12 in 12

Well, I'm joining the party! Because I LOOOVVE me a party! I can't believe it's the end of 2012 already but I'm ready for 2013 to bring me some luck!

12. Favorite Movie Watched.
My husband and I love going to the movies but I am stick to what I like: comedy, romance & action. It's why the remake of 21 Jump Street was my favorite movie this year! There were some others that I really liked but 21 Jump Street topped my list for now. I'm really looking forward to to This is 40.

11. Favorite TV series.
BIG BANG THEORY! I do have many things on my DVR, I'll give you my scheduled recordings: Modern Family, Big Bang, Real Housewives of any city =), Teen Mom, Happy Endings, Glee, The League, Chelsea Lately, The Office, New Girl & Grey's Anatomy. When all else fails, HGTV & the Cooking Channel win. I'm a TV junkie. Please don't judge me.

10. Favorite Restaurant.
Hmmm... I do love to eat.... I don't really have a favorite restaurant... I can't choose... Oh! No! The Pressure! I'm not sure!! Anything with a good salad & pizza =)

9. Favorite New Thing I Tried.
Can I be totally cliche and say blogging, pinterest & TPT? It's true! All 3 of things have truly and sincerely made me a better teacher. I love the instant feedback from all of you reading. I just appreciate anyone being here at all. I can't tell you how it affects me when I make a sale on TPT or find out that I have more followers. I absolutely am in love with my work and I am happy to be a part of an online community that feels the same way I do. There are so many teachers out there who are being let down by their school systems & the ever growing budget cuts AND because of this, losing faith in their positions. I admire all of us on here that are doing what we can with what we've got AND with a smile. This is 100% my favorite new thing I've tried.

8. Favorite Gift Received.
A friendship bracelet from my BFF. Thank you Zuleyka- love you!

7.  Favorite Thing Pinned.
Anything on my For a Laugh Pinboard. My favorites are the e-cards. I LOVE those!

Well, any Pins really. I am grateful for all of the wonderful classroom ideas I've gotten from Pinterest. I have a whole bunch of KinderSchminder boards dedicated to different subject areas.

6. Favorite Blog Post.
Teaching with iPods I liked this post because I like using my iPods and I like to help others out with getting started as much as I can. Actually, I am going to start using them more regularly in my classroom especially for differentiation in January. Stay tuned! 

5. Favorite Accomplishment.
Successful implementation of Daily 5. I got so excited about it, I started telling everyone who would listen at my school and now first grade is doing it, second grade is on board and we are all LOVING it. We haven't started in kindergarten just yet but we will in 2013! I can't wait!

4. Favorite Picture.
Because my nephew is the best. He only has aunts and girl cousins but somehow figured out how to tackle Tia Vanessa. This is my favorite.

Can't figure out why it's sideways

3. Favorite Memory.
Camping and hiking with my best friends, my sister & my nephew. Camping at the beach is awesome and I love the little footprints they left in the sand. 

My 2 favorite people: My hubby & my nephew

2. Goal for 2013.
Get excited about working out and doing it routinely. I know I can do it. I know I can do it. I know I can do it.

1. One Little Word.

Ready. 

Ok amigos, it's your turn. Write about your 12 in 12 and link up!

It's almost 2013!

Hi everyone!
I talked yesterday about my favorite site Starfall and today, as promised, I have pictures! =)

We are making calendars as we teach calendar parts and our goal is to make them as cute as can be because we will send them home all wrapped up as gifts for the students' family.

First, you'll have to pick up my newest TPT product: Calendars! The one we used in class in not as cute as what I made for my product, you all lucked out!
We had the students start making their pictures for the months and then we'll glue them all on for them. Today, we glued in the missing months. It was so awesome to hear the students singing as they were gluing. "january, february, march and april..." Ah! So cute! We had a tour group (I teach at a popular school!) come through as some of the kids were gluing and they were so impressed!
The pictures below is my sample with a discolored paper...

Now on to the cute stuff:
The students have been working hard on these things!

We haven't gotten August, November & December done yet but we will tomorrow. I can't wait to see all of their finished products! Well, yes I can because I have a lot of gluing ahead of me!
Here is my new product, if you'd like a copy for FREE then comment below and don't forget to leave your email.

I am off to make some sugar cookies... a practice batch before I make them as gifts next week... fingers crossed!

Hasta manana!

Is it vacation yet?

Is anyone else feeling the drag?? I feel like my students are getting a little crazier, my patience is getting smaller, and I just want to sleep! =) Anyone with me??
Even though we have been on the coo-coo side, we have still been getting lots of work done!
The past week we have been teaching calendar: the parts of a calendar, how to read a calendar, etc. My students are already pretty strong in this area but we teach and re-teach, modify and extend for all! The reason why they are so great is because we do the Starfall calendar each day along with our morning meeting. The Starfall calendar is an AWESOME way to get the students talking about the calendar and interacting with the calendar. I just added a bookmark to my desktop and so that it is easy and ready to go! Before I had my fancy schmancy interactive whiteboard, I just used my projector and my laptop and a wireless mouse. If you don't have a interactive whiteboard, I HIGHLY suggest a wireless mouse. They are about $20 but it is soooooo worth it. I used to just hand the mouse around and the students were involved!
Here's a glimpse...
First go to the homepage...

Click on the calendar and you are set to go! AND if you haven't explored this website... DO IT NOW! Especially if you teach Kindergarten or first grade.
Here's a snapshot of the first calendar page...

I LOVE this calendar and site... My students are excited to play even when they can play any Starfall game! The best part of it? It's free!!! In the picture above you can see that there are little icons to mark special activities throughout the month. It doesn't save but by the end of the month, all my students have those special days memorized because we do them over and over again.

Tomorrow I'm going to snap some pictures of the students and the calendars that they are currently making AND if you're back tomorrow, I'm even throwing a freebie your way!

One last thing... I decided that I wanted to change my RAK (random act of kindness) to something different. I really like the idea of the Starbucks thing BUT I was thinking about it a little more and I'm going to donate to a Donor's Choose classroom of someone who I don't know and someone who is far away from me. I know how much all of us need things for our classrooms and I know it is so exciting to get a donation so I figured that that would be worth my $10-$20 instead of a cup of coffee (which is also much needed sometimes). So, who is with me on that one??? If you are, feel free to donate to my classroom (hehehehe). If you do, I'll give you anything you want from my TPT store... ANYTHING! 

Be back tomorrow!

Currently

I made it back just in time for December's Currently!
I have had a whirlwind past few weeks! My mom had surgery, my husband is in his final weeks of school (fingers crossed it all goes well), I have a student teacher and you know what? I sure do love my naps! lol. But I'm done being a blog slacker...
Here's my currently...

RAK= Random Act of Kindness... I'm gonna do it! Pay it forward friends!

Oh! And I wanted to share that I got an award today! Well, everyone gets one, it just so happened to be my turn. =) My students were so excited for me. I really hate being put on the spot though, I could feel my face turn tomato red in front of all of kindergarten, first grade, and their families. The nicest part was that the administrator giving the award had some really kind things to say about me AND it just so happens that her daughter is in my class. It was sweet.  Does anyone else feel their ears burning and face turn red in public or is it just me? Anyone know how to control that?? lol.

Anyway, head over to Farley's blog to read all of the other wonderful Currentlys...

Happy Monday!