I'm so excited that I was able to have lunch with the beautiful Jennifer from The Blessed Teacher!  I have been blog stalking following for quite some time!  Plus I bought a product from her LAST YEAR from TPT, and didn't even know who she was!  It is amazing the way that this TPT / Blogging world is evolving!  I am so lucky to be in it, and to be able to meet such amazing people and educators!!

Jennifer and I met for lunch on Saturday since we both live here in the Phoenix valley.  It was awesome to be able to sit and talk about life, teaching, and our families.  We had already decided that we wanted to meet more people who live locally as well, so we decided to start planning a Blogger Meet Up!!  We are still confirming details, but this is where we need your help as well!!  We have set a date, for June 7 after school has ended and we are all done with the craziness of the end of the year!

Now we just need help deciding where to do this fun event!  We have talked about doing it in a central area, but we need to know where you will all be coming from!  I know we will have Heather from Learning with Mrs. Langley coming down from Cottonwood, but other than that we would love to make it easy for everyone to get to!  We are so excited, and I can't wait to ask Kristen and Ashley tons of questions too so I make sure we have an amazing meet up!!

I can't wait to meet so many amazing people here in Arizona, and then so many more in July in Vegas!!

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Cassandra

Sorry that I have been missing here lately.  My bible study ladies and I are reading 7 by Jen Hatmaker, and for the last two weeks we eliminated technology from our lives.  Not all technology, but we were trying to eliminate 7 pieces of technology, or 7 things that we did too much.  I did not give up IG or TPT, but felt like Bloglovin' or my own blog would be okay if I stepped away for two weeks.  Needless to say, I am way behind in what everyone has been doing!!

I am excited to link up with Jennifer at Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for a Peek at My Week!

I am excited that Easter is coming up in just a few short weeks because that means I will be able to start sharing the Easter story with my kids!! Be on the look out for some awesome products that will go over the true meaning of Easter!!  Plus of course I will have some fun math activities that we'll be able to do, as well as writing assignments.

This week we are going to be using some of my new spring math centers, as well as some other favorites!!  

Early in the week my kids will use Ashley's memory game to help them review the names for the different shapes, and then later in the week we will use the Scoot exercise for my review.  On Friday I am going to add the assessment page she created with my test to make sure that they have mastered the names of the different shapes.  You can grab her great product here, and make sure you grab it before her sale is over!!

We are continuing to work on fractions, and making sure that we understand how to name fractions.  I am excited for my students to complete both the picture and word problem fractions.  I know that the word problems will be harder for my students, but they will do great with the challenge!  These are on sale in my store until tomorrow night!

We are also working on an opinion writing piece, thanks to a goodie that Creative Teaching Press sent me!!  These plans aren't as visual, but they help me to map out what we are doing.  We are finishing our final leprechaun story, and my kids LOVE Bailey School kids.  I have so many kids who are reading all of the rest of the stories too!

Thanks to Creative Teaching Press we are working on an opinion piece.  CTP sent me these awesome opinion writing organizers.  We wear uniforms at our school, so I figured writing about what their opinion is on wearing uniforms would be perfect for our first try.  We are just starting these, so I'm excited to see how great these are going to be.  I'm already excited that they will help my students stay organized, and they can't lose all of their ideas this way!

Finally I am excited to announce that I have reached 775 followers on IG!!  I posted the other day that I would do something exciting for this, so . . . I am having my first GIVEAWAY!!  My store is on sale until tomorrow night, with everything marked down 20%!!  I also put my Superhero math activity on sale for $1!!  This is a 50% discount, which is why you will not see it marked as On Sale!

My kids loved the Superhero activities, and I hope yours will too!  The best part is that you can use them at any point during the school year!!

Not only will you win my superhero pack, both my writing and math activities, but you can choose any item from my store, for the next YEAR!!  I am so thankful to each of you for your support in this process and I know that each of you help me to become a better teacher!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Cassandra

This is my first time linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching and I am so excited for this linky party!  I did something like this on my family blog for a while, but then summer break ended, and I stopped blogging over there as much.  Then I started blogging here, and entered the TPT world!!

This week has been my spring break!  I have loved every minute of it!  I can't believe that it is already Friday though!  I have done no planning yet!!  EEEK!!  I have been able to spend so much time with my kids this week, which has been great!  I'm sad that I will have to hand them back over to grandmas on Monday!

I won a giveaway on Facebook!!  I very rarely win, so I was shocked to see an email from Ashley at Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd!!  I was so excited to win her helping verbs pack, and then realized that I had already bought it preparing for our upcoming unit!  I talked with her about it though, and I am going to be able to give this copy that I won away!!  Stay tuned next week for a giveaway!!

I am so excited the hubby and I made an appointment to talk with someone yesterday about refinancing our house!  We are in need of a second car, and we have been in our house long enough that we own more of our home so we can get rid of that PMI business!  We started the refinance process today and are just waiting for an appraisal now!!  I can't wait!!

This weekend I am going on a girl's trip!  I can't wait!  My bible study group decided in January that we all needed a weekend getaway!  So, we scheduled a trip for the end of our spring break and that day is now here!!  We are going up to Sedona for the weekend!  I am so excited, and can't wait for 2:00!!

I started buying stuff for my baby girl's first birthday party this week!  I knew if I didn't do it soon then I would run out of time and not get everything I wanted.  I can't believe that next month we will have a one year old!  My son is now talking in full sentences and in August he could barely say two word phrases!  I am amazed at how quickly my children are growing up!!

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Cassandra

Okay, so since I have started selling on TPT I have become slightly addicted to Clip Art!!  I love how Ashley at Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd shared how she organizes her clip art!  I plan on doing that this summer, but until then I know that I will continue to buy more!  Especially every time there is a TPT sale!  

I love finding new clip art to help make my products great for all of you, and things that really draw my kids in!  I love Krista at Creative Clips!  Here clip art is amazing and one of my favorites right now!!  She offers so many things for free!  It is amazing!!  Below you will find a picture of some of my favorites, and these were all FREE!!

She also has so many awesome holiday clip art sets!!  I was able to snag tons of her Christmas stuff!  Her new monthly club is awesome, and I can't wait to check it out!  On the first of every month she offers a new month for a discounted price!  I was able to buy May for $8, instead of the $10!  I can't wait to see what I will be getting that month, as all of her stuff is AMAZING!!

During this past sale I purchased her Superhero pack of clip art!!  I was able to use it to create items for our superhero day last week!!

Here is one thing that I was able to create with her amazing clip art pack!  You can find this in my superhero writing pack on TPT.

The superheroes were all so cute, and I love that she offered a black line version as well!  It gave my kids an opportunity to color their own superhero!!

I can't wait to use so many of her clip art pieces to help design my new classroom decor next year, and to create even better learning opportunities for my students and yours!!  Thank you for your generosity Krista, and for all of your amazing work!!

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Cassandra

I was shocked when I read my comment from Noelle over at Giggles at Greene and found out that she nominated me for a Liebster Award!!  It's always nice to know that people see and appreciate your hard work!!  Thank you Noelle for such an amazing honor!  I follow so many amazing teachers on here that I aspire to be like!

There are four simple rules to the Liebster Award:  

1 - link back to the blog that nominated me.  Go check out Noelle!!  

2 - Nominate 5-11 blogs with less than 200 followers.  

3 - Answer the questions posted by the person who nominated me.  

4 - Share 11 random facts about me.

Noelle asked me 11 questions, so here are my answers to her questions!

1.  When was the moment you knew you wanted to become a teacher? I have always known I wanted to be a teacher.  I have always enjoyed working with kids, and every job I had in high school was working with kids!

2. What curriculum do you follow for ELA and Math?  For math I teach Saxon, but supplement a lot with TPT or my own creations.  I don’t enjoy Saxon, and just use it for the homework really.  For Language Arts I am using the Daily 5, so I am creating my own curriculum.  I am hitting the standards, and not having a book dictate what I should be teaching my students when.

3.  If you could go back in time would you change anything? Why?  I would change my freshmen year of college if I could, or at least the way I spent my money.  I have always been pretty good with money, but I spent a lot of money that year and looking back I shouldn’t have.

4. Do you work during the summer or take some time to relax?  I do both.  We go on vacation, but I take my laptop with me.  I use the summer to prep all of my Cricut materials for the school year as well.  I plan on spending a lot of time this summer revamping my classroom decor with all of my new TPT clipart and backgrounds.  

5. What has been your favorite grade to teach? Why?  I have only taught two grades so far.  I taught kinder my first year, and bless you who do!  I could not handle it, and I know that I was not a very good teacher to those kids.  I loved them, and by the end of the year they could all read, write and do math, but it was not fun.  I have been teaching third grade for the past six years, and LOVE IT!

6. What's a typical weekend like in your house?  Our weekends are a hodgepodge of getting things done around the house.  My husband is also a teacher, so our home is neglected during the school week.  We spend the weekends with our kiddos, and of course try to fit in some grocery shopping too.  We try to hang out with at least one friend over the weekend, or have play dates with friends who also have kiddos!  We always try to fit in church too, whether it is Saturday night church or Sunday morning.

7. If you could become a superhero, other than a teacher of course, which would you choose?  I would love to be Batman!!  Batman is my favorite superhero, and one that I always enjoy watching his movies.

8. What are some of your favorite blog topics to write about?  I love writing about anything, and sharing the amazing TPT products that I am able to use!

9. What is your favorite Link Up?  My favorite Link Up is Currently by Farley, or Meet the Teacher Monday by Trina.

10.  Which movie best describes you/your life?  I love movies, but I don’t know if there is one that describes my life.  I wish that I could dance like they do in Step Up, or had a super close group of friends like the Fast and Furious movies.  Our lives are full of teaching and taking care of our kids.

11.  If you could meet anyone (living or non) who would it be? Why?  There are so many amazing bloggers I would love to meet!!  I am hopeful that this summer at the TPT conference in Vegas that many are going to I will be able to meet so many of you!!  I would also love to meet Walt Disney!  I love Disney, and everything Disney, so I would love to meet him and learn about how it all started with a little mouse!

I am so excited to nominate these lovely ladies!  Their blogs, and IG accounts inspire me daily!  Plus these ladies have become friends that I talk about, and one day hope to meet!!

Ashley and Amanda at For His Glory Teaching

Ashely at Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd

Alyssa at Just a Primary Girl

Jennifer at The Blessed Teacher


Jamie at Diary of a Not So Wimpy Teacher

  

Here are my 11 questions ladies -

1)  When did you begin teaching, and in what grade?
2)  How did you begin teaching at the school where you are currently?
3)  What is your favorite subject to teach, and why?
4)  What movie could you watch over and over again?
5)  What is your favorite Pandora station, or a CD or artist that you could listen to all day?
6)  How do you spend your Friday nights?
7)  When you were in school, what grade was your favorite and why?
8)  Would you rather lay on the beach for a weekend getaway, or be in the snowy mountains?
9)  What is your favorite meal to eat or cook, and can you share the recipe?
10)  Do you spend more time on blogs, IG, Pinterest or lesson plans?  ;)
11)  Will you be at the conference in Vegas, either TPT, I Teach K, I Teach 1st, Differentiation or Singapore math July 7-11?

I can't wait to hear what you all have to say!!  I hope that you will all be in Vegas this summer too!!

And now, what you all have been waiting for, 11 random facts about myself!

1 - I cheered from fourth grade until my freshmen year of college, three of those years on an All Star team.  My team was the first Jr. All Star team to be back to back champions at the NCA Disneyland competition.  (It's amazing how far All Stars have come since 1999!)

2 - I folded clothes at night my first year teaching so we could make ends meet.

3 - I have had a twin every where I've gone (elementary school, high school, college, and work).  These ladies have looked like me, and we've acted the same too.  They all helped me become the woman I am today!

4 - I would curl up with a good book and read all day if I could!

5 - My son spent his second year of life going between my house and my parent's house.

6 - I love books, but hating paying for them, so the public library is my best friend!

7 - I coach 5th and 6th grade volleyball, but the only team sport I participated in was cheer.

8 - In high school I coached flag football, basketball, and soccer.  I was the only girl coach, and my teams always won the tournaments.

9 - I love Toms!!  They are my shoe of choice, and I would wear them every day if I had a pair to go with every outfit!  I just got five new pairs because of the Zulily sale!!

10 - I love sweats!  As soon as I walk in the door from anywhere I go and change into comfy sweats.

11 - I will be attending the Singapore Math conference in Vegas, so I will be in Vegas from July 6 - 12!  I am going with our first grade, fifth grade, and middle school math teacher.  I'm hoping I will have time to meet so many of the amazing bloggers who will be attending the TPT conference as well!

Thank you again Noelle for the amazing nomination!  I hope that you all are having a great Sunday!!

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Cassandra

I am linking up with the amazing Kristen over at Easy Teaching Tools for a three part series she is doing on math centers!!  I love Kristen, and I love math centers!!

This is my first year doing math centers, and I am learning as I am going, but I can say that I have seen so much more growth in my students this year than I have in the past.  I also know that my students are ENJOYING math way more than they have every year.

I have a class of 23 math students, so I group my students in six groups.  My groups can vary between 2 and 5 students depending on what we are working on, and who is out of town or absent.  I put my kids names up on mini white boards that I bought at Office Max this summer.  I have their names printed on card stock with magnets on the back.  This helps make sure that I can move them around quickly, and easily.

On this day I only had them in four groups.  I used the pink rectangles to block out their names.

One of my favorite math centers are my Marcy Cook Tiles!  I love these!!  They are my favorite math activity and something that is totally differentiated and takes no extra set up or effort from me!  I have them all set in these plastic bins, and just pull out three sets for my students to work on.  My students all have a set of recording sheets so they know what they are working on.

I then write out my rotations on the white board in the front of the room so that way the students know where they are going next.  This helps keep them going, and I don't have to tell them where to go after every rotation.

We only have one hour for math so I typically get through three math rotations a day, so students go through all six rotations every two days.

I keep all of my math games in folders in a filing cabinet.  This way I know where they are, and I am able to keep them together.  I have things separated by what month they would go with, and then again by what subject or concept they are focused on.

I keep all of my math manipulatives in my bins that I grabbed from Target during the holiday season! I love them!  They are amazing, and help me keep everything organized.  I already know how I will change them for next year, but for now they work great.  Students know where things are as well, and know that they can go to find the manipulative that they want to use.

I am excited for this linky with Kristen and I hope to hear lots of great ideas from others!!  I can't wait for the next two parts too!!

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Cassandra

I can't believe that it is already March!  These past two months have just FLOWN by!!

I am linking up with Farley, over at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for March's currently!!

Most of my things are pretty easy to understand!

My hubby and I are both sitting at our table working so we put in our new CD by The Afters!  LOVE!

I am loving that we had a lazy Saturday yesterday!  Our kids are up at my parent's house, so we were able to do things as we wanted, and to relax!  We watched way more Netflix then I care to admit!

I am thinking and missing my kids A LOT!!  I haven't seen them since Tuesday, other than Face Time, and I miss their giggles, craziness, and even their cries in the middle of the night for mama.

I am really wanting to know answers!  There are a lot of unknowns about next year, and I wish some of them could be answered sooner rather than later.

At school this week is our craziness celebrating our school.  The teachers have also put something together for the Talent Show.  For the past three years my bestie at work took charge and did it for us.  Since she left, no one else has stepped up and that means it fell back on my lap.  I am no where near as talented as she is in this area, so needless to say as of right now I still have NOTHING!!  Our talent show is Thursday, but before that I have four full days of craziness at school.  We may just have nothing this year, and hopefully then that would show others that they need to step up and volunteer their time as well!

Can you figure out what my answers would be to!?!  I will update the post once someone guesses, or after a few guesses!!

Happy Sunday everyone!

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Cassandra