*Teaching Maddeness*

So, I failed to get the Friday Flashback Linky up yesterday. What can I say? I didn't get home until 8:00pm yesterday and the brain was officially fried!

If you were in the same boat, I hope you'll link up today! Here's a peek at our week...

We've been LOVING poetry in room 205! This week we made these precious Poetry Pops to show that our Poetry is popping with onomatopoeia!!

And, to review alliteration, we created these Alliterainbows!

We've had a lot of fun locating these literary devices in poems that we're reading and also learning to use them in poems that we're writing! Both of the above activities will be in a new Poetry Packet that I'm finishing up now (as in today, I hope!)

We've written a LOT of different types of poems over the last two weeks using our Poetry Styles #1 Unit and being inspired by authors that we've read. Here's a look at a few that are ready to be published.

We've got even more styles to learn about and write next week, but once we're finished we will be publishing them into hard-bound books. They are always SUPER excited about this! Here's a look at a few of their covers that they worked on designing this week...

I got a TON of these hardcovers from a grant I wrote YEARS ago and they have been fabulous. Unfortunately, I have now almost depleted my supply! {Maybe another grant needs to be in my future?} They are from Lintor Publishing if you're interested in them. They come with the binding paper to use with them.

Poetry + Music (see my last post about my new Kidz Bop CDs) = student love....

This one put a BIG smile on my face because it was from a student who is not prone to writing "love" notes.

And this one was extra special because she referred to a poem we studied in class about question marks being sea horses. And, well, because she loves me like her mom. Boy, do they know how to make you feel better after a L-O-N-G rough week! :)

Oh, Sunday - can you just last forever? :) It's definitely been a typical Sunday around here....breakfast at Cracker Barrel - check, trip to Target - check, trip to Lowe's - check, a little racing - check, me doing computer work while hubby works in the yard - check!

I FINALLY got my Poetry Pizzazz unit finished up....it's a little something to add some pizzazz to teaching those poetic devices during your poetry unit - it just might be one of my favorite all-time units. Or perhaps I'm just excited about having lots of craftivities to keep students motivated these days! Either way, they are going to be FANTASTIC for our end-of-poetry celebration!

Here's a sneak peek at one....

I hope to have this unit proofed and up THIS WEEK so that y'all can grab it for your poetry units, if you want! I'll keep you posted!

Amidst this crazily busy week, I did sneak in time for a concert!!! It was here in my hometown....Carrie Underwood and Hunter Hayes! I've always loved some Carrie, but I am officially obsessed with her now!

Seriously....like, I want to BE Carrie Underwood. The hair, the legs, the skin, the wardrobe, the VOICE, the sweetness, the humility.....she's flawless y'all!

And that little Hunter Hayes....no wonder those teen girls were going crazy. He's a cutie and he's totally bringing ROCK to country music!

I'll admit, I went for the FASHION SHOW just as much as the music. :) Do you notice that she is wearing fingerless gloves with every outfit?? I'm dying to help her bring those back! #80s #madonna

One of the coolest parts was when part of the stage lifted up and these hot air balloon-type balls carried it across the entire floor of the arena so that everyone had a close up experience!

She may be a little "glam" for country normally, but she still rocked her Willie Nelson T-shirt and daisy dukes! ;)

If you get a chance to see her live, I highly recommend it. I'm totally convinced that she has the BEST VOICE in all of country music! It was AMAZING!

How many does of school do YOU have left? We're almost ready to start our ABC Countdown which starts with 26 days left! We start with the letter A and do a little something special all the way until the last day, Z! Most of the activities only take a few minutes, but boy do the kids look forward to them! This unit has a calendar to send home with students with each of the activities listed, as well as activity pages that are needed for some of the activities - many of them don't require recording sheets. I'm looking forward to getting this started this year! What do you look forward to at the end of the year?

I could read all day long. To myself. To my kiddos. I just LOVE reading!

I try to sneak in teachable moments at every possible opportunity I can. That includes read-aloud time.

I "map out" (loosely) my read-alouds for the year on my planning calendar so I have an idea of what I want to read when. I include one chapter book per month. The rest of the month's read-aloud time is devoted to a particular author. This gives me the best of BOTH worlds. An opportunity to share those GREAT can't-wait-to-read-the-next-chaper-to-find-out-what's-going-to-happen BOOKS, as well as digging into an author's craft.

When we get to our author-of-the-month, I like to provide my students with a little background on the author. They love to know that he/she used to make books with paper and yarn as a child, or that he/she couldn't read until the fifth grade, or that he/she NEVER thought they would grow up to write books!

You can find some of my author background PowerPoints here for FREE - just look for the "FREE SAMPLE" buttons! I also like to create a little bulletin board area/space to hang a picture of the author, display some of his/her books, and have an area where we can track the author's "fingerprints" - you know those things that he/she does that sets him/her apart from other authors.

I adore how the kiddos gobble up the author's books from there on out! I revamped my author signs and thought I'd share them here as a freebie in case you wanted to use them, too.

This is just the first round - more to be made...if you would like to request one for a specific author, leave a comment below and I'll try to include him/her in the next batch!

Click below to download the FREE Set of 10 Author Signs.

Feel free to pin them so others can find them to download, too!

*UPDATE* 4/23 A typo was found and corrected*

Have I said how much I love teaching poetry? I may let my ELA block go a little long these days....just sayin'!

I'm linking this post up for...

I created some new activities to try in the classroom this year to teach poetic devices, such as alliteration, similes, personification, rhyming, and onomatopoeia - and boy, have they been a HIT so far! AND they sure are making our classroom and hall look like SPRING! Double whammy!

We hold a celebration after each reading/writing unit and we're inviting parents to a Poetry Picnic soon, so these items will be perfect to help with our decor!

Here's a look at some of the new activities we're working on this week...

Simile Sandwiches

After all, you can't have a picnic without sandwiches. And, speaking of sandwiches....

Sandwich Poems

Have you ever heard of a "sandwich poem"? There are two options when writing them - a rhyming pattern, or a syllabication pattern. We had to write these fun poems...and of course, giant ants tried to carry them off! ;)

These adorable picnic baskets are on our to-do list for tomorrow. Students will each be given an overused word and will fill their baskets with more vivid words to use instead. We'll leave these on a bulletin board so that students can refer to them throughout the rest of the unit!

Alliterainbows

Our "alliterainbows" for practicing alliteration are included in this unit, as well as...

Poetry Pops

our Poetry Pops to show that students' poems are "popping" with onomatopoeia (or any poetic device you choose!)

Personification Garden

Later this week, we'll create a Personification Garden - can't wait to get these colorful flowers on the wall!

And finally, you can't have a picnic without WATERMELON! We'll review rhyming words with these fun "Watermelon Rhymes" before tackling our couplets/quatrains.

Watermelon Rhymes

In addition to the activities above, this new unit also includes writing a Pyramid Poem (we're going to publish them on triangular napkins, of course) and a Metaphoric Family Poem (that I'm going to laminate and have as a little gift for parents when they visit), as well as publishing pages for 10 types of poems and a cover for having your students make their very own Poetry Book!

You can snag the unit over at TpT for just $4.99.....but TWO LUCKY people will win it for FREE! One winner will be chosen at RANDOM from the Rafflecopter below. The other winner will be the first person to comment below and guess my LEAST favorite thing about spring. HINT: It's probably some people's favorite thing. Remember, I'm quirky! ;)

The winner will be chosen on FRIDAY, so enter now!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congrats to Kiah for guessing correctly that my LEAST favorite thing about spring is the smell of fresh cut grass!!!! There were so many good guesses, and lots that are true, but fresh cut grass is my least favorite. I despise it. I've even had to take my class in from recess before because the grass had been cut recently and I was totally gagging and about to be sick. :( I also hate that my husband smells like grass after playing golf - ugh - that's probably why I never stuck with that sport despite being decent at it and getting cute pink clubs and all. ;)

And, the Rafflecopter random winner is.....Amy W!!

Congrats, gals! I'll have the new Poetry Pizzazz Unit sent your way asap!! Hope your kiddos love it as much as mine did!

Speaking of it, here are some of their finished products from this unit...

We also FINALLY wrapped up our money unit and were able to start our MEASUREMENT UNIT today!! I LOVE this math unit! Here's how I start it off....

The week before beginning this unit, I read How To Eat Fried Worms to my students. Then, I tell them that since we've just read a book about worms, we're going to be using WORMS to practice our measurement skills.

I tell them that I am going to give everyone a worm to measure today so that I can make sure they know how to use a ruler properly. I have them close their eyes....I mean, they can't SEE where I keep my worms hidden. Then, I have them OPEN their eyes and when they do, I'm standing in front of the class dangling a fat, juicy worm above my open mouth.

Their little mouths drop open in awe. Sometimes I even lick it. You won't die from licking a worm. Even if it is just a clay worm. hehehe....I finally let them in on my secret, but I do keep them thinking that we WILL use real worms soon. I just can't let them use them on the FIRST day. We have to make sure they can use these rulers properly first!

So then, I give everyone a clay worm. These little clay strips are perfect for this lesson.

I get them from Dollar Tree every year...of course! :) Once each child has one, I have them "roll" the worms to different lengths to practice using the ruler correctly (starting at the end and reading it to the nearest inch).

We practice....

and practice....

with both inches and centimeters....

And then of course, they all want a picture of themselves "eating" a worm.

Oh, if they only knew what I have in store for them next week! :) I have some new ideas for this unit, too, and can't wait to work on them this weekend!

Wow! Where did our beautiful summer weather go? It is rainy and in the 50s here today...brrrrr! I had to pull out the skinny jeans and boots again!

The mister and I trudged out in the rain to do a little shopping today. I was looking for a few specific items and, well, you know how that goes. I did find the robin's egg blue placemats I needed to match my new tablecloth for the dining room, but no such luck for a new shower curtain and/or dishes that have been on my "want" list forever!! :( I sooooo wish I could just hire someone to keep my home decor current. I love for it to look nice, but I'm not a fan of finding all the pieces and putting it together myself!

Anywho....we also went to Costco today. Surprise! Somehow we always end up there on Sundays even though I always vow never to go there on Sundays and fight with the food-samplers! Ugh! But, that is where I buy some of my favorite snacks and a girl can't be without her snacks!

A little over a month ago, I set the wheels in motion for a family "weight loss" challenge. You see, I always seem to put on 10 pounds over the winter that I need to shed before bikini season rolls around. Anyone else do this???? My mom and I always get the pounds off by summer, but unfortunately my husband and dad always seem to put on the pounds with us, but are never too concerned about swimsuit season. I guess that's because they spend ALL day EVERY day on the golf course instead of the beach during the summer. ;)

But, this year, the entire family jumped on my family fitness challenge. So far, between my husband and I and my parents, we've lost over 60 pounds already! Whoot! Whoot! The men are taking it pretty seriously, so I think it's going to be a win-win for everyone!

The guys have really just been changing their diet, but you know that's not enough for us women. So, my mom and I have definitely been keeping our New Year resolution of getting back to our running routine PLUS we've been adding a couple of miles of walking to our daily workouts.

Of course, you can't deprive yourself from everything so I thought I'd share some of my favorite snacks for those times when I want something "bad" - you know, not fruit, yogurt, or rice cakes....although I do love a chocolate rice cake with a little peanut butter!

My absolute guilty pleasure (and the purpose for my mandatory Costco trip) are these....

Now, I can't really say these are healthy after reading the ingredients, but they sure do satisfy my chocolate craving. I immediately come home and portion them into 23 ziploc baggies so that I only eat one serving at a time. But, I do have a portion almost daily! You can find these at Wal-Mart even, but Costco has the best deal with a 2 pound bag for 9.99. I may have bough multiple bags today...don't judge.

I stumbled across those after my Trader Joe's was out of Power Berries for months! I think the Power Berries may be healthier, but when the warehouse is out and they don't know when they will get them back in, what's a girl to do??

Sometimes, I get a really big craving for something salty. I'm a BIG chip/cracker girl, but not those healthy tasteless crackers. Blah! So, here are two of my favorites to nip that salty craving....

I love, love, love some Pop Chips - but only the barbecue ones! I first saw these from Jillian Michaels promoting them. I usually pick them up at Publix, but guess what? They have huge bags at Costco now!! I just portion them into small bags as soon as I get them home. Perfect for a grab and go snack!

I'm also a big fan of these! Think those orange cheese puffs that you ate when you were little....you know, the ones that got the orange powder ALL over your fingers? Well these taste just like those, but without the orange fingers....and better for you! There are 32 of these little puffs in a serving at just over 100 calories....that's a lot of puffs! I find these at Bi-Lo on the chip aisle, or a Publix on the organic snack aisle. Unfortunately, my husband tasted these for the first time last week and was shocked that they tasted just like the originals - now I have to share. sigh

What are some of your favorite "healthy" snack options to satisfy those snack cravings?

On another note, I took the plunge! I've been on Instagram for a while with a personal account, but I don't really use it THAT often, so I decided I would probably use it more as a teacher. So....I jumped on the bandwagon and created an Instagram account for my blog!! Look for "teachingmaddeness" on there, or click the image below to follow me (and then I can find YOU and follow you back!)

I've only added a few (old) pictures since I just created the account today, but I can't wait to get back to school on Tuesday (we're out of school on Monday since we didn't use our snow days this year! Yippee!!) You know what they say....a picture is worth a thousand words!! I hope y'all will join in for the new "Teacher Talk Tuesday" on Instagram! Just snap a pic and hashtag it with #teachertalktuesday so we can all find each other!!

And, now for some fabulous giveaways from a couple of MY FAVORITE 2ND GRADE TEACHER BLOGGERS!

Linda over at "Around the Kampfire" is starting a series on Tomie DePaolo and she's starting it off with a bang with a giveaway of her precious unit and 10 of his books that you can use with the unit!! WOW! Click the button above to head over and enter her giveaway! If you're not already following her blog, one peek around it will convince you to click that "follow" button - she seriously has PRECIOUS ideas!!

Then, head on over to visit Rachel at "The Tattooed Teacher" for her spectacular birthday giveaway! She celebrated her 16th birthday all over again yesterday with a SWEET deal! You can win a $50 TpT gift certificate! And, when I told her that I was celebrating my 16th birthday again this year, she didn't even question it (even though I'm wayyyyy past that)....just another reason why I love her! ;) Hop on over and enter to win...just click the image above.

Oh my word! I had so much fun posting and looking at teacher pics on Instagram today! If you've joined the fun, leave your Instagram name for me to follow. You can find me at http://instagram.com/teachingmaddeness

I have a feeling I'll be posting pics daily!

I love when I come across one of those "rare-never-heard-of-before" teacher resource companies. Especially when it's a gem like Gallopade.

Earlier in the year, when we were doing biographies, I was searching for some age-appropriate books for some of the famous people my students wanted to learn about that I didn't already have books about in my classroom library.

Let's face it. It can be tough to find age-appropriate biographies that have enough information to be valuable. I find that most books are geared toward K-1 or 4+. Upon my Google search, I stumbled upon these wonderful little books from Gallopade.

I love that they contain so much good information, but at the perfect reading level for most of my kiddos. I also love that they include a glossary and a "pop quiz" at the back. Each page also has a puzzle (word searches, codes, scrambled words, etc.) to keep students engaged and to teach them additional information!

The great news is that they are only a couple bucks a piece since they are consumable! And, they have them on TONS of people - I'm talking the traditional people studied in classrooms (Amelia Earhart, George Washington, etc.) to more recent and/or rare biographies like Michelle Obama, Harry Connick Jr., or the Ringling Brothers). Click here for the 1,000 Readers List.

As if that isn't enough...they also have amazing Digital Readers available for biographies. These are awesome for whole group lessons during your biography study - a book for your interactive board! They combine digital books with video clips (of kids just like your students giving important facts) and the puzzles/quizzes that similar to those in the 1,000 Readers. The Digital Readers also have a Vocabulary Builder Section and a Pop Quiz.

Don't take my word for it though, try it out yourself! Gallopade has been kind enough to let me offer you a FREE Digital Reader of Benjamin Franklin. Just follow the directions below to access it!

To access a trial digital reader (Benjamin Franklin), just go to ht tp://www.mywowboard.com
Then, click the "login" tab at the top.

Enter the username (case sensitive): DRdemo12
Password: readerdemo12

Next, look to the left in the "My Programs" sidebar and click on "Ben Franklin Demo" (but notice that there's an activity sheet you can print, too!)

Try it out with your kids and see how much they love it!

Of course, after this discovery, I had to search their site a bit more. That's when I discovered some of their awesome Mystery Series. Always, looking to expand my genre possibilities, I wanted to test out the "Masters of Disasters" series - what a great way to combine this genre with our study of weather! These chapter books are perfect for my higher-leveled readers and I think they'll really engage those students who prefer non-fiction over fiction....they'll still get a bit of those "facts" hidden in the story!

One of my favorite things about these books are that they include TONS of valuable information at the back to use in the classroom, like...

1) Book Club Questions
2) Ways to Bring the Book to Life (project ideas)
3) Scavenger Hunt
4) Pop Quiz
5) Glossary
6) Trivia

If you spend a little time browsing around this site, you'll see lots of other amazing resources! And, be sure to check out their CATALOG to find new resources, like their cool write-on/wipe-off United States maps!

You can win any of the products listed above - you choose....
1. 1,000 Reader Biographies
2. Digital Reader
3. Masters of Disasters Mysteries
4. Write-On/Wipe-Off U.S. Maps

To enter, simply follow Gallopade on Facebook by clicking HERE. Then, come back and leave a comment with the following....

1) Your product of choice
2) Your email
3) Your Facebook follow name

I'll select the winner on Saturday!

I should have linked up with Farley's CURRENTLY before now. There's really no excuse. Well, except for Instagram.

It's amazing that I've been on it for ever personally but never really used it much, but as soon as I created a "teacher" account - obsessed!!

LOVING everyone's photos!!

But, I finally got around to it....

Listening: What can I say? TV is always on in the background and it's often reality TV. I do love a good fashion show - Project Runway, Fashion Star....I'm in! Did you know that Amanda Valentine (on Project Runway this season) is sisters with Maroon 5's James Valentine? Interesting tidbit there for you. :)

Loving: I do not like to owe money. Who does right? I know, but seriously....it eats at me. I do not own a major credit card (now, the hubs is a different story) and I pay my smaller ones off in the store usually. Well, today I paid off my husband's car. I bought it for him for his birthday a couple of years ago (his dream FJ Cruiser) and today I bit the bullet and paid it off. I'm broke, but I'm car payment free!

Thinking: Does anyone else DRAG this time of year?? At the beginning of the year I'm at school by 6:30 (our kids enter our rooms at 7:45), but at this time of year I am doing good to be there by 7:15. I am draaaagggging! Those early morning wakeups have piled on and I am ready to sleep until 7:00 am! One more month.....I will make it!

Wanting: A new shoe collection. That's right. Not a new pair, a whole new collection! I don't think I really bought new shoes last spring so I'm in dire need! I have a feeling we'll be shopping this weekend. My husband has lost so much weight that he can't wear any of his pants, soooo.....if we go pants shopping, we'll probably pass by shoes, right?! :)

Needing: An entire week of sleep. It seems like even on the weekends lately I've had to wake up early. I need some serious catching up. Unfortunately, I'm a night owl so going to bed early isn't really an option. I can't wait until I can get on my summer schedule - bed at 1:00am and up at 8:00am - heaven! Because let's face it - bed at 12:00am and up at 5:00am just isn't cutting it anymore!

Summer Bucket List: Oh, I have BIG items on my "to-do" list for school units this summer, but I couldn't muster up the strength to even consider thinking about those right now. So, my summer "Bucket List" will only have two things on it for now (until I'm forced to face the other things) -

1. Whole Brain Teaching Conference - Cannot WAIT to hit Louisiana with some of my best teaching friends for this conference and some FUN times! We'll hit New Orleans before coming back home. Woot! Woot!

2. Relaxation - I want more than just our family week at the beach this year. Long weekends away with Mr. Madden. Lots of books being read. Days spent at mom's pool. Relaxation! (If I put it in writing maybe it will happen!)

Don't forget to enter my Gallopade Giveaway that ends on Saturday!! It's super easy to enter!

In Math this week, we continued to practice our measurement skills - with worms! Since they loved the clay worms so much last week, we kept the trend going. I told them that since they did such a good job using the rulers correctly, we were going to measure worms again this week - but not those silly clay worms.

That's right. I hinted that they were the REAL deal. I even had them close their eyes while I went to get them (I mean, they can't know where I keep my secret stash). When they opened their eyes, I was holding a film canister. I told them that I put a worm in each canister that morning - you know worms like dark places, right? I went around and sat a canister on each child's desk, but they weren't allowed to touch them yet. Then, once everyone had a canister, I modeled what we would do.

On the signal, we very carefully pick up the canisters (so we didn't hurt the worms) and hold them high above our heads. I told them they would feel extremely light - possibly like there was nothing in there at all, but I promised them they were NOT empty! On the next signal, we would use our other hand/thumb to remove the lids while keeping them held high above our heads. I didn't want any of the girls to see the worms and "freak out." ;) Then on the third signal, we would turn our canisters over and DUMP THE WORMS ON OUR DESKS!

They bit. Hook, line and sinker. Every year. Look at these faces!

Squeamish much?.....Then, dump!

Yarn worms?? Oh, Mrs. Madden! You fooled us, again!

We used our "cans of worms" to estimate and measure in inches and centimeters and then make comparisons of the two units.

Pretty soon, they're going to stop believing me, but I think I have one more great worm idea up my sleeve for Monday! :)

We also started our ABC Countdown this week!! WooHoo! Can I get a Hallelujah on that one??

In Science, we wrapped up our Matter Unit with a virtual field trip.

Our instructor was from Texas and she did some really cool experiments with dry ice and nitrogen with the kiddos.

Then they got to do more experiments on their own. I think our record was 35 drops of water on a penny!

In writing, we did a mix of things....we reviewed "how-to" writing with a fun worm recipe - Worm Pudding - this also knocked out our "A is for Art" on our ABC Countdown calendar - boomyow!

Students used templates for the craftivity and then we glued real spoons to them. We put black glitter in the "dirt" to make it seem more real and also added the black glitter to the spoon for a realistic effect.

Enjoying worm pudding while we work!

The finished products on display!

We also wrote and published our "pyramid poems" - onto napkins to use at our Poetry Picnic on Monday, of course!

Notice how one poem is about ME?? {heart} And, how I'm the best teacher in the world because we get to measure WORMS in math!? I'm tellin' ya - they love some worms! :) I'll be working to get my new worm unit finished up this weekend!

We also tackled possessives this week. The quiz I made only had 17 questions. I'm a 20 question kind of teacher, so I had the kiddos flip it over on the back and create a "possessive diagram" of themselves. They turned out adorbs! One little girl drew herself in her "mom's wedding dress" - precious! This little kiddo drew herself wearing "Mrs. Madden's dress".

There was a lot of "Mrs. Madden's high heels" or "Mrs. Madden's lipstick" and they get all the details right, too! Here's a pic of me wearing the dress above!

This was for "College Day" on the ABC Countdown Calendar. Gotta love my Gamecock boys! :)

And, finally, we practiced and practiced for our "Poetry Celebration" that we're hosting on Monday. They were so excited to have a real stand for our microphone and the little spotlight shining on them!

My, oh my! I am over this weather! It is 50 degrees with record amounts of rainfall here. I feel like vampires may start popping out at any moment. I'm pretty sure Forks is the only place that gets THIS much rain per day! What happened to our 80 degree weather?? It is May! In the South!

I need it to reappear ASAP! The hubs and I went out for our Sunday shopping trip today, but I didn't even get half the stuff on my list. I couldn't take the cold, wet weather. I could definitely be a California girl (no need to rub it in you Cali bloggers....I've been jealous of your poolside pics all week on Instagram!)

If you STILL haven't joined the Instagram bandwagon - do it! Today! You can follow along with the "Madden"ess by clicking below!

My little Gallopade giveaway ended yesterday and the winner is.....

I have sent you an email. :)

Teacher's Clubhouse (primary resources)

and Lightbulb Minds (intermediate resources)

will both be participating in the BIG TpT sale! This will be the last sale of the school year, so you will not want to miss out! Go ahead and stock up for next year! I know I'm not the only one thinking about next year already, right?! *sigh* #theteacherlife

Oh.My.Word. It has been two weeks since I last blogged, friends! Is anyone else feeling the end-of-the-year-crunch, too? I'm sure you are! In fact, I just saw a couple of my blogging buddies' posts say that they haven't posted in nearly two weeks either. Whew! So glad I'm not the only one!

Here's a little look at what's been happening in our class lately....

We did host our Poetry Picnic celebration! It was a fun way to end our poetry unit. Parents came...students sang poems, read poems, and shared projects that we completed during the unit. We set the tables...

We served our "Simile Sandwiches" with our "Pyramid Napkin" poems and our Acrostic Nameplates helped parents find their child's seat.

I love all of our learning celebrations. Students get SO excited to actually share their work with families and be the "center of attention!"

This week was particularly busy because we had a field trip. We visited our local science center for a couple of programs.

We reviewed matter with experiments with dry ice.

Then we explored lego robotics as students had to follow instructions/diagrams to build a chomping alligator. They loved making it eat the paper fish and adding sound effects to it!

As if that wasn't exciting enough, we also had Field Day this week! Have I told you how much I love Field Day? *insert sarcasm* It *may* be my least favorite day of the year. At least I didn't get a sub this year. HA! I've never liked Field Day (even as a child), but I despise it now that the whole competition component has been taken out and it's just a glorified recess. BUT, the kids do love recess, so they had fun!

We made monster visors to help keep us cool a bit. It has finally warmed up here and was a toasty 90 degrees for our field day. Trust me, I have the sunburn to prove it! (I love this weather!!!)

These sweet girls are taking a break from the action and keeping cool with freeze pops! Such cutie-pies!

At least there was still one or two stations that required teamwork instead of just free-for-all play!

Speaking of keeping cool, with these great temperatures, we've had to pull this back out...

I think I posted about this last summer, but thought I would mention it again since it would make for a great end-of-the-year team gift. Just pick up the spray bottles at Dollar Tree, tie a ribbon around them, and paint or Cameo a monogram on it! Super cheap and easy gift! We take these to recess with us and when students get overheated, they come up and ask for a mist. They LOVE it...sometimes the teachers need one, too! :)

I've also been keeping busy trying to organize all of that end-of-the-year stuff - like my "student bucket" end-of-the-year gifts.

I decided to put away the paint pens and break out the Cameo this year to add students' names and some designs to the buckets. I picked these buckets up last year (always thinking ahead) in the Target Dollar Bins.

This is what I include in my buckets....

1) A list of "100 Things to Do Instead of Watching TV or Playing Video Games" - We read Aunt Chip and the Great Triple Creek Dam Effect by Patricia Polacco....a book about a town of people who love their TV sets so much they watch them ALL the time and even have pictures of them on their mantles!....then students work in groups to compile lists of 25 things they would like to do that do not include TVs. I compile the lists into 100 things and include them in the buckets. If students complete and highlight at least 25 activities from the list and return it to me at the beginning of next school year, I'll give them a little reward!

2) An envelope with my name/address so students can write a letter to me over the summer. They love this and I love that they are writing! In fact, I just got a letter a couple of weeks ago from a past student (now a 5th grader at a different school) who still had my address - so sweet!!

3) A book - purchased from Scholastic (hopefully with bonus points) - still waiting on these to arrive!

4) A deck of cards and a little booklet of all the math games we've learned to play with them this year to keep up with that fact fluency!

5) Freeze Pops with a tag that says "Stay Cool, Kid"

6) An individualized Candy Award - something that tells them how special they are for their unique qualities!

7) An end-of-the-year DVD that is filled with pictures from the year set to music in a video format (still to come) - this will fill my entire day tomorrow, I'm sure!

What do you give your students at the end of the year? I'm always looking for fresh ideas!

8 more days until summer vacay for us! I get so jealous when I see others' posting about their summer vacations beginning already. I long for those days of no alarm clocks or schedules! But, I'm not rushing these last few days. I'm going to savor every moment of these sweet kiddos! It made me so sad today when someone asked if my kids were ready for summer and one precious girl said, "NO WAY! I will miss Mrs. Madden." Then later in the day she said that she was torn. She wanted to move on to third grade, but she didn't want to leave me. She said she would be "holding on to me tight on the last day of school."

How can I NOT enjoy every minute of these last 8 days?!? I'm going to hold on tight to every single moment! So precious!

I don't have too much to post about this week. I spent a majority of my time with running records and end of the year benchmarks.

But, we did wrap up our Government Unit. I have to admit this is probably my least favorite thing to teach, but the students have had fun with it. Each table group in my classroom becomes a "city." Students apply to be mayor of the city. They then hold city council meetings to vote for a name for their cities and create signs to display. We had everything from "Polkadotville" to "Boystown!"

Then, they hold city council meetings to work on "city problems" - maybe their city needs to work on staying cleaner, talking less, etc. They choose a problem and everyone shares solutions and they put them into action.

Each person in the team (besides the mayor) is appointed a job of "safety official." The firefighters help put out "fires" (problems) in their city, the police officer enforces rules (gives reminders when people are off task, etc), the EMS provides help to anyone needing it, and the city engineer makes sure the city looks good at all times (cleanliness).

Once the cities are running like well-oiled machines, we combine two cities to form a "state" and begin learning about the state government. We actually slide our two cities together to form a larger "state" -

Of course, the states need a governor. We learn about voting and elections, and students create campaign posters to "run" for governor. They give mini-speeches about why they would be a good governor for their state. Then, we cast ballots and vote!

Of course, we move on to learn about the leader of our country (the president). Since our states make up our classroom (the country), the teacher (ME!) is the president....seems only fair, right? ;)

We also wrapped up our Graphing Unit in math this week. I LOVE to teach graphing! They love it, too! Students conducted surveys, created pictographs, and made bar graphs using a question of their choice.

We'll keep graphing next week since it's a fun way to wrap up our favorite things about 2nd grade!

Finally, we did this little craftivity about why we had a "BALL" in 2nd grade. It was so much fun to read their favorite things!

On a personal note, I am SOOOOOOO glad to have finally finished my end-of-the-year DVDs! I always add these to their buckets (you can read about those here) and I always forget how long they take! I compile all of my pictures from the year into a movie with music using Windows Movie Maker (or iMovie/iDVD if using my MAC). It really does make for a great keepsake!

Speaking of the buckets, I couldn't seem to stop adding to them this year. Along with everything I previously blogged about here, I also added these cute little MONSTER bookmarks (pinterest inspired of course) to the corners of their books once our Scholastic order came in!

I was also inspired to create "Family Write Nights" for each month of the year (or week of the summer, in this case) so that HOPEFULLY families can have some fun, but educational experiences TOGETHER this summer. I added that little booklet along with a notebook and pencil.

So NOW my summer buckets are OFFICIALLY D-O-N-E - DONE!

I just might have "BUCKETS" of love coming your way soon! Be on the lookout!

Our Primary Site, Teacher's Clubhouse, just turned SIX! It's hard to believe that we started the site six years ago!! My, how time flies! :)

As a THANK YOU to all of the teachers who have supported us, inspired us, and encouraged us over the years, we're throwing a HUGE celebration this year! SIX WEEKS of FREEBIES!

Our first FREEBIE may be a little late for some of you for THIS YEAR, but we're hoping you will all be able to use it at some point! As you may have seen in previous posts, or on instagram, I've just completed by SUMMER BUCKETS. I've had lots of questions about the things I put in them, so our first freebie is something to help you assemble SUMMER BUCKETS for your kiddos!

This file is 86 pages of goodies that will help you create a bucket that is FUN and EDUCATIONAL so that your students can kick off their summer with BUCKETS OF FUN!

This packet includes everything I used to create my buckets - plus MORE! Just click on one of the images above to go to our TpT store to download.

If you download this freebie, we would LOVE for you to leave some feedback love on it. We would also LOVE for you to share our SIX WEEKS OF FREEBIES BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION with others....let them know that they can go pick up this freebie - with more to come!

You can include the above image on your blog if you'd like to let others know about it. We will leave the "Summer Buckets" unit for FREE all week and then it will be for sale.

We will post a NEW, FREE UNIT EACH WEEK FOR SIX WEEKS. But, each unit will only be FREE for one week, so be sure to follow our TpT page for reminders so you don't miss out on one!

WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!

Doesn't Memorial Day really put you in summer mode? While we still have a couple weeks of school left, this day always seems to kick summer into gear.

We have a 32 year tradition in the upstate where I live called "Freedom Weekend Aloft" (correction...changed to the cooler sounding "ALOFT" as of this year) that we anticipate each and every year.

When I was a child, the festival was held about a mile from my house. It's a weekend long festival with concerts, rides, arts/crafts, and more - but, the highlight of it are the hot air balloons! Balloonists from all over the world come to launch mornings and evenings and it is such a beautiful sight!

Being SO close to the action as a child, my memories are incredible. My mom loved the balloons more than anyone else I knew and she looked forward to the weekend all year long. She would be up at the crack of down waiting for the first glimpse of one while I usually slept on until the excitement of them being over our house woke me up. Often, it was the "whossshhhh" of the fire being pumped in a balloon right outside of my bedroom window that would wake me up! I would shoot out of bed like it was Christmas morning and pull the curtains back to wave vigorously at the people in the baskets. Yes, they were so close that I could see them from my bedroom and they could see me! They were always super friendly and they were like celebrities to us kids!

I would then take off outside, sometimes still in my pjs to find neighbors gathered in the road talking to the balloonists and taking pictures. Sometimes, they would be ready to land already and would ask permission to land in our yard or a nearby yard. My favorite one was a "Mr. Peanut" balloon that landed across the street one year. It was shaped exactly like Mr. Peanut and they handed out jars of peanuts, peanut pins, etc. They even tethered down and took everyone up for a view.

It was always fun to watch for all of the balloons, but we (as kids) especially loved to search for unique ones that were in odd shapes. The Burger King Whopper balloon was always easy to spot!

Those are some of the best memories. We really didn't know how blessed we were to have those experiences each year. Sometimes it seemed like a headache because traffic was horrendous on that weekend. A trip to the grocery store that used to take you 10 minutes could now take you an hour because of all the looky-lous and balloon chasers, but it was worth every minute!

When the year came that the festival moved to a neighboring county, it was such a disappointment. Luckily, it only stayed away for a few years and then came back to our county. Unfortunately for my parents, it moved across town to a different location - closer to where I live now as an adult.

So, this morning, my mom and I spent the morning watching the balloons go up and we even got to see a few land. It was magical....and it took me back to all of those wonderful memorial day traditions of childhood.

Waking up to the sounds of balloons firing, get excited to see them coming down to land, and making memories with family and friends.

I'll be heading to my parents house in a bit for a cookout by the pool, but then I'll be headed back home so that when the hubby gets off work (who works on Memorial Day?!) we can watch the balloons for one last time....until next year!

Happy Memorial Day everyone, and a BIG THANK YOU to all, past and present, who have served to protect our country....true heroes!

I'll leave you with some of the pictures we took this morning....enjoy the view!

Don't forget to go pick up your 86-page SUMMER BUCKETS FREEBIE to kick off our 6 Week Birthday Celebration Giveaway! Almost 1,000 people have already downloaded the freebie! Feel free to use the image below to share it with others....it is our hope that it will help save you a bit of time during the end of the year craziness! Summer is coming, friends!

While I know many of you are already lounging poolside, we are wrapping up our last FULL week! Next week we will have one full day, three half days, and a teacher workday. The end is so close. ;)

Speaking of the end, if you didn't snatch up our Week 1 Freebie, click here to grab it! Sunday will be the last day to get it for free...but no worries, we'll be putting our next freebie up!

We have pretty much kicked into survival mode at school. That's right, Rachel, it's not always cuppy cakes around here! ;)

However, I'm giving it my best to keep the little ones engaged until the very end. One of my very favorite end-of-the-year activities is to have my kids write persuasive letters to me telling why they are ready to move on up to 3rd grade!

I swear, I get some of the best writing from them. They really want to convince me, so they provide lots of details! :) I tell them that they will read their letter to a JUDGE and the judge will decide if they are indeed ready for 3rd grade.

They asked me ALL week long when the judge was coming. Then, on Thursday, I had another teacher walk them back from PE. I was sitting in the front of the room in my judge attire (old graduation gown), glasses down my nose, hair up in a bun. As soon as the first student saw me, a trickle started to go through the line, "The judge is here, the judge is here!"

They were so stinkin' excited that there was a loud murmur spreading throughout the room. I banged my gavel (an old hammer the hubs painted black for me) and demanded silence in the classroom. They giggled. I banged my gavel again and said, "There will be no giggling in this courtroom."

Silence. Crickets. Seriousness.

Until I cracked. Then we were all rolling in laughter. I finally pulled myself together and we carried on. I called one student at a time up and had them read their persuasive letters.

They were nervous. Sweaty palms. The unknown.

They were supposed to tell me ways that they had become smarter and more responsible this year. If they failed to provide details, I questioned them. If they said they kept their desk clean, I may have went to inspect it.

Once I was satisfied, I banged the gavel and "sentenced" them to 3rd grade. The court room would then explode in applause and cheers!

Of course, there were some students who I knew would love the humor in this, so I might have made them sweat a little more. Sometimes I took a page from American Idol and worried them just a bit - "Joe, I'm so sorry *long pause* but I'm not going to see you every day next year. You are sentenced to 3rd grade!" or "You are sentenced to come back to this classroom next year *long pause* and visit often because I will miss you. You are sentenced to 3rd grade!"

I couldn't do that with all of the kids...some of them would have been in tears, but these took a dramatic swipe of the forehead, let out a huge sigh of relief and said "you had me sweating bullets!" or "whoa! I was worried for a minute!"

They loved it. Obviously, we still have a few days of school left, so I let them know that just because the judge had sentenced them to 3rd grade didn't mean it was official. They still needed to be on their A-game because the judge could always "revoke" the sentence. I let them know that it's not official until they get their final report card in the mail with the judge's signature!

Once everyone has been sentenced to 3rd grade, we usually take a "field trip" to visit 3rd grade. Last year, we went to one class and the teacher told them a bit about it and then my students partnered with her students and asked questions they had about 3rd grade. This year, we're just going to stroll down the 3rd grade hall and make observations. What can I say? The end is near!

You can find a couple of resources I use for this activity at Teacher's Clubhouse (Movin' on Up and A Trip to the Future), if you're interested.

What have you been up to??

First, let's get to the reason why you're probably here....FREEBIES!!

Thank you so much to everyone who shared our Summer Bucket Units Freebie last week! Over 4,000 teachers downloaded that 86-page freebie! WOW! {If only, all of those teachers were following our TpT shop!} ;) That file is now for sale {$4.99} in our shop. If you missed out on it as a freebie, we still think that's a great deal for all that is included in that unit!

Now......{drum roll}......for the WEEK 2 FREEBIE.....

{Click the image above to access the FREEBIE}

As you've seen on my blog over the past month or so, I incorporated a lot of "wonderful worm" ideas into my classroom....mostly measurement activities or literature extensions. All of those activities have been compiled into a new 56-page unit and it is this week's FREEBIE!!

{Click the image above to access the FREEBIE}

There is probably something in this unit that could be used with every grade level....so, hop on over and pick up your copy today! Feel free to share about our birthday freebies on your blog so ALL teachers can celebrate with us!! 4 more weeks to go!! :)

Sundays in the South
If you're new to my blog, on Sundays I like to step away from teaching {as much as possible} and share "other" stuff.

The highlight of this week was seeing Darius Rucker in concert!!! This was not my first time seeing him in concert. I saw him last year with Lady Antebellum, and since he's ALSO a University of South Carolina alumni, die-hard Gamecock, and football season-ticket holder I get to see him perform the National Anthem and throw surprise concerts in the Farmer's Market before games from time to time.

I LOVE HIM!! LOVE!! But, he'll always be "Hootie" to me. ;) The last time I saw him {with Lady A} he completely stole the show and I told my husband he HAD to go with me when he came back as a headliner {I absolutely knew it wouldn't be long!}

As soon as I mentioned that he sang "Purple Rain" I knew the hubs would definitely be there. You see, he's not a huge country fan {with the exception of Zac Brown Band}, but he LOVES some Prince {and, yes, we've seen him in concert...AMAZING!}

Being the professional concert-goers that we are {in the past year we've seen Darius, Carrie Underwood, Kid Rock, Maroon 5, Bon Jovi, Madonna, Aerosmith, Nickelback} we have an app to find the set-lists and we usually burn a CD of the concert for the drive. Well, when the hubs found Darius's set list he was not happy that he had JUST stopped singing Purple Rain (since his new album was just released). Agh!

Well, since Darius and I are so close {I am NOT making this up! He actually sent ME a friend request on Facebook...which may or may not have almost made me drop dead on the spot.} Of course, I accepted that request IMMEDIATELY!

So, since we're "friends" and all, I took it upon myself to ~~beg~~ ask him via Twitter if he would PLEASE throw in "Purple Rain" to the setlist again....just for the hubs. It couldn't hurt to ask, right?!?

Anyway, Friday night we headed to our local outdoor ampitheater where the concert was being held {the same FAB location of the hot-air balloon event we just hosted!}

We got an email to get there early because it was a sell-out with a record-breaking attendance record! Our hometown {homestate?} boy, Darius, broke the previous record by over 4,000 people!! Whoot! Let's just say that Gamecock Nation showed up!! The hubs said he had never seen that much garnet and black in one location, outside of a college event.

Jana Kramer opened and then Justin Moore played. My husband then looked at me and said, "This is the first time I've ever felt like I'm out of place at a concert!" Bahahah! What can I say? To both be born and raised right here in the upstate of South Carolina, we're definitely not your typical country-lovin', huntin' and fishin', Wrangler-wearin' type of people!

With that being said, I do like *some* country music, and Justin was good! But, the people were definitely there to see Darius!

What is NOT to love about this guy?? It's definitely not that hat! :) He is just so infectious on the stage! Out of every single person we've ever seen in concert, Darius is the one that just seems to have the MOST FUN up on the stage! He really loves what he does and the audience can tell it!

The highlights of the show for me were {of course} any time he played a Blowfish song, when he played Joker, Family Tradition, Alright, and Radio. I *adore* his new song Radio. I think if it's released the summer, it could be the country summer hit of the year. ;)

He came back out for an encore of Wagon Wheel.....and.....Purple Rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I let the hubs know that he can thank me personally anytime. I know exactly why he threw that back in to the show at the end! Thanks, friend! :)

We don't really have any concerts planned for this summer (sniff, sniff), although there is a chance that we'll drive to see Cyndi Lauper while we're on vacation since that's the only time she's coming anywhere close to us and this tour is all 80s!!

But, we do have tickets to see BRUNO MARS and MAROON 5 {again} in the Fall! I'm not rushing my summer away {certainly since it hasn't even started yet}, but at least I have TWO THINGS to look forward to when that time rolls around!

For now, I have to finish wrapping up this year....which means preparing parent gifts and working on next week's freebie! If I make it through my last full day of school tomorrow, I'll see you then! :)

Wow! It really is JUNE!! Last week of school....summer is so close I can taste it! :) It's time to link up with Farley and get my June on!

Now that we have Apple TV, I'm always listening to my playlists. Always. #liveformusic

I am LOVING that today is the LAST Monday of school. Mondays stink. Especially with no break. Not only is it our last Monday, it's also our last FULL day! Three half days and a work day. I can do this!

Now that summer is almost here, I can NOT wait to spend a day JUST READING! My favorite book of last summer was Gone Girl. I have no ideas for this summer. I would really love to find another good trilogy. Any good reading suggestions out there? I am NOT a sappy book girl. I love a good mystery/suspense.

I am going to pamper myself next week. I will have one week to rest and relax before heading to Louisiana with my girls for the Whole Brain Teaching Conference. I'm going to get a mani/pedi, some waxing, a little makeover at the MAC counter, and even a couple's massage with the hubs! It's all going to start with a hair appointment tomorrow! We deserve to treat ourselves at the end of the school year, girls {and guys}!

After all, this is a stressful week. I dread. DREAD. packing up my classroom. Why oh why, must we take everything off the walls each year? I swear they just want us to work ourselves to the bones. It's insane!

Counting the days until my toes can be in the sand! My three vacay must-haves are 1) a good read, 2) good tunes, and 3) accessories. I am NOT a hat girl, but let's just say that I have a hat for each day on the beach. You've got to accessorize a good bikini {and cover up beach hair}! ;)

This year I wanted to give each of my parents a little something at our Red Carpet Awards. I was already giving students their summer buckets full of goodies and special gift for my room mom, but I wanted everyone to leave with something. So, I made some of that fabulous caramel mix that I've been addicted to and filled little treat bags for all of the parents.

Since I'm still in school, I'm totally counting these as a "Monday Made-It" and linking up with Tara, but I will have a TRUE Monday {Hubbby} Made-It for my classroom next week! :)

When I get them to school, I'll put them in a red basket labeled "Sweet Caramel Mix."

If you'd like to use the tag for something (you could fill it with anything sweet), you can grab it below!

{Click the image above to download the FREEBIE}

And, since it's MONDAY, I'm also linking these tabs up with...

And, speaking of FREEBIES, don't forget to pick up our WEEK 2 FREEBIE in the 6 Weeks of Freebies for our 6th Birthday Celebration!

{Click above to download the 56-page Unit for FREE - this week only!}

Feel free to share the link to this freebie on your blog so that your teacher friends can pick it up, too!

We're in week 3 of our six-week 6th Birthday celebration over at Teacher's Clubhouse! Be sure to "follow" our TpT store to be notified of the freebies each week, and feel free to grab the image below to share our celebration with your blog readers!

This week's FREEBIE is a 65-pageShort A Unit filled with games, centers, practice activities and assessments. Head on over to grab it!

{Click image to access this week's FREEBIE}

I always start the year in 2nd grade by reviewing those short vowels. I'm always amazed that they don't have those down yet, so these are activities I'm excited to put into place at the beginning of next year. If you enjoy the unit, we'll be adding them for the other short vowels for the 2013 school year.

Speaking of next school year.....today may be my first "official" day of summer, but I'm already thinking about ways to improve my classroom next year {you're with me, right?}

YEARS ago....I'm talking before interactive boards, I saw these amazing little rain gutter bookshelves online. I thought....ooohhh....perfect! I want those under my whiteboard. You know - in that space that seems to just be a waste?? {See below the board in this pic I found}

Well, the hubs built me a low-standing bookshelf to go there instead, but I knew I still wanted to find a use for these neat little bookshelves in my room someday...which leads to my "Monday Made It."

DING! DING! DING! I finally had a brainstorm that resulted in the perfect use for these! I read A LOT of books aloud during a school day. Many times those books are AR books that students can later take a test on to earn points toward their AR goals. Since these books weren't read independently by students, they are not written in their reading folders. This means that they often forget to take the tests or don't know how to spell the title to type the books into the system if they DO remember to take the tests.

Enter my cute little rain gutter bookshelves! The perfect LITTLE space right above my computer table for adding the books we read aloud throughout a day/week.

Here is a link to the tutorial we {and by we, I mean my husband} used to create these. It was very simple! The rain gutters come in 10 ft sections at Lowe's. I decided I want two 3 ft. shelves. The hubs cut the gutter to length, added the end caps and braces. He also spray painted them red to match my room {I may or may not add vinyl decor to spice them up a bit.} Voila! We used heavy duty velcro strips on all of the braces to attach the shelves to the wall. I'm very excited to have a place to display our read-alouds so that students can see the titles while on the computers.

Yikes! I just realized that it was ONE YEAR ago today that I officially started this crazy little blog off mine! I have a one-year anniversary giveaway in the works that will kick off this weekend! THANK YOU to everyone who has joined me on this journey! I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being a part of the blogging family....even if I struggled with the balance of keeping up with it during this first year! ;)

I have a question for you - Do you have certain things that you are required to post in your classroom? Over the past few years it seems that this list has been growing in our district/school. We just received an email yesterday from our principal that just made me cringe.

It started off by saying to remember that LESS is more when decorating your classroom. Put up only the essential items on walls to begin the school year.

Wonderful - agreed!

But, then it went on to list these "essentials" -

1. Word Wall
2. Calendar Math
3. Counting Tape
4. Data Board (place to graph all student data throughout the year)
5. State Writing Rubric (poster-sized and student friendly)
6. Editor's Checklist (poster-sized and student friendly)
7. School SOAR Expectations (school-wide behavior rules - poster-sized)
8. Daily Essential Question Board
9. Covey 7 Habits
10. Leave space for class anchor charts and student work to be posted during the first month of school

&*%$&**((^^&*$@# REALLY????

Geez!! When did our classrooms become so cookie-cutter? When did the "higher-ups" get to decide what our individual students need? Ugh! Maybe it's just the rebel in me not wanting to be TOLD exactly what needs to be on my classroom walls and when!

Students never even glance at most of the stuff on the list above, so much of it is just a WASTE and then there's not room to post things that I know they truly need and would use!

Then, the email ended with "There is such as thing as too much information. We have more and more students with attention issues and they are easily overstimulated with a lot of things on the walls."

Ya think??? I'm not even ADD and I'm overstimulated by just LOOKING at that list of things to post!!

So, I'm asking you....what, if anything does your school/district require you to post on the walls of your classroom?

I tried to take a couple of days off for a little "me" time. Well, I'm not sure how well that worked. I mean, I did squeeze in some "me" time, but I didn't exactly take the days "off." Why is that so HARD??

I'm leaving for the Whole Brain Teaching Conference in Louisiana in a couple of days and I have SOOOO much to do before I leave!! I think I broke out in a rash last night just thinking about it all!

Probably didn't help that I spent yesterday at the pool...and "pretty-ing" up my iPhone. Have you seen all the Instagram craze about the Cocoppa app?

Here's how my iPhone looks now....

How CUTE are those icons???? Ahhhh...in LOVE!

If you're interested in doing this, it's important to know that these icons are really just shortcuts to the real icons (so DO NOT delete those!!!) The 411 on this cuteness...

1) It's super easy (and quick) to change an icon (well, the picking out your icons is not so quick, but the actual change is!)
2) You will want to put the new CUTE shortcut icon on your desktop and then just stick all of your old icons in a folder on your back screen)
3) Since these are just SHORTCUTS, it takes a brief second for them to open - they're still very quick, so this wasn't really a downside for me.
4) Since these are just SHORTCUTS, they do not show "notifications" (for example, my "mail" icon will not show the number "1" when a new email comes in - I could swipe to the next screen and see that on my actual icon, though) I actually like this function, as I stress over those notification numbers! ;)
5) The biggest downside is that you can't get them for all of the preloaded Apple icons (phone, settings, camera, and notes - my notes is an app not the preloaded Apple "notes")

That was a really quick 411, but you can find TONS of tutorials on the specifics if you do a Google search. Here is the tutorial I found was the most helpful.

Did you notice that I even went back and made an icon for my own blog??? I figured that out myself *pat on back* - I just took a screenshot from my blog and cropped the button. Then I used the upload button in Cocoppa (bottom center) to upload it as an icon. Then, on "my page" in Cocoppa, it showed up as an icon that I could select and use! I just insert my blog address as the url for a direct link!

Speaking of cuteness....look what came in the mail today from Very Jane....

Fun, wooden alphabet magnets!! I thought they would be perfect for some center work in our monster-themed classroom!! {I HEART Very Jane prizes in the mail!}

And, speaking of mail, I also got a very fancy envelope from our school district today. This was odd. When I opened it, it was a letter personally from the Superintendent himself. This might not be odd to most of you, but I work in a VERY LARGE school district (about 60 elementary schools alone!). Needless to say, he has a lot to oversee so it's rare to see/hear from him...especially on a personal level.

But, I had a very sweet dad to write me the nicest email at the end of this school year (don't you always think those are the BEST GIFTS ever???), but he took it a step further and copied my principal and the superintendent on the email. Well, this letter was regarding that....(all identifying information removed)

I thought it was very thoughtful of him to take the time out of his schedule to acknowledge this.

Now, to go write a couple of my students back and then head back out for a manicure/pedicure and to play with my new MAC makeup. I've got to get my "pretty" on, too...can't let my iPhone outshine me! :)

Friday Flashback Fail - Poetry LOVE

Sundays in the South: Carrie Underwood & The Coundown Is On!

Author Studies {Freebie!}

Putting Pizzazz into Poetic Devices! {Win This New Unit}

Friday Flashback: Winners & a Peek at our Week

Sundays in the South: Resolutions, Instagram & Giveaways!

Have you heard of Gallopade? Win a Product of Your Choice

I'm CURRENTLY obsessed with Instagram!

Friday Flashback

Sundays in the South: Crazy Weather, Winner & a Sale!

Friday Flashback: I'm Alive...Barely!

Friday Flashback: Wrapping It Up!

Six Weeks of FREEBIES: Week 1...Buckets of FUN!

Memorial Day Tradition

Friday Flashback: Judge Madden Presides

Week 2 Freebie and Sundays in the South

June Currently & Parent Gift Freebie Tag

65-page FREEBIE and Rain Gutter Bookshelves

What are you REQUIRED to post in your classroom?

Getting My "Pretty" On!