July Currently & Let's Get Acquainted!

Tomorrow is July already, can you believe it?! I can't, but I'm excited to have a whole month completely "off" or so to speak! I have a long list of things I'd like to make for the new school year and post on TpT and I'm sure I'll be getting my classroom ready again toward the end of July too! So I guess I wouldn't necessarily consider it a whole month "off" but I don't really have to be anywhere! We moved into a new house at the beginning of June and these last two weeks I've been taking a full day class for a lesson study grant I'm participating in, so I finally feel like I'm back on summer break! YAY!

Alright, let's get to this Currently for July with Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade!

Listening: I've got my husband to my left on the couch working on his master's class, so besides the typing on the computer and the clock ticking, it is silent! It's kind of nice to wind down like this on a Sunday afternoon after getting home from church. :)

Loving: I love that I'm back on my summer schedule!! I'm definitely a night person, so I'm excited to be back on my summer schedule where I can pretty much do whatever I want, whenever I want. There's no alarm that has to wake me up and we can stay up late, hang out with friends/family, sit outside on the deck, and just chill! I love it! 

Thinking: Speaking of that summer schedule, I think it's about time for our regular Sunday nap! :) I love a good Sunday nap, but I always hate it when I have somewhere I need to be early Monday morning because I can never get to sleep Sunday night! Haha! 

Wanting: I would love to go on a vacation with my husband again this summer, but we are having a heck of a time selling our house! We already bought and live in a new house (which I LOVE btw), but it's stressful being an owner of two houses! I think once we sell our other house, we owe it to ourselves to just get away somewhere....anywhere! This leads me to the next one...

Needing: To sell our house!!!! Enough said! :)

Tips, Tricks, or Hints: My tip is for selling on TpT. I started selling back in November during my first year of teaching. I would just make things that I loved and knew I would use in my classroom! I had fun with it and lucky for me, many other people fell in love with my products too! It's a great feeling and I know that no matter what, nothing I make is for no good reason because I will make great use out of it! So don't be afraid to post something on TpT because you never know who will love your product just as much as you do! :)

Okay, switching gears just a bit! Latoya is BACK with her Let's Get Acquainted Party and I am linking up!

This week's topic is Tic-Tac-Toe! I am choosing diagonally left to right, top to bottom!

I went to college at Kansas State University! My favorite memories would have to be Thursday nights with my best friends. We were all a part of the college of education and became really close. During our last year at KSU, I was married and living in another town about 40 miles away so we would have sleep overs on Thursday nights since we didn't have class on Fridays! It was so much fun to have either a girls' night in or out and just stay up talking about everything in life! I miss seeing my girls every day, but I'm so happy I made such amazing friends and that we still stay in touch and are very close! 

My favorite school memory as a kid....hmm, that is so tough to pick just one! When I think of elementary school, I think about one of my favorite teachers who taught me in 1st grade! She had a big bus in her room made out of wood where we could go read and play. She was very artistic and I remember making something special out of each letter as we learned it. For example, we made a zebra in the shape of a Z. She sparked so much creativity and imagination out of all of us and I hope that I can someday be at least half as good a teacher as she was!

Some of my favorite hobbies are to play volleyball and take pictures! I played volleyball, basketball, track, and softball growing up, but there's just something about volleyball that makes me love it the most! Luckily we have a rec center in my town, so I still get to play! My husband and I play co-ed which is fun and this summer we are playing sand volleyball with another couple in town. We are pretty competitive, so it's fun to go out and play together. I also love taking pictures and looking at pictures. There's just something about capturing special memories that is so fun. I'm trying to do better about just enjoying moments a little more though too instead of taking pictures of every single little thing. It's kind of hard sometimes though! ;)

Alright, go link up with Latoya! I'm excited to read which row on the Tic-Tac-Toe board you choose! Also, just a reminder about my flash sale on TpT today (June 30th) only!! Everything is 20% off...read about that here. 

You can also enter for a chance to win free items from my store here and here! Today is the last day for each of these things, so don't wait!

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Summer Flash SALE!!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, you don't want to miss a very important date to stock up for the new school year!! :) 

That very important date is almost here and it is JUNE 30th!! I'm hosting a sale along with many of my kinderland friends in bloggy world! Everything in my store will be 20% off on JUNE 30th only, so don't wait to clear any items off of your wish list from my store. If you are a facebook follower, you will receive another special perk for this special day! 

Here are a few items for those of you in kinder (like me!) that you may want to check out!

(Just click the picture to send you to the item in my store!)

And if you aren't a kinder teacher, here are few items for all of you TpT sellers out there (like me!)!! :)

You can find the links to all the stores participating in the sale here! I hope you have a great Sunday of savings! :)

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Common Core Math Task

This common core math task that I'm going to share with you is thanks to a class I've been taking these last couple of weeks for a math grant. Our school, another school in our district, and a school from another district were offered the opportunity to be a part of this lesson study grant through K-State. 

Of course I had to doodle and "pretty up" my binder! :)

It's a two week class about fractions and all of the building blocks built into the common core to help students in the upper grades truly understand fractions. I feel like I've learned so much, but each day has been extremely exhausting! We sit and listen to lecture about fractions from mathematicians in the morning and attend break out sessions. Then in the afternoon we focus on the common core and applying it to our classrooms. Last week we made the math task I'm going to share with you in our small group of kindergarten teachers. This week we have been planning out our lesson that we will teach during the school year to our students. For these lesson studies, someone in the group teaches the lesson while everyone else observes. Then we debrief and rewrite the parts of the lesson that we feel need it and someone else in the group teaches it again with the revisions. I think it will be very beneficial and exciting to see how this all plays out! I'm also excited because I feel like I really understand the Common Core Math standards much more than I did before. I know there is still so much to learn and grow on, but I know we're getting a great start! In fact, my school has been implementing Common Core in K-1 for the past few years and we are still changing things as we learn more about them. 

Okay, so on to this math task that we created and tried with a group of 10 kindergarteners. One of the instructors introduced us to a sight called Illustrative Mathematics. The sight is fairly new, but it has some tasks (like the one we created) on there for free. All you do is look under the standard you are interested in teaching, click show all, and if it says "see illustrations" next to it then there are tasks available. We decided to do our task under K.OA.3 which deals with decomposing numbers and that is a huge building block for fractions.  

We used number bonds and counters as a tool to decompose numbers 4-10. After our introduction (which is included in the lesson plan online), we had the students in groups of two where they took turns being the teacher and the student. The student would count out the number on the their number bond and then decompose it. The teacher had to make sure the student was doing it correctly. Then they both recorded the equation they made on the number bond mat and filled in the number bond on their sheet with dots/numbers. We only had about 25 minutes to complete the entire task with a group of students we never worked with before. 

One thing we found the students struggling with was that the equals sign came at the beginning of the equation (i.e.; 8=4+4). They are obviously used to always putting the addends first and then the sum. It's so important to show equations in a variety of ways otherwise students gain a misconception about the equals sign. That's one thing I know I need to do better at this year. All in all, it was a cool experience and we now have one more tool to put in our toolbox. If you think this math task would be helpful for your kiddos next year, you can get it on my TpT store for cheap. The lesson plan, number bond sheets, and recording sheet are all included so all you would need is some type of manipulative/counters!

Where are you and your school at when it comes to implementing Common Core?! I know many people are in different places at this point.

Just a reminder, if you haven't followed my blog on Bloglovin', now is the time to do it! Two giveaways going on here and here!!

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Bloglovin' Giveaway #2!!

You might have seen my post last night about a giveaway specifically for Bloglovin' followers of Keepin' It Krazy. Well, tonight until July 1st you get another chance to win TWO free products from my store!!

All you have to do is become a follower of my blog through Bloglovin' either by clicking the button on the sidebar or by clicking the link in the Rafflecopter below. Once you get there, you will click the follow button on my blog. You will need to set up an account with Bloglovin' if you haven't already so that you can follow all of these blogs. Please be sure to like this post on Bloglovin' and leave your Bloglovin' username in the Rafflecopter entry. (This way I can verify the winners!) To be sure you are following this blog (and all the others), make sure that the blue button at the top of each Bloglovin' page has been clicked (it should be gray with the word following- if it's blue, please click it to follow!). 

If you entered my giveaway in my post last night, you will get another chance to win one free product, but I encourage you to enter this one too since it will be such an easy entry and better odds of WINNING!! :) If you haven't entered that one yet, go ahead and jump on over for an additional chance! Good luck and thank you so much to all of you who follow and keep up with my little kindergarten blog!! I love learning from each of you! :)

Winners will be chosen for both giveaways on July 1st! Don't forget to check out all the other amazing blogs that have linked up for a chance to win multiple prizes from each blogger!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Inlinkz Code

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Bloglovin' Hop & a Giveaway for Followers!!

Tori over at Tori's Teacher Tips had a great idea of throwing a linky/blog hop to get acquainted with Bloglovin'! I know I've read about all the hype with Google Reader being gone after July 1st, but I still don't know if I fully understand how that will change things in the blogging world. Either way, I am giving you the opportunity to follow this little blog through Bloglovin' and give you a chance to win a free product from my TpT store! If you head on over to Tori's blog, she gives you the chance to win a wonderful prize as well! You can't pass up that kind of opportunity right?!

To be entered in a chance to win a free product from my store, all you have to do is follow me on Bloglovin' either by clicking the button below or over on the left side of this blog. Then leave a comment with your email on this post telling me either if you are already following or if you are a new follower. (Please be honest and follow.) 

I will pick a winner or two on July 1st! If you have any questions about Bloglovin', Tori gave an awesome tutorial on her blog! Check it out and see all the other amazing bloggers that are signed up with bloglovin'....they just might have a giveaway or surprise for you too! :)

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PIN IT TO WIN IT!!!

If you aren't already a follower on my Facebook page, you should be because I plan to do more pin it to win it giveaways all summer long. I won't always post about them on here, so that is a Facebook follower perk if you will! :) 

I have created two new sets of alphabet posters for the classroom. Both are on sale in my TpT store for now, so get them cheap while you can! Or....you can head on over to Facebook and try to win them! Check out a preview below or on my store. :)

All 6 colors are included for every letter in the alphabet, so you can mix them up as you wish! I hope you head on over to Facebook to join in the pin it to win it activities this summer!! Good luck! :)

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Busy June Currently!

It's already June and I'm just now getting a free second to link up with Farley's Currently. Check out my currently below and then go link up for yourself (if you haven't already!).

Listening: I'm watching and listening to my guilty pleasure reality TV show, The Bachelorette! I really like Des and after last week, I must say I wasn't too excited about the guys. After the first date, I am hooked again! Haha! There might be a couple nice guys on this season after all! :)

Loving: If you've been reading for a while, you may know that my husband and I bought a house. We have been in our new house all day Saturday and all afternoon today painting! I am so in love with this house and our new paint job! We haven't actually closed on the house yet since we're still waiting on paper work to go through, but the builder is allowing us to go in and paint. Yay! Here's a sneak preview of the living room before and after. 

Thinking: On Wednesday this week, my husband and I will be celebrating 3 years of marriage!! Time sure flies when you're having fun and with the one you love! He's the best and it's been a great three years. I can't wait for all the adventures we have ahead of us! 

Wanting: I'm so anxious to start moving into our new house! We were supposed to close on our anniversary, but the appraisal was the hold up so the paper work with our loan hasn't come back yet. We had already lined up people to help us move this coming weekend, so we asked the builder if we could move in early and he was okay with it! Double YAY! :) We are so ready to get in there and start decorating it to make it OUR home! 

Needing: Now the "bleh" part of moving....packing! We need to keep packing, but we've been so busy. I know what's on the list for this week though! Fun, fun! Our spare bedroom is going to be pretty full of boxes after the week is over. 

3 Vacay Essentials: 

1. My husband...of course, no vacation would be as fun without him there! 

2. My camera...I LOVE taking pictures! Wayyy too many pictures probably, so my camera is a must!

3. My sunglasses...my eyes are super sensitive and when I think of summer vacations, I think of some place warm and sunny so I will definitely need my shades!

We usually try to take one or two vacations a summer since it's our time off together. Like last year we went on a road trip to St. Louis and Nashville and then on a trip to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, but this year will probably be different due to our new house and the fact that our current house isn't sold yet (Crazy, I know!). I guess I'll just have to imagine we are back at the beach and keep praying our house will sell! Then maybe, just maybe I can talk my husband into (at least) a road trip somewhere! :)

Well thanks for ready this very "new house" heavy post...sorry it is just consuming my life right now! Now go link up so I can read about you currently! 

Happy JUNE!!!

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