Silence for Sandy Hook Elementary

Friday Flashback Link Up on Sunday

 I am linking up with Amanda from Teaching Maddeness for Flashback Friday.  (A little late but at least I have joined the party!)This last week was sooooo much fun studing the election! My little firsties had very strong opinions about who was going to win and on Wednesday and Thursday there were a wide range of emotions to talk through and most important a great teaching moment for writing! We wrote letters to President Obama and we will mail them to the White House this week! My cadett teacher taugtht the lesson using an example letter on an anchor chart!

You can follow the Teacher to the Core for a great resource to common core and a link the election freebies I incorporated in my lesson plans. Here are links to my election and post-election activities! 

Post Election Activities and Pumpkin Spice Coffee

 

Last night I stayed up WAY to late watching the election coverage but it was worth it to see all of the live covereage!  Needles to say I needed an extra cup of pumpkin spice coffee this morning and maybe another cup after school.(shhhhhh)

My new obsession with pumpkin spice started after a co-worker and I made a trip to starbucks and I was immediately hooked on pumpkin spice latte. (Usually I order black tea/lemondate) In a perfect world I would make a trip to Starbucks every morning but their isn't one on my route to school! (Probably good for the budget!) On a late night run to wal-mart for craft supplies, I found Pumpkin Spice coffee from Dunkin Donuts and Pumpkin Spice Creamer which has been a FABULOUS way to start my mornings this fall!  

Tomorrow my teacher cadett will complete a follow up election activity with my class on writing a letter to the President! She has already prepared an example letter on a poster board to use as an example and the students will get a chance to write their own letters! This group has totally blown me away with their enthusiasm, opinions, and creativity with the election activities! I can't wait to see the look on their face when we tell them the letters will be mailed to the White House on Friday!!!!! I cannot take credit for this activity but this has been a great addition to our week of election activities!

 

 

 This was another amazing activity from Teacher to the Core! 

Check out her blog to see all of her other fabulous ideas!



 

 We are out of school on Friday for Arkansas Education Association meetings so tomorrow is our Friday! Have a fabulous weekend:)

 

Election Day and a Link to a Giveaway

 

Happy Election Day! We held a mock election in our classroom and this is the voter booth I created from a shoe box, spray paint, poster board, boarder, a puppet stant, and a few different TPT freebies!  Thank you to First Grade Fever by Christie  for the election posters she created in her Let's Vote-Classroom Election Kit which were perfect for my voter booth! 

A teacher cadett from our high school taught the lesson on voting and passed out the ballots from  Teacher to the Core Election Fun Common Core Math Graphing Freebie!   As we were discussing what is means to vote, a students stated "Voting is when you go to the races and choose a horse!" I had to contain a smile at this comparison but it was such a sweet honest answer!

 

This was a fantastic resource and my Teacher Cadett did an incredibel job of presenting the lesson.  As I said yesterday, I am so excited for her to have this opportunity before going to college!

After the ballots were cast and counted, the student completed this math graph which was a great way to complete the lesson! We also held a school wide election and the students were so excited when the canidate they chose for the classroom also won in our overal school wide election! 

I hope they haven't stayed up as late as I have to hear the canidate speeches or it will be a really long day tomorrow! Congrats to President Obama on his re-election and thank you to Govenor Romney for his hard work at running for President! I have respect for anyone who is willing to take on the job of the presidency and most thankful to live in a country that gives me the opportunity to vote!

On a side not, if you need some retail therapy after tonights election or you want some celebration therapy, head on over to Teaching Maddeness for a great giveaway from Grateful Bags!  A teacher can NEVER have to many bags! Have a great Wednesday!

Winner, 50th Day of School, and Halloween

The last month has been cra-cra-crazy with school and life! Last week was parent teacher conferences, 50's day, Halloween, and a trip to a NASCAR race!!!! That was just one week so you can imagine the last month!  I am very happy to announce that the winner of my giveaway is Julie@Lattes & Laughter!  She will be receiving two gift cards because it has taken me sooooooooo long to announce the winner! Lucky for her she will have twice the fun at the at the container store:)   Check our her cute blog and wish her a happy late birthday!
Monday kicked off with parent teacher conferences, and Tuesday I got up a little earlier to get ready for the 50th day of school!

 

Celebrating 50th day of school with my class was and co-workers was so stinkin fun!!!  My husband took this pic as I was running walking out the door and sent it to everyone!  All of our elementary school dressed in 50's clothes and there were poodle skirts, scarfs, letterman jackets, pony tails, head bands, greased hair, leather jackets, and sun glasses everywhere!  My class along with many others made coke floats, had hula hoop contest, and dance to 50's music!  My inspiration began with Cara Carroll's 50th Day Mini Unit and grew into a school wide event!  We wrote about how to make coke floats, made a 50's word wall, and a doubles cart that ended with 25+25=50 and 50+50=100!  We also made a books of all the different ways to represent 50 along and it was a day to remember! We are over halfway to our 100th day celebration! Any ideas for the 100th day of school?

 

After a fun filled 50's day, we celebrated HALLOWEEN! We can only observce two Holidays a year with a classroom party and Halloween is not one of the days but we found plenty of ways to incorporate Halloween into our learning activities! This is a picure of our Frakenstein activities inspried from Teri at A Cupcake for the Teacher's  Frakenstien Craftivity! I bought the mask at Marshalls and painted it before spraying a light coat of silver spray paint. The green Frakenstein shirt you see in the background came from Kirklands and it really a chair cover!

The past 3 weeks I have had a teacher cadett from our high school coming to observe and one of her task was to create a bulletin board.  I gave her the frakenstein chair cover and she came up with the phrase "Mrs. Livers' Class if Frankly Spooktacular".  I wanted to show you the full display but for some reason the picture will not download onto my page:(  I think it is awesome that students can attend a class in high school and have the opportunity to observe, create projects, and teach a few lessons before going off to college! What a way to have an opportunity to discover your passion before enrolling in your first college class!  

Finally a 50 Follower Giveaway

So excited for my second giveaway!  If you are not familar with the The Container Store then you are totally missing out! It is a great store to buy organization items for your home and perfect for school. Please enter below and "May the Odds be Ever in Your Favor!"(I am finally reading hunger games!) Have a fabulous Friday!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Whoop, Whoop! Fifty's in the House!



Graphics by Candee Print

Everyone put your hands in the air becaue I have reached 50 followers!!!!!!!!!!!! Not only do I have a fabulous new background, but now I will be planning a giveaway.  I have a few ideas in mind but haven't made up my mind just yet. Have a fabulous week and stay tuned!

New Background:)

Thank you to Michelle at The 3am Teacher for my beautiful new background!  I was going to link up for flashback Friday but my internet was down on Friday.  Tonight while I was blog stocking browsing, I was so excited to not only find a free background but its CHEVRON! I have a huge slight obsession with this pattern:)  Thank you, Thank you, Thank you Michelle! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend!  

Giveaways and Chic Teacher Tuesday

Head on over to Primary Possibilities for a 24 hour give away! A team of teachers have created this  blog and are almost to 500 followers!  I dream of the day when I am hosting a 500 follower give away! I am almost to 50 and I already have a few ideas in mind for a little giveaway!

Mrs. Browning from Darlin in First is holding a giveaway to Very Jane for Chic Teacher Tuesday!  She is so stinkin cute and she blogged about my new favorite store!  Go and check her blog and giveaway! 

 

 

Since its Chic Teacher Tuesday, I will tell you about my favorite facebook page Lyndsy McGinty at PrettyPlease Boutique.  She has been feeding my obession with chevron! 

 I hope everyone is having a great week! I will be linking up with Teaching Maddeness on Friday for Flashback Friday!  

A New Blogging Buddy:)

      I am so excited to find a Arkansas Blogger and even better she is just a few miles down the road to a neighboring school district! We are suppose to be rivals but I am still really excited! Check out Heather's blog Sensational Seconds! She has a fabulous giveaway for a personal laminator from My Binding that you should totally check out.

Have a fabulous Friday! I will be linking up with a few different linky parties this weekend so stay tuned!

The Importance of Sharing, A Link Up, and Partriot Day

I am linking up with Jennifer at Rowdy in First Grade for her Tell Me Something Good link party and if you would like to join grab the button and share something good from school and home!

 

 

Something good from School:    

 

   I don't know about you but on Friday afternoons I am pretty drained and busy reflecting over the week as I am preparing for the next week and a pick me up can be so wonderful!!  I had a parent email me Friday afternoon and tell me how much it meant that I allowed her child to share about a passing of a very important pet. Needless to say this was very refreshing and encouragement to continue my system of sharing!  Last year I had several students who wanted to share so I created a sign up sheet where 5 students a day could share during snack time.   They are only allowed to share once a week and must sign up during morning work/jobs. I have laminated two sheets of papers with the days of the week and the numbers 1-5 on each day.

 Snack time works perfectly because it allows the students a break from morning work yet gives them a focus that is peer driven. Students may show or tell an object or share a story.   My students this year have very quickly adapted to the Sign up to Share system and with a PA system in my classroom it is even more success full than last year!   

Something Good from Home:  
Mr. Livers is a HUGE Razorback fan so our weekends are spent traveling to games and spending time with friends and family and it's one of my favorite times of year!  I could probably work all weekend the first few months of school but football games and tailgates are a great reason to take a break and have fun! I'm trying to come up with a recipe for Alabama vs Arkansas game....anyone have a suggestion?



Just to make you laugh:)

First week of School and Monday Made it!

I have been completey MIA as I have been preparing for and survivning the first week of school! I have a wonderful group of students and I am so excited about this school year! I have so much to share I dont really know where to begin!

 I do want to say Happy Late Birthday to Amanda at Teaching Maddeness! She has been so encouraging since I started blogging and last year when I was developing a theme I used several ideas from her former classroom theme!  She has so many wonderful ideas so please check out her blog!

 

  For Open House I put up a photo booth ( that I purchased from wal-mart in the party section) outside my classroom for parents to take picture at their leisure! It has also served a great back drop for First Day of First Gade Pictures and the students loved the props for silly pics!

I gave the students smarties as a little gift for open house and put together a goody bag for the first day of school! Both bag toppers came from Cara Carroll's Saved by the Bell Packet from Teacher Pay Teachers.

 

We read There was an Oldy Lady Who Swallowed Some Books and completed a mini unit from First Grade Wow!  Click the picture below for this great back to school unit!

 

We also read Have you Filled a Bucket Today and each student has a popcorn box to respresent their bucket.  Students can leave positive notes to one another through out the year!

 

I reinforned school rules by reading David Goes to School and discussed Peacemaker and Peacebreakers from Cara Carrols First Grade Parade Peace Makers lesson.  The students created their own David and wrote a rule they learned on speech bubbles and this was a huge hit! I will have to post a pick of their finished work later!

And the Winnder is.....

Congradulations to Andi from Mommy, Teacher, and So Much More for winning my 30 Followers Giveaway! If she didnt buy everything she wanted at the TPT sale, now she can splurge a little more!  Go and check out her blog!  She not only shares about her classroom but all the many she hats she wears as a mother, friend, daughter, and girlfriend!  My hat is off to her with all that she juggles!  Thank you to everyone who entered!  I already have planned what I will give away when I reach fifty followers and I only need nine more!  I didnt make it for Monday Made it because I was so busy getting ready for school I didnt stop to take pictures but maybe I can link up next week! I would like to share a postcard I purchased on Etsy!  For the last year I have used different designers on etsy for showers invitations and when I couldnt find a postcard on TPT I decided to look on etsy and found Stacey at Small Moments Design!

She has several pre-made designes for note cards and postcards for the classroom but she didnt have a Hollywood Theme postcard.  I opted for a custom design and I couldnt be more pleased!  She made exactly what I was looking for and had a fast turn around from start to finish even though she lives across the world!  Thank you to Stacey for my new postcard that I was able to send to all my little stars!

I printed a personalized message on labels to place on the back before sending in the mail!  When I went to get stamps, I had the option to pick a design and I chose a cartoon of a mail man holding out a piece of mail which was a fun detail to add!  Well I am off to finish getting ready for open house and I will post pictures this weekend!  Have a wonderful night and good luck to all who are getting ready for the first day and to those who are surviving the first few weeks of school!

An Unwanted Visitor and A Giveaway!!!!!!!!!!!!

This afternoon I was running errands before going to my school to work for a few hours and attend our New  Parent Orientation night when I received a voice mail from our school secretary that was really BIZARRE! She asked if she needed to call animal control and I just new she had the wrong number but I was soooo wrong! I called back to find out that she had received a message that there was a SNAKE in my classroom!  To say I started freaking out is an understatement! My bestie who teaches across the hall had tried to get a hold of me but was unable to reach me so she sent out a message to everyone with this picture and the title, Mrs. Livers' has a visitor! I called her ASAP and was hoping that this was all a joke and not only was it not a joke but she and two other teachers had mustered up enough courage to take care of the snake for me!  I believe more than ever in divine intervention because if I had found the snake on my own it would have taken me until Christmas to step foot back in my room alone!!!!  I owe all three of these ladies a big favor or two! Needless to say the afternoon was not productive at all!  After orientation a few of us when out for dinner and had a few laughs about the whole thing!  

Monday Made it with a Little Tape and Spray Paint!

After reading all of the fabulous project linked with Monday made it, I had to join! All of my projects have been completed with spray paint and decorative tape! My classroom theme is Hollywood but I have incorporated a little chevron!  I have found chevron packing tape at Target first and then bought one roll of Chevron Duct Tape at Mardel's teacher sale! I wanted to buy more of the chevron duct tape but before I made it back to Mardel I found the same pattern at our local Habitat for Humanity Store for half the price and I went a little crazy!

My first project that started a domino effect was a red shelf that went from being used for a storage to a mailbox system for students' take home folders.  I didn't take a before picture but the edges had soooo many paint chips and I didn't have the time to sand and paint it so instead I lined the edges with the red and white packing time and wallah!

My next project was transforming a purple shelf to lime green lined with chevron only using spray paint and duct tape! The shelf will be used for my inside recess and free play centers for Fun Fridays!

After this I was on a roll and continued to transform my white extra supply bins into red with chevron using spray paint that is specific to plastic and packing tape! 

 Probably every shelf will be edged with chevron before school begins!!  I have also used the packing tape to hang posters which is functional with flair!

My last two Monday Made It projects I owe all to my mom!  She purchased chevron grey and off white material from Hobby Lobby and made curtains for my classroom! (and another set for my house) I called her one afternoon and mentioned the idea and they were finished the next day!! The stars I purchased at Party City!  I 

Before I met Mr. Livers, I had been a bridesmaid many many times and I have every dress saved! My mom took about half of the dresses and made them shorter in order to create a bin of dress up clothes that will be great for inside recess and fairy tale units! There are so many memories in the bin of old dressed!

OK so I have reached over 25 followers but I cannot decide on my first giveaway!!!!!! So I am going to extent it to when I reach 30 followers and make it extra special!! I hope everyone had a wonderful Monday as you all are preparing for the first day of school!! 14 days and counting:)

Resolutions, Link Party, and a Shout out!

On Friday class list were posted and I was just as excited as the students!!!! I have a wonderful group of students and I am really looking forward to the first day of school!! Only 15 days away!!! I have a few projects to post tomorrow for Monday Made It!  Amanda from Teaching Maddeness gave me a shout out and it made my week! She has been so encouraging and its so fun to make blogging friends!  I'm a little late but I am joining her New {School} Year Resolution Linky Party!!

Resolution #1: Spend time with Co-workers!!!  I have the opportunity to work with a great group of teachers not only in First grade but through out the building!  We get so busy throughout the school year that many times we don't take time to even speak when passing through the hall!  My goals is to take time out of the busy day to check in with teachers outside of the first grade hall and to spend time outside of school!! A few of us are planning Teachers night out once a month for whoever is available!!

Resolution #2: Stay organized!! I have worked really hard to organize my classroom and now the work begins of staying organized!   One way is to clean off my desk every afternoon and spend more time on preparation instead of procrastination!

Resolution #3: Taking pictures and making a memory album! In order to reach this goal I need to delegate to home room moms to take pictures for special projects and field trips! I want to make a memory album at the end of the year for parents to purchase through shutterfly! (I wish I was rich enough to buy one for each student!)

Resolution #4: In God we trust but for everyone else we must take data!!  This is a quote that I love and plan to post on my binder for student assessment!  Maintaining organization with students assessments is an art that I am still perfecting!

There are several great linky parties going around and this is a great one so link up if you have resolutions for this school year!!

I am brainstorming on my first giveaway once I reach 25 followers and I only need one more!!!!

Looking forward to posting tomorrow for Monday Made it after completing my fist day of CGI year 2!! Are there any other bloggers who are going through the CGI program??