Creative Teaching Press Giveaway!

Hey everyone!

I hope everyone is having a FABULOUS Friday!

Wooohooo for the weekend, right?!

So I know that I have kept my little giveaway a secret long enough...well here it is...y'all don't have to wait any longer, isn't that exciting?!

I'm sure you all know of Creative Teaching Press, I mean you would have to be living under a rock for the past 40 years not to know about this company!

I mean really...if you're a teacher...then you must know about them!

This company is one of my favorite teaching companies...they have the cutest classroom decoratives...and the most amazing resources!

I'm totally in LOVE with this beautiful set of bulletin boards and decoratives...

Aren't they uber cuuute?!!

okay...enough about my wish list...let's move on...

Not too long ago...I contacted Creative Teaching Press to see if they would be willing to sponsor a little giveaway...I was literally BLOWN away when the Marketing and Trade Show Coordinator replied to my email stating that they would be delighted to take part in my giveaway!!!

Ahhhh! Isn't that FANTASTIC?!

So here is the deal...the lucky winner would win...get this....

$50 worth of CTP products...

and they get to choose whatever items their little hearts desire!

FABULOUS...if I do say so myself!

Here are the requirements to enter this awesome giveaway:

1. Like CTP on Facebook.

2. Post a little blurb on CTP's Facebook wall, telling them I sent you.

3. Follow CTP on Twitter.

4. Leave me a comment telling me what CTP product is on your wish list.

5. Follow my little blog.

{oh...and don't forget to leave me a comment after each entry!}

That's it!

Piece of cake...piece of pie...right?!

This giveaway will end Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 11:00 CST.

I will announce the lucky winner on Thursday, May 5, 2011.

Thanks for stopping by my little blog...

Good Luck!

♥♥♥

It's My Turn...

Hey y'all...I hope everyone is having an awesome Wednesday!

Today was my turn to be a substitute teacher for the FBU girls:

Check out my post here.
I'm blogging about Fact Families using these little characters:

Oh...and I have some EXCITING news!

Beginning on Friday I will be hosting random giveaways throughout the weekend...

We are CELEBRATING...600+ followers!!
Woohoo!!!
Don't miss out on some FANTASTIC giveaways this weekend!
Until then...
Toodles!
♥♥♥

600 Followers? Wow! Thank you!

Oh. my. word!

When I began blogging last summer...I never thought my 'lil old blog would reach 100 followers...let alone 600! I am absolutely floored by all of you...I started blogging to keep myself accountable for the happenings in both my classroom and my home...it's a great way to document the little events happening in my life.

Thank you sooo much for being a part of it...

I think know blogging has made me a better teacher...I gather so much inspiration from all of you...and my firsties are definitely enjoying all of the fun activities y'all have shared with me! Thank you!!!

I know reaching this phenomenal milestone deserves another giveaway...let me see what I can come up with...and I'll let you know soon!

Toodles!

♥♥♥

Happy Easter!

I hope everyone had a Happy Easter with their loved ones...and that you rejoiced in the resurrection of our savior!

Awww...she's turning 2!

My little teeny, tiny darling is not so teeny anymore. {sigh!}

And I'm so sad! I can't believe that 2 years have gone by so fast.

It seems like only yesterday that we were here:

I remember when we took her home from the hospital as if it were yesterday...

Once upon a time she was this small and she fit perfectly in my arms...

But the teeny princess began to grow...

And in a blink of an eye she turned 1...

And today she's 2...

Happy Birthday baby girl! We love you!

♥♥♥

Winner, Winner!

Drumroll please....

#246



Hey Donna, shoot me an email girl...so that I can send you the fabulous units....you're going to LOVE them!

Thank you all for participating in my little giveaway celebrating 500+ followers!

This was soooo much fun!

You all are AWESOME!

I also want to thank my a.ma.zing bloggie friends Anna from Crazy for First Grade and Leslie Ann from Life in First Grade for providing their wonderful units as prizes.

These ladies are FAN.TAS.TIC...and oh so sweet!!!!

If you haven't visited their blogs...you have to go and visit NOW.

You'll fall in love with their blogs and their ideas...I know I did!

P.S. Please forgive me...but I couldn't get the random number generator thingie to work. So sorry!

P.S.S. I do have a surprise in the works for ALL of my dear followers...but you'll have to wait until the weekend to find out what it is...so stay tuned!

♥♥♥

Toodles!

Giveaway Reminder

Hey y'all!

Just dropping by to remind you to enter this a.ma.zing giveaway!

Click here to enter. The winner will be chosen tonight!

Giveaway Time!

Hi everyone! Be happy...it's the WEEKEND! Woohoo!

Can you tell it's been a long week for me? Oh well...the weekend is here...everything is better...and I have a Super Giveaway to announce!

Two lovely ladies, Anna from Crazy for First Grade and Leslie Ann from Life in First Grade have teamed up to join me in this fantastic giveaway celebrating 500+ followers!

Can I hear a woop, woop?!?

These ladies are soooo super sweet and creativity just ooozes out from them...wish I could be that creative!

Ok...so here's what you can win:

1. Anna's Fun in the Sun Math and Literacy Centers

This sunny packet is jammed packed with 10 fun centers (5 math and 5 literacy) for your fabulous classroom. Your kiddos will have a great time learning! How fun is that?!

2. Leslie Ann's The Princess and the Pea Literacy Activities

How sweet is this Princess and the Pea Packet?!? Perfect to kick off your fairy tale unit!

Ok...so now that you know about the fantabulous prizes...here is what you have to do:

1. Follow Anna's lovely blog Crazy for First Grade.

2. Follow Leslie Ann's lovely blog Life in First Grade.

3. Follow Anna's TpT Store.

4. Follow Leslie Ann's TpT Store.

5. Follow my little blog.
(Please leave a comment for each thing you do.)

That's it...you get 5 chances to enter!

Easy peasy, lemon squeezy...right?!

This giveaway will end on Tuesday, April 19, 2011 at 11:00 pm CST.

I will announce the lucky winner on Wednesday, April 20, 2011.

Good luck everyone!

Toodles!

♥♥♥

Guest Blogger: Anna from Crazy for First Grade

Hey everyone! I'm Anna from Crazy for First Grade!

I'm so excited to be a guest poster here on one of my favorite blogs!!

I'm always looking for fun ways to incorporate higher order thinking and differentiation into my classroom routine.

I love doing this by using "Think Dots" choice boards! The activities on each choice board are differentiated by levels and interests. My little loves have so much fun with them:) They roll a die with a partner and complete the activity if it is one that interests them. If needed, I'm okay with my students rolling again to get a different activity. They have to complete at least 3 activities on the board. Since this is a very student directed activity, I act as a facilitator and just circulate the room monitoring/helping as needed.  Not only are they a great way to stretch your students' thinking, but they are pretty easy to use! We have an extension period at my school for students to refine/extend concepts. These have proven to be an excellent activity for my kiddos during that time. However, you could create a "Think Dots" center, or have them ready to go as an activity for when your students finish their center work.

I started out making the boards for math, but just recently decided that they would be perfect for reading and writing, too. Just click on the picture to download my Reading Think Dots boards!! I hope you like them!!

Reading Think Dots

This blue storage organizer is best friends with my Think Dots boards! I think I picked it up at Wal-Mart for $10-15. Worth every single penny!!! They make having materials for several activities a piece a cake!!! I just put everything the kiddos will need for each choice in a labeled drawer! LOVE IT!!!

As higher order thinking and differentiation become more and more of a focus at my school, I have found these choice boards really helpful. When I first started using them, my students and I went over the expectations and modeled how to complete each activity. Please don't get discouraged if the first, second, or even third time you do a choice board is a little crazy...trust me, it will get much, much better with time and practice!!!

 For more resources and information on a TON of awesome differentiated activities check out this awesome website- http://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/. It's the site that inspired me to start using Think Dots in my classroom!

Thank you Gladys for letting me blog today on your site! SO.MUCH.FUN!! I would love for all of you to come visit my blog at Crazy for First Grade!

Happy Sunday & New Blog

Hey everyone, I hope everyone is having a happy Sunday!

I'm just taking a little break from lesson planning and grading to let you know about this awesome new blog:


I am sooo excited to have become a contributor...I can't wait to share some terrific ideas!
Click the link to go check it out!
♥♥♥

Hip, Hip Hooray for the Weekend!!

It's been the looooongest week ever and an exhausting one too! I'm seriously all TAKSed out! I'm so glad it's the weekend...and I can recuperate! Pheeww! And just to think that I'll be doing this again the last week of April ugghh! Total boo!

 Oh well...still a ways to go...so I won't stress myself over it.

Stay tuned for a fun little giveaway this weekend...what's the celebration you might ask? 

512 LOVELY followers, of course! 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Love y'all!

♥♥♥ 

(P.S. Please forgive my overuse of exclamation marks I let my emotions get the better of me. Lol!)