March Currently

Amy here! We are so excited to link up with Farley again for this month's Currently (two in a row, WOWZA! We are on a roll!)

Listening: My mom and I went to see the musical Once a little while back and I am now OBSESSED!! I didn't know it was a movie so I had not seen it yet. We are a family that LOVES the theater so I have been very fortunate to see several musicals. Once is definitely in my top 5. If you have not had a chance to see it, check it out!

Loving: Oh why, oh why did I have to take a peek at the Easter section at Target. I have a HUGE weakness for Cadbury Mini-Eggs. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!

Thinking: I am currently eating Cadbury Mini-Eggs while I type...well... I think that pretty much sums it up. I need help!

Wanting: Our mini-fidge is on its last leg and we are in desperate need of a new one. My sweet hubby went to one thousand and one stores today looking for just the right one and came home empty handed. So the search continues...

Needing: Mollie and I are in a Collaborative Study Group with 5 other teachers and an academic support coach. The goal of the group is to identify individual instructional goals/projects that we are implementing in our classrooms and spend the year supporting one another in meeting those goals/projects. Mollie and I are both working with our kiddos on blogging. Mollie focused on the introduction of the blogs as well as teaching students how to make their blogs aesthetically pleasing and I am focusing on writing powerful comments. As part of the process, our group comes in and observes the project in action. They will be here on March 12th so it is crunch time. I have several things I need to get together before they come. It is such an awesome experience! We will blog about the entire process soon!

Spring Break Plans: I am so excited to have a majority of the time to do a few projects around the house and maybe finish up a few resources to post in our store. However, it wouldn't feel like Spring Break without a little something to look forward to. My mom and I are going to take the girls to Chicago for a couple days. I am so excited to take them on the train! They will love it!

Teachers ARE Heroes!

One of the best parts of having a store on TPT is the amazing staff. They truly LOVE teachers. When they create a sale titled "Teachers are Heroes," they mean it with all their hearts!

This is a great time to take full advantage of great prices on amazing resources, so take a look at your wish list, search those common core standards that you are in need of a fun and innovative way to teach, or check out some fun activities for upcoming holidays.

Everything in our store is 20% off and when you enter the promo code "HEROES" during checkout, you will receive an additional 10% off! Sale begins at midnight tonight! Happy Shopping!!!

Click here to check out the sale!

Sunday Scoop!

We are joining up with Teaching Trio this week to give you the Sunday Scoop. Click on the link below to see what some awesome bloggers are up to this beautiful, sunny Sunday.

Here is a look into my Sunday (Mollie's is much more exciting, she and her hubby are enjoying the windy city with some relaxing and shopping):

I didn't realize it until I put it all in one place but I am crazy about organization right now!!! My school life and home life don't always match up. At school, organization is the only way I can survive. My house is a different story. I tend to hang on to things too long, just in CASE I need them. I realized over winter break, I am spending WAY too much time sifting through things to find what I need. It is time! If you are looking for a systematic way to organize your house, check out Toni and her AMAZING blog, A Bowl Full of Lemons. I am currently completing her 14 Week Organization Challenge.

Okay, off to organize! Wish me luck!!

February: Currently

This is our first time linking up with Farley for her "Currently" linky party. We had so much fun reading through what others are currently up to, we couldn't pass it up (even though we are a little late to the game - promise we will do better next month)!

Listening: Thank goodness both Mollie and I are obsessed with Adam Levine and Maroon 5. We HAVE to play music while we work and we are lucky enough to love the same music. Just one more thing that makes us two nuts from the same tree!

Loving: This four day weekend couldn't have come at a better time. The weather is nasty (good ole' Michigan winters) and we were all feeling a bit exhausted. So what does that mean for our break? Jammies all day, toys scattered around the house and lots of hot cocoa.

Thinking: Well, as I said, the weather is nasty. My girls are asking daily how much longer until the pool is open. I think we are all beginning to wonder if spring will ever make its way through all of this snow!!

Wanting: Oh Biggby... one of my favorite places on earth! Is it bad that when I get to the drive-thru to order my coffee a few of the workers automatically say "Good morning Amy! White Chocolate Mocha?" Thank goodness no one else is in the car to hear it!!!

Needing: Mollie and I are so excited to have had our proposal accepted to present at the Michigan Reading Association conference this spring. We promised to get started on planning as soon as we finished up our report cards. Looking forward to this Tuesday when we can sit down at Panera and iron out the details of the presentation!

Pageant Title: Yes... I will admit it... I am completely addicted to Instagram. I blame my peeps on the TPT forums. The only thing better than curling up with my phone to check out what everyone is up to on Instagram is curling up with my phone, Instagram AND a White Chocolate Mocha.

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Super Sale for the Super Bowl!

We are kicking off February and celebrating the Super Bowl with a storewide sale. Everything in our store is 20% off this weekend.

If you are looking for some awesome resources for this time of year, here are a few ideas!

This unique resource for President's Day asks students to look at famous quotes from presidents to infer what they mean as well as to identify what they say about the type of person the president was.

Our kiddos just completed this activity last week. It was a great opportunity for them to practice their line plot building skills as well as work collaboratively to complete a task. Kids also took time to analyze their line plot.

If you haven't checked out our Word Study units, take advantage of the sale and grab the February pack. It provides students with activities to ensure that they are going beyond memorizing a spelling list. Our word study looks at 7-8 words a month, breaks the words into parts, and uses those parts to spell and understand new words. Our kids love the activities and building their Word Study Notebook each month.

Happy shopping!

We Heart Lapbooks!

Mollie and I are so excited to post two new products today. Both are Lapbooks. What an amazing creation and one that our kiddos LOVE. We have used both of these with our students and just needed a snow day like today to get them polished up and ready for you all!

We are tasked with teaching Michigan history, from beginning to present. It can be a bit overwhelming and difficult for our kiddos to grasp. Our History: Linking to the Past Lapbook was a great way to support our students.

At the end of each lesson we teach on Michigan history we recap the important information covered during the lesson and students add the info to the appropriate foldable. It is a perfect way to identify what is REALLY important. Some of the foldables include:

So much fun, right?? Check it out here at our TPT store: History: Linking to the Past Lapbook.

The second Lapbook we uploaded today is our Science: Circle of Life Lapbook. This focuses on animal and plant life cycles as well as how they both use structures to survive. Here is a glimpse:

Such a great opportunity for kids to gather information in one place to use for preparing for the end of the unit assessment. To check out this Lapbook, click here: Science: The Circle of Life Lapbook. 

Follow our TPT store to be notified of new products which are 50% off for 24 hours after they are posted. 

Be the Dream!

Mollie and I are so excited to welcome a new program into our classrooms when we return from winter break. Sheree Bos, a wonderful teacher in our district, has been heading a growing initiative called Be the Dream for the past three years. This program seeks out African American males who are looking to give back to their community and partners them with educators and their students. These role models come into the classroom to conduct a variety of activities such as reading aloud to students and sharing their life stories and life lessons to name just a couple.

The beauty of this program is the connection made between the volunteer, teacher, and students. It is so important to expose students to a variety of people who are able to help motivate and inspire them to achieve their dreams. This program has been doing just that and now Sheree is helping us bring the benefits of the program to our kiddos.

To learn more about the program, check out this video!

Be the Dream

We will keep you posted as we move forward with this amazing opportunity! Stay tuned!