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Monday, January 30, 2012

New Blog!!!

Sarah and I are so incredibly excited to share our new blog with you!

 
We are moving the exchange chit chat over to a brand new blog!  Starting Wednesday, all giveaways will take place over there.  And it's where all future exchanges will take place as well.  {Yep, we have more up our sleeves.  Seems like every time we get partners matched up, we get emails from people who didn't find out about it until too late.  And we like to keep everyone happy.  Soo...there will be several exchanges throughout the year for those who want to participate!}  This way we don't have to keep trying to bounce back and forth between each other's blogs.  Anyway, click the button above to go check it out and follow so you can receive updates on all the fun things we have planned!
 
Tomorrow I'll be back to normal.  Who am I kidding.  I wouldn't know normal if it hit me in the face.  I'll just be back.  With something other than valentines exchange information.  {I know...it's about time, right!}
 


Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Holy Emails, Batman!

Let me apologize in advance for the fact that this post and my last one are both nothing but valentine exchange information.  But it's kind of taken over my life.  So that's all I have for you folks tonight.  Will you love me anyway?  I'm going to take care of a few housekeeping things {before I go take care of real live housekeeping...my poor house has been neglected the past couple of days}:

Gift Exchange Participants: You have all {and by all, I mean every last 140 of you!} been matched with a partner and you should have an email from me in your inbox.  Or maybe it's in your junk mail.  But I'm not junk.  So you may want to add teacherbloggerexchange{at}gmail{dot}com to your contacts so you don't miss anything from us!  If you have checked your junk mail and still don't see anything from me, please email at the address above and we will get it to you ASAP!

Classroom Exchange Participants: I am going to get this squared away over the weekend.  If you have not received an email by Monday morning, please email me and we will get you the information ASAP!

Sponsors: If you haven't already, you will get an email from us very soon letting you know what day your giveaway will take place and what you need to do as far as getting us your product.  If you haven't received an email yet, don't panic!  We started with February 1st and are working our way through the 14th...your giveaway may just be taking place a little later!  We have some AWESOME giveaways for you folks!!

Well, maybe I can leave you with a cute little story from today...

After our math intervention time, the interventionist told me that one of my lovely ladies kindly informed the rest of the group that she needed to fart {I know, I know...some of you are probably running around screaming, "Ms. Preppy said the F word, Ms. Preppy said the F word!"}.  Anyway, she needed to fart.  The interventionist asked, "Now, would you have said that in front of Justin Bieber?"  Little Lady got quiet and blushed.  So apparently "would you do that in front of Justin Bieber" is the new litmus test for whether or not something is socially acceptable.  I think we need WYDTIFOJB bracelets.  They would be all the rage.  I'll get right on that.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Last Call!

Short post tonight because I am working away at the Be My Valentine Exchange!  I'm pretty sure we have a hojillion people signed up!  Sarah and I are busy emailing sponsors, matching partners, and matching up classrooms.  Just wanted to post a quick reminder that tonight is the deadline to sign up.  We will start emailing partner information tomorrow and will have them all finished by Wednesday.  You won't want to miss out on the fun!

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

A Day in My Ever So Fabulous Shoes!

I've had so much fun reading about everybody's daily routine that I decided to link up with Miss Klohn too!  I know that I'm a little late to the party, but I'd like to think I'm just fashionably late.

Before I start, I have to share this funny song with you {and I have a feeling most of you will relate}.  By about Wednesday, this is me.  Except I don't have kids.  Or a husband.  So I don't really know exactly why my life is so crazy, but it is.  And I'd like to do a little edit...instead of love and laundry...

.I just keep prayin' that I can get everything done and still have time for BLOGS and a load of laundry!


Here's the nitty gritty:

5:30- Alarm.  Hit snooze.

5:35- Alarm.  Hit snooze.

5:40- Alarm.  Hit snooze. {man, this alarm thing is annoying}

5:45- Alarm.  Resist the urge to hit snooze again.  {Why don't I just set the alarm for 5:45?  Seems like that would be the most logical thing to do.  But apparently I'm not into logical.}  Sit up in bed and check email, Facebook, and blogs on the phone or iPad.  {I won't go to sleep without my phone and iPad next to me.  Can't handle being out of touch.}

5:55- Drag myself in to the bathroom to shower, dry hair, and turn on straightener.

6:15- Eat some delish fake bacon and egg beaters for breakfast.  Wash it down with a Coke and pray the caffeine kicks in QUICK.

6:30- Put on makeup and fix my hair, even though I know my makeup is going to magically disappear from my face by 8am.

6:45- Get dressed.  I like to save time by picking out my clothes and ironing them the night before.  I know, I'm so efficient.

6:50- Last minute touches on the face and hair.  {As if it really matters.}

6:55- Get in the car and head to work.

7:05- Arrive at work.  Run to my room to put my things down and go pick up the kids in my teammate's room.  As I walk down the hall, I try to brace myself for the LIVE ACTION that's coming my way.  Have you guys seen Call of the Wildman on Animal Planet?  Anytime he's wrestling an animal, he screams "LIVE ACTION!"  So that's our newest catch phrase.


7:07- Walk in teammie's room.  Take one look at the children who are already climbing the walls and try to leave before anyone sees me.  Too late!  I was just spotted by a five year old who is running toward me squealing, "Tickle, tickle!".  Dead serious, people.  I get a tickle and hug every morning from one of my sweet friends.  And it totally kick starts my day.  I don't know what I will do if he's ever absent.

7:15- Kiddos are now in my room eating breakfast and doing their morning work.  I spend this time checking homework and planners.  I also try to teach the children to not rub biscuits on their face.  

7:50- We switch classes and I get to spend some time with my kindergarten friends.  We do calendar.  Sometimes Rihanna comes.  I do some whole group teaching and then we head to stations.  They have matured so much since the beginning of the year and stations run so smoothly now!

9:25- Switcheroo number two!  First grade this time!  This group of kiddos is crazy smart.  Seriously, they could teach me.  I just stand back in awe for most of the class period.  And I love it.

10:30- Lunch.  I mean brunch.  {Last year lunch was at 10.  I was ravenous by the end of the day.  It was rough.}

11:00- Recess.  We don't get a planning every day, so we worked out a solution on my team.  If we have a planning that day, we have recess duty.  If we do not have a planning, we are either completely free or we have detention.  Today I was completely free!  Tomorrow I have duty.

11:30- First grade again.  We do stations and they continue to amaze me.

12:15-  The final switch.  Second grade comes back and we spend the rest of the day together.  We do calendar.  We do some whole group activities.  Then my favorite part of the day comes: intervention time.  I have two super fab interventionists who each pull a group and I am left with 14 kiddos.  We kick some major booty in the last 45 minutes of the day.  It's awesome and we all end the day with full brains and feeling so smart!

2:15-  Tell the kids it's time to go home and they're all, "Really?  Already?"  We pack up and I send them home.  I go back to my room, making a few stops along the way to catch up on gossip debrief.  I make sure everything is ready for the next day and head out.

3:45- Tutor.  I am totally loving tutoring on the side.  It's so much fun working one on one with kids.

6:00- Home!  Finally!  I find something to eat, turn on the TV, turn on the computer and spend the rest of the night catching up on emails, Facebook, blogs, and doing some planning from home.  I also clean out my DVR during this time.

10:00- Shower and dry hair.  Pick out my clothes and iron them.  Get lunch ready for tomorrow.

11:00- Bed!

Rinse and repeat.

If you haven't already linked up, click on the picture above to do so!  Only two more days of waking up to an alarm clock!  Happy Wednesday, my friends!



Monday, January 16, 2012

HUGE Giveaway!

My sweet friend Rebecca over at Teaching First is hosting a huge giveaway!  Several of my favorite bloggers are participating... Sassy in Second, Rowdy in First Grade, Loving and Learning in Pre-K, and yours truly! 

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Yvonne's Facebook Link
Yvonne's TpT Store Link


 



Caitlin's Facebook Link
Caitlin's TpT Link

 




Jennifer's Teacher's Notebook Link
 





Julia's TpT Store Link
 


Teaching First






Rebecca's Facebook Link
Rebecca's TpT Link
 
Head over to her blog to find out how you can enter to win!


Sunday, January 15, 2012

Non sequitur

Oh wow!  The response to the Be My Valentine Exchange has been UNREAL!  Since Friday, we've had so many people sign up to participate in the gift exchange, class exchange, and sponsor a giveaway.  In fact, we have more than 14 sponsors!  This means we will be able to give away more than 1 fun prize each day from February 1st through the 14th!  You guys have been so incredibly generous by donating items for the giveaways.  Because the response has been so overwhelming, we are going to close the sign ups for sponsoring a giveaway on Wednesday, January 18th.  This way we have plenty of time to get in touch with everyone and get things organized.  So...head over on over and sign up if you would like to sponsor a giveaway!  Sarah and I are so excited; this may be more fun than Holly Bloggy {could that even be possible?}!

In other super fun news...Diana from Cole's Little Pups and I are ready to have lunch with our friends in Western KY/Southern IN!  We are planning a lunch date for Saturday, January 28th at 1pm.  Email me at mspreppyblog@gmail.com for all of the details.  We hope to see several of you there!

Last week I started teaching bar models to my 2nd graders.  Wheweee....some of them totally get it, but the rest of them are having a rough time!  I asked you guys for some help and some of you pointed me to some great technology resources.  But I still couldn't find any great centers or hands on activities.  So, I've been working away this week creating some bar modeling activities.  Here's a little freebie/preview!  I hope to have the whole shebang up in my TpT store by tomorrow.

Students read the problems, use the bar to create their bar model, then sort based on whether the problem is part-part-whole or whole-part-part.  We LOVE sorting activities and this really helps them to understand what kind of relationship the bar model is demonstrating so they can choose the correct operation.  Grab your copy here.

Hope you guys have an awesome day off tomorrow!  I'm so excited about having another day to sleep in, blogstalk, and watch Lifetime movies!  We ended up having a snow day on Friday, so I'm enjoying a four day weekend.  Be jealous.

Friday, January 13, 2012

Be My Valentine {2012 Exchange}

Sarah and I are back and ready for yet another fun exchange!  We had tons of fun organizing the Christmas exchange and seeing all of the amazingly cute things you guys made and purchased for your partners.  We have a few exciting additions for Valentine's Day!  Check out all of the details below:

Sign Up to be a Participant:
-Sign ups begin now and close on Sunday, January 22nd.
-We will send out partners by Wednesday, January 25th.
-Craft and/or shop and send out your gift by February 6th to make sure it arrives in time.
-$10 limit, excluding shipping.  Be creative and fun!
-Please make sure that you follow through if you sign up.  It's no fun to work so hard on creating a special gift for a new friend and not receive one in return!
-Our Canadian friends will be able to participate as long as there are other Canadian friends!  Please note in the subject if you are from Canada.
-To sign up, email the questionnaire below to teacherbloggerexchange@gmail.com by January 22nd.

Be My Valentine Questionnaire
Name {for monogramming}:
Mailing Address:
Email:
Blog/Website {not required to participate, but will help your partner get to know you better}:
Grade level:
Favorite color(s):
Favorite candy/treat:
Favorite fast food:
Favorite magazine:
Favorite lip gloss/nail polish:
Anything else you want your partner to know:

Class Exchange:
We are also organizing a class valentine exchange.  More details will come on this in the next couple of days.  If you are interested in participating in this part of the exchange, please send an email to teacherbloggerexchange@gmail.com with "Class Exchange" in the subject line.  Include your state, grade level, and number of students in your class.

Sign up to Sponsor a Giveaway!
The giveaways for Holly Bloggy Christmas were so much fun!  This time, we plan to do a giveaway each day from February 1st through Valentine's Day!  Simply participating in the exchange will be your entry for each giveaway.  We will use random.org to choose a winner each day.  But...to make this happen, we need some fabulous sponsors!  We want to give away some units/products for K-2, some for 3-5, and then some things that are just plain fun like gift cards, jewelry, decor, etc.  If you would like to sponsor a giveaway, please fill out this form.  We will select sponsors by January 22nd.  Sponsors will be mentioned in any email sent or blog post made about the Be My Valentine Exchange!

Grab Our Button!
{HUGE thank you to Lauren at The First Grade Diaries for making this for me!}

Be My Valentine
Hope you will join in the fun!  As always, if you have questions feel free to leave a comment or shoot me an email!