So it's been awhile...

As I have been reading and downloading and starting school and getting my girls finished with summer and ready to start school on Wednesday I realized that between vacation, going back to school and basically starting everything again... it's been awhile since I posted anything. (and even then it was just giveaway posts) Wow can you feel the *and*s in there... So we are 10 days in and it's been a whirlwind. I have implemented a couple of things I found over the summer, but am really feeling like I have tons of stuff that needs to be filed somewhere on the computer and then do something with all of it. I've got the new clip system in place, GO Books in place, calendar books begun Sept 1 and neglected Sept 2 (oh well, we'll make it up on Tuesday) It's all about the basic routines over and over again... am I blue yet? I love that one cute little girl gave herself yellow instead of green and made her mom so anxious about it she sent me an email to ask how she could encourage better behavior... lesson learned do not let them have anything that looks like yellow green or green yellow to do behavior charts. Back to school was in a different format this year and that threw off some of the info the parents "should" have gotten. I did use a couple of things that found over the summer, but it's lonely trying to share about all the wonderful blogs and bloggers out there when all of my colleagues just stare at me blankly. They do like that I have lots of new resources, but expect me to share and explain it all... can't they start blog stalking like everyone else??? Of course I didn't print everything out as I found it this summer... let's just say "wrong choice"! So there are no math stations or literacy stations or even just "centers" yet. I still haven't figured out how to do the required curriculum and implement stations. Do some of you not have district mandated curriculum that you must use? It sure seems as though you are just free to do your own thing. Then there are all the things "we've always done" that I'm feeling pressured to use - "why can't we all just keep doing them?" I know that eventually I will get more things into place, but I'm a little disappointed when I read how well stations are going in other classrooms. It would have been so nice to have every single idea that I found ready and in place to start off the year. I know, I know that's a little unrealistic... it would make my perfection-istic tendencies so happy. It would also require another "me" or a friend who also had all the same good ideas floating around in her head that would make half the stuff so we could share in the work... I am a dreamer... And then there is the need to lesson plan fully, but that would require that there would be a few minutes at some point to sit down and try to think through how this will all work in conjunction with one another. Ahhh... but the three day weekend was enjoyed. We had 50 people over at the house this afternoon. So glad it was fun for children and grown-ups too! Do we really have to go back tomorrow? I think they really learned everything they needed to in those 10 days :) I really, really like summer... Is it June yet?

Primary Connections TpT giveaway

Primary Connections is having a giveaway for reaching 200 followers :) A $20 gift certificate to TpT would come in handy for the upcoming sale so go visit her site to enter.



Here's the link if you missed her button - Primary Connections

Fun in First Giveaway

Fun in First is having a fabulous giveaway with 11 bloggers participating by giving away some pretty amazing resources. You must go visit her site to join in the fun! Here's the link Fun in First

Effective Teaching Articles Giveaway and FREE printables

Are you ready to PARty? You are invited to attend Effective Teaching Articles

BACK TO SCHOOL BLOG PARTY

When: Everyday, August 1st-5th, 2011

Where: Effective Teaching Articles

Starting on Monday, August 1st, there will be a post about a new giveaway each day throughout the week. There will be a different prize each day. Winners will be chosen randomly using random.org.

But wait! That's not all! There will also be a post about a brand new, original FREE printable each day for back to school!

Prizes up for grabs include gift cards, shopping sprees, handcrafted jewelry, and back to school goodies. Pop in each day to enter the drawings and download your free teaching resource.

Here's the link to join in the fun! Effective Teaching Articles

Oh the Places You'll Go Giveaway!

Yay! I'm super excited to have over 400+ followers! I would like to thank each & every one of you for hanging on & following my blog. Between pinning on Pinterest & blogging I don't know how I am going to go back to school. I think I need a 12 step program to get me through the withdrawl! Thank goodness for my iphone & my google reader app & pinterest app...I will be scrolling through blogs & pinning on my lunch hour that is for sure!
Now it's time to learn about this giveaway. I am very crafty & make tons of stuff for my classroom. If you are a bucket filler or plan to be one this year then you'll want to enter this giveaway!

Go visit her blog to find all the ways you can enter too!
Oh the Places You'll Go

HUGE Scrap*tacular Giveaway

What a fantastic giveaway. You simply must go visit Oh' Boy 4th Grade at this link to see just what exactly "HUGE" means. Oh' Boy 4th Grade link

Back to School Bonanza Contest!

Are you ready to go Back to School? This Back to School Bonanza Giveaway should help you get in the mood! Twelve fabulous bloggers have teamed up to give one lucky winner a huge back to school prize pack! Go visit Erica Bohrer's blog to enter - here's the link Erica Bohrer

Mrs. Miner's Giveaway

Mrs Miner is having a giveaway for a $25 Amazon giftcard. Oh the things I could buy and get free shipping on...

Go visit her at Mrs. Miner's Kindergarten Monkey Business for your chance to win too!

Artskills Giveaway

Little Miss Kindergarten has teamed up with Artskills for a super giveaway. You have seen Artskills amazing products at Target in the Dollar Spot. There are so many uses for the products.

Go visit Little Miss Kindergarten to enter!

Ingles 360 Giveaway

From Ana -

"Oh the places you'll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all." Dr. Seuss

Hi There! Today, we celebrate Friendship day in my homeland, Argentina.
I am so glad to have this blog to tell you "Happy Day dear friend!
and as part of this celebration I am hosting a giveaway with some of my
friends from Teaching Blog Addict
Primary Graffitti, Primary Inspired, Ms M , Mrs. Will Kindergarten, What's the buzz in first, Vintage teacher, Miss Kindergarten, Teaching in high heels

Here's the link to find out how you can go places too! Ingles 360

SWEET Giveaway :)

Mrs. Stamps is thrilled that 100 wonderful folks have decided to follow her blog. How exciting!!! To celebrate she's having a giveaway for something cold and sweet--the weather has been making her think of ICE CREAM!!
1st prize = $15 Coldstone Creamery gift card
2nd prize = $10 Coldstone Creamery gift card

Skip over to her blog for your chance to cool off with some yummy sweet ice cream!
Mrs. Stamp

First Grade OWLS

Here's what she said when she began her giveaway. I'm happy to report that I became follower #200! Yay for her and what a fun giveaway!

I woke up this morning and to my surprise had reached 100 followers. Yay! I can't believe in such a short time, I have connected with that many awesome people. Thank you to all who already follow me and I'm looking forward to sharing so much more as the school year is about to begin. To celebrate, I am having a GIVEAWAY! It really does feel like Christmas in July! My good friend and blogging buddy Dee Dee Wills is helping me out with this giveaway. If you win, you may choose any item from her TpT Store. She has so many great items to choose from. She has assessment packs, sight word games, {I love her rocket letter and numbers}, back to school items and tons of other literacy and math games. But WAIT ~ that's not all! The winner will also receive a $25 gift card from Target.
Have you been to their dollar section lately? TONS of goodies!

Go visit her blog First Grade OWLS !

Another Day in First Grade Giveaway

Here's what she said...

um, shoes. SHOES...a Mini Unit!
So I attended a week-long conference on inquiry or...project based learning. It was pretty cool. But anyway- we got to talking, and someone mentioned that their students were always obsessed with their shoes. I got to thinking about it...and you know what? They totally are. I thought of those mornings when Anthony came in with his cheesy smile and just blinked at me until I finally shifted my line of vision to his crisp new tennis shoes- or when I turn the lights off and there seemed to be a disco ball in the room...oh, no- just Hannah's bedazzled, rhinestoned, glittered shoes that also light up because they weren't fabulous enough before. =)

Well, if you can't beat 'em...teach 'em.

I've turned our love of shoes into a fun mini unit that would be great for the first few weeks of school (because most of their shoes are NEW therefore NOT STINKY!) and the best part is that you don't need anything for this unit but shoes!

Check it out!!

There's sorting, classifying, graphing, a SHOE CLUE mystery, and lots of fun activities about shoes!

Because I want to get lucky in Vegas, I'm going to give you some luck too...
I'm going to do this. It'll be free to anyone who blogs about this mini-unit. I don't have enough energy for another giveaway...so if you want it, post it on your blog and tell your friends to snag the limited time freebie, and leave me a comment telling me you've blogged it WITH YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS so I can send it to you...for FREE!

This is limited though. I'm going to Vegas and I'll be back Monday. SO you have until Sunday (7/24) to do this giveaway homework. I will send out the units on Monday night!

Wish me luck in VEGAS!!!

So here's the link Another Day in First Grade!

Teaching Heart Giveaway

"Teaching Heart ( www.teachingheart.net ) is hosting their annual back to school party on July 24th till July 30th. Each Day a new prize! Gift cards, Books, Teaching Heart Products, and more!!! Plus a free printable will be posted during the week. You need to visit the blog at; http://teachingheartmom.blogspot.com/
daily to check out the prizes each day and enter for the ones you want to win!!!"

Kindergarten Teacher Tales

Kindergarten Teacher Tales is going to make you the cutest crayon creation ever if you participate in her giveaway. Kindergarten Crayons would be the obvious choice to receive this ever so cute gift, but I like it too! (Good thing it's a random draw)

See told you it was cute :) She'll make it just for you so you'll have some choice to make if you win. How sweet is that?

If you would like to visit her to join in the fun make your way over to Kindergarten Teacher Tales!

Blog Design Giveaway!

Ladybug's Teacher Files is having a blog design giveaway! What a great opportunity to begin or update a blog.

Here are the prizes:

1. First name drawn (Grand Prize): A Mix and Match Template from Ladybug Teaching Resources, INCLUDING any offered extras. What is a Mix and Match Template? It is a new type of template that offers a great deal of choice and customization. Read (actually, watch) all about it here: Mix and Match Templates

2. Next 3 names drawn: Your choice of a Premade Template, INCLUDING any offered extras. You can see all Premade Templates here (there are two new ones!): Premade Templates

That's 4 winners, 4 different prizes!

You just must go a visit her at Ladybug's Teacher Files!

Mrs. Duggins' Doodlebugs giveaway

Mrs. Duggins' Doodlebugs is having a super cute giveaway for having 50 followers! Hooray for cute giveaways - go visit for your chance to win too!

Visit her here Mrs. Duggins' Doodlebugs!

Gigantic Giveaway from SunnyDays in Second Grade

Wow - Sunny Days is doing one gigantic giveaway for reaching 400 followers and she has a bunch of her friends helping out! You simply must visit her and join in on all the clicking you can do for lots of entries. Once TpT is back up and running I'll be able to add some more myself!

Visit Sunny Days in Second Grade and may the clicking begin!

Fabulous in First Giveaway

Fabulous in First is having a fabulous headband giveaway! Yay! I hope I win, but would love for you to see it too!

Visit Fabulous in First to enter for your chance at one of these super cute non-slip headbands!

Target Treasures Giveaway

We all love Target Dollar Spot and so does the new blog Target Treasures. So much so that she is having a $20 Target giftcard giveaway!

You really need to go visit her blog and enter for your chance to win! Visit by going to Target Treasures!

Oh the Places We'll Go

What a fun place it is over at Oh the Places We'll Go since she reached and has surpassed 200 followers! She is awfully crafty too and is willing to part with some of the cutest crafty items. Visit Oh the Places We'll Go to see her cute designs and enter for your chance to win!

Primary Graffiti Giveaway

Mrs. Saoud over at Primary Graffiti is giving away her Global Missions packet. She said "This year my class will learned how reduce, reuse, and recycle and the impact this has on our planet. Through rich global vocabulary, I expect that science will be exciting!" Here is a sample of the pages -

View her giveaway and enter for a chance to win this pack or visit her TpT store to buy it. Primary Graffiti!

A Little Kinder Told Me So

Yay! A super fun giveaway over at A Little Kinder Told Me So. You get a choice of
* a customized apple teacher bag- canvas tote bag with your name on it OR
* gift cards to two of my MOST favorite places (Target and Sonic- route 44 drinks baby) in the amount of $10 each
Fly over a join in the fun at A Little Kinder Told Me So!

Peace, Love & Learning Birthday Giveaway!

It's your birthday! Well, no really it just a fantastic packet to celebrate birthdays in you class. Included in this packet are:

1. Class Book - Each student fills out a page with a birthday wish for the birthday girl/boy. Color and b/w versions of the student pages are included.
2. Teacher Coupon – Give a colorful birthday coupon to the birthday boy/girl. Just write in a treat of your choice (no homework, sit at the teacher’s desk today, etc.) and sign your name.
3. Cupcake Birthday Chart - Includes pieces you can print and cut to make a birthday chart for your classroom.
4. Cupcake Birthday Graph – A math activity for students to complete using data from the classroom birthday chart.
5. Birthday Emergent Reader – A simple book with repetitive text for students to enjoy. Three versions are included: a mini-book for guided reading, a fill in the blanks version with missing words and a larger version for students to copy the text.

Now go give Donna some birthday love at Peace, Love & Learning!

First Grade Brain Giveaway

Mrs. Magee over at First Grade Brain is having a fabulous giveaway, especially if you are in need of some great items for your new math stations. Check out all the great freebies she is giving away and 10 ways to enter First Grade Brain!

HeidiSong giveaway from Mrs. Parker

Mrs. Parker has more than 500 followers and is doing a HeidiSong giveaway to celebrate!

I love and use Heidi's Sing and Spell cd's and am now ready to buy the DVD's and other goodies from her! She is an amazing teacher that is very close to where I am in terms of location.

So make your way over to see Mrs. Parker to enter today!

First Grade Frenzy Giveaway!

First Grade Frenzy is celebrating well over 100 followers by introducing us to her amazing friend. The jewelry is beautiful and you just might win something by entering her contest. Visit First Frade Frenzy for your chance to win!

Erica's Elementary Excitment!

Erica is hosting her first giveaway! The winner gets gift cards to both Target and Lakeshore! Find her giveaway at Erica's Elementary Excitment

Castles and Crayons

She hit 25 followers overnight! Now she's way up past 50... such a cute blog and she's having her first giveaway! Be sure to check it out at Castles and Crayons

Pocket Full of Kinders!

Wow! She got 60 followers in 1 week! What a great accomplishment! So now she is having a giveaway!
Find her blog at Pocket Full of Kinders

Sunny Days in Second Grade Giveaway

Congratulations to Sunny Days in Second Grade! She now has 200 followers and giving away $15 Amazon card and 5 items from her TpT store - a second place winner will be chosen if she get 250 followers! Check out her blog for all the ways to enter!

700 followers giveaway!

Look who has more than 700 followers now and a TpT giveaway!

Congrats to Jenn Bates at Finally in First!

She is giving away something from her TpT store so hurry over and find out 6 ways to enter!

Moffatt Girls Givaway!

A Fantastic Giveaway!
Hop on over to the Moffatt Girls for a giveaway from Ana at Ingles 360! You won't want to miss this one!

A Giveaway Galore

A Giveaway Galore (are you sure you have room for all this?)
Ok, are you sure you have enough room on your computer for all these fantastic things? Anna from Crazy for First Grade, Melissa from Mrs. Freshwater's Class, Erica from Erica Bohrer's First Grade, Michelle Oakes from Fabulous in First, Amanda from One Extra Degree, Cara from The First Grade Parade and myself, Kinderglynn have teamed up to offer you ALL these fabulous units and games! This is HUGE!

There are 5 ways to enter!

One Entry for Following all our blogs
One Entry for Following all our TPT stores
One Entry for Following all our Facebook Pages
One Entry for Putting all our Buttons on your blog
One Entry for Reposting this giveaway on your blog or facebook page

One Extra Degree button

Fabulous in First

Erica Bohrer button

Mrs. Freshwaters button

Fun in First button

Kinderglynn button

My First Blog Post!

It's time to start a blog since it's been so fun "lurking" on all the kinder and first grade blogs. Now to find some great things to share...