Show some random love...

This I just had to share! What an amazing way to help out a friend in need!  I'm sure you know Alisha over at The Bubbly Blonde Teacher and how awesome she is. Well she is holding a fundraiser for her friend Tiffany who is battling cancer.  Its a total win-win for everyone and I know I donated because it touched my heart and I hope we can give her some comfort at this difficult time. The package that you get for helping out is awesome too!  I think this is an incredible way to come together to help out and hopefully this will just be the springboard for more fundraisers to help out those in need.

 

Head on over and "Show some random Love"!

Sandy

I'm so bad....

I know I've been really bad about posting on a regular basis lately.  Getting set up at school has really kicked my butt been rough this year.  I'm thinking that it might have something to do with the reading endorsement I'm working on,the training to teach Cambridge, and just life in general. How do some of you do it all? Family,career,school,and then making things for the classroom,cleaning the house,etc... Sometimes I feel absolutely overwhelmed.

I absolutely love my kiddos this year,however, I really cannot say enough about how great it is to have a class full of little ones who already love to learn!  26 students though! This is the biggest group I've had!  I really hope I can keep up with it all and make it to Christmas!  It'll be so nice to be finished with my own schooling, for a while anyway ;)

That's all for now =)
Sandy

Back to school

OMGosh....I haven't been able to blog in forever....I know I should be doing it every day but I am going to shoot for at least once a week.  We've been back in school for a week now and I really did get and awesome group of kiddos this year!  I am thinking that I will enjoy teaching Cambridge even more than I had anticipated.  These little guys are really eager to learn and to please and that will certainly make for a pleasant year! 
I wanted to share my classroom library and my FACE of a reader board so far.  Of course they are both a work in progress but I am really happy with how my library has started to become organized. 

I know I really need to get a new camera,my phone does not take the best pictures!  I'm also still in the dark ages with that.  Anxiously awaiting my upgrade so I can make the switch from the yucky Blackberry to an I phone!  I know they take awesome pictures and I probably won't even need a camera then! =)
I hope everyone has an awesome school year!
Sandy

Getting ready and Cambridge Primary...

I have been so busy lately, I just haven't been able to fit blogging in! In the middle of taking 2 classes for my Reading Endorsement, I just found out that I will be teaching the 2nd Grade Cambridge class! I am super excited but it involves an online training class! Has anyone else had any experience with this program? I have googled but haven't come up with much other than the official site! I am thinking it will be interesting to blog about my experience as I go through this year! It should be so much fun to have a class full of motivated learners! I can't wait to see what depths we can go to!

I have also started getting my classroom ready,Yikes,we have to report on Monday July 30th! We are lucky that we actually got into our rooms a little early this year so I feel way ahead in that area! I've even fit in making some new products for my TPT store! I'd love for you to check out what I have so far and if you like, leave me some positive feedback!  I have a little activity that my kiddos always love to do the first week of school to share with you.  It's a "Find Someone Who" that I just added a little I-Pod to! I know my daughter is super attached to hers so I'm making up some things that I think will appeal to today's kiddos!  Enjoy!

Find Someone Who

Here's hoping I get a lot accomplished at school tomorrow!!  I'm almost done with my labels and now I'm thinking I need some new August calendar numbers =)
Have a good night ya'll!
Sandy

I'm so excited!

I was given an award! Me! I can hardly believe it! (I told you I was excited ;))  Teresa over at Fun Games 4 Learning just gave me this little award...

Thank you so much for checking out my blog and following me!

So here are the rules for this award which make it so much fun to win! I just love this way of sharing and discovering new blogs! =)

1. Follow the person who gave you the award (check)
2. Link back to the person that gave you the award (check)
3. Pass the award on to 15 new bloggers. (here they are...)

The blogs I've chosen are (drum roll please...)

Calling Plays in 2nd Grade

That's So Second Grade!

Splish! Splash! Ms. Lander's Second Grade Class
2nd Grade Glance
Being The Queen Bee isn't easy!
Tales of an Elementary Teacher
Ms. A to Z
Common Core Kids
First Grade Bloomabilities
Classroom Snapshots

Wow, that was a lot harder than I ever thought it would be!  I did discover some awesome new blogs though!
Well, I have to get to work on my Reading class. :(  What time off? 

Have fun blog hoppin'!
Sandy

I hope its not too late to Follow the Yellow Brick Road...

Gosh, I've been wanting to do this for quite some time! I've FINALLY finished my Back to School Match unit and I want to share it with you!  This is my first attempt at making a unit of any size so please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions for improvement.  I chose a few skills that I want to quickly assess prior knowledge of and made simple activities that my kiddos (and yours) can work on in small groups.  Sometimes, I have the groups fill out the recording sheet together to save paper.  Check it out in my new TPT store...

Second Grade Spots and Dots

As you can see, I'm still learning all the nitty gritty details of this blogging thing, such as linking up my store ;)  Can anyone explain how I do this?  Anyhoo,the link is there so you can get to it!  If you like it and download it, I would love some feedback and a rating! Then you should go check out all the other cool free stuff at this awesome linky party!

Check it out here

I hope ya'll have a great weekend!

Sandy =)

Jello cake(huh?) and more sight words...

Oh boy, does Macy's do an extravagant awesome fireworks display or what?  We had thunderstorms with full on lightening in our town,so we ended up watching the fireworks on the t.v. while eating Jello cake!  Not my daughters idea of a fun 4th!  She did have fun however, when she helped me make the cake.  What is Jello cake you ask?  I'm gonna go ahead and share about this summer tradition in our family just in case you don't know what it is!  So simple, but so fresh and you can change it to taste by using different flavors of Jello.  You're probably thinking "who hasn't heard of Jello cake?",  but I'm sharing this because I had never had it until I met my hubby about 12 yrs ago.  Since then, I make it every summer.  So, all you need are these items...

I couldn't decide if I wanted red or blue so I got both but ended up using the blue. =)

First, you bake the cake and let it cool for and hour or so.

When the cake is cool, you want to poke holes in it with a toothpick. I poke them about an inch apart.

Next, you mix a small box of whatever flavor Jello you have chosen and pour it over the cake. Make sure you cover the whole surface of the cake.  Now, you want to put it in the fridge for a couple of hours so that the Jello can set.

So, once the Jello has set, you simply cover the cake with Cool Whip.  Most of the time, I leave the cake just like this...

However, I've totally been inspired by Pinterest and the blogging world so I decided to fancy it up this year.  I rinsed and cut the blueberries and strawberries...

and laid them over the cake in the shape of the flag!  I thought it came out nice,I got lots of compliments, and it was super yummy! =)

My whole family loves this cake and it sure doesn't last long,so if you need something simple to turn into a summer tradition...there ya go =)

 And speaking of traditions,I'm pretty sure that tracking mastery of sight word lists is a tradition in most K and 1st grade classes.  In my experience, it isn't done as regularly in 2nd grade.  I believe it should be and maybe in some places/schools it is.  Maybe my idea isn't nearly as creative as I think it is (lol).  My idea was a unit to go along with the monthly homework sheets I made up and plan to use this coming year.  So, I wanted to share a preview of the unit with you and hopefully get your feedback.  I am adding more as I go and hope to be finished by tomorrow.  I am going to print it all out and share my ideas for use this weekend.  So far I have this (and a little more ;))

I'm really happy with it and can't wait to put it to use this year.  I hope to see a big improvement in my kiddos reading with the added emphasis on sight words.  I think that the visual tracking of these sight words will motivate them to try harder.  You know they won't want their soccer ball to be the only one that didn't "Make the Goal"!  I also like that it will appeal to the boys,it seems that they are the ones who most often don't want to read!

So, tell me what you think,would you use a monthly unit such as this?  I'm fairly new to all this so I could use all the tips you have to share!  Thanks so much!

Its almost the weekend ya'll =)

Sandy