TptT Seller Challenge : Dare To Dream

I am finally on summer vacation! I anticipated teaching a summer reading program at my school. However, due to funding it was cancelled.... No shocker there considering the district I teach in and the fact that we will probably be going on strike.... again! I'm hoping to find something else to do to make a little extra $. 

About my TpT Dare to Dream Challenge

I'm planning on buying a new car next summer. I would love to create more products on TpT so I can put down a pretty hefty down payment. Third on my Dare to Dream list is not letting TpT get in the way of going to the gym. B commented last night that I need to be more "dedicated" to things other than TpT.... Doing laundry, cleaning, going to the gym..... Ooops! He is totally right though. I will TpT for hours and forget to put my laundry in the dryer or skip the gym. I need to balance my "business" and my other priorities.

Organize - Organize - Organize goes hand in hand with this. I brought home two boxes FULL of extra copies that I've been stockpiling for the last two years. I bought file folders and storage bins and am hoping to get organized before starting my 5th year of teaching! 

Lastly, I hope to teach in am amazing school! There are lots of great schools in the neighborhood that I live in. It would be a dream to teach in one of those schools. Working in the inner city has taken a toll on me; mentally,physically, and emotionally. Each year I have gone back and forth about going back into the corporate world..... This past spring I decided I needed to stop swaying back and forth and stay committed to teaching. I'm hoping that I've gained the experience necessary to teach in a better school. (fingers crossed). 

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My First Five for Friday!

Check out my very first Five for Friday! Here it goes.... I hope I got it right!

I had the opportunity to go to the World Vision Teacher Resource Center this week. I was so excited to receive supplies that will get me through the end of the year without spending more money out of my own pocket! I have taught in three inner city schools. I have yet to have a student bring in school supplies. Of course a list is sent home at the beginning of the year, but still zero - - zilch in the school supply department. I even got some cleaning wipes and tissue! YAY! 

We went to see The Book of Morman on Wednesday night. It was beyond hilarious!  I took the brown line down to the loop, met my boyfriend at his office and then walked to McCormick and Schmicks. Most of my friends work downtown in the loop and are accustomed to happy hours and walking around the corner to a restaurant after work. I however do not work in a neighborhood where such a thing could EVER happen! Needless to say I was overly excited for $7 buffalo shrimp and a $6 glass of wine!

My school had a Black History Fair this week. My class presented on Michael Jordan!  

I was a laminating maniac this week. I finished 6 different sets of task cards. 2 math sets and 4 long vowel sets. I need to finish my long u set tonight! Oh, and by the way.... I am having a  MEGA sale! 

4th and 5th grade boys at my school participated in a male mentoring  program called Man Child. aimed at helping African American boys.   The preschoolers were in tears over the scary costumes! This man literally climbed over the auditorium chairs wearing a beaded mask. The littles ones immediately ran to their teacher, clutching on to her for dear life. Poor things! 

"Our mission is dedicated to giving children the skills and motivation to empower them to contribute to the well-being of our communities and allow them to reach their full potential."

Hope you enjoyed reading my first Five for Friday! Have a fantastic weekend! 

Spring Break!

Spring Break is finally here! I think I need to repeat this..... Spring Break if FINALLY here! I can hardly believe it. Tomorrow is a PD day for my district, so basically my Spring Break has already started!

I am already packed for my trip to Punta Cana! I have never been to the Dominican Republic and look forward to some relaxation and coming back sun kissed! I am also hoping to share some of the outfits I've put together for my trip. I love the inspiration I have gotten from fashion bloggers and Instagram photos! I can't decide if I will be bringing my computer with me. I think it will be a game time decision.

I had to do some major bribery today with my class. I needed to finish entering report card grades and  wanted to get a bit organized before a week off.

We used jelly beans to graph and also worked on place value with easter eggs. Each student received a certain number of easter eggs with small prizes inside. No candy! I have a serious problem and could not risk being tempted! I had to ask one of the kindergarten teachers for more jelly beans after eating a few too many prior to our jelly bean graphing.....

Each egg had a number on it. I created a form for students to record the numbers on their egg, practice place value, and add multiple numbers. I also had three 7th grade boys help out! They even did Koo Koo Kangraroo's Pop See Ko brain break! I think they thought we were nuts at first!

Lastly, I ordered Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day from Amazon's Instant Video. I was running into some problems streaming it so we did not finish it.

I just needed about 20 more minutes to get me to dismissal, so I asked my students what was an appropriate TV show. I had to nix Empire..... ( a is this real life moment). I then had the genius idea to have my students watch my favorite TV show from when I was in first grade.... Full House! Most of them said they watch the reruns and were so excited to watch. I had one girl listing off all of the characters! Yay!

"Is this real life?"

We have conversations in my classroom quite often about what students want to do when they "grow up". I try to revolve the conversation around the idea that there are safer places to live where gun violence, gangs, and drugs aren't on every corner. While having this same conversation today I asked the question: "What do you NOT want to happen to you when you get older". The responses that came out of the mouths of six and seven-year-olds to the average person are probably shocking, to me not so much. Here are a few.

• "I don't want to be selling weed on the street."
• "I don't want to be shootin and killin people."
• "I don't want to go to jail like my.... (daddy, uncle, cousin, etc)."
• "I don't want to be drinkin at the liquor store."
• "I don't want to be livin on the streets."

Without a doubt I would have never experienced this world outside of my suburban upbringing or my home in a very safe area of Chicago. I commonly say to myself "Is this real life." I mean, how do these babies know about drugs and guns?!!! The cycle of poverty is so apparent that it is appalling. The quote below is so, so very true.  

Vowel Teams & Touch Math

Lot's of vowel team practice lately! My kids love the mini books and coloring pages that are part of my Vowel Team packets. I have completed two so far - Long i and Long e. I gave the coloring page to my students as their Morning Work. They loved it. Both of my vowel team packets are currently on sale for only $1. Both packets have over 40 pages of printables and activities! 

In my previous post, I wrote about our math journals that have turned "interactive".  About half of my class is still having a hard time with money. We use touch money, but many of them do not put the touch points to help them even with me continuously reminding them.... Those that use touch math are experts at counting coins already!  I whipped up an interactive notebook page during my prep to help my struggling kiddos. Only problem was that I forgot to shrink the page when I made copies (We use composition books and the pages are a bit smaller) I simply had them put their work onto a piece of construction paper. Now, we must work on gluing and cutting NEATLY! 

Thinkin' Out Loud

Music is a must in my classroom! Usually we have a good mix of different genres: Kids Bop, classical, Disney, Justin Roberts (love him), and new music we hear on the radio.

Let me tell you, Ed Sheerans' Thinking Out Loud has put a spell on my class. While working on their  math journals today, my kids quietly cut, pasted, and sung their hearts out. So, so very cute! I made sure to tell them that they were making my heart so happy!

We usually do not do much gluing or flap making, however today with five kids absent I thought I would give it a try. Success!

Speaking of kids out absent... what is it with my kids not coming to school so they can get their hair done?????? Even my best student misses school to get her hair done. I've learned quite a bit about weaves and braids these past few years. Not only are they expensive but they also fall out.... Yuck. I have seriously found parts of  braided weaves on my carpet more times that I can count on two hands.

Check out the picture below.... Part of a weave was actually wrapped into a gift that one of my students received over Christmas! A suburban school donated lots of gifts and the older kids wrapped them. I'm assuming that's how the weave got into the gift... Check it out. We all had a good laugh!

Can't wait to enjoy this weather! Can't wait to run on the lake shore path! One of my favorite things about Chicago when the weather is warm and sunny!