Made it Monday

 

This will be my first contribution to Made it Monday, and though my offering isn't as spectacular as others, it crosses off one of my "must-do" things before school starts.  I want to have a little treat for my new students when they come to Meet the Teacher, but I refuse to give them candy.  It's already a time when they are super hyped-up and excited, no need to make it worse, right?  So, I came up with the idea of giving them each a little bag of popcorn and thanking them for "popping in"!

Here's the final product, with my initial W on the label. (Don't worry, I'll fill it with fresh popcorn the day of Meet the Teacher!)

It's a really inexpensive treat that they will hopefully enjoy!  I don't have a TPT store (gasp!), yet, so email me if you want a copy of the file.  I'm happy to share!

Have a great Monday!

Tamberly

Currently

Farley over at Oh' Boy! Fourth Grade is hosting her Currently linky party. 

Check it out!

So head on over to see what everyone else is currently up to! 

Back to School Books

Chrissy over at First Grade Found Me is having a linky party about books we love to share with our class at the beginning of the year.  I just wrote a post about the book I'm most excited about, Dex the Heart of a Hero.  It's not a typical beginning of the year book, but it hits home at what I want the kids to focus on this year! Be sure to scroll down to read all about it!

Heroes

Our school-wide theme for this coming year is all about heroes.  What do you think of when you here that word? A fit, caped, daring individual?

 Or do you think of our military?

Sometimes our heroes come in the most unlikely of places.  What I want my students to "get" this year, is that they can be a hero without wearing a cape or being a dazzling and daring.

We have a story in our reader that demonstrates this idea perfectly.  If you haven't read it, you need to get it and share with your students.

 

Dex, The Heart of a Hero by Caralyn Buehner

It's a story about a very unlikely hero who chooses to work hard to become a better person, a hero.  In the end, he's forced to decide to help those who made fun of him along the way, or help them.  It's a fantastic read and the illustrations are beautiful and colorful.  Check it out!

Awards

I recently joined Newbie Blogger Blog Hop  over at Grade Three is the Place for Me! and one of the other new bloggers who linked up nominated me for these two awards:

 

 

Thank you Robyn!  Please take a second to visit her at Being Elementary in Middle School.

Guidelines for the combined awards:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you

(and follow their blog)

2. Link back to the person who nominated you

3. Include the award image in your post

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself

5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award

6. When nominating, include a link to their blog

7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated

 

Seven random facts about me:

1. I graduated from high school with only 9 other people.

2.  I am deathly afraid of snakes.

3.  I have 3 daughters born within 34 months of each other, none are twins.

4.  I have never met a plate of Mexican food I didn't like.

5.  I still have trouble falling asleep due to excitement the night before the first day of school.  

6.  I've been to Paris and London.

 7.  I've never tried sushi.

 

These are the bloggers I am nominating for the Versatile Blogger award and the One Lovely Blog award: 

1. First Grade Found Me 

2. OWLS are a Hoot 

3. YeeHaw! Teaching in Texas 

4. Live,Laugh,Love Second 

5. Mrs. M's Kinders 

6. Room 4 Imagination

7. Learning with Mrs. Brinn 

 

 

 

My first Linky Party

Thanks to Grade 3 is the Place For Me, I'm joining my first Linky Party:

Here's the low down:
1. What state you are in?
2. Your current teaching position
3. Your teaching experience
4. When you started blogging
5. Share a blogging tip/resource
Since I'm a newbie, I thought I'd share in my first blog hop! Even though it's a couple of weeks late, I'm just excited to get to know some other blogging teachers. Here's a little about me:

1. I was born, raised, and still proud to live in Texas!
2. This will be my 5th year to teach 2nd grade...love it!
3. I have taught 2 years of 3rd and a semester of kinder, where I took over a position mid year.
4. I started blogging this week! Talk about newbie!
5. Blogging tip? Wish I had something really clever to share, but I'm fumbling through this whole boggy world and not too sure of what I'm doing. My advice...read and learn from others who know what they are doing. Everyone is so gracious to share their advice!

Online portfolios

Three Ring

I came across an online portfolio that I think is simply amazing! ThreeRing is just next to brilliant! You can take photos, videos, audio recordings, and upload documents to each students online portfolio in an instant. You set up tags so that each piece you are using will be "filed" under multiple areas. For instance, tag an example of a student's problem solving with that student's name, math journal tag, and/or assessment. I can't wait to share this authentic evidence of student's work at parent-teacher conferences or RTI meetings!