Icky Sticky Germ-Fighting Freebie

OMGerms!  We've probably all been there.  You know that moment when you're in the office and one of the secretaries super heroes points to one of your classroom passes because one of your "tinies" left it in the office during one of their "emergencies".  All you can think to yourself is, "I AM NOT touching that thing!"  I've tried lots of hall pass systems.  Meh.    

Then I found THIS PIN.  Well, duh.  Mega face palm.  It was love at first sight! Where has this been all of my teaching life?  My kiddos don't have to carry it, they don't have to set it down in the restroom (barfo) and then forget to bring it back, it doesn't dangle from a ribbon around their neck so they can play with it….

I went to my local super store and purchased some inexpensive badge holders and clips.  It was a small investment with a huge payoff.  Check it out!

You're in love, right?  Well, since it's just about Valentine's Day, and you are all so lovely, I'm sharing this editable file with you.  I expect chocolate and roses in return. 

I printed them on card stock, laminated, and put them into the badge holders.  D-O-N-E.  To help me keep track of where kiddos are, I have small bottles of sanitizer that are color-coded that they put on their desk while they are out of the room and conveniently use when they return.  Mine have different color pumps, but you could decorate the outside with Washi tape, ribbon, etc.  This is a quick way for me to figure out where they are by just looking at their desk.  

Head over to my TPT store and grab this sweet freebie!  Don't forget to leave feedback!

It's Like Chuck-E-Cheese Up In Here

There are prizes EVERYWHERE!  RaffleCopters and Giveaways are like Chuck-E-Cheese for teachers.  Tickets….must earn more tickets to earn more prizes! I have an insider tip.  I know where you can get more "tickets".  Fun & Fearless In First is having a generous giveaway to celebrate her 200 followers! She's raffling off a $10 TPT gift card, a copy of the Beginning Sounds Bundle from Mrs. Thigpin's Kindergarten, AND Winner's Choice from MY TPT, and two other amazing stores!  You have until this Friday to enter.  Go.  Now.  Earn those "tickets" to claim your prizes! 

What are you waiting for?  Go enter to win!  

Don't forget that you can get a FREE copy of my Coin Resources for Journals by commenting on my  It's Raining Money post for a limited time.  All you have to do is leave a comment sharing your favorite tip for teaching coins (and leave your email address) and I'll email you the product for free. What's your secret to success?

Oh, and I just finished my first Facebook RaffleCopter Giveaway and awarded two FREE sets of my subtraction cards! 

It's Raining Money

Last weekend at my favorite local coffee shop, I noticed that the kid in front of me in line paid with Square.  I guess I can relate.  Kind of.  Not really. When I was their age, I was digging in my pocket hoping for a few more pennies so that I would have enough money to pay for my Slurpee.  If only Square was part of CCSS…

Moving on.  I LOVE when we work on coins!  Kids like to get their recently sanitized hands on all that play money and you can see the dollar signs in their eyes!  However, each year I'm always amazed at how many kiddos don't already know which coin is which.  Maybe they are all using Square.  Right.  I said I was moving on.

I put together some resources for my kiddos that match our class anchor charts and a foldable where they had to cut & paste the information into the correct spot.  I decided to use the foldable to check for understanding of coin names and values.  Want a copy for free?  Leave me a comment with one of your favorite teacher tips for your coin unit and I'll email you this product for FREE….zero pennies!  Don't forget to include your email address!  Take a peek!  I also included half page for those of us using interactive math journals!  

Don't forget to enter my RaffleCopter Facebook Giveaway!

Told You So RAFFLECOPTER GIVEAWAY!

If Vegas was running a line for the odds of winning my first giveaway, they'd be in your favor.  Let's be real here..there aren't millions of people following me. Yet.  Oh, and unlike Vegas, I'm not asking for any moolah so that you have a chance to strike it rich win my Subtraction Cards. 

Remember that time I told you I was doing some housework on my earliest TPT products?  You better remember…it was just a day ago!  Well, I updated my very first TPT product and now I want to give 2 copies away!

Head on over to my FB page and enter using the Giveaway tab (located near Fan Freebies)!  By completing the extra tasks on the RaffleCopter, you can earn TEN entries!  

What are you waiting for?  Enter to win!

The winners will get 72 leveled color-coded subtraction cards,
a student response sheet, answer key, and game board! 

Since it was first posted in 2012, I've:
-Added cutting guide lines to make cutting them the same size easier
-Added question numbers
-Added an answer key
-Added a generic game board
-Added a student response page
-Doubled the amount of cards

What was I thinking back in 2012?  Yikes!  Glad I "snazzied" this up and have set some standards for my products!

I Carried a Watermelon

Forgive me readers that are NFL football fans, for I have sinned.  I didn't watch the Super Bowl…at all.  I was working on the computer and the hubs was out of town, so I didn't feel like I had to watch.  Don't get me wrong, though.  Had there been a low key Super Bowl party close to home, I would have faked it gone and chow down on all of the ridiculous snacks cheered.  But, that's not how this cookie happened to crumble.  I watched Dirty Dancing (for probably the 20th time), and I don't regret it.  Nobody puts The Rolly Chair in the corner.  I watch what I want.

Symbolism... Y'all 'partied' and I 'carried a watermelon'.

Are you a Super Bowl fan?  A real fan, or a fan of the commercials? Or maybe just the snacks?  

Ok, some serious talk.  I spent Sunday evening beginning the process of going through my existing TPT products and doing some housework.  My own standard of work has evolved and become more defined as a TPT seller as I've created more and more products.  I really do pride myself on being thorough, so I'm tackling the task of going through some of my earliest products and bringing them up to my current standard.  I'm also working on making sure each product has a helpful preview.  My product descriptions tend to be really descriptive, but I know some people are visual learners.  Like I've previously said, I make these for my own use and then add elements that would make the product beneficial to as many people as possible.

To help myself, I wrote out some of my guidelines for products that I share. 

-Thorough: I want teachers to download my products and feel like they've got everything they need.  Answer keys, student response sheets, directions, etc. are important.

-Versatile: I want teachers to feel like they have options on how to use my materials in more than one way.  I want differentiation to be easy.  

-Beneficial:  Of course I want my products to be enjoyable activities, but they also have to be rigorous and address the standards and provide opportunity for growth and learning.   

If you're a TPT seller, do you have a philosophy for the standard of your products?  If so, what are some of the things that are most important to you?  Do all of your products meet these standards, or do you have some housework like me?

Super Bowl Sale

Whether you're actually watching "the" game, only care about the commercials, or you're just enjoying all of the Super Bowl snacks this weekend, take a minute to stop on over and shop! 

My entire TPT store is on sale!

My First Five for Friday

I love that the rules of this Linky give randomness the green light.  If you've studied my blog (better cram-there might be a quiz at the end), you know that I like need order and organization.  I feel up to the challenge of randomness because in the bigger picture, I'm following the rules!  I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to participate in my first ever Five for Friday Linky!  

Not sure how many of you noticed, but I made a How I Met Your Mother (HIMYM) reference in my post yesterday.  While chowing down on dinner with the hubs last night,  I asked him if he saw my HIMYM reference.  He said, "No, but I didn't finish reading the post yet." Two points for him-for caring and for reading my posts!  But then I got to thinking.  The HIMYM reference was in the VERY FIRST line of my post.  We tease each other a lot, so I asked him how can I expect other people to actually read my posts if my own husband doesn't even make it through the first line.  Sheesh.  I guess at least he knows I have a blog and could even tell you the name of it!  Now I've guilted you into reading this entire post, right?  Right?  

I'm participating in my first Ragnar Relay "run" next Friday and Saturday!  Why did I agree to an overnight 200 mile relay run?

Simple.  1.  It's from Miami to the Florida Keys.  Enough said.  I could stop here, but…  2.  I'm getting to do this with two of my great girl friends from when I lived in CO.  We're having a mini-reunion "crammed in a van full of stinky athletes" style. Then we get a tiny bit of beach time! 3. I enjoy jogging.  Please notice that I used the word jog instead of run.  I'm a 9:30-10:30/mile kind of girl.  We have a 12 person team and each runner has 3 legs of the race to run.  My total mileage will be somewhere around 12-16 miles because I'm getting one of the easier spots.  It pays to be the "jogger" on the team!   

Have you ever used a kitchen spatula as an ice scraper?  The lady across the street from us did!  Well, just for a second or two until we noticed her through the living room window and took her our ice scraper.  Our town "shut down" mid day Tuesday through last night because of the ice and snow this week.  South Carolina towns just aren't equipped for this rare weather. So while we were cooped up,  I made a FREEBIE!  It'd be silly to post more pictures, because you can check it out in my previous post!  If you download it on TPT and rate/leave feedback, come back and comment here w/ your email address I 'll send you my Subtraction Cards for free!  

Wonder Woman!  For the first 2 years of CrossFit, I couldn't bench press over 100 pounds.  It wasn't something we worked on regularly.  Recently we did a strength cycle that included benching and it paid off!  This week we had to find our 3 rep bench press max.  Yep.  I did 3 in a row at more than 100.  103 to be exact.  I love feeling strong!  I am woman, hear me roar!

There is another FREEBIE hiding out here!  I launched my Facebook this week (woot-woot!) and there is a Fan Freebie waiting for you!  I thought back to my Vision Board post, and reminded myself to take risks.  It took me a few drinks (coffee in the early am and wine in the pm) to get my page tabs up and running the way I wanted, but it's done and I'm hoping you'll follow along!

PS-Did it work?  Did I guilt you into reading all the way to the end unlike my hubs?