Inspiration Monday - Comes in Many Different Forms

I'm linking up with my friend, Dana, from Fun in First Grade. She is having a linky party devoted to "INSPIRATION".

Monday can sometimes be a difficult day for me...so I thought Dana had a great idea to do this on Monday. If you need a little inspiration....just check out some of the links on her page.....but please be sure to watch my inspiration video first....I saw this for the first time a couple years ago....and it still does it for me!!



Dee

Another Giveaway and a little FREEBIE!!!

My friend Alyssha over at Teaching and Tapas is having a giveaway and you do not want to miss this one. There are 100 prizes up for grabs. Just click the link above or on the button to go straight to the giveaway!

 

I also have a little something for everyone that is visiting my blog. With St. Patrick's Day right around the corner, I thought I would whip up a little word search puzzle for the kiddos. Just click the picture and it will take you to my TpT store where you can download the puzzle for free.

Dee

We Have Winners!!!

Well, the 100 follower giveaway has ended and we have allowed Rafflecopter to choose the winners of our little giveaway. You can find the 100 Follower Giveaway posted here.

I have posted all over the internet already using Google+, Facebook, and Twitter. So, if you are a follower on any of those social media sites...you already know who the winners are. But, just in case, I am posting a notice here as well.

The winner in the Grade K-2 category is:   Yvonnee Gaynor

The winner in the Grade 3-5 category is:   Kirra Lehmann

The winner in the Grade 6-8 category is:   Rachel M

The winner of the $25 TpT gift certificate is:  Ashley Kiebler

Congratulations ladies....all of you will be receiving an email very soon telling of your good fortune in this giveaway. We will be sending the items you won as well. I hope all of you enjoy your prizes!

 Dee

Tell Me Something Good.....

Jennifer over at Rowdy in First Grade is having a linky party and I am linking up with her for this shindig! Come on over and join us! 

The rules are real simple. Just share something good that is happening at home and something good that is happening at school. Eazzzy Peazzzy....Right?

.

Home: There are several things...but I think the one thing that really feels good to me at this moment. On January 4, 2013,  I embarked on a healthier lifestyle....yes...eating healthy and exercising. It has been 6 weeks since I've had anything to drink except.....drumroll......hot green tea and water...and it is mostly water. Yeah for me. But the really good thing happened just today. I had an occasion to be in a neighboring town this afternoon and this town has a Shipley's Donuts. Now to me...the best thing I could put in my mouth is a chocolate filled donut made by Shipley's Donuts and I will admit that I had a really tough time NOT turning and going down to the store. But...good sense prevailed and I managed to take care of the business I was in the town for and leave without walking through the doors of that establishment. Yeah for me!!!!

School:  I am really loving that my kiddos have the after Christmas rhythm going on. They know all the procedures and manage to do them appropriately most of the time. We are finishing up our ME-Silouettes and they are turning out sooooo good. I can't wait to write a post and let everyone see the photos of these fabulous budding artists' work.

 Don't forget about my 100 Follower Giveaway. You still have 3 days to enter into one or all of the categories for a prize. You can check out this post HERE and enter.

Thanks for stopping by! I love to get comments....they just make my day!!!

Dee

100 Follower Giveaway

WOW!!! I am so excited! I started this blog on July 22, 2012. A few days ago I realized that I had almost reached 100 followers. Now in my book that is a significant milestone for my blogging. So...I decided I need to have a celebration...a giveaway.

I reached out to some fellow teacher bloggers and asked for help and boy did they respond. I have collected 21 different educational items ranging in K-2, 3-5, and 6-8. So...I have decided to break this giveaway up into groups based on grade levels.

Every photo on this post is linked to the individual item. Please click on photos and check out the teacher stores.

This first giveaway is for grade levels K-2. Just look what is waiting for the winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now take a look at all the super prizes that have been donated from all my wonderful teacher blogger friends for the 3rd - 5th Grade giveaway.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Now for the prizes in the Grades 6-8 category.

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Oh yeah....there is one more prize that can be won. I am going to give one lucky person  $25 to spend on TpT.

   a Rafflecopter giveaway

I really do appreciate all of my followers and my teacher blogger friends. I can't wait to see who wins these prizes!!

  Dee

Art is always a hit with the kiddos....

Just a short post to show some of what we have been doing in the gifted classroom the past two weeks. My students are always in the mood for a little art...especially if it involves some paint or oil pastels to go along with it.

I took advantage of Groundhog Day and the groundhog to lead into the lesson on elements of art: light, shade, and shadow.

The students used flashlights to have their silhouette drawn. The the students began to draw all kinds of things that represent themselves....all things they like to do, eat, go, or just plain like.

The art work is not finished but here are a few photos of some of their work in progress.


All of the photos are of some of my 2nd graders.

 

 

 

Can you tell just how much fun these kiddos were having? They were totally engrossed in what they were doing and these pieces of art are turning out to be some fabulous works.

Be sure to check back to see how wonderful these pieces of art turn out.

 Dee

Currently.....and a 100 Follower Giveaway Looming in the Near Future

Yet another month has flown by. We are already into the second month of 2013. Where did January go? Is this a sign of how this year is going to speed by?

Speaking of another month....I have decided to link up with Farley over at Oh Boy Fourth Grade with her "Currently" Linky Party. So without any further delay, here is mine:

 

Listening - to the humming of my refrigerator was actually a peaceful relaxing sound that I needed after having 15 gifted students ranging from 2nd - 6th grade in one room with me from 8:00 am until 2:00 pm. Now this in itself isn't so bad....but trying to have them all doing an art project at the same using watercolor....well lets just say....I feel extremely lucky that only two spill mishaps happened during this project today!

Loving - Really for the same reason as I posted above. However, I do honestly love my quiet time.

Thinking - Oh yeah...I really need to get to work on that Australia unit. The kiddos in my classes are looking to start that little puppy next week. Yeah...more art work...this time aboriginal. I know...I am a GLUTTON for punishment.

Wanting - Oh...I know... I can see you questioning this one...after all, what teacher goes to three different schools to serve students in a week. That teacher would be ME! I would really like to be able to go to one school everyday of the week. 

Needing -  to get more focused. My mind has really been all over the place lately. I start working on something and WHAM all of a sudden, I'm onto something else. Crazy...I know!

Pet Peeves - Making excuses is probably the pet peeve that is highest on my list. It really gets under my skin when people/students start to make excuses instead of standing up and taking responsibility for things. Then there is the tattling.....I despise to hear a student tattling. It is my opinion, that tattling is normal for small children, but if you have reached at least 2nd grade, it NEEDS to STOP!

OK...it is time for me to get off my soapbox now. 

I also want to talk about the fact that very soon I expect that I will have 100 followers on this blog. So....I thought a giveaway would be in order once this milestone is reached. I already have some mighty fine TpT sellers who are providing some great items from their stores as prizes. Obviously, I can't start this giveaway until I have actually reached 100 followers...but it shouldn't be long now! So be sure to keep checking back so you don't miss the opportunity to win these awesome prizes.

OK...I know this has been a long post....but I'm signing off now! See you soon!

Dee

TpT Super Sunday Sale is Over.....But....

What did you buy during this fabulous sale? Come on! Tell us all about those fabulous items that you just couldn't leave in your wishlist because there were such GREAT prices on everything!

I know I can't be the only one that spent money yesterday!

Oh...I see! You want to know what I bought. OK...Well I bought a whole lot of clip art to use in the great big long list of new products for my store that I have. So, what kind of clip art did I purchase? I bought monsters, math symbols, reading, bookworms, and a whole bunch of others. I just can't seem to list them all right now!

Be on the look out for more new items from me in the very near future.

Here are my three newest items that I have in my store at TpT. This first one was created due to a need by the Kindergarten and first grade teachers in one of my schools.

 

Now these next ones were simply created for my students use and they have enjoyed them tremendously. The writing prompts are written in such a way that students must use their imaginations. I have gotten some really GREAT pieces of work because of these prompts. This pack contains 32 writing prompt cards and 5 different publishing pages for students to use when publishing their work.

 

This last item is something that I've been working on for a couple weeks off and on. I had a vague idea of how I wanted it to look. It just took some time to see it come around to where I wanted it to be. This item contains task cards for three different literacy centers. They can also be used for early finishers or exit work. The pack includes 16 task cards for each of the three activities (Sentence Doctor, Solve the Analogy, & Fact or Opinion). Also included are answer documents and keys for each of the activities.

 

I have extended my sale on TpT for one more day. You can still get 20% off on all of my products through February 5, 2013. Drop on by and check them out and take some home with you. You will be glad you did and so will your students!

Dee