Happy Friday!!  I am so glad that it is Friday!!  It has been a long week, and tomorrow is Halloween! I am sure that every teacher is happy that we have made it to Friday!!

Last Saturday I was so excited to spend some time with some of my AMAZING Arizona blogging friends!  These ladies are some of the best people I've met, and I'm so lucky to get to talk with them daily, and brainstorm and share ideas!!

We have been studying matter in science these past two weeks. On Wednesday we wanted to show the kids how the states of matter can change, so we did a fun hands on science lesson.  Can you guess what we made!?!  Leave me a comment with your guess, and I'll choose one winner Saturday afternoon to win my candy math, perfect for next week!!

This week I saw this awesome image from Mel and it spoke to my heart!!

My number four spot is now going to be dedicated to an awesome teacher!  I can't wait to share with you some of my amazing friends, bloggy besties, and amazing teachers I have found and met through TPT.  Today I want to shout to my amazing friend Tami!!

She is an amazing person that I met in Vegas this summer, and I am so glad that I was able to connect with her!  She teaches third grade at a private school in Ohio, and she is just the sweetest person ever!!  I LOVE her!!  This week she is having her kids work on some amazing projects!!  Check out their research!!

My students were working so hard on their animal report research today for our upcoming event: The Living Creation Zoo-seum! I can't wait to see their hard work and creativity come together! #postitsmakeitfun #engagedinlearning #happyclassrooms #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #teachertalk #iteachtoo #iteachthird #OHSoBlessed

A photo posted by Tami Lynn Morrison (@tamilynnmo) on Oct 29, 2015 at 2:52pm PDT

This past weekend my family and I were driving.  This song came on and my husband said this was my theme song right now.  It is so true.  I know that God is with me in everything that I am doing, and is with me with everything that is going on.

Read more »

Cassandra

Howdy Ya'll my name is Ashlyn and I'm the teacher behind The Creative Classroom. I'm so excited to be guest blogging on Cassandra's blog because first of all she is FABULOUS and second of all she is my blogging bestie! Cassandra and I first met at an Arizona meet-up and we hit it off right that moment. We have shared many laughs in Vegas together, yummy dinners with each other and possibly a million texts between one another.  Cassandra is one of the most generous and thoughtful people I know and I'm so proud to know her and call her my friend because she helps make me be a better teacher each and every day!

In honor of Cassandra's 30th birthday, I decided to do a little get to know me game called 30 THINGS ABOUT ASHLYN. I wanted to let you all in on a day in the life of the Creative Classroom and what better way than telling you 30 random things about myself. So here we go!

1. I'm a second grade teacher in Chandler, AZ.
2. I'm the youngest of 3 daughters.
3. I was born and raised in a suburb of Salt Lake City, Utah.
4. I hate mushrooms.
5. I student taught 6th grade and decided I was meant for primary grades where I have been teaching for 10 years.
6. I graduated college and got married within a month of each other in 2006.
7. My husband Jon and I have lived in 3 different states since being married.
8. We have no children but are hoping to adopt someday soon!
9. I love the colors yellow and turquoise.
10. I'm very crafty.
11. I love Halloween and Christmas.
12. My first and last class I ever failed was a college course called Math for Elementary Teachers (I know right?)
13. I use to be a dancer (jazz, modern, hip-hop, ballroom, and yes even clogging)
14. I'm addicted to Diet Coke.
15. I hate watching the news.
16. Both my brother in law's names are Eric and my sister's name is Erika (should I mention I also have a cousin named Eric?)
17. My favorite book is Charlotte's Web and I cry every year when I read it to my class.
18. My favorite subject to teach is math but that is the one subject that I have the least of in my TPT store.
19. I'm very outgoing and love throwing parties.
20. I love shopping... Target, Forever 21, Nordstrom, Bath and Body Works, H&M, to name a few.
21. I'm LDS that means I'm mormon and I don't drink... I know you may be wondering how a teacher does it.
22. I love organizing things and being organized.
23. I always have a pack of Sour Patch Kids in my pantry for those days when I need a little treat.
24. I've walked on the Great Wall of China.
25. I've started enjoying running and will be running a race in November.
26. I love donuts.
27. I'm having a hard time thinking of 30 things about myself.
28. My husband and I enjoy building and restoring furniture.
29. My favorite things right now is Periscope and BLAB (follow me @thecr8tiveclass)
30. I love blogging and TPT because it helps me network and meet fabulous people like Cassandra and all the amazing teachers who are reading this right now!

Read more »

Cassandra

Good morning!!  I am loving that it is Friday, the middle of October, and the END of my Fall Break!  This week has been great, and I am so excited to share some exciting things with you!!  I LOVE linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching on Fridays for this weekly reflection!!

I am LOVING Fall Break, and the cooler weather!  My parents live north of where we are, so my kids and I spent a few days up at their house to escape the heat!  It was great because it is almost 20 degrees cooler up at their house!!

Fall break at grandma's house means lots of yard work for these babies! #teachersofinstagram #teachersfollowteachers #fallbreak15 #toddleryears

A photo posted by Mrs. 3rd Grade (@mrs3rdgrade) on Oct 14, 2015 at 9:26am PDT

Over on Hello Sunshine we are Sharing Sunshine this week!!  I LOVE the ideas that are floating around the teaching world right now, and how everyone is looking to help each other out, or give a gift to others!!

Have you seen this amazing video yet!?!  Kayla is AMAZING and I was so excited I got to meet her in Vegas this summer!  I LOVE her view on teaching, what she inspires her students to do, and the woman she is!

Have you heard of my new friend Nicole!?!  This lady is AMAZING!!  Every Tuesday Nicole and her friend Molly have a Twin Tuesday post.  This is where they both post about the same topic from a first grade, and kinder perspective!  Her IG is full of classroom photos, and pictures of her sweet baby she just adopted!!  Leave me a comment below with where you went and followed her, and I'll pick a comment Monday morning to win my Candy Math and Science!!

This song is one of my FAVORITES!!  I LOVE when our music teacher/worship leader sings this song at church!  AMAZING!!  I hope that it inspires you this week as well!

Read more »

Cassandra

I am so excited to be linking up with Hello Sunshine again this month to bring you a little sunshine!  I have seen this idea floating around Pinterest, IG, blogs and Periscope and knew I wanted to share it!!

I have seen so many of these great ideas floating around, you will want to check them out too!!  Caitlin, from The Kinder Garden, posted earlier here about how she made hers!!  Sassy Savvy Simple  Teaching has a great freebie HERE for you as well!  I LOVED both of these ideas, and that is what inspired me to put together my gifts!!

Read more »

Cassandra

I am so excited for these centers that I have prepped and ready to go for the week after Halloween!  I LOVE these activities because it keeps my kids engaged and they get to share their candy.  We have an annual trunk or treat event where our kids go and get candy.  This gets some of the candy out of their house, and keeps them focused during math for the week after Halloween.

I am putting this candy math and science pack on sale for the rest of the month!  This will help you keep your kids engaged and excited for math or science!!  I hope that you enjoy them!

Read more »

Cassandra

Hi everyone! My name is Caitlin O'Bannon and I blog over at The Kinder Garden. I am so excited to be guest posting here and I am beyond honored that my WONDERFUL friend, Cassandra, chose me to be featured as one of her 30 Amazing Teachers this week! She is a person who has been such an encourager, supporter, and great friend in my life... so for her to include me in this means a lot to me!

Since this whole series she is doing is about inspiring and encouraging educators, I thought I'd share an idea for how you can spread a little happiness and thoughtfulness to people on your school campus this October with a simple little holiday gift just to show them how much they are appreciated!

I have always loved doing nice things for people in my life to show them I appreciate them, especially my grade level teammates at school. They always do so much to help and support me that it's the least I can do to say thank you! It's always so fun to do something like this during holidays, especially, because you can put together cute, inexpensive little gifts with a theme! So when I saw these adorable Halloween-themed soaps at Bath and Body Works, I knew I wanted to do something fun with them.

This little spooky soap gift package could not be any easier to throw together! Here's what I used to create the finished product:

I found these adorable Halloween popcorn containers in the Target dollar section! They are the perfect size to hold one of the soap dispensers.

I used these cute (free!) tags from Eighteen25, printed them out, and attached them to the soap dispensers with a piece of jute rope.

Then I wrapped a piece of tissue paper around the soap dispenser and stuck it inside the popcorn container so that it fluffed out at the top, like this!

And voila! You have a simple, thoughtful, inexpensive gift to shower your teammates and coworkers with!

I can't wait to give these to my first grade teammates this week! 

For more ideas, freebies, and teaching resources, feel free to drop by and visit me at my blog by clicking the button below! 

Read more »

Cassandra

What a week!!  I am so thankful that today is the last day of the quarter, and the last day of school before FALL BREAK!!!

This morning I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to bring you my Five for Friday!!

I was so excited to bring some fall to my classroom this week!!

It's starting to look like fall in Arizona!! #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofinstagram #iteachthird

A photo posted by Mrs. 3rd Grade (@mrs3rdgrade) on Oct 8, 2015 at 8:39pm PDT

We've had a long week of testing, and it has meant I've had time to prep some things for the weeks after break!  I'm excited because my copying is done, plans are made, and I will get time to relax this break!!  (Or create of course!!)

I sell Origami Owl, and I am so proud to work for this company.  This month, we have a breast cancer exclusive and 100% of the profits that are made by Origami Owl are being donated!! What an amazing idea!!  I have already bought this set and I am proud to wear it for my grandma!

Do you ever have those days when you just need that extra prayer, or things aren't going the way you had hoped?  I was so thankful to find Angela's website, and her daily devotions!  If you haven't checked them out yet, you want to!!  They are AMAZING!!

Read more »

Cassandra

Hi Everyone!

I'm Janae from The Sharpened Pencil!

I'm thrilled to be a part of Cassandra's 30th Birthday Celebration and honored to be one of her 30 Amazing Teachers!!!  She is such a beautiful person inside and out, and I am blessed to know her!

I met Cassandra about a year ago when I was introduced to the Arizona Teacher Bloggers group and now we blog together over at Hello Sunshine!  She has been extremely helpful with my transition to 3rd Grade.  I'm looking forward to meeting other amazing teachers through this fun celebration!  :)

I'm a Canadian girl living in the heat of Arizona and I absolutely love it!  I taught 1st grade in Idaho for seven years, 2nd grade in Arizona for three years, and am now surviving teaching 3rd grade.  You can read more about me here.  

Today I want to share one of my all-time favorite games with you! 

I learned about this game two years ago, and it has quickly become a class favorite!  I love it because it can be used for ANY subject and ANY grade level.  It keeps everyone engaged, focused, and quiet.  ;)  

The Set Up:

Buy some foam pieces and glue magnets on the back.  I bought my set from Hobby Lobby.  Write a variety of numbers on the back of each piece.  Use whatever numbers work best for your class to do mental math with.  When I was in 2nd Grade, we used 2-digit numbers, mostly multiples of 10, with a few ending in 5.  This year, I have mostly 2-digit and a few 3-digit, ending with a 0 or 5.  My co-worker in 5th grade used more 3-digit numbers.  Whatever works for you!  Write an X and ZONK on a couple of them.  

The Game:

I like to play this as a review before a math assessment, but it can be used for any subject!  Prepare questions for your students to answer using worksheets, task cards, and/or whiteboards.  I play boys VS girls, and keep score on the board.  Put all the foam pieces on the board.  Display your first question.  EVERY student answers it.  I set a timer to ensure we get through the questions.  When the time is up, choose a boy or girl to answer.  If they answer correctly, they come to the board to choose up to three foam pieces, and record the score.  If they answer incorrectly, the other team gets a chance to steal the points.  If the second team answers incorrectly, I explain the answer and move on to the next question.    

The Rules:

A student can choose up to three pieces.  They can stop at any time.  If they choose an X, their turn ends, but can keep the points they have already chosen.  If they choose a ZONK, they loose all the points for that round.  If a student talks out, they lose 10 points for their team.  You can add points to a team if they are cheering for the opposite team.  Silent cheers, of course!  ;)

It really is our favorite game!  

So easy, engaging, and exciting!  

I hope you have a blast playing it with your kiddos!  :)

Read more »

Cassandra

I am back again this month, linking up with Ashley and Angie to bring you another month of the wonderful #2getherwearebetter linky party!!!  I am SOOOO excited for this month, since it is ALL ABOUT MATH!!!

Math is my FAVORITE subject to teach!!  I was so excited when we split third grade this year, and I got a teaching partner FOR THE FIRST TIME! EVER!!  To make it even better, she agreed to teach the reading side of things so I could teach MATH!!

Do you have a math cupboard like this!?  I am slowly going through this stuff and GETTING rid of it!  I have too much, and too many things that just sit there and aren't getting used!  I know I need to give these to classrooms who will use them!

This is where the magic happens!  Just kidding, but this is the area I use for my small group work area.  I LOVE it because it has plenty of room for about four students to sit with me.  Plus I am able to use the white board right next to the table if I need to.  I can also keep many resources close by so that way I don't have to go looking for things.

Now on to the good stuff!  Keeping your students engaged!!  One of my favorite ways to do this is by having them write on their desks or the tables!  This keeps them excited about what they are doing, and keeps them motivated to work hard.  We talk about how it is a tool, and using the expo markers aren't for doodling, drawing or playing.  They know that it is a privilege to write on their desks, and that they won't be able to write on their desks if they can't use the tools correctly.  I make sure to use a color that they aren't using, and I use them as my marker to go around and make corrections, offer suggestions, or mark correct answers.  By doing this it helps me to know what problems they are working on, and where they are.

Another way I keep my students engaged is by getting them UP and MOVING!!  I don't have them stay in one place for too long so that way their bodies are moving.  My students are ACTIVE, and they need the movement.  By doing this I don't have to take as many brain breaks during math either, since they are moving around the classroom and getting their wiggles out working on partner work, games or small group activities.

Another way to keep my students engaged is to have them play partner games!  This way they can keep each other accountable, practice their skills, and have fun at the same time.  This is a center they go to every week, most of the time twice a week.  I mix up who they are going to the center with as well so that they are working with other students in different ability ranges and they can go from being the teacher, to the student, to the competition.  I also join in playing games with my kids to keep them on their toes.  On the days I say I am going to join the games they actually don't pick a partner, or hope that they are paired with me! I love this because it not only helps me continue to assess the students, but also helps build that relationship!

I LOVE to get my students working together!  On the 100th day of school last year we came up with 100 ways to write 100!!!  It was so fun, the kids loved racing up to the board to add their post it notes to the board.  I love finding ways to do things like this so that way they work together, and are pushed to think outside the box.

I blogged in August about other ways I keep my students engaged, hands on and worksheet free!  You can check it out here!!

Don't forget to check out my amazing linky hosts Angie and Ashley!!

Read more »

Cassandra