Holiday Recovery

So I literally blinked and life fast forwarded from Thanksgiving straight to Christmas.  I only had 15 teaching days between the two holidays which ended up including 2, 2 hour delays and 1 snowday on the Friday before break.  I tried to cram as much as possible into those precious days.  My class started out by having a gingerbread week the first week of December, we made, ate, graphed and did science experiments with gingerbread cookies.  The second week we did Grinch week and we wrapped up with Polar Express week (thank goodness we had our movie and PJ day the day BEFORE the snowday).  That leads to me break.....it's Thursday already folks!!!  YIKES!

I was checking my email when I received a feedback email from TpT.  I thought, hmm, what was this for?  So after a little investigation I realized that I sold my 1st product!!!!  WHAT the WHAT!?!?!?!  This instantly motivated me to get my butt on the computer and blog and start creating.  I was feeling like my creations were just a waste, other than for my own students who truly enjoy them....apparently someone else may believe in me too!  It's a small start....very very small but it's a start and I'm excited!

So check out my latest sight word phrases for January here.



                               

The Great Catch Up....

Wow! We have been so busy lately, I've forgotten to take pictures of the majority of our work however, this week it was my goal to take pictures.  Hang on tight for a giant picture dump.

This was a magical day in teaching. I gave the kids a little booklet to color and turned on some classical music and BOOM silence!  I just had to take a few pictures, I wish you could hear how quietly they were all working.

On Halloween we had a little visit from our local Tooth Fairy.  The kids were so well behaved!  Sadly she passed out pencils instead of toothbrushes, but whateves!

My sweet girlies.  My oldest was a candy witch and my youngest was Jasmine, with strep throat.  Yep, I was that bad mom that sent her to school thinking it would pass, gave her tylenol before trick or treating and then had Daddy take her to the doctor the following day when she wasn't getting better.  Oops, I had NO clue she had strep!  

Hubby and I ditched the girlies and headed to Phoenix to see The Lion King!  It was a dream come true!  We decided to go for our anniversary (which was back in June) it was a magical night!  And we managed to bust out some major Christmas shopping!

My kiddos have been really getting personal with numbers lately.  I pick a number and we find as many ways as possible to represent the given number.  This day I decided that we needed to make number turkeys (even if they look more like flowers).  I wrote a different number on everyone's turkey and they had to use the feathers to represent that number.  I was pretty darn impressed with how well my kiddos did!

We took a little trip across the street to the Fire Station.  The kids (and teachers) LOVE this field trip!  This year we had a great group of guys that let the kids explore all areas of the fire station, showed us melted smoke alarms, let us crawl under "smoke" where the fresh air was.  They ended the visit with a walk through of the fire truck!  This was sort of a crazy morning for us teachers, one of our 1st grade classes didn't get a sub so we split that class amongst the other 4 classes so we went on our field trip with 6 extra kids each.

I finally finished my November Sight Word phrases, got them laminated and cut apart. I can't wait to start using them next week.

Finally, Friday was our Veteran's Day assembly.  They invite local Veteran's, the Kindergartens march around with their flags and sing You're a Grand 'Ol Flag, our 2nd graders wrote letters to Veteran's and the girls choir sang some beautiful songs. The last picture is of my dad that my oldest drew.  In 5th grade they have to do an interview with a Veteran and draw their Veteran so this was her project hanging in the hall.

Whew! You survived the epic photo dump.

Sight Word Phrases

My class has become pros at the first set of Fry's sight word phrases and quite frankly, they're a little bored with them.  I've been trying to think of some way to spice them up a bit and challenge my kiddos.  I decided that I needed to add a little holiday/seasonal flair to the phrases as well as make more than just the first 100.  So, I had to start somewhere so the first 100 it was.  Click below to find my Thanksgiving Fry's Sight Words, the first 100.  Keep you eyes open for the following sets.
http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/November-Frys-Sight-Word-Phrases-First-100-952299

My Favorite Time of Year...

       October! The sweet smell of pumpkin candles, pumpkin spice latte's from Starbucks, the crispness of the morning air...I LOVE October!
        October also means report cards...GAG!
       My class has been knee and elbow deep in pumpkins!  I had an amazing NAU partnership student who put together a pumpkin unit that my class absolutely LOVED!

We started Oct. 1st with pumpkins on everyones tables.

We then made HUGE pumpkin life cycles ( I thought it would be a great idea to make them gigantic but I didn't really pre-plan where I would put the darn things.)

We opened pumpkins and explored them.  We learned that pumpkins have seeds, pulp, and the more ribs a pumpkin has the more seeds there are inside.

Finally the kids had the daunting task to count all of the seeds from 3 different pumpkins.

Check out this freebie that fed right into our pumpkin-mania...

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pumpkin-Math-915161

After we exhausted all aspects of pumpkins my classroom became invaded by bats!

We've only begun to scratch the surface of our batty unit and the kids are so excited to learn more.

A New Start

This year has be C to the R to the ZAY!  After 6 weeks our leadership decided to change the entire schedule!  Like, from scratch!  Like, new new new!!!!  I can't say that I'm loving it yet.  We had to change our schedule because we are so understaffed that our RTI groups are HUGE!  Huge as in, intensive small group has 12 kids!
So here come my new start.  I'm trying to start this school year over, though we are ending our first quarter.  Part of my new start includes opening my new Teacher Pay Teachers shop!  I'm so excited for this new journey in my life.  I just pray that I have time and creative juices to start really creating.  I've decided rather than start with things I'd like to make and use, I'm starting by making things that I will use right now.
I had my principal's observation today so I got busy over the weekend and I created some pumpkin math activities since we have been learning about pumpkins for the past week and a half.  My unit is up on TpT for free so please go check it out, download it, try it, and give me pointers and feedback.  I'm trying to remind myself that everyone has to start somewhere and this is my  somewhere......wish me luck!

So check me out on TpT and follow me.

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Sweet Summer Time!!!

Oh sweet summer! Staying up late, sleeping in, working out, reading, just plain 'ol relaxing!  This summer the hubs and I decided that we better just stay home and work on the house...it needs painted inside and out, fences need stained, deck needs stained, etc.  I have to say, it has been a wonderful summer!  I do miss taking a vacation but this is the first summer in a long time that I've been able to sit back and just relax.
This summer, well in June, I've read 5 WHOLE books!!!!  I'm not much of a reader for numerous reasons but mainly because I can never find time to read and comprehend what I've read during the school year, I always find my mind wandering off.  This summer I've sat out on our deck, while the girls play in the back yard, and just read!
My girls have been doing great a swim lessons, my youngest if FINALLY a swimmer! I actually think they're both growing gills and fins since I can never get them OUT of the water.....boy has that chlorine wreaked havic on their hair.
The hubby and I finally joined a gym, working on our fitness.  Sadly, he's been working crazy overtime  so I haven't been going as much as I want to but July is my "focus on fitness" month, my goal is to hit it hard before I go back to school.
So that pretty much sums up my summer so far.  I've really wanted to get busy creating materials and starting my TPT shop, but I'm just not there yet mentally.  I was a terribly hard school year so I'm just trying to rest and replenish myself...I will create soon enough.

CHEERS to summer!!!!

Can you say M.I.A.?

Holy Cow! I can't believe that I haven't blogged in weeks....actually I can!  Since the dance recital and field trippalooza we've had a birthday and Mother's Day.  School has been busy with the usual end of the year junk PLUS 3 extra random days off due to snow day makeups.  My student teacher recently left so I've been busy to say the least.  I don't for see myself blogging until summer when I can devote 100% effort to it, otherwise you get random babbling such as this.
Anywho, after this coming week I'm taking my oldest to the Taylor Swift concert then it'll be SUMMER!!!!
Enjoy the end of your year, hope you survive with a smile!

My Busy Busy Week

This week has been so crazy busy, I'm looking forward to passing out on the couch Sunday!  Here's a run down of my fun, exciting week...

Monday:
Monday I went with my 4th grade daughter to Walnut Canyon to go look at and explore ancient Indian ruins.  The day was perfect!  We had warm sunshine and 70 degrees!  Hey, I was even able to work on my tan while I hiked with the kids.

Tuesday:

Tuesday was our first grade field trip to Bearizona.  Bearizona is a wildlife park located about 30 mins. west of town.  At Bearizona you stay in your car (or school bus) and drive through the different habitats while the animals come right up to your windows.  After the drive thru part we watched the bird show then did the walk around trail where we say itty-bitty baby cubs that were born in January.  It was a little breezy but all of my kiddos LOVED the field trip.

Wednesday:

I actually had to work on Wednesday but I spent my evening, until bedtime, at school so my girls could take their dance pictures.  I love all of the costumes and how dedicated to dance both of my girls are BUT  Mommy was T-I-R-E-D!!!

Thursday:

Thursday I went to the Arboretum with my Kindergartener.  The weather was horrible! We were under a red flag warning day due to the terrible wind and low humidity.  Luckily I was on this adventure because after about 10 minutes off of the bus the wind caught her ear and she developed a horrible earache so we left the field trip and were off to the doctor....ear infection!

Friday:

And well, that's today and here I sit at dance dress rehearsal.  I finally got smart and brought my district issued laptop so I can use the internet for the next SEVERAL hours. Today was the school's talent show, of which my 4th grader was the MC so she's been practicing that shpeel all week.  After the talent show my class was off to the 4th grade Arizona Animal Walk.  The 4th graders spend close to a month researching AZ animals, they write reports and have to create a life size model of their animal.  Finally after school we held our Parent Volunteer luncheon.  

Saturday:

Tomorrow my girls have their dance recital, I look forward to tomorrow night when all of this will be past me and I will be in my warm comfy bed. 

I hope you all had a great week!  Cheers to 15 days of school before SUMMER!!!!

CRAY_CRAY!!!!!

So this week has been absolutely INSANE!!!!  I promise I will blog with real pictures and such this weekend but here's a glimpse at why I'm M.I.A:
Monday: Field trip with 4th grade daughter
Tuesday: Class field trip
Wednesday: A.M. dance, IEP meeting, Dance pictures (4:00-7:00pm....yes 3 WHOLE hours!!)
Thursday: Field trip with Kinder daughter
Friday: School talent show, AZ animal walk (4th grader again), parent volunteer lunch, dance dress rehearsal (4:00-7:00ish pm)
Saturday: Dance recital
Sunday: PASS OUT!!!!  and blog

Stay tuned.........

Instagram, what???

So I've joined the Instagram movement!  Follow me.... Burns1stGradeBunch

Run Run as Fast as You Can...

Today was our 5th annual Jog-a-Thon.  This is my most favorite fund raiser that our school does.  The students have to collect pledges, either a flat rate or an amount per lap ran then we run for a 30 minute block.  100% of the proceeds go to the school, this year we are buying more laptops for our C.O.W. and a cart of iPads.  This year the event had a neon theme, and well, the teachers took it to a whole new level by adding tutus.  The weather was a perfect 65 degrees (a few years back it was spitting snow so they had to reschedule the event).  My class ran their hearts out!!! After the run the PTO passed out popsicles which I decided meant automatic extra recess!!!  Here's a few picture from the day.

Honestly the best part was walking around with my teacher friends and spraying the kids with the water bottles.  We may or may not have tried to SOAK our principal in the process....those tricky water bottle just spray spray spray!!!

Struggling

This will be short and sweet, simply put, I'm struggling.  I'm trying like the dickens to figure out how to use clip art, make it cute, and add text.  I have NO clue which program to use nor how to secure it.  I will keep trudging because I want this dream of mine to become a reality.  I want to be known in the teaching world for my cute products and more importantly I want to be able to show my students what I've made for them.
I guess this is my cry for a mentor.  Until I get noticed, until other teachers start reading my blog, I guess I'll go at it solo.  Trudge on Amber, Trudge on!!!

It's a ZOO in there!

Today was one of my favorite days in first grade, the Phoenix Zoomobile came!  This is such a wonderful program, every spring they load up some of their critters and head North!  We live about 2 1/2 hours away from the zoo so not all of my students have had a chance to visit it.  This mobile program brings the animals to us and the best part is that it's FREE, so we tie it into our habitat unit.  Today's animals were all nocturnal. Here's some pics from our day...

 This gal is a crack up! She keeps her presentations so engaging and fun for the kids!

 This "cute" little fellow is Darth Vader the millipede. NASTY!

 My class was super excited about the Leopard Gecko because 2 of my students are Leopard Geckos in our class play, though they were not as thrilled once they found out that they eat mosquitos.

 I can not for the life of me remember what this little gal is, I do remember her name was Gloria but no clue what sort of critter.

All in all it was a fantastic day in 1st grade!

Blogging

My goal with this blog is to share my daily experiences and to make connections with my fellow teachers.  I have finally figured out how to make my blog background cute, I just keep reminding myself, baby steps! I have started a brain storm journal for my future TpT products and I am SO excited!  Now I just need to figure out how to add pictures to my blog and how to link up for some fun linky parties....off to explore!

A New Adventure

Wow! Where do I even begin? I guess I will just do a quick intro to myself.
I have been teaching for 8 years now, my first year I taught Kindergarten then I was a district transfer to 5th grade so I taught that for 2 years then I had my baby and took a year off.  After my year leave I returned to the classroom and was placed in 1st grade, I have been in 1st grade for 5 years now and I LOVE it!
I look forward to using this blog to find inspiration and to post classroom happenings that I feel everyone can relate to.  Let's take this journey together...