Just incase anyone was wondering...

....I haven't totally dropped off the face of the earth. I'm still teaching first grade and doing my thing, but I decided to take last summer off of blogging so that I could spend more time with my little guy. THEN I found out I was expecting (a lot sooner than I thought it would happen!) and it turns out this pregnancy matches up to our school year. I'm due June 2nd (a week after school's out) and it's been a rough year. This baby has drained not only my energy, but also all of my creative juices. So for now I'm just enjoying all your blogs. Maybe one day I'll return to this blog, but for now I'm going to do my best to make it through this year. Thanks for all your hard work!!!

Journeys

We've been using Houghton Mifflin for reading for the past seven + years in my school district. We've just been told that next year we're switching to HM's new program called Journeys. Does anyone have any experience with it? I do like our Houghton Mifflin program, but I think there's a lot of room for improvement, so I'm excited to see what this new program has to offer. I'm a little bummed though, since I've spent money buying some great units and activities on TPT that go along with our current program that I won't be able to use any more. Oh well. I'd love to hear any info and feedback.

Currently

I can hardly believe it's April already! This year is flying by and I am STOKED that Spring Break is just three days away! Wahoo! Anywho I'm linking up with Oh' Boy 4th Grade in her always-fun Currently party. Did you see her super power. Absolutely perfect! Check out her blog to join in the fun!

3 of a Kind

It's been another crazy week here and I'm so ready for spring break (12 more days!). First of all, the whole first grade put on the musical '3 of a Kind.' It was a ton of work, but the kiddos did SUCH a great job. Sorry you can't really see how cute they really are, but I had to put some smiley faces over most of their faces.

I'm also helping a friend with her little girl's birthday party today so I made this Pinkalicious cut out (this is one of my neighbors acting as a model). I wish I could take a nap with my little guy right now, but I need to get ready for a four year old's party! Wish me luck!

P.S. Happy 100th post to me!!!!

Subitizing Dots

I'm probably behind the times, but I just learned about subitizing and why it's important to use in our classrooms. If you're like me and this is a new concept then click HERE to read a great article about subitizing.

I love the idea of teaching kids to play with numbers and practice different ways to make numbers. For example, we can show the kids eight dots and ask them all the ways they can make or see eight. Some will see the 4+4, while others will see 2+2+2+2. Either way, the answer is the same, but the point is getting kids to quickly see those patterns to find the answer so they're not just counting to eight. Does that make sense? If not, read the article :o)

Click below to grab your copy of my Subitizing Dots activity

Family Reading Night

It's been an exhausting week and I'm way too tired to do a real post, so here are just a couple pictures from our Dr. Seuss themed evening. Hopefully I'll find some energy this week so post some more (probably not!). It was a lot of fun though!

Thing 1 and Thing 2 Photo Booth

(now I just have to email the ~150 pictures I took to the parents!)

Face Painting done by the Jr. High cheerleaders - the kids thought they were celebrities!

Happy Dr. Seuss Week

Love me and my little man!

notice our Dr. Seuss shirts :o)