters. Do you use the hair system when teaching the coin values? I saw it done before beginning my teaching experience and have found it to be incredibly helpful when teaching students to add coins. Each "hair" is actually a line drawn on a coin that represents 5. A nickel has 1 hair, which means it's worth 5 cents. A quarter has 5 hairs because if a student skip-counts they'll reach 25. I've found that some students need this system and some don't. My first instinct was to make all students draw the hairs, but found that some students didn't need them. Thanks a bunch for following! I'd REALLY appreciate feedback if you have a moment as well. 

*This freebie will be up until Wednesday 7/24

Click HERE to snag the Money Posters

Okay folks! That is all for tonight. I'm so very ready for bed. Just one last reminder... Giveaway #2 ends Monday night! Click HERE to hop on over there.

Giveaway #2 & Favorite Pins Friday

A favorite pin linky party? I'm all over it! Have you seen my boards? They're kind of out of control. I usually pin like it's my job! Seriously, you'd think I was getting paid to pin. Lately, I've been so busy though! I couldn't believe how few pins I had for the week, but I'm linking up with The First Grade Parade anyway.

I found this lovely printable. Printables make for easy peasy decor. Print and place in a lovely frame. Super easy right?! Just FYI the entire blog is fabulous. Adding it to my list. You should definitely check it out.

Pin from The Elli Blog

My hubby and I have been getting our guest room together! FINALLY! We've been in our home for nearly 2 years and our "guest room" has become more of a storage room. Random furniture, toys for the nieces & nephews, and lots of Christmas boxes (we love Christmas). We ordered a bed and are keepin' an eye out for a place to put those toys. I was thinking a basket, but then I came across this ottoman. So pretty!

Pin from Decoist

The next pin is actually school related. It came from My Second Sense. I'm always needing class lists and I print them when I need them. Hello! Why haven't I printed a few off and kept them handy? This would be so much more efficient. 

Pin from My Second Sense

Okay..... It's time for Giveaway #2!! Check out all the good stuff below. There's still time to enter Giveaway #1 if you haven't yet. Head over there! Quick!

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100 Fabulous Followers Giveaway!!

O-M-G! I have not been fulfilling my blogging duties because I’ve gotten carried away working on new creations for next year. It’s really hard to stop once I start working on something. I finally started putting my binders together for next year. I printed out my Common Core Checklist and Gradebook and realized I am NOT a fan of landscape formatting. Well, not so much when it’s printed back to back. I had to ask, “What was I thinking?” and, "Are people really using these?” So, I began the process of reformatting the 2^nd Grade CCSS stuff. Oh my word! I finished the Checklist and it looks fantastic! It’s in my binder ready to go! Now, I just need to finish that Gradebook (Portrait formatting). Grumble. If you are a fan of the landscape formatting then you are welcome to check out those items in my TpT store. 

Teachers Pay Teachers: Original CCSS Checklist

 Teachers Pay Teachers: New CCSS Checklist

Teachers Pay Teachers: Gradebook for 2nd Grade

Now, onto the sparkly goodies below…I couldn’t believe when I saw that I had 100 followers on Bloglovin! I was wondering if there was some sort of error, but nope it was correct. The numbers have been climbing ever since, which is fantastic because last month when I started I was keeping my fingers crossed hoping that maybe 20 people might like my blog enough to follow. But now there are 100 fabulous followers… What more could a girl ask for?! I am so thrilled and excited to be able to share some goodies with you all. A few of my new bloggy friends are sharing some items from their TpT stores (I begged asked nicely). They are super sweet and have some fantastic items to share.

I plan on having 2 Giveaways! Both will feature different items from different sellers.  

Good luck! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Make Your Own Image & 100+ Fab Followers!

I'm new to the world of blogging, so this may be (yawn) old news to you. I was bouncing up and down because I was so proud of myself when I figured it out though. ^_^ I've seen some really cute Bloglovin’ graphics and decided to make my own. So, you need Powerpoint and Paint. Got it? Awesome!

Here's what I did:

1. I opened Powerpoint and chose the rounded rectangle shape. I changed the color to pink.

2. I inserted a text box and typed in the “P”.

3. Open Paint. Select the images and copy them.

4. Paste the images onto the new Paint page.

5. Select your image and crop it to eliminate the white edges.

6. Resize depending on how large of a graphic you’d like. I reduced my image to 20% (vertical/horizontal).

6. Save as a PNG and insert into your blog as an image.
Check mine out on the right! I've included some screenshots below as well. I hope this helps someone. 

*If you'd like to donate an item to my giveaway please see the form at the bottom of this post.*

Step 1

Step 2

 Step 4

Step 5

Time seems to have gotten away from me! I've been meaning to put together a giveaway to celebrate a milestone...I've gained 100 followers! I would love to invite you to share your blogs, stores, and items with my followers. If you'd like to donate an item please complete the form (I would appreciate it so so much). I'll gladly offer you any item from my TpT store in return as well.

Looking forward to this celebration! 

Liebster Award nomination...I accept!

Eeeek! I’ve been nominated for a Liebster Blog award by Amy Harrod the author of 24/7 Teacher! 

I’m super excited and honored that anyone would think my blog is worth reading. A few months ago, I started noticing that my favorite TpT sellers had blogs. Whaaaaat?! I was so excited to follow and read stories about what was going on in their classrooms. Then, I realized I REALLY wanted to share my own adventures and creations. So, I created this blog about a month ago to share. I’ve made so many bloggy friends and learned so much in such a short amount of time.

Here are my "rules" for accepting this nomination: 

1. Link back to the blog that nominated me.
2. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 250 followers.3. Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator.4. Share 11 random facts about yourself.5. Create 11 questions for your nominees.6. Contact your nominees by commenting on their blog or sending them an email to communicate the nomination. 


Nominators questions:

1. If you could be any animal what would you be and why?

I would be my favorite animal...a panda! All they do is sit around and eat bamboo. Doesn’t that sound like the best life ever?!

2. Have you read any thing lately? If so, what? Tell a little bit about it. 

I haven’t been doing ANY reading. I’m supposed to be reading Reading for Meaning by Debbie Miller. So far, it seems like it’s simply going through setting up Reading Workshop (month-by-month).

If I wasn’t a teacher I’d be working in advertising (print). I absolutely love working with design and layouts. I was co-editor in chief of my high school yearbook and loved it! I enjoyed writing and creating my own layouts.

I REALLY love watching T.V. (Wow! I feel terrible admitting that). It’s hard to choose one, but my favorite summer show is So You Think You Can Dance. Those kids are super talented! I enjoy participating in the Teacher Act at my school, but I REALLY can’t dance. I try of course, but I’m sure it’s painful to watch.

5. What hobby do you have?

My hobby would be crafting. My favorite is paper crafts. I have a Smashbook and enjoy adding anything and everything to it.

6. What is your favorite store at the mall? 

My favorite store at the mall is the store that sells Toms. My husband gets super annoyed by my Toms obsession. The reason being that the sizes vary so much! He’s purchased at least two pairs in the correct size, but neither fit. I only have 5 6 pairs.

7. What would be the perfect hours for a school day and why? 

I think the perfect school hours would be 9:00 to 2:30. My school day is currently 8:00 to 2:30, which isn’t so bad. The only thing is I have a 40 minute commute. I would love to have time to enjoy breakfast with my hubby, rather than rushing out the door with a bagel or waffle. One more hour in the morning would be PERFECT.

8. If you could go any where in the world where would it be and why? 

If I could go anywhere in the world I’d go to China! I really wish I could have a panda, but since I can’t I would love to visit a panda sanctuary so that I could hold one.

9. If you could win any prize what would it be? (Grammy, Oscar, Emmy, Pulitzer, Olympic, Nobel Peace Prize or any other)

I'm not sure. This award seems pretty fantastic!

10. What is your favorite subject to teach? Why?

My favorite subject to teach is Science. I love connecting other subjects to scientific topics. Also, I find it easier to create interactive and inquiry-based activities when teaching science. My students LOVE science by the end of the year.

11. What is your dream vacation? 

My dream vacation would be a two week trip to Italy with my husband. I have always loved learning about the classical civilizations. The history simply fascinates me. Sigh.

11 Random Facts

1. My favorite color is teal.

2. I love to drink Donut House coffee.

3. My husband prepares my coffee every morning. I’m already a morning person, but even more so when he’s got that cup or tumbler in hand. Then, I’m a SUPER sweet gal.

4. I’m married to my high school sweetheart. We’ve been together for 11 years. Time flies when you’re having fun.

5.  My husband calls my iphone my hand (because I ALWAYS have it). It’s just so easy to stay up to date on my addictions…Pinterest, Instagram, TpT.

6. I would love to be a math coach of some sort some day. I mentioned how much I enjoy science, but I like math just as much.

7. I’m not very domesticated. Don’t ask me to knit or sew anything. Sorry, I just never learned how to. I don’t vacuum or sweep, but that’s because I have such a sweet hubby.

8. I was held up in a robbery within the first 6 months of working at a bank! It was such a scary experience.

9. My favorite candies are the ones covered in sugar. For instance, Sour Patch Kids, Trollies, Sour Punch Straws. I have a major sweet tooth.

10. I’ve wished for straight hair since I was about five. Then I could just run a brush through it, right?! Curly hair is so not fun. Mouse, gel, and hairspray.

11. I love pandas so much that I when I went to D.C. last year I went all the way to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo just to see them. Seriously, I only saw the pandas and bought panda stuff at the shop. An hour of pandas sure made my day!

I’m thrilled to nominate:

1.First Grade and Flip Flops

2.Our Future is Bright

3.The Teaching Twosome

4.Teacher Inspired
5.Simply Second

Questions for nominees:

1. If you could change any part of your home, what would you change?

2. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be?

3. What is your favorite subject to teach? Why?

4. What is your dream vacation?

5. What is your favorite place to shop?

6. Would you ever want to be an administrator? Why or why not?

7. What is your favorite animated movie?

8. What do you like to do to relax?

9. What are some of your favorite blogs?

10. Do you own any pets?
11. What prompted you to launch your blog?