First one done!

I am so excited!  I finally have my first "real" product done, and on my TPT store!  For about two years now I've been purchasing wonderful products thinking all the while "I could totally do this", and I vowed to try my hand at it once graduate school was done. I say "real" because I have a few items already on there- classroom decor and stuff- that I may be using in my new classroom this year (I have no idea what I'm doing in there yet!).  Mainly I've just been getting a feel and learning about the whole process.  The TPT Sellers Challenge has given me a huge nudge to get moving, and I have learned a TON from all the sellers involved!  I feel like a sponge just soaking it all up!  I am just in awe of all the other educators out there and your awesomeness.

So besides grad school sucking the life out of me and any spare time that I had between kids, husband, work and house, I have been waiting for our new curriculum adoptions to be official before going creation crazy.  I have been fortunate enough to participate in both the language arts and math pilots in my district, and wanted to wait until I knew what we were going to be using for the next decade!  This year was our first year of implementation in language arts and our pilot year for math.  I'll be honest and say that I'm still learning the ropes of first grade LA, I am definitely more comfortable with the math instruction!  We piloted three (yes.... 3.... ) different math programs last year and I am just thrilled with the one that we decided to purchase.  It is the same company as the LA program that we have and they have just been phenomenal to work with... aside from creating a great product!

This past week we had a half day training for the new math program and we received our teacher manuals (I had to turn mine in this time at the end of the pilot :(  ).  I quickly went to work checking out the themes/ units and began creating my first set of math center activities!  Like most of you out there I enjoy a good theme, so I created this first package to go along with our first chapter.  I plan to use these as guided math activities (I usually do Math Daily 3, or some version of it), or for some of my small group instruction.  It depends on the kids that I have next year.  Here is a sneak peak!

The packet is 45 pages long, and includes 9 different activities.  Most of the activities have a corresponding recording sheet!

This is one of my favorite activities!  I can't wait to do it.  I'm thinking of using mini marshmallows as a fun manipulative ;)

I tried number story mats last year for the first time.  My students loved them!  I plan to use them more this year and even incorporate technology with them.

Well, there ya go!  Like I said, I'm pretty excited for this to be official, and can't wait to get started on the next one!  You can find it here on my TPT store- make sure you follow me to see all the products that will be coming!