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!

TPT Challenge Week 2

       If you've been following the Teachers Pay Teachers challenge, then you know that this weeks task is to "dream big".  What would be our pie in the sky goals for our TPT stores?  Seems like a simple enough question, but for me to answer it took a lot of thought. 
       I never really thought about "why" I wanted to become a seller on TPT... it kinda just seemed like the thing to do!  When I moved down to first grade a few years ago I was coming from having taught 5th grade for many years, we were in between curriculums, and all the stuff that was left behind for me was fairly outdated.  I started scouring the internet for inspirations and came across several blogs. Girls like Cara Carroll over at The First Grade Parade and Reagan Tunstall over at Tunstalls Teaching Tidbits felt like my long lost colleagues.  I saw a lot of myself in them from their teaching style to the products they provided, and they were a great source of inspiration that first year of 1st grade.  That being said, they were also kind of the "gateway drug of the blogging world" lol.  I discovered so many more wonderful blogs and sellers on TPT this year that it can be inspirationally overwhelming! I've encountered so many wonderful educators that I really connect with that I decided when grad school was over I would stop "warming the bench" and attempt to join their ranks.  
        While I am no where near that level of digital awesomeness yet, I love the creative outlet that blogging and selling on TPT provides.  I am having so much fun this summer hanging out at home spewing creativity, I just can't wait to see where it takes me!

Obviously earning some extra income for my family would be great, but I'm not in it for that.  Like the majority of you out there we could always use a few extra bucks for something!

I would love for someone to get the feeling I've gotten many times on TPT: "perfect! Thats just what I need!"  I really enjoy the creative outlet that TPT provides and I hope to inspire other educators out there!

In order to do the above as a seller you need to bring your "A- game".  Especially with how much larger the marketplace has gotten.  I love the challenge of staying current and relevant in this profession.

Another goal of mine that I did not include in my graphic is to attend the SDE conference in Vegas.  Watching all of the excitement unfold on social media has the jealousy juices flowing just a teensy bit ;)  It seems like such an amazing teacher meet up!  Coincidentally, my husband has been talking a lot about going to Vegas for our first big "away from the kids" vacation... sounds like SDE Vegas 2016 to me haha!

Challenge: Week 1

I got so excited about this TPT challenge in general, that I almost forgot to do the weekly challenge!

Week 1 wast to makeover an existing product.  This was a bit of a challenge for me since I'm essentially starting from scratch.  While scanning through my documents however, I stumbled upon my first ever creation... the beginnings of a word work bundle.  It was laughable!  I had attempted to make it from some pieced together free materials that I had downloaded, on technology that I was unfamiliar with (my new Mac), and boy did it show!  While my new version of the cover is still not as spectacular as I would like, I think that we can all agree it is a significant improvement!

Like I said, I've been busy creating my first few items on my TPT store.  Perhaps because its the beginning of summer, or because I'm stressing about how to decorate my new bright blue room, but I have mainly been focusing on creating classroom decor.  I am obsessed with some of the digital paper choices out there!!  I need to invest in some more clip art though- apparently I'm pretty picky.  Please feel free to check out my store here!

TPT Seller Challenge

Well, I've decided to jump on the bandwagon and participate the the TPT Seller Challenge that is going on right now!  I've been promising myself that I would try my hand at creating some products this summer, now that grad school is over.  This challenge seemed like the perfect nudge in that direction!  I have to say that I am truly amazed by how big the challenge has gotten... Even Teachers Pay Teachers caught wind and got on board.  At last count there were close to 300 participants!!! It's pretty cool to check it out and see a lot of other teacher-preneurs who are either revamping their old products or just starting out like me.  I'm definitely looking forward to the next four weeks and making some great new connections.  

A huge hats off to Third in Hollywood, Sparkling in Second, Peppy, Zesty Teacherista, and Teach, Create, Motivate for putting this on!  You can visit any one of their blogs for information and to join.  Stay tuned for a posting of this weeks challenge!

Five for Friday

Linky party at Doodlebugs Teaching

Happy Friday  Saturday morning everyone!  I know that many of you have started your summer vacation already, but I still have one more week left.  Many more of my teacher friends go well into the end of June... my thoughts are with you.  We are holding it together with some very thin thread over in my neck of the woods, next week is sure to be interesting!  Here are some random moments from my week:

1

I don't know if it was because this weekend was Memorial Day weekend, aka the official summer kickoff or what but it was certainly a weekend filled with yummy indulgences!  Between the first gooey s'more of summer and a childhood throwback for my kids, I definitely indulged a little (a little too much- but I loved every bite).  I'm sure it wasn't stress related at all ;-)

2

And then there was this...

I'm pretty sure this was a sign that I should use up the rest of my sick days and start my summer early... but I chose to take hubby's car and head into work.  After all, I wouldn't want to miss out on all the end of the year assessments (said no teacher ever)!  What a way to start the week.

3

On Tuesday we celebrated my high school assistant's upcoming graduation.  Anna was randomly assigned to my room in September as part of a work study program and she quickly became an integral member of our classroom.  I honestly couldn't have made it through the year without her assistance.  

4

Wednesday was my own peanut's last day of first grade.  She had a wonderful year with a great teacher!  And she is already going crazy with summer boredom haha.  Its amazing how much they change over the course of a year!

5

We finally got confirmation this week of our classroom assignments for next year.  The majority of my gigantic school (900 students, K-5) is moving classrooms in our attempt to try something different for next year.  It is a big shakeup and we're all relieved to at least know where we are headed- since we need to be packed up and moved between June 5th and 9th (insert screams here).  This is my 5th year in a row packing and moving either schools or rooms... uff-da (as they say here in MN).  My head is spinning with what to do with my new space.  The storage seems adequate but the room itself is small.  And then theres the color... I am not in love with how bright of a blue it is.  I would LOVE to hear your thoughts/ ideas!!  

Also don't mind the mess!  The teacher who is in it now is also desperately trying to pack/ organize and this pic was taken on Friday afternoon ;)  One nice thing is that I am going from a room that is original to the building (circa 1965) to a room that is in the new wing, built 2 years ago... and its air-conditioned ;) :) 

Well thats about it for my week.  Next week I will be posting about some of our fun end of the year activities so stay tuned!  I'll leave you with one last picture that made me laugh... I attempted to take a  cool "Friday morning on my way to work selfie" and ended up with this:

A prime example of exhausted end of the year teacher, as well as BRF "B*&cy resting face" lol.  

Have a great week!!

You Oughta Know- May edition

Hello everyone!  Welcome back for another blog hop sponsored by Jasmine over at Buzzing with Mrs. Mcclain.  I originally had other plans for this post, but I've scratched that idea because I am so excited to share with you something that I stumbled upon just a few weeks ago!

If you're anything like me, gone are the days of after hours working in your classroom - unless absolutely necessary.  When I first entered the profession I would spend countless hours devoted to the perfect bulletin boards, organization, etc.  I had it all together each and every day.  Fast forward a decade later and I am usually out the door as soon as my contract time is up, rushing home to pick up little ones, cook dinner, you name it!  Most things I can do at home, but there are a lot of items that can only be done on my school desktop (smart board presentations are a big one).  That is until a few weeks ago!

I was attending a meeting after school one day with other teachers from around the district.  We were all sitting around chatting and catching up when I looked over at a friends iPad.  I noticed that she had file folder icons on it... like you would see on a desktop.  I asked her what she was doing, and she introduced me to SplashTop!  SplashTop is an app that allows you to remotely control your desktop.  It is free if you plan to use it within close proximity to your desktop (in your classroom for example).  If you want remote access outside of your building there is a subscription (I paid around $16 for the year).  Now I have access to my desktop wherever I am!  I have already used this app in many different ways, and I know that next year it will really help change my world.  

Just a few days after discovering SplashTop I had my first real opportunity to test it out from home.  I had taken the day off to attend a program at my daughters school and then head out of town for my graduation.  While I had everything ready for my absence ahead of time, I logged in before the start of school just to make sure I had everything up- like the correct morning message and I also logged into all the different websites we use during the day (GoNoodle anyone?!).  

Not gonna lie, my youngest and I also enjoyed creepin' in on the class just a little bit!  I may or may not have caught my sub shopping online for table cloths when my students were in the room.  Note- there is an explanation of the app in my sub plans, should a sub ever need help finding the right item etc.  There is also a pop up that occurs on the screen whenever I turn the app on letting anyone near the desktop know that "Lindsey's iPad" is accessing the desktop.  

This tool has already shown me how useful it can be... but can you imagine how amazing it will be for those unfortunate unplanned sub days?  We have all had the "request a sub a 3am because a kid (or you) is puking moments".  And then once things settle down we try to haphazardly type sub plans, explaining where to find things and how to log into things.  Or when all that hard work goes down the drain because a well meaning sub can't get something to work on the smart board, or can't find something.  A simple "s.o.s" text could literally save the day... click the app, fix whats wrong, crisis averted.  

Aside from using the app in sub situations I have used it frequently to do just the day to day work.  I used to work on Smart Notebook files from my home desktop, save them and then download them onto my school desktop.  Since I no longer utilize my home PC I've really struggled.  Now I can work right from home and no longer need to take the extra step of saving on a flash drive or uploading to Google Docs.  And just this past weekend I realized one of its greatest potentials... I can print at school- from my bed!!!  Can I tell you how many times I've scrambled in the morning to print something out or have forgotten items to be copied in my printer at home?  I printed what I was going to need, and picked it up Monday morning!  Amazing.

SplashTop has also helped me in the classroom.  I can not stand being tethered to the smart board at the front of the room.  We do a lot of interactive things, and I really prefer to move around the room.  Now I can do so, and control whatever I need to control.  I completely freaked out my students the first time I used it- I was sitting at my kidney-shaped table doing some reading assessments and played one of our transition songs.  They were in awe and completely weirded out.  

Overall this app has been a great find, and I thought that you definitely oughta know about it!  You can check it out further and download it here!  

Don't forget to check out the rest of the blogs in the link up! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Finally!!

Woo Hoo!  I am finally done (ish) with my Masters!  I say done-ish because I still have to wrap up my capstone... but since I have until the end of July, I put it on pause until school gets out in a few more days.

I meant to write this post several days ago, but you all know how this time of year can get ;-)  On May 9th I had the privilege of participating in my graduation ceremony after 2 long years of blood, sweat and tears.  I was excited for my undergraduate graduation, but I don't think that I fully appreciated it.  10 years, a career and two kids later (oh yea, and a husband too!) I felt on top of the world with my achievement.  I've learned so much more about this profession as well as myself during this process and I am excited to tackle what is yet to come.  There is even talk of a Doctorate degree in my (distant) future!  Here are a few pics of the occasion:

Graduate Selfie!

Headed out for a well deserved dinner and evening out!  Husband is thrilled with all the selfies...

Spent our kid-free weekend dining out and walking around downtown Duluth, MN.  A much needed get away!  Aside from being a bit chilly (35 degrees... #springinminnesota) it was beautiful!

The coffee cup I've been rockin' the last two weeks lol! 

While getting my Master of Education degree was no easy feat, I highly recommend it to any of you who may be reading this.  Now that I am done I am excited to be going to go back to "real life" which involves a lot of dishes, laundry and Pinterest (and episodes of the Real Housewives..shh.. don't judge me).