Look Who Is 1!

I can’t believe that it has been a full year. And what a fun year it has been.  Who knew that such a small package could make you feel like you are the first grandma in the world, that no one else could possibly feel like this, that surely there is no greater love?  I have been so blessed to be able to keep Matthew this year while Megan worked. Now….I know that my blog has not had as many posts, that my tpt sales have almost stopped, that I am behind in getting new presentations done, that I haven’t been able to be in Megan’s room each week, but I can honestly say I wouldn’t have it any other way. As I sit at the kitchen table typing this post I can hear his tiny snores sleeping close by on the sofa.  I love the way his face lights up when I see him first thing in the morning. I love how he pats my back when he hugs me. I love the smell of him right after his bath. I love when he laughs so big that you can see his tiny teeth.  I love playing “little people” (boy have them come a long way since Megan and Tyler were little). 
So this past Saturday we celebrated his first birthday! Oh my word…what fun to plan and even more fun to celebrate with our friends and families.  Here are some photos from all the fun….

We had a sign and balloons by the road to welcome all of our guests. Megan made a photo display  that we hung on the pool pump house to show how he changed each month. Her friend, Jillian, had given her these cute onesies for each month. Megan took pictures each month and then mounted them on scrapbooking paper and tied them together with ribbon.

Since the party had a baseball them we had a hot dog bar. It had a sign above it like the concessions sign that said “Hot Dog Bar”. Megan cut the letters using a cutting machine and we glued them to a banner we picked up at Target. We added baseball ribbon between the letters.   The hotdog bar was a huge hit, with people trying all the different types of hotdogs. Megan found the recipes on the internet, I made the signs, then she made the frames using dollar store frames that she painted and added a fabric bow. We made signs to label each of the items at the concession stand. We got most of the plastic bowls from the Dollar Tree and picked up a few items at Hobby Lobby. I had the chips covered when I took the pictures and we still had to add the crock pot of cheese for the nachos. We used cheap dollar store table cloths and added a fabric runner. Andy build the dowel stands to hold the banners. 

While we asked everyone to wear a baseball shirt for their favorite team, Megan ordered us girls all matching shirts. Left to right: my sister Jenni, my daughter in law Ginny, Megan and me.  And yes, Ginny is having a baby! Can you believe it? In just a few weeks Matthew will have a cousin! So excited that we will have two little boys to run around Gam and Pop’s house!

The games were a hit! We made a sign for each of the areas and placed the items needed for each of the games inside red buckets. We had water balloon batting practice and everyone got a little wet. My son in law, Nick, actually lined off a mini ball field. The kids absolutely loved it! They played tball for nearly an hour!

We made a baseball putt putt using pool noodles and wooden dowels that we hammered into the ground. The big guys loved playing baseball cornhole. I just drew off a large baseball and we taped them to the board leaving a space for the beanbags to land.

The highlight of any first birthday is the smash cake. I can’t believe how stinking cute his birthday cake was. A parent at Megan’s school made it and we were thrilled.

We had this set up as you entered the backyard. The bat turned out so cute with all of the “autographs” and will be something he can have in his bedroom for many years.  Megan also had a basket of plastic bats and balls with a cute tag on each that said “I had a ball!” as party favors that were sitting beside the table.

When I said that I wanted to get Matthew a swing for the backyard for his birthday I never dreamed that I would end up with this! I found a swing set at a local toy store and was showing my son Tyler to see if he could put it together for me. He said, “Oh I can make one way better than that for a lot less money!”  And he did. (Well a LOT better, not so sure about the cheaper part. haha) With help from Megan and Nick and his good friend Aaron, this play scape went up in a little over a week….from the trip to home depot to get the lumber, to the drive to the other side of  Atlanta to pick up the “kit”, to the cutting and assembling, and finally to the adding of the timbers and the shoveling of the safety mulch. They even added a picnic table under the fort. The big empty spot is for the “adult swing” to be added soon. Tyler already has plans to extend to the two trees close by with a swing bridge and a tree fort.  Hmmmmm  I am so glad that Andy spent so much time with Tyler when he was younger teaching him how to do things. I can’t wait to watch “my grandboys” learn from their dads….and from their Pops!
Hope you enjoyed reading about our special little boy and his special day...I’m off to plan my day in Megan’s room. Can’t wait to get in there on Monday! Stay tuned for pictures of our day together!

Who Inspires You?

It’s not a new question. It’s one that we are asked many times during our lives. When asked, we often share stories about our moms, a favorite teacher, a religious leader, or some other adult that helped to mold us into the person we are today. But, what if I asked you can someone you meet, for the first time, just by chance, truly inspire you? To that, I say…yes.
This week I worked in Memphis, TN doing a seminar with 60+ kindergarten and first grade teachers. As the teachers were coming into the room, I chatted with them, mostly small talk just to get a feel for the crowd. There was a group of 5 teachers that came in together. They we chatting and laughing with each other and we generally just very happy. I started talking to them, when I noticed one of the girls had a very short hair cut! I loved it! You see, I want to cut my hair reeealllly short, but I just don’t have the nerve. Her name is Kate.

I told Kate just how cute her hair was. She looked around to the teachers in her group and they all kinda chuckled. She told me that people ask her all the time who cut her hair. Her response… God! You see, last year, during her first year of teaching, her very first year, she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer after a large lump popped up on her neck while she was teaching. She was given 2 months to live. She is younger than my own two children, never married, no kids.  My heart just broke.
She told me she went to school all year during her treatments, often running to the bathroom when she wasn’t feeling well. The whole time she was telling me her story, she had such a glow about her. She told me how those kids will always hold a special place in her heart. She told me how much she loved teaching and how it kept her going. So is there good news? Does this story have a happy ending? How can such a sad story inspire me? The good news…she, despite the odds, is in remission. I really wanted to hug her. One can’t help but know that her positive attitude, her bubbly personality, the many prayers and her shear determination had to play a part in her outcome.
During the seminar, she took pictures of nearly every thing I showed. She wrote all kinds of notes, she leaned and talked to her teammates as she made connections to the things we were learning. She made me want to present like it was the last time I would have the opportunity to do so. She made me want to be a better teacher, a better person, a little less whiny, and a lot more thankful. She inspired me!
During our two days, I started watching other teachers, looking for ways to be inspired by the little things I saw. The two teachers who, when we ran short on handout books, willingly gave theirs up and shared with their friends. The teacher who went by her school and picked up paper plates when we realized we wouldn’t have enough the next day. The teacher who brought in a spinner to show me a new way to make one. Another teacher who brought in two new games inspired by what she had learned the first day. The take charge principal that made sure we knew all the restaurants in the area. The principals and central office personnel who came with groups of teachers and listened to the teachers share their excitement about what they were learning. To the countless teachers who went out of their way to tell me thank you, or that they were so glad they came, or that they had learned so much.
So this week I challenge you. Watch and listen to the people around you. Let them inspire you to teach your heart out, to love your family, to take care of your friends, and to help those that sometimes we find difficult to help. Think of Kate. Her story will inspire you to be thankful, to tell others you love them, to be kind….Thank you, Kate…you inspired me.
(Just so you know..Kate gave me permission to share her story.)

How To Use Dual Monitors with Your Computer

Do you use a dual monitor? I am LOVING mine. It took me a while to join the team, even though my husband has always used one. As I was watching him work it sure looked easier to click and drag from one screen to the next than opening and closing windows like I was doing. So you might ask, “What took you so long to get that second monitor?” WEEEELLLLLL, as you know if you read my blog, it comes at no surprise that I am not the most tech savvy person…and that’s saying it lightly!!!   I hate not knowing how to do things for myself, but  I finally sucked it up and asked him if I could do that using the tv that sits on my desk. He said, YES!
If I can do it, you can too! So here’s what you have to know…
First of all your monitor either has a RGB (red, green, blue) plug or a HDMI plug depending on the monitor you are using. You second monitor has to have the same plug. Since mine was HDMI, I purchased a HDMI cable from Best Buy. The cable plugs into the HDMI plug on the computer and on the second monitor. It really is that easy.  If you have RGB you will buy an RGB cable. (HMMMM I only know these things because I am married to the biggest tech nerd! )
And what do I reeeaaaallllyyyy love? If you look at the picture, right there on the remote control there is an HDMI button and a TV button. So I can change back and forth from tv to second monitor just what a push of a button.
Here are some of the ways I have used the second monitor already…
1. I love having two power point presentations open at the same time. It makes it easy to compare, cut and paste….

2. I love being able to keep the power point open and open up my documents folder in the other window. I can select from that window if I want to open another document without closing the first power point.

3. I am able to keep my clip art folder open while I am working to see what clip art I have available. So if I am making something with a “camping theme” I can see all of my camping clip art without going to insert or opening another window on top of the power point.

4. I am able to open my email in one window and a power point in the other window. Then, I can click and drag the photos that are attached in the email over to the power point.
I am sure there are tons of more ways to use the dual monitor. How about you? Share away….How are you using a dual monitor?

Spring PEEK at my WEEK-FREE Writing Anchor Chart

Even though today has been rainy and cold, what a beautiful spring day we had yesterday! Spent the day at a mountain bike race with my son and visiting with my daughter in law and her mom. I asked on facebook how others were spending their day. I wasn’t surprised when a lot of teachers were taking care of household chores, chauffeuring kids, or working on lesson plans. I was most jealous of the teacher on a great beach vacation and most amused by the teacher who was helping her husband catch frogs for a research project! It was most exciting to hear so many of y’all make reference to working on something we had done in a workshop.
I have to admit I really wanted to come home from church and curl up and take a nap. It was raining, dark and I wasn’t on baby duty! Instead I found myself sitting in front of the computer. 
I finished up the Peek at My Week for Megan’s class.  Soooo glad that we are talking about Spring. Maybe that will help keep winter at bay. Also really excited to be starting a new unit in Reader’s Workshop!
In Reader's Workshop we are "Revving Up!"

During this unit of study you will teach your students to “rev up” to read. The unit begins with lessons that teach students the importance of getting ready to read a book before actually starting to read the words. After students understand how to get ready to read, you will teach them lessons about using letter sounds to figure out words.

In Writer' Workshop we are moving on to "How to..." Writing. You can grab this free anchor chart at the bottom of this post.

Many of our literacy centers are based on our Spring Theme.  But, a few of the activities, Magnify It; Cut, Stack, Staple, Read; and Cut a Sentences are repeat favorite. I love it when I can repeat the same familiar activities. This keeps the instructions to a minimum.

 Math Activities continue with our Spring theme.

If  you want to enlarge these plans, go (here) to print them out.

Five Fun Activities for Saint Patrick's Day and a FREE Game

Ever feel like you teach from one holiday to another? I love celebrating all.the.holidays! This post has 5 fun activities that we do to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day!

Once again on a Sunday night I find myself in a hotel room…this time in Charlotte, NC.  To say the least, last week was a whirlwind of a week. I started off the week in Grand Rapids, Michigan for the two day Common Core Seminar. Can I just say, I don’t think I have ever seen that much snow. It was so deep that I actually looked into a snow bank outside of the hotel room window. I was able to catch up with my good SDE friend, Kim, and I also met a new friend Jill from ABC’s and Polkadots.  Tuesday night Andy flew into Grand Rapids and Wednesday morning we headed out to Chicago…more cold and snow! 
The ASCD Early Childhood Conference in Chicago is a HUGE conference…1,500 teachers!  Good Golly! This is AN EVENT to say the least….Lots of teachers, great sessions, and super nice location, PLUS….. I get to see some of my favorite people! There’s Kim Jordano from KinderbyKim, Kathy Griffin from Kathy Griffin’s Teaching Strategies, Shari Sloane from kidscount1234.com, Deanna Jump from Mrs. Jump’s Class, Deedee Wills from Mrs. Will’s Kindergarten, and Linnea that keeps us all straight! Of course Andy was there, too. Someone had to take the picture!

Saint Patrick's Day Fun

Do You Believe in Leprechauns?

This is a fun center for math. Invite the children to take a survey from their friends by asking them if they believe in Leprechauns. As they ask their friends, they should make a tally mark in the yes or no column. Once they have asked several friends (no more than 8 for either column), they color the graph to match their tally marks. Now they are ready to analyze their data. This is great practice for teaching ways to compare data! The favorite part, walking around and asking their friends!

Sharing the Gold

This is another fun math center. You need a game board with 4 sections, a dice with multiples of 4, and some counting pieces. Invite the children to roll the dice and count that many pieces of gold. Invite the children to try strategies to determine how many pieces of gold belong in each pot. Once they have a "fair share", they record the share on the recording page.

Spin a Parade

One more math game...Saint Patrick's Day is often celebrated with many parades. For this activity, the children will create a parade and indicate the ordinal position of each thing in the parade. First, invite the children to spin the spinner.  Select a clip art picture of whatever the spinner lands on and place it on the parade game board.  Continue until the game board is full. (They many have several of the same thing depending on where the spinner lands.) Glue paper versions of the parade. Sequence the ordinal position cards and record the ordinal position for each thing in the parade.

Where is the Gold?

This fun cut a sentence book is perfect for Saint Patrick's Day and teaching sentence structure. Make each child a pot of gold book. Invite them to cut off the first sentence. We are working on phrases such as "said the girl." The children put that phrase at the end of the first line. Manipulate the remaining words to complete the sentence.  Find the picture to match the sentence and glue it under the flap. Repeat with all 4 sentences.

The Shamrock _ock Book

This is a fun, easy literacy center. Make a book for each child.  Invite the children to cut apart the pictures. Glue one picture on each page. Now, decide what the "onset" needs to be added to "ock".
These ideas are from this Hooray for Saint Patrick's Day unit.

Sight Word St. Patrick's Day Game

You can grab this fun St. Patrick's Day Game at the bottom of this blog post. Here's how to play:

Spread the gold coin cards out on the floor.

Pick two children and give each one of them a fly swatter with a leprechaun picture.

Say a sight word.

Invite the two children to find the coin with the sight word.

"Swat" the gold coin with the fly swatter.

Peek at My Week

Here are my St. Patrick’s Peek at my Week Plans. You can download them for free by clicking on the image.

Using Number Bonds

Do you use number bonds?  Here are a few ideas on how to use them to teach number sense.
Ever done this:
Line up 10 beans. Line up 10 more beans below the first 10. As you point to each row, say, "Does this row have the same number of beans as this row?" Usually children will quickly say yes. Now spread out the beans in the first row. Ask again, "Does this row have the same number of beans as this row?" And then...they say....no. As they point to the top row, they add, "this row has more."
This is an example of conservation of number. According to Piaget, children develop this concept at  developmental age 7. When children have conservation, they realize that just by spreading out the beans, you don't get more.
Now lets think about addition. Isn't that what we are doing? We take a set, divide it into 2 sets and put an equal sign in the middle.  Here's the problem...When we divide the group into 2 sets, we are "spreading" out the counters.  Children without conservation now see it as more!!!!! So when they read 3+2=5, in their mind they see...3+2 is more than 5! This leads to great confusion about the concept of equal.
So what do we do....? We have addition in our standards. Here's a great way to develop conservation using Number Bonds. Be sure and read all the way to the bottom of this post to grab the FREE number bond mats and the numeral cards!

Number Bonds Conceptual Level

To begin the lesson invite the children to place a given number of counters in the large rectangle. Say, "I have 5 bears." Have the children repeat it back to you.

Now, using the same 5 bears, divide the bears into 2 groups. Say, "I have 2 bears, I have 3 bears." 
Again, have the children repeat it back to you.

Last, move all of the bears back to the rectangle and say, "I have 5 bears." Children repeat.  By moving the bears back to the original location, the children see that the number of bears doesn't change just by spreading them out. Repeat with various ways to make 5.

Transitioning to Abstract Level

Once the children are fluent with dividing sets and have developed the understanding that they don't have more just by spreading them out, they are ready to transition to abstract. (This could be several months, more or less, for the children.) Invite the children to place a given number of counters on the new number bond mat. Say, "I have 5 bears." Invite the children to repeat after you.

Divide the bears into 2 sets using the circles. Say, "I have 2 bears, I have 3 bears." Again, the children repeat.

Demonstrate adding the "2" and "3" to show how many bears are in each circle.  Ask, "How many are there all together?" Since the children have developed fluency with dividing sets and have conservation of number, they should know that there are 5 altogether. Model your thinking as you show how you add the "5".  Repeat with other combination for 5. 
Once the children become fluent with this step. Transition to writing the number sentence on dry erase boards.
Be sure and grab these FREE number bonds and numeral cards below!
Here are the Peek at My Week-Mail plans.  I think I have shared how I lay them out in the past few peek at my week posts, so I am not going to do that. If this is your first time reading these plans, look back at other peek at my week plans to see how they are organized.


Presenting on the road can be very lonely. I love people! But, when I am traveling I often find myself alone. I’m not telling you this so that you will somehow feel sorry for me, but so that you will know just how excited I get when I realize I am NOT going to be alone! So you can only imagine how super excited I was when I received a message from Katie of Little Warriors, that I was going to be working in her school district on Friday! When she went to sign up for her sessions on Thursday night, she saw my name in the listings! I didn’t know that she worked in the district where I was presenting! Now, if we had put two and two together, we could have planned to get a cup of coffee (or a diet coke!) or something together, but it was still fun to see her on Friday!