Holidays Around The World en Dos Lenguas!

Hey everyone!

It's the most wonderful time of year. Or almost. We have to get through Thanksgiving. In my case, the Dallas Cowboys better win. Or it'll be a long flight home...anywho, I love the holidays, my favorite being Christmas.

I made a pack last year but it's new and improved and better than ever. So if you already bought, re-download that sucka ASAP! New graphics, new countries, and new activities, including interactive notebook pages. Holla!







That's just a glimpse of my pack!

And my friends in a bilingual school loved it soooo much, that they wanted me to make it for them in Spanish. Now I know un poquito Espanol, but not a ton, so I was a little nervous. So I did it. And they edited it. No red marker thank goodness! And they only need four holidays instead of 12, so yay on that part, otherwise I'd be working on it forevah!  So now I have a four holiday mini-unit in Spanish. Woo to the hoo!




I'm so excited about this mini-unit!

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Vloggy Friday: Turn That Frown Upside Down!

Hey everyone!

Sometimes it's tough being a teacher. And sometimes you don't want to smile. Or teach lol. But I have a few quick tips on pepping yourself up. And if you can't pep yourself, just watch me make a fool of myself in this video and it should cure you :) And I apologize in advance that for some reason, I wasn't looking at the camera part of the time. Watching myself be a dork maybe?


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Using Poems in Class

Hey everyone!

I have several people that ask me how I use my holiday/seasonal poems that I create in my store. I always carry my poems with me because the kids eat them up! Well not literally, but you know what I mean!

Right now in my sub bag are my Gobble It Up Poems.


Here are some of the poems from the pack.







How do I use them? It depends on the class and also depends on what they are learning. If they struggle with nouns, I have them highlight all the nouns. One of my friends uses my poems to teach adjectives.

Here I used one of my poems to show verbs in blue and adjectives in yellow.



Depending on the poem, I've used them to teach alliteration. Most of my poems rhyme, so that is another teaching point.

My favorite way of using the poems is to use silly voices. Can't wait to use these next week! And I need to print my Christmas and Winter Poems soon!



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Lessons for a Substitute

Hey everyone!

   Just had a thought on my mind from last week. And it's something I have to get off of my chest. What, not a happy post? I'm real and this is a real subject that I need to bring up. I was roving for a few days, which means I usually have 2-3 classes each day that I sub for. The first day wboth had sub plans. The second day they both had plans, but were completely different. One was detailed , which I love (and since she may now be reading this blog since I've been outed, love you J!) lol ;) and the other was less detailed.

   And tying in with this, Laura Candler shouted out one of my sub binder freebies a few weeks ago. It got an amazing amount of views and almost 100 shares (I'm still shocked). But I was sad to read some of the comments. The teachers were talking about not making plans for their subs. Or subs not following plans.

   Which leads me to my thought today. Ok yes, some subs don't follow plans (I know a few). But what about the rest of us that do? Should we be punished with no lesson plans? It's hard enough coming into an unknown classroom, unfamiliar schools and kids, and then there are no lessons for us to teach with?  That's setting us up for failure. And I'm sorry, our goal is to teach the children.

   Some subs would then decide it would be a movie, color, free choice day. Sorry, that's like babysitting and I'm not being paid to babysit. I am a teacher and I'm being paid to teach. I can teach content lessons. I can teach math skills. I can do reading groups (I know some of you don't know your subs, so wouldn't be comfortable having them do this).

   What do I do if there are no plans? And yes this happens several times through out the school year. Some of my schools don't require emergency sub plans or basic ones. Thankfully I have my own sub plans that I sell on TpT and carry some copies with me. Hopefully there is a schedule on the board that I can follow. I try to act like there were plans all along and don't let them see me stress. I swear they're like sharks circling and smelling fear (not so much the kinders, more the older grades).

    But what if a sub isn't as prepared as I am? What if they are new? Or it's their very first sub job? I hope that there is someone in the building that could help them. Or maybe even another sub that helps. That's why I love this 'other job' of blogging and creating on TpT. I get that chance to help out those that might not have that support. I love when new substitutes message me and I can help them out, even if it's just a little thing.

What can teachers do? I know some of you amazing teachers and I know that you spend an hour (or two) on creating sub plans. I don't know about the other subs, but I'd be happy with even a basic outline. Worst case scenario, the kids do old math centers. Or do reading activities that may be last week's focus. But at least they are learning and being productive.

  Final thought...substitutes deserve respect too. We have what is sometimes a thankless job. I'm fortunate that my main district has amazing teachers, secretaries, and assistants. And that I have the best blog buddies a girl could ask for.  I hope that each one of you has somebody that you can lean on!



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What's New

Hey everyone!


I have some new products that I'm excited about! My first is my Life Cycle series/bundle. I bundled them all up, but they are individual too. All the same style and format for continuity.

Link to my life cycle bundle.  Plus it's in it's own category in my store!

And I'm really excited about a new series I've started. It's a "What is a ...?" parts of speech series!
So far I have noun and verb. I'm working on adjective next.



Speaking of new things....I'm teaming up with Megan over at The Teacher Studio in her giveaway for her new blog design!. The winner will get to pick out $10 of stuff from my store (and other TpT sellers!)


So head on over to her blog to enter!


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I Gotta Go Teacher!

Hey everyone!

Vloggy Friday, what what! Today is about bathroom procedures. What do you do? Share in the comments what you do in your class!










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Play-Doh Pandemonium!

Hey everyone!

I love me some Play-Doh, that's for sure. And no, I'm not a child, but there's something therapeutic about playing with it!

I have a lot of kinder and 1st grade friends that have just play-doh mats and cut outs, which is fine, but now they have the CC pressure and it's seen as just 'playing around'. Even though it helps with motor skills and all that goodness ;)  We can fix that! Insert educational fun play-doh mats!



These can be used through out the year. There are letters, numbers, words, math practice, and spelling practice. Even a mat to spell out their name!

If you're working on letters, pull these babies on out.


Need to focus on counting? The kiddos add play-doh pieces to the picture.












 Kids need to work on spelling? No problem! 

Here's a look at some of the pages printed out! Just need to laminate and they are ready to go :)








 
Click the button! Or click here!


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Substitute Preparedness 11: Fall Activities for Your Subs

Hey everyone!
It's that time again!


I love subbing in the fall so much (except for the sickness). There are so many fun activities to do with kids with pumpkins and leaves!
Most of the teachers I sub for let me do art because they don't usually have time or it's something easy in the sub plans. So here are some fun fall activities for your sub to do...

*Leaf rubbings
*Coloring in blank leaves
*Leaf hunt- record and graph how many of each leaf color you find
*Ripped leaf fall tree art project
*Read "Leaf Man" and kids collect leaves to make their own leaf man (or woman)
*In the fall I like to... writing activity
*Kids turn leaf into other projects and write about it

And some more ideas from me!





Here's a link to the post: Crayon Leaf Art


And I love using my fall sub plans in the classroom! Here are a few of the pages.







And now for a freebie to add to your sub tub, Turkey Roll! Just click any of the pictures :)














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