And The Winners Are.........

My 100 Followers Giveaway has come to an end..... and it's time to announce the winners!

First up, the pencil sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies!
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Next, Winner's Choice from "Don't Let the Teacher Stay up Late." -- BTW - I'm super jealous of this one, because she has some GREAT products!
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Next, $10 to spend in the Scrapin' Doodles Store on TpT! Have you seen their SUPER cute graphics? My kids can tell when I buy a new pack, because I always add a picture to the next thing I create for them!

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The next winner is for Baseball Math and Literacy Fun from Pawsitively Teaching. This pack would be AWESOME to have this time of year when the kids need a fun, engaging way to review!

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Last, but not least, we have Missing Addends: Addition and Subtraction from Molly over at The Sassy Sub!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats to ALL the winners! You should be receiving an email from the Blog/Company that donated your prize!

I will be blogging more on Sunday about the fabulous things going on in my classroom! Thank you ALL for following and reading my blog! <3

May Currently

Holy Crap on a Cracker! It's MAY. Not April...not March...MAY! AHHH. I'm on FREAK OUT mode, because this year we get out in May, not June. That means all of our state testing has been moved UP. I'm nervous for my kiddos because this year is the first year for their testing! So, I'm linking up with Farley for May Currently!

Listening: Netflix.... we cancelled Dish. So far, the only things I miss...Big Bang Theory, and my Real Housewives Addiction. It's probably a good thing that I can't watch RH. Right now, the documentary is on Jeffery Dahmer. Yes, the serial killer. I love watching Law and Order, Criminal Minds, and other shows like this. I am a people watcher. I like to people watch, and I always have. You can observe so much just from watching people. I love to watch documentaries about ANYTHING from history, or mysteries/unsolved crimes. Blame it on my Grandmother's favorite show being Murder, She Wrote. It was the only show I was allowed to watch at my grandparents other than the news, Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune. 

Loving: My New Followers!!! I am celebrating my 100 followers this week with a Giveaway! You can still enter here for a chance to win one of MANY great prizes! The second thing I'm loving -- this Currently Design. I LOVE the flowers and the colors!! 

Thinking: 4 days. FOUR DAYS....Our first state test is only 4 days away. Eeek! We start with Science (which I teach), then Friday we have Social Studies, then Reading the next week, then Math the week after! Then, we are DONE. We only have a few actual school days after state testing! Tomorrow is our SOL kickoff at school. 

Wanting: ALL the Erin Condren things. I got an email today with the Teacher Appreciation things. I really want to splurge for next year and get the Lesson Planner. I also would LOVE a Life Planner from EC. I've heard people say they can't live without theirs, and I really want to try one. 

Needing: Prayers for one of our teachers. Her husband was diagnosed with brain cancer a few months back, and she has been out of work taking care of him. Last weekend, we did a pancake fundraiser for them, and I came up with a new idea. Fridays for the rest of the year will be known as Flip Flops for Frank! We will wear flip flops (which we usually are NOT allowed to wear!) and donate $2 to wear them. All the $ collected will go to them! 

Surprise: Melissa over at Don't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late is celebrating on her blog! 850 followers! I donated my Graphs pack to the giveaway, and she's got some great products! Go Check it out! 

100 Followers Giveaway!!!!

It's time for a GIVEAWAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The past few weeks, and the next few weeks are going to be stressful for everyone, so what a perfect time to do an AMAZING GIVEAWAY!!!

This giveaway will run for a week, and you can earn more entries by blogging about it, so spread the word!!

First up is one of my new FAVORITE items! A Pencil Sharpener from Classroom Friendly Supplies!!! These sharpeners are Amazing!

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Next on the list is Take Me Out to the Ballgame from Pawsitively Teaching! This unit has over 50 pages of both math and literacy activities that are ready to use! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Next on the list, is Missing Addends with Addition and Subtraction from The Sassy Sub! This pack comes with 8 whole pages, 8 half pages, and 8 quarter pages of worksheets designed for differentiated assessments, practice, review and homework. This is Common Core Aligned. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

One of my FAVORITE clip art sources, Scrappin' Doodles has also donated to the Giveaway! Enter for your chance to win a $10 gift certificate to their store!

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Melissa from "Don't Let the Teacher Stay up Late" has donated a Winner's Choice from her TpT store! Check out her store here!

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Thanks for stopping by and Good Luck!!

Celebrating 100 Followers!

I haven't been in the blogging world in the past few days week because it has been CRAZY! We even had SNOW days Monday and Tuesday, but I was just super busy with other school items. My calendar is PACKED as I am sure everyone elses is too! So, when I settled down with my first   second third cup of coffee this morning to read, I checked out Bloglovin, and I have surpassed 100 followers!!! I have 100 followers on Bloglovin', so I decided to change my blog design! I went over to The Cutest Blog on the Block and found this design, called Lemon Pie. It's SO cute, and I love yellow and grey. It reminds me of Spring, which even though has officially started, needs to hurry up and get here! I know a lot of states are beginning their state testing, and I'm starting to panic maybe just a little bit. We have missed SO much school because of snow this year. I need to make up for some lost time, quick! So I have spent my Sunday cruising around Teachers Pay Teachers looking for some new ideas for my next few units.
The title of this blog however is CELEBRATING! So....I would like to do a giveaway! I just donated my year long spelling lists to Carrie over at Anchored in 3rd grade for HER giveaway, which was awesome! I thought, what a better way to celebrate than to partner up just like she did for a fabulous giveaway!

If you would like to donate for my 100 followers giveaway, leave a comment and I will email you :)

I hope to hear from you soon!

Five For Friday!

It's time for Five for Friday Saturday already! This was the longest, fastest week I've had in a while! This week seemed to be dragging on FOREVER through Tuesday, and then I blinked. Suddenly - it was Friday! A lot of exciting things happened this week - which is probably why the second half of the week flew by!! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching -so hop on over and see other bloggers Five For Friday!

1. What a perfect way to start a Friday -- I got an email from Carrie over at Anchored in 3rd Grade to say her giveaway is underway!! Click on her blog name or this picture to check out her HUGE giveaway. I am so honored to be a part of this - my FIRST EVER giveaway! I donated a few things from my store - including a zip file with an entire YEAR worth of spelling list & parent letters to send home! 

2. Thirty One announced a FLASH SALE!! As many of you know, I am an independent Thirty One consultant, and I love that it has helped my husband and I in so many ways, especially in January when he lost his job! I was SO excited when I got an email saying select classic patterns would be 50% off! I can't WAIT until Sunday morning at 10:00 to shop for MYSELF! I need some mini utility bins for wedding gifts for this summer, baby shower gifts, and toy boxes for my nieces! Some of my out of town friends are shopping the link and choosing to have their items sent directly to their house -- who can pass up 50% off!

3. Kate's Saint Patrick's Day Fun

Okay - so this is another Thirty One comment, but I did a party Friday night with a St. Patrick's Day theme. It was SO MUCH FUN! Most of the women were parents from my school - and they have the BEST sense of humor. Who wouldn't love hanging out, talking and eating good food and drinking wine all while SHOPPING. Seriously - we had the best time. It was so refreshing to not talk about work too! Usually people want to talk to the teacher about school - but they were SO amazing and never brought it up. They all have some amazing kids who were there too -- but of course they looked at me like I was crazy because I was a teacher who wasn't living at the school :)

 4. I started AND finished my graphing unit!

Okay - not really finished ALL the way -- we test on Monday. I have really taught bar graphs and pictographs all year long, so it wasn't like starting from scratch. I made this awesome pack, and copied the pages small enough to fit in the kiddos math notebooks, and we were able to work through the sheets to review our graph skills, and to learn line plots. On Friday, we celebrated being done by doing our review work on iXL! You can grab the graph pack for only $2 on TpT!

5. I don't even want to write the next one. Seriously. It's after midnight - so technically this is Sunday's forecast. I haven't went to bed yet, so to me "today" is still Saturday. It was 70!!! I kept the side door open ALL DAY while the doggies played outside and slept in the sun, and by Sunday night SNOW....Seriously Virginia -- get your act together - I want a spring break and my kids NEED to be IN SCHOOL. We have missed TOO many days! I know all the other VA people are feeling your pain. I don't mind the cold. Really I don't. What I do mind is a 50 degree difference in a day! I've been getting bad headaches because of this - and I could really do without those! lol 

I hope everyone has an amazing weekend -- I know that I am going to enjoy SLEEPING IN :)   tomorrow while the hubby has to work :(  Happy for me - sad that he is working -- but then again - so happy that he has found a job! 

Teachers Pay Teachers Store Update!!

I realize I am blogging TWO days in a row, but the post that was published yesterday I actually wrote last week, but I had to add the pictures in! Tonight, I have had time to work on a few things because my poor puppy has another ear infection :( So, drumroll please..................I have FINALLY updated my TpT store!! I have uploaded 10 new things this week! WOW...just WOW. Some of the items are even FREE.  So, to CELEBRATE, I'm doing a TpT GIVEAWAY! You can win $10 worth of product in my store!

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So, join this giveaway to win some GREAT things! :)

School is Kicking My Butt...and 50 Followers Winner!

I was so excited to check my email and see the reminder from Rafflecopter that my giveaway had ended. I have been feeling kind of icky lately (there's a crud going around our school, and the kids have only been back 2 weeks!) so that cheered me up! So, after my Dayquill has kicked in - I have broken out the laptop to write a post, and pick a winner! a Rafflecopter giveaway

Amanda - Check your email! I am SO excited for her!! Since the new Thirty One fall catalog is coming out - I will do ANOTHER giveaway when I reach 100 followers -so spread the news people!

I feel like last week kicked my tail! The heels of my feet are STILL sore, laundry is piled sky high, my lesson plans for next week need to be written, and all I want to do is SLEEP! Seriously -- I logged in to Bloglovin' to catch up on my favorite blogs-- and I had like 40 entries I hadn't read! Say WHAT?! It was good though, because I made myself go to the gym and stay on the elliptical until I had read them all! I will lift weights all day, every day - but I hate hate hate cardio. I would rather be lifting some serious iron than run on the dread-mill any day of the week! Last week was our 2nd week of school, and the kids are settling into their routines - and their true behaviors are shining through! I know a lot of teachers have success with whole brain teaching (WBT), and one of our first grade teachers is trying it out this year-- it's so cool to see her in the hall with her kids doing the "Class Yes" to give them directions. They're so tiny, and it really does seem to be going GREAT for her! This is the first year our 3rd grade is not departmentalizing - so I actually get to keep my own kids for most of the day! It has been great to work on behavior - which is something that I spend a LOT of time on. There are SO many standards in 3rd grade to cover, that we just don't have time for students to not stay focused. I love to do as many hands on activities as I can (as in-- every single activity, somehow I try to make hands on), and classroom management is a MUST to make those transitions and activities go smoothly.

What have you found works in your classroom? I have a clipboard system that stays with the kids all day. If they go to library, it goes with them. Any behaviors that are not acceptable get marked RIGHT away. To be "marked on the chart" means next to your name, the number of the rule you broke gets written down. (The 5 rules are from SFA- our reading program. They are Team Goals, but we use them school wide as rules.)  You can grab it for free on one of my old post by clicking on the picture!

At the end of the day, in the student's planners, I write a smiley face for 0 or 1 marks (hey- everyone makes mistakes, and if students turn it around to make a great day - then that deserves a smiley face!). 2 marks gets a check mark, and then a note explaining what happened. 3 or more marks gets a sad face, and a note explaining. I very rarely have 3 marks in one day, because as you can see in the last column - there's a space for Freaky Friday. Students who have 3 marks or less by the end of the week get to participate in Freaky Friday - which is 15 minutes of extra recess. If it's raining on Freaky Friday- we have Maniac Monday- and the kiddos get so excited. They will do ANYTHING for extra recess - and 15 WHOLE minutes - on a day they have PE AND Music-- they think it's the best.  It's nice to positively reward the kids who always follow the rules, always have their homework completed, and are always prepared. On the other hand, it gives kids with no internal motivation something to look forward to and work toward. The specials teachers and substitutes LOVE it because it really holds the kids accountable throughout the WHOLE day. 

As much as I want this to be a lazy Saturday - the hubby just got off, and we are going to our Roanoke gym to lift. Have a great weekend!! 

Late Night Snacks.....

So tonight my wonderful dog Angel, who isn't always one....went counter surfing! Her loot was the new bag of dog treats (which she shared with Yolo), and two chocolate cupcakes! (*Don't freak out - I fed her chicken and rice- and it wasn't enough chocolate to hurt her - just enough to give her an upset tummy and sending her running for the yard to use the bathroom a couple of times!).  She made off with the loot when I was writing lesson plans!

So - I have uploaded a  new product to my TpT store! Yay!! I uploaded my ENTIRE collection of spelling lists. One for each week, PLUS a cut and sort for each week, for the whole year. The list include a parent letter, and everything is EDITABLE!!!

Each list starts with a letter asking students to write 5 sentences. I will edit this for some of my students to say "Complete 3 menu items". There are pattern words,as well as sight words to spell. 

There are also two dictation sentences. One sentence that follows the pattern words, and a second sentence that throws in vocabulary words from across the curriculum. Bonus sentences are worth 5 points! 

For every list there is also this cut and sort list. Students practice cutting and sorting words into the correct columns. 

Do you love it? I know I would have loved finding the work already done! I saved each list over a years time, and put them all into a zip folder. This folder is my newest addition on TpT! Check it out HERE!

Don't forget about my giveaway!!!!! There are still 5 days left to enter! Go to this blog post for your chance to win!

Good luck to my teacher friends going back to school this week, and good luck to those of us returning. Those still on vacation - enjoy your time!! :)

What Day is it?? It's the FIRST WEEK OF SCHOOL! Almost at 50 followers......A Giveaway to Celebrate!

Oh my goodness!! I am so exhausted and ready to crash? I know I'm not the only teacher who gets that "hit by a train" feeling on the first day week month of school. If you are a teacher, and you are not tired on the first week of school - you are lying. I felt like Monday I answered about two million questions. Monday and Tuesday, I woke up ready to go -- this morning I wanted to hit snooze! I am NOT a morning person! Even my dog was like, WHAT IS GOING ON!?

I imagine if she could speak - she would be a smart mouth like me and say something like "Draw me like one  of your french girls Jack." 

 I feel like supplies at the beginning of the year are pouring out of every crevice of my classroom! I do a mixture of community supplies, and personal supplies. Each table has a caddy for pencils, scissors, and glue. Pencil pouches hold only crayons. Glue, index cards, pencils, checking pens,dry erase markers, and notebook paper are all community. We all use the same amount - so we just put them all together! Crayons, scissors, and notebooks are personal supplies. I guess being married to a lefty, and my mom being a lefty - I always think about having to share left or right handed scissors. I know I'm not the only teacher with a crayola addiction/love-- the other crayons are just waxy and cheap and awful!!! I wouldn't want to subject a child with OCD tendencies like mine to using something that would REALLY REALLY bother them. (Yes - I am the teacher that puts on the supply list things like "Ticonderoga pencils last longer...... Zip Pencil pouches are the best......"I just know what holds up through a whole year - and I share that information with my parents! And DOUBLE YES to being the teacher that likes Crayola crayons, and cringes at the thought of using a subpar waxy crayon.)
So, I am SOOOOOO super excited that my group this year is SO sweet. I taught my first year and a half (I graduated in December - so my first year was only January til June) in Norfolk and Portsmouth - the heart of Hampton Roads. For a girl who grew up in the country - that was a culture shock. (Seriously - my county is known as the "Moonshine Capital of the World") So- after an experience in inner city schools -- all of our kids are sweet, but this year my group is sweeter than normal!!! ** As a side note -- I really MISS teaching in Portsmouth - they were some of my best students, even though they had a lot more going on at home, and came to school with some serious struggles most adults could never understand, they were still GREAT kids!*** I currently teach at the elementary school I went to (I teach 3rd grade in MY childhood 3rd grade classroom-- how cool is that?!) which means I teach the same families that have been in the area for years! This year, I'm teaching some of the kids of people I graduated high school with! (I'll be 28 this year-- it's UNHEARD of in my small southern town to have been married as long as I have --8 years this month-- with no babies of my own - but the time just isn't right yet!)

This is the view on my way to work - right before the school. Corn fields, tobacco fields, dairy farms, and rolling hills. It makes a peaceful drive, and I LOVE IT! 

We are a Title I school, and the recession has been hard on our community - but our school is lucky to have some great parents too! This year, I just feel like I got all the best kids! The kids in my partner's class are just as great - but I really am just so pleased. I am a stickler for rules, and this group has adjusted so quickly! Now - I know life is not all "Rose Colored Glasses"- and there are challenges in every group! I'm usually the teacher who gets ALL the "challenges" because I am very strict and keep a routine - but this year I don't have nearly as many. It's so exciting to have so many students who are eager and excited to be in my classroom and to learn new things! I told the kids about our spelling homework, and explained the menu - and they were upset the first menu isn't due until next week! They were asking, "Can we do it tonight?!?" I was SO excited! (PS- If you want a copy of this - email me jessica.wilson@frco.k12.va.us) - I would be HAPPY to share! I'm not the first person to make up a spelling menu, and I won't be the last - so if you would like to try one out - let me know!

Now - onto the EXCITING part! I have 35 followers on Blog Lovin- and 10 followers on Blogger....that's ALMOST 50!!!! So, to help me get to 50, I've decided to do a GIVEAWAY!! I am a Thirty One consultant - and I will have a few options for the winner to choose from! So - ENTER IN THIS GIVEAWAY!!!! I really want to treat a teacher to some cute Thirty One Things!!! (I have some zipper pouches, wristlet key fobs, a few different size caddys, and lots of other cutesy things!) a Rafflecopter giveaway

Celebrating 20 Followers, B2S, a SALE and a GIVEAWAY!

Today, I reached 20 followers on Bloglovin' ! There are also 7 people who follow on Blogger- which means I'm almost at 30! Monday is my first "official" day back as well - I'm excited to get my room finished, but I'm not excited about the inservice meetings I will have to be in! So, to celebrate, I'm throwing a sale in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

To celebrate my followers, I'm going to have a giveaway! I created these teacher postcards to give my students who make it to the "Homework Club" each month. Any student who has their homework every day for a whole month gets the special treat of eating lunch with the teacher. In order to make it an even more special event, I created these postcard invitations that look FABULOUS when printed on colored cardstock. The whole file contains 3 different designs to print for your students. The postcards are set to print 4 per page, and my students always get excited to see this note on their desk.

In addition to winning the postcard pack - you can pick ANY 3 items in my TPT store for free. (Now - I don't have tons of things uploaded yet - so if you want to wait on that until I upload more items - I totally understand - it won't have an expiration date!) 

So - to win, all you have to do is leave a comment with your email address. I will then ask the hubs to pick a random number, and that person will win! It's a very delicate and scientific procedure! I'll end the entries at 9:00 pm Sunday, August 4. Good Luck!