To Be Continued...

Okay.... I know I just started it yesterday, but I will have to continue my "Diving Into Common Core" series tomorrow. I hope that you will forgive me! You see, I signed up for the "To Be Continued" series from The 3 AM teacher a while back and it is finally my turn! I am super excited. Something that not many of you know about me is I LOVE LOVE LOVE writing! In fact it has always been a dream of mine to be a real-life author. I want to write both children books and adult books. I've started several novels but have never finished them... which makes me sad! But 'eh, I figure one day I will finish a novel, submit it to a publisher, and hopefully, maybe just maybe, it will be published! I have, however, been published in small town books and I have written some plays (for my youth drama team) that have been published on the internet, and I was the features editor/write and news reporter for my college newspaper. *side note: I NEVER EVER would have gotten away, or let one of my writers get away, with a run on sentence like the one above.*  So as you can tell from my above list of writing history, I love to write! It has been the one consistent hobby of mine since I was 8 years old when I wrote my first poem ever, that I remember word for word still today.

ANYWAYS.... so today I get to take part in "To Be Continued" and I am super excited!

18 Wonderful Bloggers teamed up with me to create a continuous story over the next few weeks. Each day one new blogger will add to the saga. Click the next button to read what happens next...
Make sure to check out the blogs listed at the end of the post.
Tangelia

                                      

Diving into Common Core (with What I Pinned Wednesday)

Are you getting ready to dive into Common Core? Well here in TN we are! For the next few days I'm going to be sharing ideas, resources, and possibly even a freebie! We'll call it Diving into Common Core!

We'll start with this....

I have to admit, I'm kinda excited about it. I think it is great that 45 states and 3 territories have adopted CCSS (Common Core State Standards) for several reasons.

1) Having equal standards means that all states are required to teach the same material. This means that comparing TN to Florida for example, will finally actually be fair. ---Now, I KNOW there are still some disadvantages in this: kids are not the same, schema may not be the same, etc. But to be fair, this isn't even the same school to school in the same community!
2) Having equal standards means that testing across states will be fairer than it ever has been before.
3) If a teacher living in one CCSS state decides to move to another state that has adopted CCSS they will not have to learn a whole new set of standards (unless they move grade levels), therefore making the standards teacher-friendly.
4) It allows us to DIVE DEEPER into the standards.

Since today is Wednesday... and I'm loving pinterest... I'm going to share a few of my Common Core finds on Pinterest. Most of these are free resources that you will most definitely want to check out if you are a teacher in one of the 45 states and 3 territories going on this adventure.

 This first resource is the K-5 Math Teaching Resources website. It has tons of FREE math activities, divided into Number, Geometry, and Measurement/Data! It is very organized and you could easily find tons of great resources to use in your classroom!  I definitely recommend checking out this website. (click on the picture to be taken directly to the website.)

 This resource is great for KINDERGARTEN teachers. Mrs. Jump- we all love her right!- has created printable "I Can" statements that we can just print and use for each CCSS. Talk about making it easy!

Donna over at Peace, Love and Learning has created this awesome resource for us kindergarten teachers, but I did see one for 2nd grade while I was on here site as well. This is a great free resource that you can print out and pass out to parents so they know what their child will be learning... or you could do what I plan on doing and put it in your standards binder because I don't think there would be anything better than seeing this cute clipart while studying your standards! Thanks Donna! 

The final pin I have for you today is this great website I have to share today is "Math Playground." This website has math games that your students could play during computer center. A great free resource!

To check out more of my pins, head on over to my pinterest page by clicking the icon below!

Monday Made It

Hey ya'll! So I'm so sorry I haven't blogged since Thursday! Its been a super crazy busy weekend here on my side of things! The boyfriend decided that we should go fishing on Friday, so we got up at the crack of dawn and headed to WalMart where we spent a bucket load of money on food, folding chairs, and a brand new cooler... then we headed to the lake. Super fun... but WAY too hot to fish for too long. We did find a marina that rents out boats, so we are looking into doing that sometimes soon! We left the lake around noon and had an adventure around town looking for places and then ended up visiting with his Nan for the rest of the day.

Saturday was interesting too. The boyfriend and I have been dating for almost 4 years now, yet I had never met his dad. In fact he hadn't seen his dad in almost 10 years. I honestly did not think I would ever meet him or that he would ever reach out to him. But Friday while we were at Nans his dad called. I half-expected him to not even talk to him on the phone, but the boyfriend was pleasant and talked to his dad and set up Saturday's meeting.

I have to say his dad seems fairly nice... so maybe that means he has changed. He definitely wasn't the monster I had expected! I was super excited about that. I am hoping that the boyfriend stays in touch with him. The next few weeks/months are going to be really hard on his dad. He was recently diagnosed with colon cancer. Although he had the surgery and they removed all 33 pollups he will have to go through chemo for the next few months. I know how bad it is to go through chemo, I still remember what my mom was like when she had chemo 12 years ago. But I am hoping that like her, the boyfriend's dad pulls through!

Sunday (yesterday) was another fun and interesting day. We decided to go fishing again and headed out around 4. The boyfriend wanted to find this particular fishing spot that his dad had took him to a LONG LONG time ago! We looked and looked and went through 5 different towns, found a state park that we had never been to before, ate dinner at Subway in a town I've never heard of, and stopped at the Dollar General in that town in which I got some very cute flyswatters in my color scheme!

Speaking of my new color scheme... ya'll I am SOOOO excited about it! I'm calling it "Brights!" I am absolutely in love! I worked on a project today for my classroom and I'm loving it. It will be where I write my standards everyday! You can find my inspiration picture below.

(source: Teaching in the Early Years)

These were super easy to create! I started off with some materials. Cheap picture frames from Dollar Tree, scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby, and paint from my paint collection!

 After painting the gold trim of each frame (which you can avoid if you just get a plain black frame) I inserted the scrapbook paper into the frame and VIOLA I was finsihed and I had these CUTE frames! I am super excited about this and I am LOVING my new color theme!!!

I have 4 more to do, but I'll do those tomorrow because I am tired and my computer is about to DIE. So goodnight! 

P.S. I am linking this project to Tara's Monday Made It!

Change Begins with Me and YOU

Whew... getting up at 5:30 today has kicked me in the rear. I am beyond exhausted! When the little one (my nephew) goes down for a nap... I think I am going to go down for one too! Not even going to lie... I'm excited about that! I went out of town for the day today to get some exciting Professional Development under my belt! I will have to tell you more about that later! But I was super excited that I ran into J. Tilton from Kindertrips, Staci from Going Nutty! and Jessica from Under the Alphabet Tree! All three of these ladies are just as sweet in person as they are on thier blog! If you don't follow them, then you definitely need to go check them out now!

Okay.... moving on. Have you heard about Staples 2012 Back  to School Shopping Policy? It's not very teacher friendly! :( Which is sad since teachers probably make up at least 50% of their business (that number is an ESTIMATE based on nothing scientific). So Mrs. C over at Little Miss Kindergarten has been calling, talking to people, sending e-mails and letters.... but they are not listening! So she has started a petition. Head on over to her site to sign the petition and help teachers everywhere!

BUT BEFORE YOU GO! Read the below TUTORIAL to see how you can help spread the news using your blog!

Hope this helps! If you have any questions about it leave me a comment and let me know! I'll see if I can help you!

What I'm Pinning Wednesday

Hey everyone! I'm super excited about today! It is the day that I have prayed for for FAR TOO LONG, the day that I believe holds a turning point for my future... The boyfriend is going in for an interview! Woohoo! If he gets this job he will be making more money than me.... without a college degree. If you believe in prayers, pray for this one for me. I'd greatly appreciate it!

Anyways! I've been pinning a lot lately! I just set myself up a new board so I thought I'd share some of the pins on that board. It is my "Summer To Do List." Some of these you have seen before. Some of these are completely new to me. But all of these have to do with the set up and organization of my room! Which I have changed the theme of. My classroom will no longer be ladybugs, but instead bright colors. For a freebie that showcases some of the colors from my theme, as well as my new classroom management system head over to Wild About Teaching to check out my guest post from yesterday (if you haven't already done so.)

So here is a few of the items that have made their way onto my summer to do list!

                                                           (source: Project Life. 2012)
I love these! I think they are cute! But even more than that, before some paint, they are free? My only problem is I'm not quite sure how to make these safe for the kiddos. If you have any advice on these, PLEASE let me know. I really do not want any cut fingers.

                                                             (source: Classroom DIY)
I'm super excited about these! I think they are classy and cute! I bought the frames last night. I've thought about painting the frames, but I'm not sure. I wonder if leaving them black would let the scrapbook paper pop more. What do you think??

I love this! Blow up a balloon, glue buttons to it, let dry. Then pop balloon. Easy-peasy-cutesy bowl! I just am not sure what I would actually use it for inside the classroom. So this one might just be "For the Home" thing.

                                                       (Source: Peachy Keen Stamps)
I love this classroom wreath! Bright and colorful! Just like I'm liking it. PLUS I might be able to fit in a ladybug where that bumble bee is!! :)

To see more of my "Summer To Do List" check out my pinterest board!

I'm linking the post up with Laura over at Kinder Kraziness!