Hello Sunshine

Today I am excited to announce that I have teamed up with 11 amazing bloggers to bring you a collaborative teaching blog called Hello Sunshine. We are all Arizona bloggers who  are passionate about teaching and sharing with others. 

We are kicking off this weekend with a giveaway you won't want to miss. 

Along with this HUGE giveaway, we have a hop set up for you to give you a chance to win a gift card from each of us.  Don't forget to visit the Hello Sunshine blog when you are finished visiting each of us to enter the big giveaway.  You don't want to miss out on the chance to win $100 to spend at TPT.

Today I am giving away a $10 Starbucks card and $10 to spend in my TPT store.

a Rafflecopter giveaway
 
Now you should check out Pam at Little Bird Kindergarten to enter another giveaway.  Remember to complete the hop so that you can enter the final amazing giveaway at the new Hello Sunshine blog!

Celebrating Easter

The last few days have been filled with conversations about Easter and Christ's resurrection. I love talking about this with first graders. They have such open hearts and tend to be very passionate about their faith.

One way we talked about it, is by reading The Legend of the Easter Egg. I love these stories. They turn every day objects into reminders of God's amazing love. This story uses an egg to remind us that Jesus broke free from the tomb and gave us new life just like a bird breaks free from a shell with new life. To go along with the story we made the project you see below. They had a lot of fun with their pictures and they are now hanging in our classroom.

These will be a nice reminder in our room of God's love for us as we finish out our school year.

Currently - April

Hello Everyone! I can't believe today is April 1st. Time seems to be going by so fast at some moments and at others it seems to be moving at a snails pace.

We have made it into the home stretch for our school. We have 35 more days and it seems like there is so much left to do. We will see how much I can fit in before I say goodbye to my little first graders.

So today I am trying something new. I am linking up with Oh Boy 4th Grade for her Currently. This will be my very first link up. I am very excited to be learning so many new things in the blogging world. Here we go...

As I started working on this I was listening to Curious George tunes. My sweet girl loves to fall asleep snuggled with mommy or daddy and listening to the music from that show. There is something about that show and its music that is calming. My first graders love watching the TV series on rainy days or days that we have to eat in our rooms. It is about the only time my room is quiet. I am blessed with a very expressive group of kiddos this year.

The first graders that we have had the last year have had such a wide range of abilities in reading and math that we have decided to restructure for next year. That is one of many reasons why I love working with two of my closest friends every day. We sat after school today and designed a plan for next year and brainstormed all sorts of cool ways to make learning more effective and exciting for our kiddos.

However all that planning makes me think about my sweet girl. I am so excited to spend the next four days with her and just be a mom. I have stayed up way past normal the last few nights to make sure that all I have to do is be a mom for the 4 day weekend. My teaching hat will be hung up for the weekend. Which is probably good since now I really want and need more sleep. Hopefully my sweet girl will allow for an extra hour and a midday nap.

Well tomorrow my room will live up to my blog name. We have our Easter activities, a Fun Run with K-2 grade, a movie, and math tests. Our room is going to feel a lot like a jungle. When we have this many special activities and tests in one day my kids tend to lose control a little. Thankfully they will get to run a little energy off at the Fun Run.

Well I seem to have made it through my first link and currently! Yah!!

Have a great day!

Back to School

As I sit in my daughter's play area and think back over the last two weeks I am reminded of how truly blessed I am to be a teacher. It is an exhausting, under appreciated profession but there are so many rewards in and out of the classroom. One of which is the vacation time. I was able to spend two uninterrupted weeks with my sweet baby girl and there are so many women out there who do not get as much time with their children as I am given throughout the year. I'm not looking forward to dropping her off at daycare in the morning, but on the other hand I am excited to see my kiddos and hear all about their Christmas and New Year adventures. They are a bright spot in my life, even on the days that they drive me crazy.

I am also looking forward to spending the last hour of the day with two good friends who also happen to be coworkers working on a New Year's Resolution craftivity with our first and third grade students. It will be loud, as we will have 55 kids in one room, and fun. Hopefully I will remember to take a picture so that I can share it with you.

One exciting moment from Christmas is that I received my own laptop. My husband, who works with children as well, and I have been sharing one laptop and going crazy. Now we each have our own which was a fabulous Christmas surprise. I have already put it to good use. I updated my Abe Lincoln's Hat comprehension packet with some centers and I am almost done with a math and literacy packet for The Mitten by Jan Brett. If you are interested those will be up in my TPT store by Wednesday. Its been so fun creating without the pressure of sharing with my wonderful hubby. This could definitely help bring a little sanity back into the house.

Well I am off to catch a few hours of sleep before our first day back to school. I hope you all have a wonderful first day back as well.

Returning to the Blogging World

Its been over four months since I last wrote a post for this blog. I had promised myself that this year I would actually use the blog I created over a year ago but life has a way of surprising you. My beautiful daughter was born at the beginning of May and completely changed our world in the best way possible. However I have found it challenging trying to find some kind of balance between being a mom, wife, and first grade teacher. I'm being taught mini lessons in letting go of lists and plans on a daily basis. I accomplish what I can in whatever free time I am blessed with and tell myself that the rest will wait. Its not easy but I figure it will be a lesson that my sweet girl will continue to help me learn for many years to come. 

In those brief moments of free time I have been able to create some new things for my classroom. I have become braver over the last few years thanks to some wonderful friends and coworkers who give me the confidence to try new things. Its been fun and I am definitely learning a lot. Most of the items I have been creating have made it to my TPT store. The rest of it will make it there eventually. I will also be posting some freebies on here as well.

Several new items that were just posted to my TPT store go along with fun activities that are happening at our school this month. Our first and third grade classes are partnering together for some fun themed days. Today we completed an Elf day. We introduced our classroom elves, made an elf, and wrote out a wish list for the elves to bring to the North Pole. We ended the day with the movie The Elf Story. This Friday will be our snowman day. Our math, reading, grammar, writing, etc. are all snowman themed. We will make a snowman craft and do a writing activity together and then end the day with Frosty the Snowman. Our snowman activities can be found in my TPT store and the TPT store of Mrs 3rd Grade. Next week there is even more excitement but that will have to wait for another post.

~Ashley

New Adventures

Hi! My name is Ashley and I am a first grade teacher in Arizona. I have spent the last few years exploring teaching blogs and learning so much from others across the nation that I finally decided to join and give back. This will be a new experience to me as I have a lot to learn about running a blog but I am excited to share my classroom adventures with others.