Virginia is for Teachers…a New Blog!

So here's my take,

I have been busy in my classroom these past two weeks

 (almost done and ready to reveal!!!) as I head back for work week tomorrow! 

Sneak Peak

But, I wanted to let you know about a wonderful group of fellow Teacher Bloggers I have the pleasure of working and collaborating with! …and all of us are from Virginia!!!

I have been part of a Facebook community for Virginia Teachers for a couple of years. Since 2012, we have tried to have an annual summer gathering to share and collaborate. 

Over the years we have grown and some very fabulous ladies suggested a blog where we can all share our ideas with teachers everywhere!

The new blog is called, Va is for Teachers! If you are familiar with our state slogan, "Virginia is for Lovers", you can understand the name of our blog!

My good teacher friend, Heather from Beg, Borrow, and Teach, carpooled with me down to this years conference. On our way to the conference in Richmond, Heather and I took as many pictures in front of the LOVE signs as we could. 

We were able to get to 3 in an hour and a half…not too shabby and oh so fun!!!

There are about 30 wonderful teachers creating and sharing on this blog. The blog went live on August 15th and each day there is a post meeting two fantastic teachers, each giving out a FREEBIE, and a rafflecopter of fantabulous prizes!!!

Make sure to stop by today, as it is my turn to post, give a FREEBIE away, and the prize you could win today is a $10 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers!!! My co-poster today is Desiree from Paper, Pencils, and Progress Reports! 

Don't miss out on meeting her and getting her FREEBIE! 

This here is Desiree from Paper, Pencils, and Progress Reports!

My FREEBIE is a close reading previewing strategy for informational text!

We had an awesome time at our Summer Meet Up together! If you happen to be a Virginia Teacher Blogger, make sure to come and join us! We were so thankful to our sponsors who gave generously to our raffle prizes!!! 

Get to know you Scavenger Hunt!!! So fun!

We each brought a gift for an exchange!!!

Prize table for raffles from wonderful sponsors!!!

Heather and I excited from our GoNoodle goodie bag of free stuff!!! 

Awesome advice from teachers who had attended the Teachers Pay Teacher Vegas conference!!!

What a delicious lunch! YUM!!!

FREEBIES!!!

My awesome table! Almost all of us won something in the raffle!

This pic made it to the TpT FB page when they asked for heart signs…Very cool!

It was a memorable afternoon and I wish we all gathered more often!!! 

Remember to check out the new blog! Va is for Teachers!!!

Happy Learning!

Made it Monday, but Posting Thursday!

So here's my take…

Lucky me doesn't have to report back until August 31st, 

so I am busy creating things for my classroom! 

I wanted a subway art sign for all to see when they enter my classroom. 

I found the right saying, but not the right design for me, 
so of course I had to make my own!

I love the bright colors and the dots!

As soon as I made it I had to put it up! 

Love it! 

I will have the poster in my TpT store if you would like one for your room. 

It measures 11X17. 

I uploaded the poster to staples and had them print and laminate it for me!

If you are a TpT buyer, I hope y'all took advantage of 

the Back to School sale they just had. 

My Virginia Teacher Blogger friends and I took the pic below and 

TpT used it on their FB page! So cool!!!

Click to my TpT Store to get the Poster

Happy Learning!!!

My nErD Camp Experience!

So here's my take…

If you haven't heard about nErD Camp yet, 

here is a little back ground…

Click to watch a video explaining nErD camp!

Now, that you are on board with what nErD camp is all about, 

let me tell you about my experience this past July 6-7!

It was awesome…to quote Colby Sharp, "It was the Bomb!" or Alaina Sharp (yes they are married and have crazy cute kids!), "It was Legendary!"

Since it is a FREE conference that meant I just had 

to secure travel from Virginia to Michigan!

I decided to grab my good teacher friend, 

4th Grade Teacher Michelle Holstine, 

from Montgomery County Maryland for this epic adventure!

We decided on a  ROAD TRIP!

Arrival to Day 1 was filled with excited anticipation! 

My wonderful coworker and fantabulous Librarian,

 Janie Banse joined our nErD Camp journey.

Before the opening speakers, there was a social time to get pumped up for the day! 

There were FREE giveaways (like a nErD camp water bottle), 

Raffle drawings to enter for original artwork

 from outstanding illustrators, 

a FREE photo booth, 

and Accessible Authors mingling around like,

Jennifer Holm (Baby Mouse, Squish), Lisa Graff (A Tangle of Knots), Donalyn Miller (Book Whisperer)!!!

… and so much more!!!

Also, don't forget to get your social media outlets 
ready for overload! 

#HaveATwitter,Instagram,andFBAccountHandy

FREE Photo Booth wearing my nErD Camp Gear!

We owned this moniker! #nErDcampMI

Selfie with Jennifer Holm author of Baby Mouse,
Squish,The Fourteenth Goldfish, and soon
to be released book, Sunny Side UP!

After our social hour, we all gathered
for the opening of Camp!

All the Keynote speakers were inspiring!

Ruth Ayres talked about instilling a 

"Bounce Back Spirit" in students. 

Click below to read more about it!

Click to find out more about Ruth Ayres

Now it was on to sessions! 

There were an array of topics to choose 
from to make everyone happy!

My favorite session from Day 1 was…

Mr. Shu's Best Books of 2015 and all time Favorites!

If you are not familiar with 

Mr. Shu's blog Watch.Connect.Read,

then make sure to start following! 

He is a passionate K-5 librarian 

who's passion for books is so contagious!

Click to go to Mr. Shu's Blog to
find out about his book recommendations!

Mr. Shu's favorite picture book of 2015…
A Fine Dessert by Emily Jenkins

It truly is a wonderful book that follows a family recipe through time periods.

Best part, of course the recipe is included! Yummy!

Michelle and I on Cloud 9 meeting the incredible Mr. Shu!

One reason that makes Mr. Shu so incredible…
he gives books away!!!!

Thanks Mr. Shu!!!

Right after Mr. Shu's session, 

Michelle and I rushed over to the 

Book Bug (onsite indy book retailer) 

to get some of the titles that Mr. Shu recommended. 

I'm sure you can imagine book obsessed teachers 

all trying to get the same limited amounts of books! 

Yeah…it wasn't too pretty, but Michelle and I held our own!

Can you believe that Day 1 isn't over yet! Now, on to the 5k Nerd Run for Literacy! All proceeds and donations go to the nErD Camp Junior that was held right after nErD Camp!

All Geared up and Ready to Run…
Hahaha…if you know anything about me and my knees,
you know I power walked!
Best time yet…47 minutes!!!

Starting Line…and my FREE
nErD Camp water bottle full of H2O!

Hot, Sweaty,& Happy!!!

What a day! There was also a 1st annual nErD Dinner Party, 
but we were unable to get tickets…sigh!

However, Las Tres Amigas still went out to celebrate!

There were two locations of Los Tres Amigos in 

nearby Jackson Michigan…and it was que bueno!!!

On to Day 2!!!

Make sure to get to Day 2 early

… NO, REALLY early because it is SWAG day!

nErD Camp gives away books, stickers, tote bags, 

posters, book marks, and more to the first 300 people! 

Thank you nErD camp! You made one nerdy girl giddy!

After the euphoria of the SWAG settles, it is back to the auditorium 

to kick off Day 2 as a group!

Colby Sharp one of the main coordinators of the conference gave us a 

short and sweet talk to pump us up (it really wasn't too hard to do!)

Colby also went over the raffle winners of the original artwork 

that illustrators had generously donated to the camp!

I about jumped out of my seat 

when I saw I had won a piece!!!

I feel sooooo lucky! I can't wait to have
it framed and hang it in my classroom!!!

 Now, if you have been wondering why nErD camp capitalizes 

the E and D in the word it is because 

Day 2 is ran as an ED Camp model or as an (un)conference.

Click here to read an Edutopia article
all about the Ed Camp model!

The rest of Day 2 was spent in various sessions inspired by those attending!

Michelle, Janie, and I went to sessions on
engaging writers, how one school
incorporated a Teach Like a Pirate Day,
open discussions with the authors and illustrators
who attended (very fun!), and lastly
how to start or participate
in "Literary March Madness"!

I'm planning some future posts based on the great ideas
I came away with from nErD camp!

It was sad when we left our last session! But, there are notes
on all the sessions located on the blog!

Thank you to the nErD camp crew who have already set the date for next year!

Don't miss out on this inspiring FREE PD
coming next July 11-12, 2016!



 Look on the nErD camp blog early in the year to register!

Michelle and I are planning on going!

Hope to see y'all there!

Happy Learning!!!

Erin Condren Teacher Planner Unboxing!

So here's my take…

I was so excited to see this box on my door step yesterday!

I love how Erin Condren puts so much thought into all aspects of her products!!!

Here is my unboxing…sooooo exciting!

Now, I have ordered from Erin Condren before and each time 

my box and tissue have been different colors! 

Blue and Yellow are my school's colors!!! 

I also love that when you open the box she always 

gives you some free stickers and postcards!

Here is a group view of my order! I am super excited 

for the new personalized file folders!!!

Front Cover

Back Cover

Awww… here is the teacher planner (sigh) 

that I've been waiting for!!! 

I decided to go with the ready to ship cover 

because I really liked the quote! 

Plus, I wanted to take my time making a 

personalized cover! 

I love that her covers are interchangeable! 

Click My Pic for Erin Condren's Video
inside the Teacher Planner!

Some out there might think this planner is 

too expensive, but I did buy when Erin was offering 25% off! 

…But really, small things like a "pretty" planner 

truly make me smile at work…and that is priceless!

Happy Learning!!!

Classroom Moving & Planning!

So here's my take…

For the past two years, I took a position as a Learning Specialist to work with students that had Dyslexia, other Learning Difficulties, and also as a Math Enrichment teacher. 

I LOVE my new school 

I work at and for the chance I had to grow my teaching practice in this new role, 

but something was missing.

The position had its rewarding components, however through this experience I learned that my professional home where my passion for teaching comes alive is in a classroom!

I missed having a community of students who were "mine".

Therefore, my news I want to blog about has me on cloud 9!

Next year I will be heading back in the classroom!!!

 I will be teaching 4th grade…again!  

I am SUPER excited!!!

I spent the first week of summer just moving my stuff to my new room. 

Now comes the fun part…
Turing it into a learning environment that 

both the kids and I will be happy in!

View from my desk…I decided on the table group setting, but the rest is a blank canvas!

View from the door…I can't wait to start mapping out where anchor charts will go!

Need to contact facilities and get my maps back up! I teach Va. Studies!

I can't wait to post in August for my classroom reveal!

Once I found out I would be moving into a classroom position for the next year, 

I hit Pinterest! 

Click to see what I have found so far!!!

I was drawn to everything NEON! I already know that I will be going with this theme! 

Tune in next month when I reveal my new bright classroom!!!

Did I mention that I'm SUPER excited? :)

Happy Learning!!!

PS…Now you can start to follow me on Bloglovin!!!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

The Book Whisperer and Me!

So here's my take...

Most teachers are familiar with Donalyn Miller as the "Book Whisperer" 

and probably devoured her book like a piece of chocolate cake.

Well, I was one of those teachers who after reading the book

 was ready to implement everything Donalyn was prescribing! 

So, can you imagine my reaction when I found out that 

Donalyn was presenting a seminar in my area this month!!! 

She just came out with a new addicting book called, Reading in the Wild.

I immediately ordered the book and read the whole thing in time for her seminar.

Her new book is a complement to the Book Whisperer and much more. She gives you five habits of life long readers with ideas and suggestions on how to cultivate these habits. 

The book will leave you eager to inspire all your students to become wild readers! 

I know it did for me!

Donalyn's presentation that I attended went beyond my expectations. She is humble, humorous, and above all a REAL person who loves reading!

What I enjoyed the most out of her seminar and her new book 

were the numerous statistics she would quote to support wild reading habits. 

Richard Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen (2013) assert, "...We reduce the effectiveness of reading interventions when we don't provide our lowest-performing students reading time and encouragement. Developing readers need more reading, not less."

Quoting research helps me to feel confident that 

my philosophy and instructional practices are sound. That feeling is priceless!

My inner dork is beaming!

I highly suggest you put this book on your summer reading list...

or just binge one night on it because it is worth it! 

Donalyn also loves to share her work. She has a slideshare account where she puts her seminars, conferences, workshops, and book recommendations for everyone to see. 

Check them out!

Here is the link to the seminar I attended

I will leave you with my favorite quote from Donalyn's seminar:

Reading and writing floats on a sea of talk!

Happy Learning!!!