*Forgive me for a minute as I talk to Blogger: Wow. So we meet again. I feel that I've neglected you, and even just logging into you, I feel I forgot how to make a post. We were once best friends you and I. I would come home from work and sit down and write my post with new ideas, products or freebies. It's been a year since we have worked together. I hope we can become better friends again because I have some things I would like to share with our followers. I just know that I quit using you so that I could have more family time and take care of me.  Now it's time to go back to what I onc ..read more

First, I have to say that I know that I blog hit or miss.  It has been VERY sporadic through the past year or so, and I want to thank you for hanging around with me on FB, as I do tend to post there more often than blogging. I do want to say that I feel that I kept up with reading blogs, and creating things when I was spending more time blogging myself.  With that said, I used to teach, come home, blog and repeat.  I felt I was neglecting family, my husband and myself. It's hard to find a healthy balance when you work  full timevso it comes in spurts for me.  I realiz ..read more

First, this is like crazy.  I haven't blogged, or created much of anything since January.  Well, I can't say that I haven't created anything because if you follow me on IG, you know that I've created some things.  Here are some of my creations.  So, maybe it isn't school related, but it is a great stress relief.  For those of you that are new to following me, I have wanted a bakery for quite some time.  I get orders now and again at home, but I'm still holding out for a mobile bakery. Some day---but for now, the teaching gig. I began my reading g ..read more

Okay, am  I completely dating myself with my blog post title? *Still singing*  Back to life, back to reality Back to the here and now--- now I make up some lyrics because for some reason, I never remember song Okay, anyway--- We just had our OFFICIAL first FULL day back since Christmas break.  We had an inservice last Wednesday, and started back with students Thursday, only to have an early release due to incoming weather. Then Friday, with weather and cold---we were closed.  Friends, let me tell you---the first day back after vacation is BRUTAL.  I felt like I was dr ..read more

Several years ago I created this little reader for a group of firsties I had.  They loved it!  I have used this little reader every year since--and now that I teach Title, it is just the perfect fit for my kids. Here is how I use this little activity. First, I introduce the vocabulary with a read and write the room. I not only use this as our vocabulary for our unit, but it gives us review of proper letter formation -- something that many of my students struggle with.   We use Fundations, and the program uses the words sky line, worm  line, etc.   We revie ..read more

Lets start with math. Last night I shared this tens and more activity.  My students really seemed to enjoy it...and considering I am trying like crazy to hold their attention for the next 11 days, I am happy with that! Click the image below to read about the game. We have also worked on sets of ten.  I had made loops from colored yarn, and the students physically looped each set of ten as they counted them out.  This was a great visual for them.  We counted by tens, and the numerals were written and placed under each set as they counted by tens.  I asked them if they ..read more

Yep.  This is my current situation. I. AM. TIRED. My mother-in-law and I had a discussion about working  this weekend. There is something so different between mental exhaustion and physical exhaustion-- but when you're struck with both...it is brutal.   *Side note--I will talk about all this exhaustion on my personal blog later this week-- Today's blog post is going to be a bunch of random-- basically I feel like that's my job in a nutshell. A bunch of randomness. Not that I don't plan for my job, I do. But I get these spur of the moment last minute ideas that  MAY ..read more

I should have shared this activity with you about a month ago...when I did it for my classroom observation. Where has time gone?  What on earth have I been doing? I tell ya, the struggle is REAL people.  I can't believe the school year is half over! CRAZY! Back on topic...Guided Reading First, I should note that it is important to understand the dynamics of my student groups. I am a Title I teacher teaching students with disabilities. Students who are qualifying for IEPs... so the work that we do during our guided group time is at their level (just like you would do) and the skills ..read more

First, I'm going to ask this...have you ever planned your guided reading groups and then only had 1 kid at the table?  That happens A LOT with one of my groups.  The bad thing is, I never know if I will have a group or not.  Therefore, I am "winging" last minute lesson plans so that I can work 1-1 with the student that I do have.  Luckily, I have the Fry Fluency Reads to help me out.  As the student is reading, I quickly have time to grab some materials for one-on-one.  Plus, it's a great warm up, it helps me hear if the child is fluent, needs sight word help, if ..read more

This is me.  A lot of the time.   Do most of us feel this way? We want to always do what's best for our students. I mean let's face it, we have a pretty awesome job. Our students are always on our minds. So it has to be natural that we always wonder if we are doing enough,  could we do more, is what we're doing the right thing... But, in reality, we are sometimes the only caring adult in that child's life. For me, personally, so many of the students I work with need much more than just what's on my lesson plans.  Sometimes my plans change right at last minute ..read more