Spring Cleaning & More!

I have to admit, I caved under the pressure to have a sale. I’m so happy I did! I haven’t showed too many pictures of my little nuggets in action this year so I thought this would be a perfect opportunity.  Packing up 10+ years of a classroom…perging…..packing…unpacking…..decorating….redecorating…I have been a tad busy.
Now here I am at the very end of my Spring Break…..WAH! It actually snowed………….

Who let him here? I just look at this pic & laugh! This is Chicago my friends. It snowed on Spring Break & we grilled. Yes, when it’s March….we grill no matter what. And we stop wearing coats. Am I right my Chicagoland friends????

I will be planning all day tomorrow. Part of my plans are pulling out more of these bad boys for the 4th quarter….BAM! What a great way to start off the Monday after Spring Break..with a little teaser of what’s in store. They WILL take the bait.

So here is one of my nuggets counting up her fuzzies right before Spring Break. Did you know when they don’t have fuzzies, I take coupons. That was no accident that they traded them all in right before break.

After we count 500,000 fuzzies they have collected, I put the date on the chart below along with how many fuzzies they earned. This helps me see if they are really trying to earn more or if they slacked off a bit. Most of the time, they get about the same or more. The little boy above is better at math than I am so he keeps track of how many coupons they get & how many they have left. For example, she had 230 fuzzies. He let her know all the different combinations she could get. Future President..not kidding.

Here is my “teacher’s assistant” making sure this one didn’t take any extra coupons. She takes her job very seriously. She kept track of everyone’s totals & called them up one at a time. After they were finished, she would highlight their total & call the next student up to trade.
With over 100+ choices, this might take a while each week so I call in my little troops for help.

As you can see both sets have 10 coupons per page, full page option & organization ideas & tips.

Someone turned in a brain break coupon ….the whole class gets to enjoy this! Cost=Nothing!

This little one cashed in his fuzzies in order to bring his Ipod to school. That costs 200 fuzzies!

These girls cashed in the “Buddy Read Aloud” coupon. They are really into Wayside School right now so they chose to read our chapter for that day.

These cutie pies turned in the “Comfy Spot” coupon in order to pick their spot first.

She is showing us her talent! She handed in the “Got Talent” coupon. I used to be able to do this!
If I tried now…the ambulance couldn’t get to me fast enough!

These boys turned in a “We’ve Got Talent” coupon. They were going to tell some jokes & then they got shy. Too cute!

This one is my coupon queen! She loves the ones worth “10” so she can have a HUGE stack! She guards them with her life! Anyway, she handed in a “Line Jumper” coupon so she was able to cut everyone in line to take her AR test first.

I don’t know if I ever blogged about Moo Moo before. I will this summer, I promise. I purchased Moo Moo, because she looks just like my Moo Moo (Olive). The girls earned coupons for a sleepover with our babies. They each have their own carrier….of course.

Sorry…she looks like a hot mess here. She is on top of Bentley right now…lol. So since I don’t have kids I talk about my furry babies all the time. Our classroom elf, Cubert, decided to bring them a dog & I somehow talked them into naming her Moo Moo. They are obsessed!
My girls above are holding Moo Moo & her babies. Yes, our fake dog had puppies! We had our Scholastic book fair & I had to buy them another one! Then, they said she felt like she was still pregnant. Guess who went to buy another one??? $24 later…we have 3 dogs in our classroom. I.AM.NOT.BUYING.THEM.CLOTHES! I figure if I type it on here then I won’t buy them clothes which they are asking for! I put some little bandanas on them, now they want more clothes! Look what I start! I can’t help it…they are my babies :o)

These two are two peas in a pod…always together & never fight…love them! One of them gave me the “Borrow a Furry Friend” coupon. Of course, guess who they borrow???

Check out my Reward Coupons Set 1 HERE and Reward Coupon Set 2 HERE.
The feedback on these is beyond amazing. Is it too late in the year for you to start???? UM, NO! Start and see just how much the atmosphere changes in your classroom. Get out the kinks now & start fresh. Do you have to print all of them out?? Um, NO! You know your kids & you know what will reel them in…print those out ;o)  

I have a mile long Candy Land to do list friends. I am just so busy…wah! Candy Land will be my main focus this summer. I will get to all of your requests. Click on any cover to grab any of these games on sale!

Here are my kiddos during math stations. At least once a week I will pull out all the Candy Land math games & they can pick their partner & pick which game they want. I will rotate them every 7-10 minutes. I will be introducing the Time Candy Land game tomorrow.

I finally finished all of the Journey’s first grade games. You can click on the pic above to grab it for a big discount.

Now that we have learned all of our long & short vowels…this is a great review for them!

Do you know what you are doing for Mother’s Day??? If you are ambitious start the project above. I will be updating this year after year. This was an incredible gift to our parents. They absolutely LOVED it!

I can’t really express how much my kids LOVE writing now. I have NEVER had a year where I actually reached them & kept them engaged and interested in writing all year long! I am patting myself on the back. I have finally given them the love of writing in first grade….that is a very hard task! I am working on set 2 right now but I am pretty sure it won’t be ready until the summer. I work painfully slow.

Check out my new writing center HERE! The feedback makes my heart melt!

Here is a peek into my Spring-a-licious ELA & Math unit! It’s so colorful & fun…I just love it!

Is that the sun peeking through our window? Why yes it is!

Finally, if you didn’t see my candy bar end of the year awards…check them out HERE. I stole borrowed the red carpet idea from my blogging buddy Reagan over at Tunstall’s Teaching Tidbits. I literally whipped these together at the last minute & had no idea how popular they would be with my students & parents. I have something up my sleeve for this pack…hint..hint.

CHECK OUT THESE END OF THE YEAR AWARDS HERE.

Did you hear about the TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS CONFERENCE IN VEGAS??? I HAD TO CHANGE TO ALL CAPS BECAUSE I’M SCREAMING! I AM PRESENTING!!!! WHAT? HOW DID THAT HAPPEN? I AM AND I AM BEYOND HONORED! PLEASE COME SEE ME! PLEASE…PLEASE..PLEASE. I DON’T WANT MY SESSION TO BE A PARTY OF ONE. WELL, TWO BECAUSE I’LL MAKE MY HUBS COME IF YOU WON’T.

ANYWHO, IF YOU HAVEN’T CHECKED IT OUT…YOU MUST. I AM PRESENTING A SESSION ON PINTEREST. DO YOU FOLLOW ME? YES, YOU MUST. BACK TO PINNING…….PEACE OUT!