Do YOU Need a Gift Card for the Big Sale?

It's one of my favorite times of the year!  There's an upcoming sale for Teachers Pay Teachers!

My store will be 28% off if you use the code HEROES when you check out.  

This is a great time to get some things on your wish list!  

You might be interested in some of these:

My Reading Wonders Unit 5 GROWING Bundle currently has weeks 1, 2, and 3.  Weeks 4 and 5 will be coming soon!

And now to the best part!  How would you like to win a TpT $20 gift card?  You can enter below.  I'll be back on Tuesday evening (Hawaiian time) to pick a winner!  Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

To up your chances even more, head on over to my sweet friend at Surfin' Through Second and enter to win a gift card from her!

Just Treats for Halloween!

I like to get treats on Halloween, and I always consider a sale to be a good treat!  I've put my whole TpT store {here} on sale for 20% off!  

Happy Halloween everyone!

TpT 100,000 Flash Sale

Can you believe Teachers Pay Teachers' Facebook page has reached over 100,000 likes?  I'm so grateful for being part of the TpT and blogging community.  The resources, networking, and ideas I've received from TpT and bloggers have greatly influenced my teaching for the better.

TpT is throwing an impromptu sale in honor of their achievement!

Make sure you use the code FB100K to get 10% off the whole site.  I've also placed my store on sale for 20%.  That gives you a savings of 28% off!

This is a great time to stock up on some of those things on your wish list.

My Bundled Fluency Task Cards are super helpful when working with students on fluency either in small groups, RTI, or as a center.  I've also included them in color and black & white to help save you ink!

My Prefix and Suffix Anchor Charts are great for those kids that need a visual to help them remember and retain material.

My I Can Find....Short Vowels, Digraphs, and Blends are an easy to implement print and go center.  Since students use books on their independent reading level to complete this activity, it's easy to differentiate for all of your students.

Happy shopping!  I'm off to fill up my cart now.  :)

Time is Running Out (giveaway and a sale!)

Before I get to the important stuff (ya know the sale!), there's 2 things that running out of time quick!

First, have you check out this awesome Educents Bundle?

There's only 3 days left, and you can get some AWESOME stuff for only $29.99.  You don't want to miss out on this deal, because you'll be saving some serious money with this great price.  Click {here} to check it out.

Second, my Pin It to Win It giveaway is almost over!  You only have today to enter and then you can win any item you want from my store!  So click {here} to enter.

And I know a bunch of you are lesson planning and planning activities for the month of October.  I put all of Halloween themed items on sale for HALF off just for today!  Click on any of the pictures to check them out.  

Five for Friday - August 16th

I've been slacking on the blogging issue, but I'm trying to get back in the swing of things.  I've been so tired since I started back to school.  Any other teachers dragging right now?

So I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to show you a glimpse of my week.

Last weekend, I got to meet up with some of my favorite blogging friends!  Tonya from Tonya's Treats for Teachers is on the left and just moved to Hawaii and lives right near me.  Courtney from Teaching in Paradise is next and her school is right near Target.  Here in Hawaii that's a BIG deal!  I'm next.  And then sweet Sarah from Smiling in Second Grade was here visiting for vacation and got to come meet up with us.  So fun!

My students have been reviewing beginning sounds last week.  Come check out my post {here} on A Special Sparkle about how I did an easy accommodation for one of my struggling students.

We also worked on counting on from numbers other than 1.  Look for this to be added to my TpT store in the near future!

At our Wednesday faculty meeting, we all looked at our students reading level and made a visual chart of where they fell on the Tier Level.  Here's my first grade students based upon their F&P level from the end of kindergarten year.  We also wrote where we want our students to be by the end of this year if they make a year's worth of growth.  I have 3 preA students who need to be a level D by the end of the year and 2 level B students who need to be a level G.  I have my work cut out for me!

I'm super excited about the big sale about to start on Teachers Pay Teachers.  My wishlist is FULL and I need stuff for my classroom!  My store {here} will be 20% off so you can get 28% off if you use code BTS13 at check out.  

4th of July sale and don't miss the giveaway!

I am linking up with Flying Thru First Grade to do a great 4th of July sale!  Everything in my store will be 20% off for July 3rd and 4th.

Come see all the other stores who have linked up for the big sale {here}.

You also don't want to miss out on your chance to win a FABULOUS set of Draw Write Now books through my giveaway.  The giveaway ends July 4th so make sure you click {here} to enter.

I hope everyone has a safe and happy 4th of July!

Fabulous Feedback Linky Party

I'm super excited to be linking up with Christina from Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge for a really cool linky party!

I'm going to be showcasing some of the fabulous feedback I've received from my amazing followers and buyers on TpT.  In case you didn't know, bloggers LOVE reading feedback.  :) 

If any of these fabulous feedback comments are yours, please leave me a comment by midnight May 8th, and I'll send you a freebie of your choice!

 Making Smart Choices can be found {here}.

I Can Write About.... can be found {here}. 

Speed Racer - A Long ee and ea Game can be found {here}. 

Bright Colors Clip Chart can be found {here}.

Remember the Teacher Appreciation Sale is on May 7 - 8.

Making Smart Choices ~ Helping Students Deal with Frustration and Anger

I had mentioned on my Facebook page {follow me here} that last week was a ROUGH week for one of my behavior students.  There was hair pulling, climbing under desks, crying, hitting, scratching, and it wasn't even me doing it.  :/

My student's daily sticker chart that I send home looked like pretty rough this past Tuesday.  It was NOT a good day in my classroom.  The physically aggressive behaviors have been increasing a lot lately.  You can read about how I track behavior and provide positive reinforcement {here}.

We might only have 15 days of school left, but I knew I had to do something.  Often there are a lot of external factors that influence our students' behaviors that we can't control such as medications, problems at home, lack of sleep, etc.  But it's always best to be proactive.

Students that have behavior problems will often need to be explicitly taught how to handle their feelings of frustration and anger and what they can do instead of lashing out.

I created this Making Smart Choices unit for my student, so he can work on identifying his feelings before they get out of control.  This unit is meant to be a teaching tool to use before disruptive behaviors are happening.  You can click on the pictures to check them out in my TpT store.

We all know Teacher Appreciation Day is coming soon.  As a way to show our appreciation, there will be a big sale over at TpT on May 7th and 8th.

You'll be able to get up to 28% off everything in my store {here} if you use code TAD13.  This is a perfect time to clear our your wishlists and to stock up on things you'll need for the beginning of next school year.

Thanks to my friend at Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs for the awesome sale sign!

Five for Friday - March 29

Normally, I'm so excited link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday.  I'm not as excited today, because it means my amazing spring break is almost over.  Boo!

This has seriously been my most enjoyable spring break ever.  I have sooooo many pictures, but I'll try to limit them to the most important things we did.  I guess I'll have to save the other pictures for another post.

Our first stop was Waimea Falls.  It's such a gorgeous place!  There are so many really cool plants.  They have Hawaiian huts that you can explore and see how people used to live many years ago.  You can swim to the waterfall at the end (or if you're lucky a very fit lifeguard will give you a ride on his surfboard). 

We've been meaning to visit the USS Arizona Memorial since we arrived on island.  I'm so glad we took the time to visit the memorial.  If you visit Hawaii, I highly recommend going here.  You do need to get there very early though or make reservations through their website.  They only give so many tickets each day.  We were fortunate that a Park Ranger had 6 extra tickets and gave them to us for a tour right after we arrived.  Otherwise, we would have waited about 3 hours before we were able to go on the tour.

Before you take a ferry to see the memorial, you watch a 9-minute movie that does a great job explaining the events leading up to the attack on Pearl Harbor and the damage that was done so quickly.  Can you imagine a whole battleship sinking in less than 10 minutes?

The USS Arizona is still leaking oil, despite it being over 70 years since it sunk.  Not only can you see the oil floating on the water, the smell was incredibly strong.

I was also surprised to learn that many of survivors of the USS Alabama have chosen to have their cremated remains placed back inside the USS Alabama with their fallen comrades.  What a tragic day on December 7, 1941, and those that gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country should be remembered.

We also did some hiking at one of the kids' favorite spots.  They love hiking up to the pillboxes in Lanikai.

We explored some new beaches at Bellows Air Force Base, which is right near where we live.  It's gorgeous there!  We're already planning a trip back for this weekend.

And finally, it's time for some spring cleaning!  Not only does my house need to be cleaned (you won't believe how much sand accumulates in here), my TpT wishlist needs to be cleaned out!  I'm having a sale on my entire store for Saturday and Sunday.  You can get 20% off the entire store.

I'll definitely be cleaning out my wish list, because there are some other great bloggers joining in on this sale!

Show Us What You Bought!

I don't know about you guys but I just LOVE a Teachers Pay Teachers sale!  Sunday was no different and it took all I could do not spend a small fortune.  

I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' to show you guys what I bought.

Here's some of the awesome things I purchased!

My favorite thing is Katie Knight's Print Like a Jedi Master.  

We started using it today!!  

My kiddos need a lot of practice writing their numbers and counting.  Kinder Craze's Count and Write to 100 (one decade at a time) will be perfect for giving them more practice.

We'll be starting a shapes unit soon and Kim Adsit's Shapes Galore for the Common Core is a nice supplement.

Phonemic awareness is a really, really tough skill for my students.  Julie's Phonemic Awareness Activity Pack has a lot of activities that we'll be using frequently in small group.

I've noticed that many of my special education students have a difficult time with drawing.  I'm excited to start using Krissy's Guided Drawing Literacy Centers with them.

Did you get anything good?

Five for Friday, February Currently and a Sale!

I love Friday, because well it's Friday!  And because I get to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday.  Even better is that it's also time for Oh' Farley's February Currently.  Seriously, both on the same day?  Loooooove!

1.  Last Sunday, I went to Whole Foods to pick up a quick dinner.  After I got there, I realized my "slippers" (what Hawaiians call flip flops) were 2 different shoes.  :/

2.  One day this week, I walked by my 7-year-olds room and saw this......her staring at herself in the mirror for an EXTENDED period of time.  Seriously, she didn't even know I was there while I took the pic and watched her.  I'm beginning to be concerned about her teenage years.

3.  One of our chrysalis finally turned into a butterfly!  We got to release this one on Wednesday.  I have more chrysalis left.  I hope the rest of them turn.  I have 2 possibles for the weekend.

4.  This is my crazy Great Dane, Harley, in her stand-off with a HUGE snail.  This was as close as she would get to the snail but was having a fit.  I do believe the snail won the round since Harley was terrified.

5.  These AWESOME social story books by Julia Cook came this week.  I read about them on The Lower Elementary Cottage's blog and knew I had to have them.  We already read The Worst Day of my Life EVER!  I seriously love them!!  They go along perfectly with the rules and skills I'm trying to teach all day.

Now onto the February Currently.  I so look forward to them every month!  I love reading what others put on their Currently's.

Is anyone else as exhausted as I am?  By Friday evening, I don't want to do ANYTHING.  But somebody really needs to do some laundry around here.  I guess that someone is me but I just don't wanna!  

Let's talk about pet peeves.  One thing that drives me BONKERS is when kids put their arms in their sleeves and/or stick their knees in their shirts.  Does this drive anyone else crazy?  I feel like the this pet peeve may not even be rational, but it is soooooo annoying to me!

I'm also excited to announce that on Sunday my TpT store will be 20% off all day.  If you use the code SUPER, TpT will give you another 10% off for a total of 28% off!  I'm really excited about this big sale, because that means I can stock up on a ton of things on my wishlist.  Shhhh....don't tell my husband but I have over 100 things on that list.

Thanks to Ashley Hughes for this adorable graphic.