Teacher Week 13' - Part 1

You guessed it!  It's Teacher Week 13' and I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' to participate in this exciting party! 

Today's theme is....

Okay....here we go!

1.)  I'm going to be entering my 8th year of teaching and I can't believe that I've already invested 8 years into a profession that I love!

(A picture from my first year back in 2006)

2. ALF...the initials of my name and a totally awesome 1980's character!

3. My favorite "teacher" pens... 

I'm pretty sure that I'll cry if they top making these.

4. My favorite "teacher" markers...

I ❤ making anchor charts because of these!

5. I love technology and just might get a Mac as my next computer.

6.  I love turtles!  Both kinds..

7.  Nicholas and I just celebrated our 11th anniversary and our first year as homeowners!

8.  My backyard would be filled with palm trees, if I didn't live in Illinois!

9.  I've been blogging for a little over a year now and I often wonder why I didn't turn to blogging earlier.  It's definitely changed me as a teacher and has allowed for me to connect with some awesome teachers!

10.  I'm stoked beyond belief because I'm heading to Michigan this weekend to go surfing in Lake Michigan!  AHHHHHHH!!!!  I can't wait!  Bring on the "baby" waves!

Enjoy,

Back to School Goodies

OH MY!  Look what arrived earlier this week!  I feel like a little kid at Christmas time, but this time it's with school supplies instead of games!

I have to send a huge shout out THANK YOU to Allison at Live, Love, Learn in Fourth Grade.  I'm so excited for the school year to start so that I can use my: double pocketed binder (perfect for my lesson plans), the massive post-it note pad (ideal for guided reading thoughts), labels, labels and more labels for my organized classroom and so many other goodies.  Thanks so much for starting my year out on the right foot, Allison! 

Ps...Thank you to Covered in Glitter and Glue & Adventures of Ms. Smith for organizing this event! 

Enjoy,

Shared Reading Lessons

I can always tell when August rolls in because I feel like I never have time to blog anymore.  The time that I once used in the morning to blog is now filled with me racing off to school to setup my classroom.  This week was no different, however it was very productive.  One of my biggest accomplishments was getting started on planning some Shared Reading Lesson.  You see, my teammates (Wiley & Barrett) are what I call the "Shared Reading Queens."  For the past few years, they've been teaching a Shared Reading class to teachers within our district and I can honestly say that attending their class has made a HUGE difference in my classroom.  The lessons that they offer are broken down into 5 days with a pre-reading activity, during reading discussion questions/activities and post-reading writing ideas.  They've recently started a Teacher's Pay Teacher's account and are now sharing their lessons with all of you.  I would highly recommend that you take a look at their store and give their freebie lessons a try.

Wiley-Barrett TPT Store

Here are some of the lesson that they have available...

     

Enjoy,