Currently in July

I'm kind of on the late show here, but it's only July 3rd and I really wanted to link up with Farley! I spotted her linky parties multiple times on Pinterest before launching my blog, so I'm SUPER excited to be able to link up. I can not believe July is here. Ugh! I'm not ready! This means I've been out of school for almost 4 weeks! Where'd those days go?

Kathy Lee and Hoda....those 2 gals are so silly! Don't tell them, but their drinking sometimes scares me. 

It's extremely important to have a working AC here in central California because this heat is just ABSURD! The projected high is 110! I did run some errands yesterday, but am definitely staying in today. 

I love summer time because that means I have time to hang out with my AMAZING husband (I promise you'll hear more about how fabulous he is in the future)! We've been breaking out the board games. We brought over a lot of his childhood games when we moved into our home. Yes, he still has his old board games (and ninja turtles and action figures and books and ... you know how that goes). Anyways, I'd never played Uno. So he taught me how to play Disney Uno. I think it's time we buy some new grown up versions of these board games. 

I won a Calendar Notebook from Smiling in Second Grade!! It's a 2-for-1 kind of deal (calendar & notebook)! Yeay! It's one of the MANY items I had on my Wishlist. I'm hoping to print it and put it together this weekend. I can't wait to share more about it once it's put together.

I'm supposed to be reading Reading for Meaning (Debbie Miller). I chose this book for professional development purposes, but I'm also receiving course credit for it. Of course, I have to read the book in order to write a paper about it. Unfortunately, I set it down last week and haven't had any desire to pick it back up. 

My tip: Always make sure to leave thoughtful or meaningful feedback. This goes for blogging and TpT. 

TpT: I think it's important to leave feedback that may be helpful to the seller. Is there something they should keep doing? Or something that may have been even more helpful it were changed or added? 

Blogging: I think it's important to make connections with others, the authors and each other. Don't forget to share an opinion or something you found relatable. Okay, I hope that didn't come across as a lecture. It's really about connecting with others. ^_^

Well, I'm off for now. Happy hump day!

Winner Winner & Monday Made It

It's like Christmas! As much as I enjoy getting presents, I'm even more giddy when it's time to give them. Since I'm such a newbie here, this was my FIRST giveaway! I'm hoping these friends enjoy their prizes. And the winners are... Leslie E. & Dawnn M.! I'll be sending emails you way shortly!

Onto Monday Made It! I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics to share what I made! 

Now, I love to craft!! Unfortunately, there's a problem... the crafts don't seem to love me back. I always seem to jack things up or they just don't turn out picture perfect. My sweet husband just giggles and let's me display them anyways. For instance, the half-painted rope basket that sits sadly in my craft room and the sparse bouquet of paper flowers that are on my desk. I picked up a few rolls of chevron washi tape at Michael's & decided I couldn't go wrong with it. Right?! WRONG! So, I've been dying to use clothespins to display student work in my classroom. I've seen it done more than once on Pinterest. So, I bought the washi tape with the intent of decorating my Dollar Store clothespins. I carefully cut the washi tape and placed it on the clothespins, then sprayed them with Mod Podge Acrylic Sealer. This is where I went wrong... I forgot to put the Mod Podge Matte on! So, I gave up and finished it this morning. First, the MPM and then the Mod Podge Acrylic Sealer. I used my hot glue gun to attach the thumbtacks to the back of the clothespins. I've got two really CUTE clothespins, but I think I'm going to paint the rest (because I'm Mod Podge challenged).

Have you done any crafts lately? Do you get along any better with Mod Podge?! ^_^ Maybe next week I'll be able to share my spray painted clothespins instead.

Five for Friday & a Giveaway!

Okay, so I feel terrible to neglecting my little blog here. I've been busy reading and playing creating more number posters.

Number Posters 

These are the number posters that I keep changing. Once I finished the original set I thought to myself, "Wouldn't this be cuter if this was gray and that was a different font??" So the modifications began. I tried so many color combinations and fonts. So, here's the second set of number posters. I don't know what color combinations to try next. Any suggestions? If you'd like a set of number posters please leave a comment with your email address &I'll choose a lucky visitor Sunday evening.

Summer Reading for Professional Development

I'm always looking for ways to improve my reading instruction. I'm much stronger when it comes to math and building number sense. I LOVE LOVE LOVE teaching math! It's so much fun! Don't get me wrong, I've been able to get my students excited about reading and different book series. However, teaching reading comprehension has been quite challenging. So, I picked out some books to read this summer, hoping they could give me some sort of insight into what's missing from my instruction. Here's what I picked up. I've heard so much about The Daily Five that I was curious to see if there is something inside th

Currently obsessed with Instagram

I've been stalking following my favorite bloggers on Instagram and finding new friends as well! This means I've been discovering new photo editing apps! Yeay! My current favorites are A Beautiful Mess (thank you Two Friend in First for sharing) and PIP Camera. 

Ahhh! Hot!!

It's ridiculously hot out here! So, I doubt I'll be going outside much. Except for today because my sweet nieces are here! Sprinklers and ice cream treats! Oh boy! ^_^. Check out this ridiculous forecast.

Giveaways & Freebies!

I've been entering all of these fantabulous giveaways all week! You did hear that Ashley Hughes is still having a ginormous giveway, right? If not, head on over there. Quick! There's still time! She also offers a daily freebie on TPT. I love love her clipart.

Thanks for stopping by to check out my five!

Time's running out (Bloglovin Giveaway)!

Hello friends!

You have probably heard by now that Google Reader is going away on July 1st. Wahhh!! Well, Google Reader may be going away, but I don't want YOU to go away, so I hope that you will consider following my blog through Bloglovin!  I know that change is hard...so I thought I might sweeten it up for you a little bit!

I'm doing a giveaway for all of you fabulous followers that take the leap and switch over to bloglovin.  You may have already switched over!  In that case, this will be an easy entry!

If you have not yet switched or are not following my blog through bloglovin, then there are a few easy steps to follow.  You can go to our sidebar (that's the column on the right over there that shows our followers) and you can click the button that says Follow this Blog with bloglovin.  Or, you can go into the Rafflecopter below and click the link in the first entry, and that will take you to my blog on bloglovin.

You will need to set up an account with bloglovin so that you can follow me.  Please be sure to leave your bloglovin username in the Rafflecopter entry.  Then, go to this post on bloglovin and "like" it.

If you want to go ahead and move all of the blogs you follow from Google over, you can go to this link and it will take you through the super easy steps.  BUT, please go to my bloglovin link and make sure that you are following Super Sparkly in Second through bloglovin.  To be sure, make sure that the blue button at the top of my bloglovin page has been clicked (it should be gray with the word following- if it's blue, please click it to follow!)

I will be picking 2 WINNERS and each winner will get their choice of 2 ITEMS FROM MY TpT STORE! ^_^

a Rafflecopter giveaway

My 1st Five for Friday & Statigram

Hooray! It's officially summer (as if I wasn't already acting like it was). I am SUPER excited to have some free time because I am extremely so busy during the school year.

1. Magazines

Hey, that means...no.... really?? I can ACTUALLY sit and read a magazine?! Every year I consider canceling my subscription, but can't quite bring myself to do so because I really enjoy thumbing through my magazines.

2. Statigram

I just discovered Statigram! A way to display Instagram photos on your blog or facebook. Yipee! I love being able to display my photos right on my page. The process was very easy.
You simply sign in with Instagram. Select the tab that says <Promote>. Find the site you'd like to share on. I chose <On your blog or website>. These were the settings I chose, but of course you have other choices for displaying your photos. Check mine out over on the right.

3. Planner Inspiration 

There are some fabulous planners out there. However, when it comes to my lesson plans I've discovered that I absolutely LOVE typing mine out (it looks so nice and neat). Of course, when I add or change them I MUST reprint them, but it's totally worth having an organized plan book. So I was snooping around etsy and found some good ideas. Then, while trolling around Instagram I found Cheryl's (Primary Grafitti) creation! It is fantabulous! So now I have a better idea of what I'd like to create. Wish me luck!

4. Bloglovin

Several people said Bloglovin wasn't so scary and they were right! I signed in with my gmail account and VOILA the feed from my favorite blogs appeared. I even downloaded the app on my phone! Today I added my blog and the button to my site. Where's the easy button?

5. Common Core PD Yipee

I had the opportunity to attend two days of Common Core PD. It was extremely valuable as a teacher with limited understanding or exposure to the Common Core standards. We'll be implementing them this upcoming school year. I'm nervous, but ready for the challenge. I know that through training and research my comfort will build. I am always willing to take the initiative and seek out resources whenever I have questions.

Happy Friday!

Cupcake Make a Word

So, my adorable niece will be a first grader next year!!! Wow, time flies so fast. It makes me sad, but fortunately for me she still likes to be babied. Anyway, I want to make sure she continues reading & reviewing what she's learned in kindergarten (jeez, such a teacher). So, I created a game to practice reading CVC words: Cupcake Make a Word! Any ideas for a more interesting name??

I can't wait to try it out next week. I hope you can find some use for it as well. 
Download here: Cupcake Make a Word
Update: I've made some changes to the game and added a page to write down the words that were created. Like my page on Facebook for the Fan Freebie. 

Posters, Place Value & Ten Frames! Oh my!

This is what I am currently working on. I've been searching for vertical ten frames and simply couldn't find exactly what I was looking for. Over the course of the year my PLC read Number Talks: Helping Children Build Mental Math and Computation Strategies. We practiced number talks in our class and shared strategies for successful implementation. 

A way to help students recognize place value and to subitize is to present the ten frames vertically. So, this is what I've come up. I've still got some work to do. What do you think?