Its My Birthday!!!!!

Hey everyone!
Cindy here we have been super busy in school.  Not only did we switch to Common Core but we are also switching to a Standard Based Report Card.  This is  alot of changes in so little time.  Just when you think you got the hang of something.  BAMMM!  They change it.  I guess they want to keep you on your toes.  Well needless to say we are all pretty much learning all over again what to teach and what to grade.  Fun times indeed!

Well anyways today I am not doing anything!!  I am not worrying about school or finishing school work all I am doing is enjoying MY day because it is my BIRTHDAY!!!!  I decided to blog because I am super excited and wanted to let you know that we are having a sale on out TPT in honor of my BIRTHDAY!!!

                                         Just click on my pic to get 20% off in our TPT shop.

I hope you have a great day!!!
Cindy

Don't Forget Hispanic Heritage

I posted this last year and just wanted to remind you about our Hispanic Heritage Unit because well it is September now.  So if you are trying to figure out what to do, check out our unit.  My students love this unit because a lot of them have not been exposed to so many different cultures.  They look forward to doing it on Fridays.  

Hispanic Heritage Teachers Notebook

Hispanic Heritage TPT

Hello!

OK so I know that September is almost over but if you are like me you are wondering where it went. Didn't it fly by so fast!!!! Well September is Hispanic Heritage Month and along with learning about apples, Johnny Appleseed, and testing I always try to fit it in.

I usually reserve Fridays in the month of September and highlight a different country. I have the students fill out their passports and I even stamp them. Then we buckle up and get ready for our travels.  Sometimes if I have enough donations we even have an in flight snack while we go on a tour of the country courtesy of my smart board. After we have toured the country we talk about the language and some of the music. I always try to download some traditional music on my ipod so that we can listen to it while we color in our flag and find our capital on our map. After we have done that we either have a craft or enjoy some traditional games. I love to show the students some pictures of the children in the different cultures so that they know that they are not much different than them. As September comes to an end we have to finish up our Hispanic Heritage Month and I usually finish it off by eating some traditional foods. I usually have parents donate money so that I can cook some things up. Now that Rio is out on dvd we will enjoy the movie while finishing off our fiesta.

I have uploaded my mini unit on TeachersNotebook and TPT if you are interested. My students really enjoy this unit so I hope you will too. Just click on the link and it will take to our store.

Now I am off to enjoy the last few hours before my weekend ends.

Cindy

First Week and Class Pics

Hello Everyone!

This week was our first week of school and let me tell you it was exhausting!!!  This is my third year teaching first grade and every year I forget that at the beginning first graders are not independent at all.  My son is still not sleeping through the night so let me tell you being exhausted from that and being at school all week, it was no surprise why I crashed on the couch on Friday.  Ha!


Before school starts I still get so excited.  I am the type that lays out her clothes the night before and I can't sleep because I am too worked for the beginning of the year.  Angie and I were so excited Monday morning that we decided to take a pic to show you guys.  This is in Angie's room in front of her Boggle board.

Well the kiddos are coming along and getting use to being in school the whole day instead of just half day.  In Las Vegas Kindergarten is not mandatory( I know its a big shocker to me still) so most of the kiddos I got were half day.  Procedures are starting to get established but let me tell you I wish we could skip this part sometimes.  I know how important it is to establish your procedures, rules, and expectations at the beginning but I am craving a routine already.

Well enough on this and let me show you my classroom.  I am kind of in love with it.  LOL!  Sorry for the quality of the pics but they were taken on my Iphone.

This is the view from my door.  My table signs are the different streets in Hollywood.  So I have a Rodeo group, Sunset group, Vine Group, and Hollywood Group.  Yes it does look like a lot of desks.  I have 23 students this year and 14 of them are boys!  

This is the front of my room.  The papers under my boards are for my student work.  My frame for the 1st day of First Grade is ready on my board.  The other side is where I have my schedule cards and my calendar.  It seems a little bare but we do calendar on the smartboad so no need for the clutter.  I know they are hard to see but I made those hollywood schedule cards if you are interested click here.

This is the Celebrity Of The Week board.  On the Walk of Fame side I will have the students sign a star after their week has ended.  I took this idea from Cara Carroll but she had the kiddos paint their hands on a star which I loved but I didn't have as much wall space so we are consolidating her idea.  

This is my Birthday Board.  It says A Celebrity is Born and it has all the months.  It is empty right now because I am taking the students pics to go on their month.  This is part of my calendar kit and if you are interested just click on the pic.  

                        

As I mentioned above I ran out of wall space.  So to compensate for that I use the front of my wardrobes.  The one on the left displays my clip chart which I got as a freebie from Cara Carroll.  If you are interested click here.  The other door displays my rules which I made with a little Hollywood flare.  The right wardrobe will display our Parent Praises.  This is a different shaped cut out that the parents write to their students.

This is my small group reading area.  Those are my Hollywood Beanie Babies that I made.  If you are interested click on the pic.  I wish my table could stay that clean the whole year. 

Well that was my room.  I hope you enjoyed my little tour.  I will leave you with a little Pinterest project I made.  

I am kind of obsessed with zebra stripes.  

Have a great three day weekend!

Cindy

Superhero Classroom

Hello!!!

I know many of you already started teaching a few weeks ago but here in Las Vegas we just had our Meet and Greet on Friday.  We officially start classes on Monday.  After our meet and greet I can tell you its going to be an interesting year.  I will keep an open mind and a positive attitude starting this upcoming year because if I don't it will be a very looooong year.  I will keep you posted on this more throughout the year, I am going to blame it on them having a bad day and it will be different next time we meet.  I will pray on that and if you want to send prayers my way they will be greatly appreciated.

Well enough on that.  I was suppose to take pictures of my classroom and post them here but my school ran out of lamination and didn't receive a shipment until a few days ago.  So it was pretty much a mad dash to finish my room.  I am going in for a couple of hours tomorrow so I will be sure to take pics.

I do however want to feature one of our dear friends classroom.  She did a superhero theme in her classroom and let me tell you it looks adorable.  Well just see for yourself.

This is the view of her classroom from the door.  Aren't her tables signs brilliant!  

Here is the front of her room.  Check out her alphabet its the one that Angie made.  You can get it by clicking on the pic.  She was editing her hero book when we walked in.  You can get this editable hero book by clicking here.  

These are her classroom rules that Angie made as a freebie.  Click on the pic to get your copy.  

This is her job chart. I don't know where she got it from but if anyone knows please let me know so I can give credit.  I love the title!

Math wall.  I just love the titles she put they are so cute.  

The library area is my favorite part of her room.  Isn't this amazing!!!!!  

Last but not least I wanted to show you the amazing teacher who this classroom belongs to.  Her name is Sam and she is on the left.  Angie is on the right and I am the one taking the pic.  

I hope you enjoyed our little teacher classroom feature.  Tomorrow I will try to upload all of my pics.  Hope you all enjoy your weekend.

Cindy

More Superhero Classroom Stuff!

Hey all!

We've had some more requests for some Superhero themed goodies, and since you've asked.... I'm delivering! :-)  Here are the latest things I've made.... drumroll, please:

This Black and White HERO book (Helping Everyone Remain Organized) is a great way to keep your kiddos organized! Want more info on it? Head over here. Best part about this little goodie? It's EDITABLE, so you can personalize it yourself! *I will be making a full color one soon, too!*

 These next two slides are some of the inserts included with the HERO book....

 I became obsessed with my behavior clip chart last year and my kiddos did too! If you want to promote positive behavior in your classroom this year, turn your kiddos into SUPERHEROES with this one! You can find more info about it here.

It doesn't appear in the correct order below, but I wanted to show you all of the cards that go with it! 

 And finally, we all want our kiddos to think before they speak, right?! Here is a great visual for that reminder! 

We got a fun request for some cute owl stuff so Cindy and I are working on some Owl/Chevron themed items next! If that's what you're in the market for, make sure you're a follower of our blog so you can be updated as soon as it's done! 

That's all for now, folks! :-) 

Thank you!!!

Well I just wanted to say thank you so much to all of you that took advantage of the sale and purchased some of our items.  You are all so amazing and thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. 

I don't know about all of you but my cart was full anticipating the sale.  I scored some really great items and it was such a deal. It still amazes me how creative and phenomenal some of you are out there.  How do you guys come up with some of this stuff.  Well however you do it keep it coming because I love it. 

On another note there have been a lot of questions about our writing boards.  I wish we could take credit for them but we got them from the one and only: Cara Carroll.  (Don't you just love her things???  She is truly an inspiration.)  Well anyways!!!  She offered it for free last year and I was in love.  Here is the link so that you can also have it in your classroom.
http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/2011/08/free-for-all-friday.html

I would love to hear some of the goodies you guys got during the sale.  

 

Cindy

Back to School Sale

                                                                              

                                                          

 
Hello everyone!

Can I just tell you how sad I am feeling about summer ending.  Booo!!  I feel like their is a ticking clock in my ear reminding me about leaving my babies and going back to work. 

But I am oh so excited for the back to school sale happening August 12th and 13th.  I don't know about all of you but we surely do take advantage of this sale.  I know a lot of great teachers will be having sales and TPT is giving you an extra discount using the code: BTS2012.  We are filling up our wish list now!
 

I am going to highlight some of the items at our store but you definitely have to come visit us to see all our items. You can click on any of the pics to head on over to our store.

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Teaming-Up-To-Teach

Like I said these are just a few items in our store.  We also have some freebies over there.  So come check us out.  I hope you guys score some good resources.  I would love to hear what you guys bought because I know we will definitely be blogging about it. 

Cindy