14 Favorites '14

What a year.  I am truly not sure where to start.  2014 was a hard year for my family.  The summer started with several visits to therapists and doctors for my daughter who suffers from RAD (Reactive Attachment Disorder) and we seemed to spiral downward in September when my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer after smoking for almost 60 years.  This ended with her death on November 28th.  We are in the middle of picking ourselves up  and dusting  ourselves off as we continue to love mom from afar.  My faith was strong before, but after listening to my mother tell me about the angel in the white robe that stood at the foot of her hospital bed, my family had sadness, but also happiness because she was able to walk through those pearly gates after being bound to a wheelchair for 12 years.

FAITH

Here's to you, mom!  This isn't my favorite picture of the 3 months that she spent at my house, but it will do.  She got frustrated because I was always taking a picture.  I guess I know in my heart that I had to make every moment count.  At one point after taking this picture--she had just finished her 2nd chemo treatment--she said, "I'm going to get all of these pictures that you keep taking."  I'm glad she didn't.  She was so proud of her little 'beret' that kept her head warm that my friend, Trisha, had picked up for her.  Mom's first words when she found out she had cancer to us was, "You know that whatever happens, I am going to be ok."  She spoke those same words to us just hours before she went to heaven.  I am so thankful that she is with her Saviour!  I love you mom.

On November 26th, we welcomed my new great-niece, Kinsleigh Grace into the world.  She arrived on what would have been her great-grandfather's 114th birthday!  My papaw would have been so proud!  My mom never got to meet Kinsleigh, but told me to let her know that she would be watching over her.

This is my hunka-hunka-burnin' love!  This year we celebrated our 14th anniversary on December 16th.  There are time when I know that I drive him nuts, but he really was my rock through 2014 when it felt like the walls were crumbling around me.  I have a 'habit' (just because it is funny) of saying that we were married "____ number of long hard years" and he takes offense to that a little.  But to me, it is the funniest thing.  It seems like every year gets longer and harder but in the end we still made it....TOGETHER.

My most emotional post is also my favorite post.  It tells my daughter's story from the beginning to where she is in life now.  I am proud to say that she is getting better and sounds better when we talk on the phone and facetime.  I really miss her though.  If you would like to help us in raising funds for her therapy, just go grab a huge file!

These little cuties are my favorite pin right now!

I wanted to make them during December as a craft, because they are so cute.  But with everything that happened in November and December I decided to wait and do them in January.  My plan is to get the 20 strands of lights I need at least 50% off!!!  I think ahead like that. LOL  Notice that if I had done this back in December I would have been light-less.  By the way, do you follow me on Pinterest?  You can find me ri'chere!!

I got 14 roses for 14 years of marriage.  This is the first time I've gotten flowers in a long, long time.  Notice that my 10 year old took the picture for me and while he made the background look pretty good he took a big ole picture of a green stalk of nothing!!!  Just my luck!

This was the year of learning how to use Amazon to make money.  I have a store called Teachables there that I sell everything from vitamin drinks to children's books.  The vitamins were a success and the books were ok.  I am looking for new ideas of items to put up on Amazon.  All of the funds that were made on Amazon were used to pay for my daughter's RAD therapy and her boarding school.  I never thought I'd be the type to send a child off to boarding school, but it because apparent this summer that this was the only way to give her the therapy she needs.  

In fact, several of my blogger friends got together and donated some files as a fundraiser so that Angel could stay as long as she needs to.  She has been there since August.    If you haven't checked out those files, check them out in my TpT store [HERE].  Also, you can check out the blog post I wrote about RAD, here on this blog.

Wow...this is a hard one....My favorite restaurant at this moment would probably have to be 

In fact, we were just there today.  I love their potato soup!

OK, I am a dweeb and I will freely admit it.  Although I love my Dancing With the Stars, I also love anything with conspiracy and intrigue...so I end up watching shows like Unearthed and anything with ghosts hauntings, etc.  I love a good ghost story.

This one I can't really even answer because I never sit still to watch movies.  I guess I'll go with the movie "Halloween Town" <I think that was the name of it> that I watched with my little guy.  It was pretty entertaining.

My favorite article of clothing would have to be a good light weight eternity scarf.  I've learned that they add a little pizzaz of color and help you look professional while covering a low neckline or even a stain on your shirt!  haha  I got one just like this off of Amazon.

I say this a bazillion times a day!!

Rory's Story Cubes

I ran across this game while perusing Amazon.com looking for some card stock.  I thought it would be a great game to get for my son, who loves dice of any kind.  Generally, he likes to drop them into bowls and make lots of noise, or stack them, or even add them.  The cooler or more colorful they are, the more he likes them.  While deciding to purchase, I began reading about the game and saw how educational it was.  I ordered it right then and there!

My kids loved it!   After seeing them interact together and telling stories to each other, I began thinking about how I could use the cubes in my classroom.  So....this freebie was born!  I have created 10 graphic organizers/writing frames that can be used with the story cubes in a writing center or workstation. The file includes teacher and student directions.

In thinking through the possibilities for the game, there is a strategy that can be used that I did not think to put in the activity.  The activity is 'Pass', a cooperative learning strategy, where students take turns adding a sentence to a story.  I will definitely be doing this in my classroom....and who knows--maybe with my kids, too!

Here are the story cubes!  Click on the link to order!!

I think this would also be great to pull out during an inside recess day!  Enjoy the download.  Oh, and by the way, the writing frames can be used without the cubes, too!

All I Want For Christmas

We need a new TV!  I sure would like to have this 40" beauty!  My TV has a high pitched whine!

Portable Speaker System Dock--I would love to have one of these!  I love using music in my classroom and this year I haven't been successful with it because of issues with our server at school.  If I had this, my classroom would be complete.  Well...almost!!

This is something I wish I had...an HP  Wireless Laserjet Color Printer with Scanner, Copier and Fax--I REALLY need a good copier and I have heard that this is one of the best on the market.

EK tools Scissor Pro Circle Cutter--Have you ever seen one of these?  It will cut perfect circles for you!  Another LOVE!

I would love to have this Mickey charm for my bracelet.  I've never been to see Mickey down in Florida and it is my goal to go see him in 2016!  

And then there is my other love...My Scotch Thermal Laminator 2 Roller System (TL901)--I am now the proud owner of two of these bad boys!  I keep one at school and one at home.  They are so cheap you can have multiples!

I only use 5 Mil Letter Laminating Pouches--these are one of the more 'firmer' laminating sleeves..sort of like the same thickness of the lamination on a driver's license.  I LOVE IT!!  It lasts forever and the papers inside don't turn or age as quickly.

If you are like me, card stock is pretty important.  I found this link on Amazon and it is where I have been getting all of my thick paper for centers--and each ream is under $7!!!

I think this bracelet is so pretty!  We have a new mom in the family and I got her one with her baby's name on it.  I can't wait for her to open it.  I am excited about this one.

It's Beginning to Look Like Christmas!

It is starting to look a lot like Christmas!  

All you have to do is stroll down just about any hallway in any school and you can see some of the best craftivities that little ones can make!  Lots of creativity is blooming in my hallway and all of our classrooms and I thought I would share it with you!

Below you can see two of our second graders working on some math sorts....you can imagine my surprise when I peeked into my teammates room and saw all of this work going on.  They were completing this activity totally solo...they had picked their own colors, given the strips their own little curvy cut, and were even able to justify why they were placing the problems on the strips they had chosen.  They were so excited!  They came bounding into my room a little later with all of the math sorts they had completed and I was so proud of them!  You can't ask for more than that!

This is the packet that the sorts came from.  There are a kajillion versions of math sorts in here!  Looking at these pics makes me want to make some more!!  If you want to go take a look at them on Teachers Pay Teachers, just CLICK HERE! 

Here you see a little "Santa-going-down-the-chimley"--a direct quote from one of my kids!!!  This craftivity was created by Miss Kindergarten and you can find it here.  I had some great letters! 

And there is this little guy (he belongs to me!!) showing off his Techie Santa by Mrs. Reagan Tunstall.  The whole school did this particular activity in our STEM lab. It comes with the 'prescription glasses' you see below, but by the time my 2nd graders got to go to the STEM lab on Thursday we began to see all sorts of spectacles!  I mean...uh....types of glasses....from bifocals to reading glasses and even a pair of sunglasses!!!  =)

I am ready to close now...and I am going to share something with you that is probably going to get me into LOTS of trouble....but I can't help it!  I was reading a blog yesterday (I read so many I can't remember which one, so forgive me if it happens to belong to you!) and there was an iPhone app for ugly sweaters.  It was free, so I grabbed it up to see if it might be fun for my class tomorrow since it is ugly sweater day!  Well....here is my first try at taking an ugly sweater photo....and it is of my hubby!

Too Funny!!!!

Well Jingle Bells! Christmas Is Here!

Merry Christmas!  Happy Hanukkah!  And, if you do both, Happy Chanukkah!  

I just wanted to share with you some of the things we will be doing in my classroom shortly.  I LOVE Christmas!!!  
We are going to be working some more on contractions....we can tell you how to take them apart but we just aren't sure how to write them!  So....a little more practice is required.

We are going to be playing Scoot, one of our favorite games!  

As always, I am going to be using sight word phrases at my guided reading table with my RTI kids....it helps them with their fluency and sight words and BONUS--they love to play the matching game!

And then, this activity came from my new Christmas pack!

We are going to review double consonants by sorting them and possibly preparing from consonant surgery on some gingerbread people!

We have Rudolph and his crew waiting on the sides for some ABC order and perhaps even some puppetry with craft sticks!

And then there is the big one....a new skill....Open and Syllables.  YIKES!  At least the cards are cute though!

We are also going to be reading various versions of the Gingerbread Boy.  We read several different versions and compare the story elements, look for inferences, conclusions, etc.  I LOVE this unit!

This is my all time favorite Gingerbread Boy story!  Who can't help but love The Gingerbread Cowboy even though his eyes look a little evil!

And, this year, I am adding The Cajun Cornbread Boy so that we can do some more comparing and contrasting!

Hope you all have a fab December and find great deals as you shop!   You are welcome to share your great finds in the comment section so that I can go shopping, too!

3 Letter Phonetic Words (freebie)

Hello!  I wanted to share a little freebie that I made a while back in conjunction with one of my other stores.  I LOVE this activity because it gives me some insight into the thought behind the work.  Enjoy!!  

We all know that Kindergarten is a whole different world in comparison to other grades.  You sing, use real glue, and teach the basics of reading to your students.  K teachers...my hat is off to you!  I could never do what you do everyday!

First grade teachers, your world is a little different <I know!  I have been there!> because you have to combine that creativity from the K world with the world of higher independent reading.

So where does that leave us second grade teachers?  We are in a hurry to get our kids reading even more so that they can be ready for the evil tests that are coming their way in 3rd grade.  But, we also have to be able to meet the needs of the kids that are still on a K or 1st grade level.

The use of basals is going out of style, in a fast way.  In fact, my district refuses to buy basals anymore and has opted to buy lots of guided reading books.  As basals fade out, so do the one-size-fits-all spelling lists.  This past year, I had as many as 20 different spelling lists <almost 1 list per child> in order to meet their needs.  I had one student that could only hear the first sound of each word and a student that had words with the -tion and -sion suffixes.  A really broad range, huh?  By the end of the school year, I was down to 4 spelling lists.  It made life a lot easier!

This is the spelling program that we use now.

So, what is a blogger to do when she wants to bridge the gap between  K, 1, and 2 teachers and provide a freebie that will help everyone?   You return to your roots <Montessori roots, I might add!> and fix a freebie that can be used by all 3 grade levels!

Student success in spelling a word depends on the student's developmental level and his/her ability to 'hear' sounds.  For instance, if you ask a student to spell the word  PENCIL you might get 'PL', "PNL', or "PNSL' among others.  It isn't until the student is a good solid reader that you will see the word pencil spelled correctly.  So, what do we do to help them hear all of the sounds?  We practice 'hearing' and 'listening'.

So, I fixed a little freebie called Can You Hear Me Now for you that can be used by your other students.  One student can ask them to spell the word by 'reading' the picture.  The other student records the sounds that are heard.  An answer sheet is provided so that the student can check the work if he or she would like...but I don't recommend that because it may stifle those listening skills if the student gets frustrated that he/she can't hear all of the letters.

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