Treats for the Teacher Tuesday and June Currently- Finally!

Hi everyone! I am excited to announce the winners of my first Treats for the Teacher giveaway!  Here they are...Congrats, ladies - I am happy to be creating these just for you!

I have a brand new treat for you this week...this time I am going to pick 3 winners!  I think you would look great in one of these T-Shirts personalized just for you and your grade level.  I know my teammates LOVED these when I gave them as end-of-year gifts :)

Every teacher needs a treat sometimes...enter to win below!  Good Luck everyone :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

...and finally, my first Currently and I am linking up with Oh'Boy 4th Grade.

Have a great day, everyone!

Made It Monday & Blogs By State

Hi everyone...hope you all had a great weekend! I have to tell you, my Pinterest addiction is already costing me some money this summer. In one weekend, I bought paint for classroom shelves, a tool-box to organize small desk supplies, duct-tape for clipboards/whiteboards and the letters R-E-A-D to decoupage... I think I am going to be pretty busy!

At least I have "Made it Monday" over at 4th Grade Frolics to link up with!  Last week, I linked up two clipboards.  I ended up having a raffle for them.  The winners will be picked tomorrow! I will be contacting you for your personalization information.

Today I have another little Made it Monday goodie that I will be raffling tomorrow as well...Let's take a look:

I made these for our first and second grade teams this year to wear on moving up day or the last day of school. I think it would be really cute to wear these during the first week of school as well. Tomorrow I will open up a chance for YOU to win one too, so check back for the giveaways that will be going on throughout the summer! :)

Next up, I am linking up with Fifth In the Middle for her Blogs By State.  I've been meaning to do this for a while :) 

My plan this summer (you will see it on my Summer Bucket List, soon!) is to stop by to say hello to not only all of my fellow New Yorkers, but to a blogger in each state as well.  If I can't do a cross-country trip, I think that would be a great alternative ;)

Have a great Monday, everyone!

Five for Friday First Timer :) & LAST DAY of School Events

Happy LAST DAY OF SCHOOL to me!  It's been a long and crazy home stretch.  I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching's Five for Friday to tell you all about it :)

ONE

 Things really started picking up the pace during the past two weeks....first up, we had our class play. When I say class play, I really should clarify...at our school, we've gotten in the habit of doing collaborative GRADE LEVEL plays! That's right, this year it was FIVE classes working together to put on a musical about the weather.  My teaching assistant and I wrote the play and each class was assigned a part.  Although we had a small temporary setback of our music teacher (who was our accompaniment) being stuck in traffic,  (AAAAAAHHHH try not to panic!)  the play was a hit.  Here's a look at the song list from our play, "Newsworthy Weather":

"Cold as Ice" sung to the tune of "Cold As Ice" by Foreigner

"Gentle Breeze" sung to the tune of "Summer Breeze" by Seals and Crofts

"It's Raining Again" sung to the tune of "It's Raining Men" by the Weather Girls

"Ain't No Sunshine" sung to the tune of "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers

"Heatwave" sung to the tune of "Heatwave" by Martha Reeves and the Vandellas

"Weather Kids" sung to the of "Aquarius (Let the Sunshine In) by the 5th Dimension

The rest of the play is a parody on newscasters with characters such as Matt Tower, Katie Current and Sal Joker.  We couldn't be more proud of our little meteorologists.  I was also so psyched that my awesome colleagues created the ADORABLE set...here's a look:

TWO

Up next was field day, which was pretty awesome...despite the fact that we are having a cicada invasion!  The kids were pretty much freaking out and some of the teachers had fly-swatters to shoo the cicadas away.  This act in itself kept me cracking up all morning.  We all just about split a gut giggling! I did try to take an alternate approach to the cicada madness.  When one (out of the many) landed on me, I held it in my hand (gasp!) and showed the kids how it was gentle like a lady bug - a GIANT ladybug hahahha!  

Needless to say, my kids clung to this new approach and pretty soon we had what I like to call a "Cicada City" in my area of the field.  That's right folks, my kids were now collecting these stinkin' bugs and LOVING them.  I had to die when one of my students introduced me to his cicada named "Josephine!"  

The funniest part was that when the kids were called to their field day events, other kids were "babysitting" the cicadas! Aaaahhhhh! It was nuts!  Here's one of my brave little girlies as she babysits a few cicadas:

THREE

Five for Friday has been something I've wanted to do for a while now... so I am happy to finally jump in! There are three other linkys that I want to do by the end of the weekend.  I wanted to include them right here, so I would not forget to get them done. First, I want to link up with Fifth In The Middle's Blogs By State.  I think that it is just so awesome that Diane made a button for each state!

I also need to get my summer bucket list done - there is so much I want to do this summer!  For that, I will be linking up with A Cupcake for the Teacher!

Finally, I've always wanted to do a "Currently" by Farley at "Oh Boy, Fourth Grade"... I better hurry up...June is almost over!

FOUR

Next up is something that may cause me to pass way too much time on the computer. Do you use PicMonkey?  I love photography and can play around and edit pictures all day. If you haven't tried it and you love photography you really should check it out.  There is a lot you can do for free.  (But, hubbypleaseforgiveme,Iupdatedtothepremiumaccountonly$33fortheyear!)

I was playing around a little bit on it last night in the midst of too many other things I needed to get done for the last day of school (at least the girls were at a sleepover!).  Here is what I came up with... I think I may have changed this pic 7,042 times, but it was fun!

FIVE

To make the last day of school even more special, we are having our Candy Awards Ceremony today.  The kids have no idea that this is going to happen. It is our first annual event! I'm sure word will get out and they will be asking for it again next year though!  I am so excited to do this with my kids today!! 

TGIF AND TGISummer!

xo

Treats for The Teacher Tuesday!

Hi everyone!
Thank you all so much for the positive response on my math bundle giveaway.  I am going to be putting them up in my stores soon, so if you know anyone you think might be interested, please send them my way.

Well, summer is almost upon us here and with that comes a lot of family time :) aahhhhh...love it. Although the hubby has to go off to work (sorry, hun), the girlies and I get to spend a lot of time together. Summer time has always meant unstructured days of reading, crafting and sunning.  As soon as the weather gets warm, my daughters start organizing their string boxes to ready themselves for the summer bracelet-making season!

I like to get crafty as well.  Most of my crafts revolve around scrapbooking and classroom creations. Last summer I bought a Cricut and got more than a bit obsessed!  With my Pinterest boards in full swing, I have more than my fair share of projects to try!  I thought it would be fun to share some of my creations with you, too

...so "Treats for The Teacher Tuesday" was born!

Check back for giveaways throughout the summer.  All you have to do is enter to win.  If you are chosen, you will receive a special delivery (either digitally or through the mail- yay!).

First up, I have some clipboards that I've been creating for my friends at work.  For this very first giveaway, I am giving you the opportunity to enter to win both.

First up, the mini...in a lovely chevron/polkadot theme.  It will be personalized on the back with YOUR NAME, too!  Perfect for jotting down quick notes (notepad included!)

If you want the mini, enter the Rafflecopter right below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Next up is the full-sized clipboard.  For that, I have some more adorable owls accented with a polka-dot ribbon.  This clipboard is just right for holding charts, class lists, checklists, etc.  This one will PERSONALIZED with your name (It will not say Mrs. Holmes, lol) and the name of your school!

If you want the full-sized clipboard, enter the rafflecopter right below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Enter to win one or both!  I will run the contest until next Tuesday and then I will announce the winner.  I wonder what I will be crafting up next!

Freebie Math Bundle for Friends :) Whoooooo Wants It?

Happy Father's Day to all of you daddies out there.  We had a great day at our house with a Father's Day Clambake.  I was so happy to spend the day with my family :)
Now that I am stuffed like a potato, all that's left to do is sit on the couch like one...at least I can get some work done!

So, here's what I got for you...I just put the finishing touches on two new math products.

My "Rockin' the Common Core Math Standards" Unit:

This year, we were all on board with those Common Core Standards and how they affected student achievement and in turn, our own evaluations.  Since we were in the process of selecting a new math program, it was even more essential to have something that assured I was hitting every standard.  

In addition to covering each Common Core Math Standard in class, this unit provides practice that can be used for homework as well.  The parents of my students were very appreciative of such timely and relevant materials.  And of course, the kids loved the rockin' owl theme...(thank you Jessica Weible Illustrations!)

Throughout the year, it helped to get the students involved with understanding the language of the Core itself.  "I Can" Statements can help tremendously with this, especially if you take the time to revisit the language as a unit progresses.  You know your students really own it when they are able to explain the standards in their own words.  To help remind my students of these standards, I had these little cuties hanging up...

Here are some examples:

Yes, these are both for 2nd grade. SOOO, if you are a second grade teacher, know a second grade teacher, hope to be a second grade teacher (or just love owls and 2nd grade math), I have a surprise for you...

It's yours.

Now.

Just for being a friend and follower of The Teacher's Chair.

Because I love creating and sharing with you

....and I think I am just a little happy about having only one week left of school!

SO PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT TO LET ME KNOW YOU ARE FOLLOWING ALONG WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS! You'll have this little bundle before you you can say, "Hoot, Hoot!" :)

I'm also linking up with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics...for her "Made it Monday."  Be sure to stop by and see all of the cool things people are making :)

Balloon Pop Madness

So, I have to say, Instagram has been a fun and quick way to get awesome ideas for the classroom.  Don't get me wrong, I love to blogstalk as much as the rest of you and can easily do it for hours on end... However, with Instagram, the rate of idea collection is insane! In order to keep track of all the super ideas, I started keeping a screenshot file on my computer.  This way, when I am at my computer (and off my phone) I can easily go visit and join up with bloggers I find through Instagram...  Yay! ;)

So, one of the most awesome things I have found so far is the "End of Year Balloon Pop." The kids go WILD over these silly little balloons.  Ahead of time, I typed up little "surprises" onto strips of paper.  They included things like: "extra recess," "game day," ice pop day," etc.  Those strips of paper were rolled up and stuck into balloons. Oh, how these kids love when the fan is blowing these little gems around ever so gently! 

WARNING: One downside to this...constant repeating of the phrases, "Are we popping a balloon today?" and "When are we popping the balloon????" ;)

We also had "bubble mania" and a "glow-stick dance party," which they LOVED!  Thank goodness for the Dollar store! 

So super glad I found this idea on Instagram (posted by early-finishing teachers who no doubt have their toes in some well deserved sand right now!)  I am not sure who had the most fun (me or the kids) on mustache day though...