Holiday & Special Days Calendar Cards

Aaaahhh Summer! The time when our teacher brain is supposed to shut off.......NOT!

This is my 3rd week of summer and I have to remind myself these days to relax a little. Although I had an extremely rough school year, and I've been looking forward to summer all year long, now that it's here, I'm actually really anxious to get back into my classroom! Weird huh?! I can't explain it at all!!

I spent the first two weeks of my break moving classrooms. I was extremely frustrated having to clean out not only my exisiting classroom, but the classroom I was moving into as well. The previous teacher resigned mid- year and left a bunch of stuff I had to trash. I must have made three trips to our dumpster! If you follow me on Instagram, I shared a trashbag of brand new hardcover books I found stuffed at the back of her closet.

At that moment I felt like crap. It wasn't so much about the books, it was about how I've been complaining all along while not understanding her struggles. I took it as God saying to me "Here you are whining about doing a little work and look at this nice gift this lady left you." There had to have been over 30 books in that bag. Brand spankin' new! I took a moment to say a prayer for her, and ask for forgiveness for my actions and my tongue. Lesson learned!! #imnotperfect

Anyhow, I finally made the time to sit and finish this calendar cards pack that I started a couple months ago. I wanted to make my own because I became tired of constantly searching for specific cards I needed and what was being sold at my local teacher store just did not fit my needs.

I was really bummed when I realized I left my laminator at school and we are locked out for the summer!! We're actually not allowed back in until two weeks prior to the start of the school year. But I've already printed these bad boys and now I'm just trying to find someone to help me cut them....hahaha!!

Click here if you'd like to check it out! It's only $2 in my TpT store :)

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TpT Teacher Appreciation Sale!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!!! I'm joining in this fun linky party brought to you by these fabulous ladies! Hop on over to Flying into First Grade to see who is having a sale on tpt, or to link up. 

My whole store is 20%, then TpT offers an 8% discount for a total of 28% off. Another site-wide sale won't be happening for a while, so stock up while you can! I know I'm filling my cart with a TON of things that has been on my wishlist for forever, lol! pardon my poor grammar. 

Here are some of the things I have on sale, a bunch of these items are less than $2 - you just can't beat that price!!! 

Happy Shopping!!

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Five for Friday...on a Saturday!

I'm a little late to the party....but here goes! I'm linking up with Kaci from Doodle Bugs Teaching to bring you my Five for Friday, on a Saturday.

This was one hectic week in Kindergarten. There are so many assessments going on it's ridiculous, I tried to squeeze in as much fun stuff as I could. 

This week we wrapped up our plant and life cycle units. These are my read aloud books. I don't leave them on our class bookshelf throughout the year, I store them in a file cabinet by quater. But I do allow my kids to look at them during Daily 5 or when they have free time. 

This cute activity is from TpT. I can't remeber the seller, I have the packet at school, I'll definitely come back and give credit. It didn't originally have arms and legs but I added them for extra cuteness!

We sang this cute song from Deanna Jump's Frog Frenzy Packet. The tune is "Up on the Rooftop", my kids loved this song!

We planted flowers on Earth Day which I hope will bloom in time for Mother's Day. I let the kids scoop their dirt and lay their seeds in the middle. They had a blast making a mess! We put them out for the majority of the day and I bring them in before we go home. 

We also started our Weather & Seasons unit. Here is a chart of our schema. I can't wait to dive into this unit, it's always one of my favorite units teach. 

Head on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to join in the fun!

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Currently....MAY

I'm linking up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade to bring you this month's currently:

I am really loving the fact that it's almost summer. I have just 24 more days, yet it still feels like an eternity! I've had a rough year, so I am more than excited to move on already. I'm currently thinking about going for my library endorsement. I have a M.A. in Language & Literacy and being a library media specialist has always been on my mind. I am obsessed with children's books and I would love to share this love of mine with them.

And my plans for summer are just to relaxxxx and really clean out my tpt store! Unfortunately, Vegas is just not in the cards for me this year so I'll be living vicariously through those of you that are going :)

Hop on over and join the fun! And btw, isn't this month's template from Farley just gorgeous! #obsessed

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$60 Target Gift Card Giveaway!!!

Aahhhh Target!!!! It must be that bright red bullseye that just gets me suckered every.single.time. You go in for milk & bread and $200 later you're out! Raise your hand if you can relate!! Hahaha! 

Well, if you love Target then you're in luck! I'm teaming up with five other blogging buddies to bring you our "Lookin' Good" Instagram Loop Giveaway. The six of us recently had our blogs re- designed by Gabby Barba from Gabby's Classrooms, and we couldn't more thrilled with the results!! I'm sure I shared that with you about 100 times already. In celebration of that, we're giving away a $60 Target gift card to one lucky winner.

Head on over to my instagram page to check out the details! Good Luck!!

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The Liebster Award

Thank- you to Yukari from A Pinch of Kinder for nominating me for this sweet award! I first received this award a few years ago when I started blogging, and it's nice to see that it's still being passed around! Although I've been here for a few years now, I've never really been so consistent with blogging. With my recent blog makeover, my love for sharing tips and ideas has definitely been reignited! 

Let's Get Started!! 

Here are the answers to the 10 questions I recieved:

1. Why and how long ago did you start blogging?

I started in November 2011, but never really gave it my 100%, because of everything else I had going on in my life. I am hoping to get back into the swing of things!

2. What one word sums up the heart of your blog and why?

I couldn't agree with Yukari more when she said for her it is about sharing. I feel the same way. I really wanted an outlet to share ideas and offer freebies.

3. Is there something you learned late in your blog journey you wished you knew before?

Be consistent. 

4. What is your favorite past time other than blogging?

I love to organize and make sure things are neat and tidy. Everything has a place, that's my motto! Some might call it OCD though! Hahaha! 

5. How many hours a week do you dedicate to your blog?

In the past, not much. Now, my goal is to blog at least 2- 3 times a week. 

6. What category of blog posts do you enjoy the most?

I enjoy posts that assist me with meeting the standards. The CCSS is rigourous!! And a lot of times, although something looks fun and cute, I might not be able to implement it in my classroom because my admin expects almost EVERYTHING to be tied to standards. Bleh, I know. 

7. Where does your blog inspiration come from?

Definitely from my little sweeties!! 

7. Which post that you've written are you most proud of?

It has to be the post about my Black History Month products. It was my first product posted, and has since remained my best- selling product on TpT. 

8. Is there any post that you have been planning to do, but have been postponing it for a while now?

Nothing that I can think of at the moment. 

9. What is your favorite aspect of blogging?

Meeting new people has been the highlight of it all and just being able to take a peek into their classrooms is fun! 

10.  Which idea from a blog would you like to try yourself?   

I've been blog- stalking Reagan from Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits, and there are so many fun things going on over there. Her rotation boards packet is something I'm eyeing for next school year.

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I'm passing this lovely award on to: 
1. Bethany from Ship Shape First Grade. She has a TON of fun ideas on her blog! I am obsessed!! 

2. KaSandra from Memories Made in First. I love the poetry picnic she recently blogged about! 

3. And finally, Jamee from Scissors and Crayons. She recently blogged about all the fun her class had learning about dinosaurs. 

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1. In your post, link back to the blogger who nominated you as a thank you and "shout out." (Follow their blog if you haven't already!)  

2. Answer the 10 questions given to you (the ones I answered above).

3. Nominate 5-11 blogs of your choice that each have less than 200 followers. Provide them with 11 questions to answer or have them answer the questions above. 

4. Let your nominees know that they've been nominated and provide them with a link to your post so that they can accept. 

5. Send your nominator a link to your post so that s/he can learn more about you as well! (You can just put your post link in the comments below).

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Five for Friday- April 24th

I'm linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching to bring you my #fiveforfriday!

This week has been all kinds of crazy!! District assessments, mid- quarter progress, parent meetings....on top of trying to squeeze in Spring, Earth Day, Plants and Life Cycles all into one because we just returned from break and I'm running short on time......aaarrgggggg! Makes me want to pull my hair out!

The definite highlight of my week was the fact that my blog design was finally completed! I can't say enough about Gabby from Gabby's Classrooms!!! She is extremely patient, kind, and really affordable! This design was my 5th or 6th and I hope it's my last for a while. She really hit the nail on the head and knew exactly what I wanted. Out all of all my designs, this one is really me. I love bright & cheery colors, and I can't help but smile when I look at my design. If you haven't already, go and check her out! Even if you're not in the market for a blog design, she offers a lot of techy tips as well as free fonts from her favorite designers. 

The pit of my week had to be problems with my macbook. It's barely a year old, and has been to the shop already 3 times. I've paid close to $300 and I am super frustrated! I snapped this picture to show the tech guy who kept saying it's fine, and that there is no virus or worm. While I was blog hopping, the background on my laptop turned this weird color and then it shut down....wwwaaaaaaa!!! Has this ever happened to any of you?!

This week we planted some flowers for Earth Day which we also plan to give our mom's for Mother's Day...I totally forgot to snap a picture of that, but I did snap one when we were investigating seeds. My kids were amazed to learn that seeds come in all shapes and sizes. Bless their precious hearts. Afterwards we wrote about our discoveries in our journals. 

Click on the image to download. I hope it's something you can use in your classroom!

We did more journal writing using words from our word wall. I made the header but the cards are from First Grade Schoolhouse and can be purchased here: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spring-Word-Cards-1770503

Finally, we did a little review on things that are "Heavy & Light" for our district assessments which will continue next week....prayers are accepted and appreciated :)

Please forgive my poor picture quality. They are all taken on my cell phone. I have a fancy schmancy camera but cell phone pics are way better, hahahaha! I kid, I kid. I just keep forgetting to bring my camera with me in the morning. I promise next week's Five for Friday post will have better quality pictures!

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