I am trying to decide if I should upgrade to a premium seller on TPT.  No, I have not sold tons and tons of products, but I am creating more and more.  I looked at the difference between being a basic seller, and a premium seller, and it's amazing the difference in what I would earn per item.

I did the math, of course I have to it is a $60 investment in myself!  I would have to sell 70.5 $1 products, or 35.29 $2 products.  Of course these are all at full price!!.  I think if I spent enough time creating, I might be able to do this.  

The problem is, when do most of you buy?  

I know that I do most of my purchasing when the sales happen.  I am a frugal person, and if I know I can get it 28% off I will wait until then if I can.  There have been times when I have had to buy things before they went on sale, but I try to plan on what I will be doing.

I will probably upgrade to a premium seller some time in the month of July.  My guess is that I will finally be in a good roll of creating, I will have worked all summer on product, and I know people will be getting ready for going back to school.  I hope that by investing in myself this summer that it will pay off!  I am excited to see where TPT can take me, and what I will be able to create for my class next year, and hopefully for your class too!!

Don't forget to check out the last day of the sale today!  

Make sure you get those most wanted things on your wish list!!  I just uploaded a superhero writing pack last night, so go check it out!!  Of course it is part of the sale too!!

I can't wait to use it with my kids next Thursday when we have a superhero day!!

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Cassandra

I love IG and I love my IG family!  I don't know what I would do without you ladies, and a few guys!! :)

Seriously, some days I don't know how I make it through.  Things at work are going okay, but I can't wait for next year.  We are in the middle of a big change at work, and things are going to be very different next year.

I love all of the amazing people that I have found on IG and that they create such amazing products that I could use in my classroom.  I was talking with Ashely over at Schroeder Shenganigans in 2nd!  I was telling her how amazing it would be if we all worked in one school!  

Could you imagine what that school would be like?!

Most of the teachers I follow on IG and the blogging world are inventors!  We spend hours pouring over TPT, Instagram and blogs trying to find the newest ideas, and the best ways to reach our students.  We are searching for a way to do things differently so we can reach our students!

Seriously, what would a school be like, if in every classroom the teachers were engaged, active, and searching for new ways to reach their students!?!

What do the rest of you do to help those who bring you down at work?  I have my bestie at school, and my bestie who used to work with me that I call and can talk with, but I feel like I am out numbered.

Make sure you take part of the amazing TPT sale going on right now!!  I was able to grab some amazing products and graphics to create new things for my classroom and for you!!

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Cassandra

Today my kiddos took their next Star reading test this morning.  We take it at the beginning or end of every trimester to set their new AR goals.  I then usually look at the data, and send home their new goals for parents to approve.

Well, today I didn't have a chance to look at their results before our resource teacher checked them out.  She went and talked to our first grade teacher who is my Daily 5 buddy!  We originally had tried to have daily 5 meetings once a week to talk about what we were doing, but she's got four kids, I have two babies, and it didn't work out.

Needless to say we are both doing it, and loving it.  We are both worried that we aren't meeting everything we need to, but are so glad that we aren't reading the same stories over and over again, and just doing a worksheet to do one.

Well the reason my resource teacher went to talk to the first grade teacher was to talk about how awesome our two classes did!  So far my kids are doing amazing!!  Almost every kid has already shown a year's growth, and my class averaged a 15% increase in their national average!!  That is amazing to me!!  Yes, I still have my low kids, who work with the resource teacher.  I also have my above average kids who I try to challenge, but could probably be teaching us the class.

I am so proud of my kids!!  It is amazing to see such progress, and such growth!  I am so excited for my kids, and to see that our hard work is paying off!  I can't wait to see how they do on the standardized testing in the fall, and to see the growth they should show!!  I am hopeful that our new fourth and second grade teachers will be interested in what we are doing as well so we can try to keep the constancy going!!

Most of my kids are now scoring nationally above 80%, with a few still in the 70s!  I only have two kids, who aren't serviced, who are still in the third grade reading level.  I am so happy we are using the Daily 5, my kids can read any book they like, and they are able to all read at their reading level!!

What tests or ways do you measure your students growth?  I would love to hear new ideas on how to show how much my students have grown!!

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Cassandra

I can't believe that it is Monday night already!!  Where has my long weekend gone?!  After having my operation on Thursday, my weekend went by way too fast.  I had two kids, via c section and I have taken more pain medicine for this simple operation than I did for both recoveries with my babies!!

My hubby and I were able to sneak away for the weekend, and my in-laws kept the kids so we could head up to Sedona for a kid free relaxing weekend!  It was so nice, but went by way too quickly!  Saturday we woke up, went to eat breakfast, watched a movie, and then I worked, worked, worked!!  I was working on report cards, new products, and planning!  Saturday night we went out to dinner again, and then played a game when we got back.

Now, here we are, Monday night and I am not ready for the week.  I'm hoping I will be able to take my pain meds with me to work, but I don't want them to mess me up while I'm at work!  I'm thankful that tomorrow starts our teacher appreciation week too!!  Our parents always go above and beyond!!

Okay, time for the first linky!  I'm linking up with Trina over at The Ordinary to Extraordinary Classroom again this week for Meet the Teacher Monday!!

This week is all about . . . WHAT IF!?!

1.  If you could stop a bad habit that you have, what habit would you stop?

My bad habit would be needing to be in control.  I like things done a certain way, so I have a hard time giving things up and asking for help.  Things have been a little better in this department this school year because I have two aides, so I have had to find things for them to do.  This has allowed me the opportunity to give up some of the control.

2.  If you woke up suddenly because your house was on fire, what three things would you grab?

God willing my children were already safe, I would grab my external hard drive (all of my pictures), and then my kid's blankets so that way they could have something to help them through the loss.  (Both of my kids need their blankies to sleep)

3.  We live in a dystopian society, and the music police is in charge of all things music.  If you were forced to listen to one song for the rest of your life, what song would it be?  You can only pick one!

One song, wow, too many to choose from.  My one song would probably be by Jeremy Camp - he is my favorite and speaks to my heart.  There will be a day would be my choice, or This Man.  He is coming to town next week, and I wish I could go to see him perform.  He is playing after the GCU basketball game though, and on a Thursday night!!  Why do artists do that to us?!!  Don't they know that we have to work the next day too!

4.  If you saw someone with their dress tucked into their SPANX, would you tell them?

OF COURSE!  I would pray that someone would tell me.  I often point out to my kids, in secret of course, when they forgot to finish taking care of business in the restroom.

5.  If you were given a time machine and could go back in time to give your younger self a message, what would that message be?

I would tell myself not to spend all of my graduation money on my high school boyfriend.  I would make sure that I knew that it was going to be a rocky road, and that he was going to help turn me into who I am today, but that he isn't worth all of the pain he will cause me.

6.  If you were able to have one supernatural power, what power would it be?

My power would be to function on less sleep!

7.  If you could have 25 hours a day (while everyone else still has 24), what would you do with that extra hour?

If I knew for sure that my children would not wake up during that extra hour, I would for sure use this extra hour to sleep!!

8.  If you could live in one time period, what time period would you choose?

I don't know if any one time period is better than another.  I feel like every time period has their own problems.  I am almost afraid of what it will be like when my children are in their teenage years.

9.  If you could live anywhere in the world (cost is not a factor), where would you live?

I don't really care what location I lived in, as long as I could move everyone I loved near us!  I miss being so far away from my family and my besties!

10.  If you could have a grand party, and invite any 3 people in the world (dead or alive, real or fictional), who would you invite?

Can I only invite 3 people?  How about 3 couples?  I would want Nat's godparents there, my best friend and her family from college.  My best friend from home, and her family.  My 3rd person would be my work BFF, and her hubby.  I miss these three ladies so much, and they have helped me become the woman, mom, wife and teacher that I am!

I'm also linking up with Amanda over at Teaching Maddeness to talk about my other favorite thing, READING!!

I love to read!  My goal for the year is to read 24 books this year, which is a low goal for me, but I wanted to try to read educational books this year too.  Plus, now with my mini me crawling all over the place, my hours of reading are only in bed at night.

With this long weekend I was able to start and finish the second book in the Testing trilogy.  I love these types of books, where they are looking at what the world could be like in the future.  I started reading The Testing thanks to someone on IG, and couldn't wait to get my hands on the second book, Independent Study!  I was sad when I finished it in a day and found out that the third book wasn't going to be out until JUNE!!

In school we have been learning about the Olympics.  We have been reading about the Olympics, and writing about the Olympics.  We have been reading Hour of the Olympics in the Magic Tree House series.  I only had a few students who had read it before, so it was great! We were able to learn more about the ancient games, which went along well with our vocabulary words too!

I am excited to start a new book this week, I just don't know which one yet!!  I am excited for this linky party though, and to find new books to read!!

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Cassandra

I am supposed to be sitting here working on report cards comments, but instead I have made a new desktop background for my computer!!  I have seen a couple of these going around Instagram, but thought I would create one too!  I love it, and I hope that it helps keep me motivated!!

I used a lot of my favorites for the design pieces!  Don't you just love that monster!!

Now I know I must get back to working on my report cards, but I thought I'd share this fun sample with you!!  If you want a copy, just let me know!!

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Cassandra

I am so excited to be linking up with Trina again over at The Ordinary to Extraordinary Classroom!  I love her Meet the Teacher Monday!  I get to know some of my favorite bloggers better, and you get to know me even better!

This week I am excited because I received my shipment from Creative Teaching Press!!  I am excited to be testing out some of their products!

Meet the Teacher Monday: Love is in the Air!!

1.  What is your relationship status?  I have been happily married for almost 8 years now!!  I married my best friend June 30, 2007!

2.  Would you date or marry someone with kids?  Did you marry someone with kids?  I love kids, so I wouldn't mind having kids. I know it would be hard to date someone who had a child, or to marry someone who already had kids.  I am not saying I am against it now, but I know when I got married I wasn't ready for it.

3.  Do you prefer older or younger men?  I have dated both, but my husband is older than I am.  Sometimes you wouldn't know it the way he acts.  I do often say that I have three children!

4.  If you could choose to date or marry one character on film or TV, who would you date?  I don't watch enough TV to have a character that I would marry, but I do love Ted from How I Met Your Mother!

5.  How do you feel about PDA?  I HATE PDA!!  My parents are obnoxious about PDA, so I am totally against it!

6.  What is your biggest turn on?  I love a man who is okay with being goofy and playing with his kids!

7.  What is your biggest turn off?  I dislike a smoker, or men who smoke.  It is not a turn on at all for me. I dated a smoker once, and I wouldn't kiss him if he had been smoking.

8.  Would you date or marry someone shorter than you?  I dated guys shorter than me, but that was when we were younger and dating meant we hung out during lunch time.  :)  I am pretty short, so I've never had to worry about dating someone shorter than me since it really mattered.

9.  Have you ever tried online dating?  Your thoughts?  I have never tried online dating, but I know a few people who have.  A teacher who used to work with me met her husband online dating!!

10.  What is your dream date night?  My dream date has changed over time.  Now my dream date night would be a dinner out, and then an early night in bed!! I miss sleeping!!

Check out these awesome books I just got from Creative Teaching Press!!

I can't wait to check them out, plus all of the other goodies that were in my box today!!

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Cassandra

I am so excited that it is a short week this week!  Not so excited that it is the end of our trimester and we are finished with our second trimester on Friday!  That not only means that I have to make sure that I am on my students all week for all missing work, that also means I try to have everything graded by Wednesday so they have two days of me reminding them they need to turn things in!!

On top of that, then I also have to write report card comments, and behavior this next weekend!  My goal is to start working on report card comments now so that way I don't have to worry about it next weekend.  The hubby and I are going away for the weekend, and I really don't want to work on anything while we are there.  Maybe in the car, but for sure not while we are there!!

Anyone have any awesome tips for report card comments?  Currently I have a word document with comments saved in it, and I just reference that, but I feel as if I say the same thing, over and over again!

I am linking up with Deedee over at Mrs. Wills Kindergarten for a peek at my week!  Make sure you go check out all of the awesome things that others are doing this week!  Deedee figured out how to make her plans an HTML map too, so I hope to be able to do that too!!  It is AWESOME!!

This week we are going to continue our look into the Olympics in reading!  We didn't get as far as I thought we would last week, which is totally fine with me!!  Then next week we'll dive into President's Day activities!  My kids are loving the Magic Treehouse book!  I have never read one, and lots of my students have read them, but only a few have previously read this specific one!

We worked hard on brainstorming last week for our gold student writing, and will be finishing up our final drafts this week!  I can't wait to get them hanging around our room.  If you are still looking for a fun writing activity to go with the Olympics, make sure you check out Kelly Dolling's awesome pack!!  My kids are loving reading about Russia and the Olympics thanks to her mini books too!

I can't wait to see all of the awesome work that my students do this week with Schroeder's Shenanigan's in 2nd too!  These are printed, laminated and ready to go for some fun word work this week!!

In math we are going to work on area and perimeter really hard this week.  I have a packet they are going to work on, so we can stay away from our book.  I don't think my textbook gives them enough time to practice this concept.  We are also going to spend the week reviewing our multiplication.  Our first multiplication facts are going to be due on Friday!  I hope that they do well!

I was so excited to grab a copy of The Blessed Teacher's new math centers!  My kids are going to love working on their multiplication and fractions while they are practicing in these centers on Wednesday and Thursday!  Lucky Little Learners made this awesome pack where students are able to decode different messages too!  I printed them all, and am laminating them so that way the students can just write on the sheets.  Then I am going to have them create their own messages too!!  I'm excited about the fractions practice my students will get with coloring hearts from Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher too!!  There are some great writing activities in her packet too!

On Friday we will also play with some conversation hearts!!  I created an activity a few years ago for them to do with their box of hearts.  Now I just have to update it, and get it TPT ready!

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Cassandra

I am so excited to be linking up with Trina again over at The Ordinary to Extraordinary Classroom!  I love that you can link up any day, and that it isn't only on Mondays!!

This week we are looking at the FAST FIVE!!  PS I love this movie and don't know how they are going to go on without Paul Walker!  :(

1.  List five things you always keep in your purse - 

I ALWAYS have chap stick!!  It is a must!  

My wallet, school keys, library card and camera are my other must haves!

2.  List five things you love about yourself - 

I'm a planner

My love to give to others

My passion to teach

I love to read,

I am willing to keep learning 

(This was a really hard question for me!)

3.  List five things you do to keep yourself entertained - 

READ - I wish I could stay at home every day curled up with a good book in front of the fireplace!  Since having kids I realize what a joy it is to have 10 minutes of peace to read!

Play with my kiddos

Check Instagram

Read amazing blogs

Watch The Bachelor, Revenge, or HIMYM

4.  List five things that attract you to the opposite sex - 

Funny, outgoing, kind, easy going, loves kids (My hubby!!)

5.  List five things you wish to accomplish in 2014 - I have set many, many different goals for 2014!! I want to spend more time with my husband (aren't they always the last ones to get our time!)  

I want to spend more time with my kids, really with them (not checking IG).  

I wish I could go to a math conference this summer to learn more about this Singapore stuff!  

I wish we could find a way to get a second car.  

I hope that we will be able to refinance our home, and find ways to become smarter with the finances that God has blessed us with!

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Cassandra

So I am not as cool as everyone else and I haven't figured out how to get my plans for the entire week to fit into a cool PDF document, but I have started to break down my subjects so I can see them better, and I feel that I am better prepared!

I am so excited about the new products I was able to score this weekend because of all of the amazing sales that everyone was having for the Super Bowl too!!

I can't wait to use the awesome Olympic packs that I was able to score today!!  I can't wait for my students to become more familiar with some Olympic words thanks to Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd!  You can check out her awesome word work pack here!

I love reading aloud to my kids, so we are finishing up our study on MLK this week, and then I was going to start the Magic Tree House book about the Olympics.  I love the information from Kelly Dolling, Teacher Idea Factory too!!  My kids are going to learn so much about Russia, and the Olympics this week they aren't going to know what hit them!!

In  math we are going to be jumping into a lot of fun Valentine's Day activities!  I have been printing and am all ready for my aide to start laminating and cutting for me in the morning!!  I seriously don't know what I would do without my two favorite ladies!!

I am excited about some of these differentiated activities, and hope that my kiddos enjoy them too!!

Thanks for such an awesome link Mrs. Wills!  I hope to be back to do it again soon!  Make sure you go and post your weekly plans so we can see the exciting things you will be doing this week too!!

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Cassandra

I am linking up for this month's currently thanks to Farley over at Oh Boy 4th Grade!  I love this link ups, and look forward to reading others posts every month!!

Listening - yes I am finally getting caught up on my DVR!  It has been a super busy week, so this is the first night that I have been able to sit down and get caught up!  I am loving watching them getting married, and how much that are putting God into the beginning of their relationship!  I love that ABC didn't block any of it out either!!

Loving - this weekend I was able to spend a lot of time with family.  My husband's sister flew in for the weekend with her family.  We were with them last night, all day today and will get to spend tomorrow morning with them too!

Thinking - I am thinking that I have so much to do!!  I plan out a unit at a time, so I am a little behind as we just finished our science chapter.  I also have a couple of spelling lists to work on since I am now offering an advanced list to about 10 students in my class.

Wanting - I can't wait for Valentine's Day weekend to be here.  My husband and I are going to be going away for the weekend, KIDLESS!!  I am so excited!!  We don't get very many evenings out, let alone a whole weekend!

Needing - I can't wait to have a massage, and I hope I will be able to schedule one during our weekend away!

2 Truths and a fib - My lie is about how long I have been married.  I do have two beautiful children, but my husband and I did not get married until 2007.  I graduated college in 2007, and we had planned on waiting until our 5th anniversary to begin our family.  God had different plans for us though, and I am so thankful because I couldn't imagine my life without my baby boy!!  I cheered from fourth grade, until my freshmen year of college.  No two years were the same, and I loved almost every one of them!

Don't forget to enter in Kristen's giveaway over at Easy Teaching Tools to win my newest Valentine's Day multiplication fact practice!

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Cassandra