Flat Stanley, Blog Award, and Advice Needed!

It gets harder and harder for me to post on here as we get closer and closer to the end of the year!  Phew!!  

My to-do list is becoming a never-gonna-end list!  :)

If you have followed my blog for awhile you will have heard me talk about Flat Stanley before!  For the last couple of years we have read about Flat Stanley and then enjoyed mailing our Flat First Grade Friends across the country.  

I (meaning my wonderful aide) have recently hung up our Flat Stanley map in the hallway outside our classroom tracking where our Flat First Graders have traveled this year.  My kiddos LOVE hearing about all the adventures our friends go on.  

I really wanted to take more pics today, but my camera battery died.  And then the back-up battery died so I will post more pics later.  

This Flat First Grader traveled to visit her grandparents in Florida.  She brought back a binder full of goodies!  She also brought back a magnet with an alligator on it and a bag of sand!  I was hoping she would send back the entire beach! :)  You can see my cute little flat first grader in the first picture in the upper left corner. 

This Flat First Grader traveled to another first grade class in Virginia.  They have been learning about Flat Stanley this year too and having their own adventures!  They take Flat Stanley home each weekend and record their adventures in their journals.  They even have a Flat Stanley wall!!  This Flat First Grader brought back pencils for our entire class and my kiddos were so excited to get a gift!  

You can have your own Flat Stanley and Flat First Grader adventures next year too!  I have everything you need in my Flat Stanley Pack which you can find in my TpT store.  

I also need to share how excited I am that I was chosen as one of the Top 25 Elementary School Teacher Blogs of 2012!  I know I'm so late with this news, but it's totally worth sharing!!  I have no idea how I got nominated, but I appreciate the recognition.  

And since all 25 blogs are listed in alphabetical order I'm #2!  Woohoo!  :)  

I know...I'm a dork....but, hey- it's the little things, right?!?!  

Now, I need some advice....

We are officially moved into our new house so now the remodeling begins.  We are going to be getting our kitchen done soon.  I have always wanted granite counter tops, but now I'm not so sure.  I didn't realize they had to be sealed every year.  I'm more into the no maintenance counter tops!  

If you have granite counter tops (and you have read this far) can you let me know what your opinion of them is?  I would love to hear!  I've heard quartz is much less maintenance so now I'm kind of leaning that way.  

If you have any expertise in this area, please share!!  :)

Whatever we choose, we need to choose soon!  

Have a great week!  I hope you're all sailing smoothly through these last few weeks!  :)

Fantabulous Friday Freebie- Election Day

Happy Fantabulous Friday!  

I am exhausted so I am very happy that it is Friday.    

We had conferences last night and I was at school late on Wednesday too so this post is going to be short, sweet, and to the point.  :)

For my freebies today I'm sharing some wonderful election packs.  I will be having a class election on Tuesday that I will share next week so I will be using each of these wonderful freebies.  I hope you enjoy!  Just click on the pictures to download the freebies. 

Teacher to the Core created this great Election themed freebie pack.  It has great information about voting and how we are choosing a president this year.  Download it and vote!  :)

Latoya Reed created this great freebie.  It has a word search, Venn diagram comparing President Obama with Governor Romney, and this If I Were President writing. Love it!  

Keep it Cute has created several cute banners and they are all FREE!!  This one I am going to hang up for our classroom election.  Not exactly educational, but it's adorable so I had to share!!  :)  

This is NOT a freebie, but it's a Patriotic Holiday Pack I have created that has some Election Day activities along with Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, and President's Day with some George Washington and Abraham Lincoln activities.  I wanted to share it with you since it's full of Patriotic materials that can be used all year.  Click on the picture to purchase it at my store!  

I hope you enjoy these freebies!  I'm falling asleep as I type so I need to go to bed.  Enjoy your extra hour of sleep tomorrow night.   I most definitely will!  :)

Time Capsule Fun

Back in October, my kiddos filled out a time capsule paper about themselves.  We then put them in paper towel tubes covered with plastic wrap and then I buried them all!  At least my kiddos THINK I buried them!!  :)  Shhhhh....don't tell.  

They were really just in this Target bag, in my closet in my classroom, but it sounds so much more fun to say that they were buried in a box in my backyard.  The great thing is....my kiddos REALLY think I buried them.  

It probably helped that I sprinkled some dirt on the bag and a little in the bag.  I made sure to apologize to my kiddos for the dirt and told them to be careful and just wipe it off.  :)  It was all about the experience and my kiddos were thrilled.  That's the important part....

Here's some pics:

This is what they were in all year.  But imagine this bag in a box in my backyard and it becomes a much more memorable experience!!

We curled up their time capsule papers and put them in these paper towel tubes.  Tied some plastic wrap on the end and ta-da! 

This little boy is such a sweetie.  

This little girl loves to draw.  Her handwriting has gotten better too thank goodness!

Check out that microphone!  

I've done this time capsule activity the last couple of years and it's always such a hit!  

Tomorrow we're camping....I gotta go find some flashlights!!  :)

Career Day was a Success!!

Warning: I'm going to do some serious bragging about my kiddos!  :)  

After using my Careers and Economics Unit over the last couple of weeks, we ended it on Friday with Career Day!  

My kiddos were adorable!!  Some of them came dressed up as their future career or brought in some accessories that they would use for their career.  One little boy wore his new Easter outfit which was a suit with vest and tie.  ADORABLE!!!  :)  I would love to post their pictures, but I feel funny doing that on here so you'll just have to picture the cutest first graders you have ever seen and that would be my kiddos!  

My suit boy wants to be a librarian.  All I heard in the hallway before they came in was, What are you?!?!

Before Career Day, my kiddos had to research their future careers.  I found a great website and linked it to my school website...my kiddos can navigate my school website really well.  They had to find 3 things they will do and 3 things they will need.  

My kiddos did such a wonderful job on this!  I gave them some time to search through the website first and find a career that they were interested in.  Then, they completed their research paper and later worked on their final career reports.  

They had so much fun sharing what they learned about their careers on Friday. Here are some pictures of their reports and the hats and badges we made:

This little girl wants to be a dancer.  She wrote, "Three important things I will do are express ideas, dance in ballet and work in musical shows.   Three important things I will need are a song to dance to, an outfit, and background dancers."  Background dancers....how funny is that!  :)

She wants to be a teacher.  She was my Mini Me on Friday....even wearing the same shirt supporting our high school football team as I did!

This girl wants to be a doctor.  I loved her picture!

This little boy wants to be a reporter.  He wrote, "Reporters gather information and write news stories.  These stories appear in newspapers.  They also observe the scene and do interviews.  Three important things I will need are a college degree, school newspapers, and good experiences."  Isn't that great?!?!  

These are the hats and badges we made.  They loved them!  

Okay, enough bragging.....for now!  

Hope everyone has a great week.  Come back and visit on Wednesday for some BIG NEWS!!  :)

Social Studies Pack is Finally Done....Giveaway Time!

This post is going to be short and sweet!  The good news is that I FINALLY finished my Social Studies Careers and Economics Pack!!  :)  I meant to have it done by Monday....but it was a busy week.  


I know careers aren't really in the first grade standards, but I've also included needs, wants, goods, services, producers, consumers, and trade.  When my kiddos are the "Star of the Week" they fill out this giant poster and one of the questions they answer is what they want to be when they grow up.  I know this changes quite a bit with kiddos this age, but I thought it would be a great way to tie in these important standards and get them thinking and researching what they really do want to be when they grow up!  


I have already posted this 31 page unit on my TpT store so go check it out if you're interested!  Here is a quick look:

Now.....time for a giveaway!!  I will give away 3 'What Do You Want to Be When You Grow Up' Packs on Sunday, April 15!  


Here's how you can enter:


1. Follow my blog and leave a comment (with your email address).  
2. Follow my TpT store and leave me a comment letting me know (with your email address). 
3. Recommend my blog to a friend and if they follow me you can leave two comments telling me who your friend is and a little about their wonderful blog (with your email address).
4. Blog about my giveaway and leave a comment with your URL (and your email address). 


That's it!  :)


Hope you like it!  


I've had a GREAT week for it being the week after Spring Break.  Hope everyone else is having a great week too!  


I just LOVE my kiddos!  :)

I've Been Tagged 3 Times and a FREEBIE!!

Oh, my goodness!  I was tagged 3 times yesterday!!  I REALLY don't think I'm that interesting or that anyone wants to read 30 things about me so I'll QUICKLY answer the questions from the first 2 that tagged me.  I think that will be enough info about me!  :)  

I'm also working on a new Social Studies Unit about careers, producers and consumers, and goods and services so I'll include a FREEBIE at the end just for hanging in there!  

I hope to have my new unit up on my TpT store by Monday so make sure and check it out!    

I've been tagged by Marissa at WILD About First Grade, Becky at 2nd Grade Rocks, and Mrs. Dwyer at Mrs. Dwyer's A+ Firsties!  Thanks ladies for tagging me...how fun!  

Here are my interesting, funny, and exciting answers!  :) 

Here Are The Rules:

* Post these rules

* Answer the 10 questions that the tagger posted for you

* Create 10 questions of your own to ask the people that you're about to tag

* Tag 10 people and link them with your post (and let them know they've been tagged!)

Here's the questions I was asked by Marissa:

1. Are you a night owl or early bird??  A night owl for sure....I'm going to be exhausted next week after staying up so late during Spring Break!  :(

2. What was the last book you've read? (Not related to teaching)  Financial Peace Revisited by Dave Ramsey...trying the whole get out of debt (school loans) thing!  

3. What kind of movies do you prefer? Comedy, action, drama, love story???  I love a good comedy or action movie...but I also LOVE a good love story!  

4. What is your favorite grade to teach?  I've taught first grade for three years so first grade!! 

5. Coffee or tea? Neither...yuck!  Diet Coke all the way!  

6. Are you married or do you have kids?  I've been married to my wonderful hubby for almost 4 years and no kiddies of our own yet.

7. How long have you been teaching? What grades have you taught?  Already answered!  (3 years in first grade)

8. Did you always know you wanted to be a teacher?  Yes!  My mama is a teacher so it's in my blood!

9. What do you like to do when you're not teaching?  Read, travel, hang out with my hubby and family!

10. What is your favorite song that puts you in a good mood?  Anything upbeat....I do love my country music though!  :)

10 more questions from Becky:

1. What is the last movie/tv show/book that made you cry? The Vow...so sweet!
2. What is the oldest item you own? Some jewelry that my grandma has given me.
3. What one food do you never get tired of? Sweets....I crave sweet things always. 
4. If you had to pick 1 place in your town to bring a tourist, where would you take them? Several places come to mind....I guess it would depend on the tourist. Bad answer, I know. When my friends visit we usually go shopping!!
5. What one food do you never get tired of? Oops, see answer to #3.
6. What is your favorite book? I have so many!! I LOVE to read!
7. What is your favorite season? Fall...I love the colors, cool air, carving pumpkins, and the smell of bonfires. 

 8. What is your favorite beverage? Diet Coke!
9. When is the last day of school for you? June 1st!
10. If you could live anywhere at all where would it be? In the mountains....I love the west! 

Whew!  That took awhile!  Thanks for hanging in there!   

Here are 10 questions for those I tagged:

1. What is your favorite subject to teach?

2. What is your most embarrassing moment as a teacher?

3. What is the most exciting thing you will do this summer?

4. What is your favorite holiday?

5. What is the most important item you use in your classroom?

6. What item would you love to have in your classroom?

7. What tip would you give to a new teacher?

8. How long have you been a teacher?

9. If you weren't a teacher, what would you be doing?

10. How do you celebrate the end of the school year with your kiddos?

Here are 10 of  my (some old, some NEW) bloggie friends that I'm tagging: 

Christina at Second Grade Sugar and Spice

Katie at Queen of the First Grade Jungle

Cynthia at Mrs. Vautrot's 2nd Grade Pad

Mrs. Cook at First Grade Smart Cookies

Tamera at My Heart Belongs in First

Kelly at All That Glitters in First Grade

Tori at Tori's Teacher Tips

Ms. King at The New Teacher Noggin

Delighted at First Grade Delight

Vicky at Traditions, Laughter, and Happily Ever After

Okay, after ALL of that, I'm giving away a FREEBIE!!  

This is from my new Social Studies Unit that I hope to have in my TpT store by Monday...we'll see if I can finish it today or tomorrow (although tomorrow is Easter so we'll see!)....

That was a LONG post!  Hope you enjoy the freebie!  If you use it, please leave me a comment!  :)

Hope everyone has a GREAT Easter tomorrow!  :)