Where have I been?!

Hello everyone! Sorry I've been MIA for so long.... I went to Hawaii for spring break, and I think I caught a severe case of island fever! I long to be back in the sun, enjoying the beauty of the Kauai Island, eating coconut pineapple ice cream and shave ice while listening to the sounds of the ocean.  I do plan on posting pictures soon, but first I want to catch up with you!!

here's one picture from my trip... I promise to post more soon!  How beautiful is this waterfall?!

This past year I took a few weekend technology classes and started looking into getting an endorsement in educational technology. The week I returned from Hawaii, my district announced that they were starting an ed-tech program in the fall.... I was sooooo excited.... I got my nomination turned in, then got the bad news that they were only allowing 3rd thru 6th grade teachers to participate (insert super sad face here... I may have shed a few tears).... I emailed them, pleased my case, but got nowhere. Second grade teachers were not allowed... The. End. They told me if I wanted to even be considered, I had to switch grades....well, in an amazing twist of fate, just a few days after this whole ordeal began, not one, but TWO third grade positions opened up in my school. I was at a training that day, so I quickly emailed my principal and asked to have one of the spots.... I wasn't guaranteed anything in regard to the ed-tech program by switching grades, but in order to apply, I HAD to be a 3rd grade teacher. Now, let me just explain.... I began 9 years ago as a 1st grade teacher.... I did 1st for one year, then moved schools and began teaching 2nd.... I immediately fell in love with 2nd grade and have been there ever sense (I have taught second grade at 3 different schools now, and have always said I wouldn't move unless I could teach 2nd!) I have now been teaching second grade for EIGHT years and have TONS of materials for 2nd grade.... I had even worked for a few years as a math specialist for second grade...  This was a tough decision to make.... But I feel so passionately about technology as the future of education, that I was willing to make the change and see where it led.

The next few weeks were torture.... I submitted my application and had an observation looming over my head (they didn't make appointments or tell us when they were coming, just that they would be out during the week)... I waited, and waited some more.... Sometime around mid-May, I finally got the news that I had been ACCEPTED into the ed-tech program!! I was soooo excited! This two-year program includes a smart board for my classroom, and a class set of chrome books for the students.... So you can imagine just how excited I was..... Except, that my excitement was quickly replaced with a bit of panic along the lines of "What have I gotten myself into?" And "I don't know how to teach third grade!" So that's why I've been MIA lately.... The last 2 months of school were just pure "survival mode", followed by 2 weeks of training for 3rd grade common core (which kind of scared me!!)

Still with me? Sorry for the novel!! Anyway, so I am now home from all my vacations and can start focusing on third grade. Holy moly, there is SO MUCH to learn!! Between teaching a new grade, and doing the ed-tech endorsement, I really can't make any promises right now for how much I'll be around or how much I'll be creating. I have a list a mile long of things I would like to do, but right now, my top priority is figuring out my new grade and integrating technology into my classroom.

 With that in mind, I am so happy to share with you my latest project....except, wow, this post is already huge and you’re probably bored… SOOOO…. Come back tomorrow to read all about my latest product (annnnd, there might just be a little *giveaway* if you come back… just sayin’!)  If you follow me on Facebook and Instagram, you already know what I’m talking about.  Ok, see you tomorrow :)  I'm off to see WICKED with my mom, aunts, and cousin tonight.... EEK! I LOVE me some Wicked!!

#TPTVegas2014

** Warning: Prepare for picture overload :) **

This past week I went to Las Vegas for the first ever TPT seller conference and all I can say is WOW! I am still in awe of all the amazing people I met and all the great things I learned. I appreciated hearing everyone's stories and their TPT journeys... It was great to be surrounded by others who share the same passion and vision and to see that we're all in different places in our journey, and that's okay. As Deanna Jump said, it's all about quality, not quantity (though we all got a good laugh when she first said "it's all about quantity, not quality!" LOL!!!)  I would rather make one great product than five mediocre ones.

One of the highlights I enjoyed was finally MEETING so many of my "friends" that I've made through TPT and blogs.  I have to admit that it was a little overwhelming to be at a conference with 743 other TPT'ers (yes, TPT Amy knew the EXACT count of how many attendees there were!) but it a was such a great week! There was also a teacher-blogger meet-up on Wednesday sponsored by the darling gals at "What the Teacher Wants" and it was a blast! 600+ teacher-bloggers visiting, socializing, taking pictures, and being starstruck by the all-star bloggers in the room!  Oh, and did I mention we all got free scentos markers and pens?? That's right!!  

helping put swag bags together for the #2014vegasmeetup

Top left: Me, Lory, Rachelle; Top right: Mel D.; bottom left: Corinna; Bottom right: Sally, Tanja

Top: Utah bloggers (thanks @whattheteacherwants for the great photo), plus the one and only DEANNA JUMP, who jumped into our photo at the last second! Bottom: some of the darlings from "The Primary Chalkboard"; top right: Christina, middle: Corinna (again... guess I just love her a LOT!); bottom: The fabulous Greg, aka Kindergarten Smorgasbord 

This was a shot of the crowd on Wednesday night.... Oh. My. Word.  It was so crowded and overwhelming, but awesome!!

Here are a few of my photo highlights from the week :) (and to all the sellers who I didn't get a chance to meet or visit with, I sincerely apologize... I seriously get so overwhelmed with large crowds and sometimes it was more than I could handle!! But I love and adore all of you and look forward to meeting even more "friends" next summer!!)

Disclaimer: Lory would like you to know that she doesn't wear purple cowboy hats everywhere... only in TPT photo booths :)

Me with Paul Edelman, the founder of TPT.... such a nice and humble guy! (and a good sport to pose for photo after photo after photo!!)

The LOVELY Jen Jones from Hello Literacy... I *adore* this gal so much, and was so sad we didn't have time to sit down and chat :( Please come to Utah and visit me!!  I LOVE everything Jen makes... her graphic organizers were a staple in my classroom this past year!

Selfie time: Top left: Kimberly Geswein, right: Deanna Jump (couldn't resist a selfie with her!); bottom left: Marie; right: Shelley Gray

In addition to attending the TPT conference, I was able to enjoy some good old Vegas sight seeing and pool time. Here's a few of my highlights.

if you're following me on Instagram, you may have already seen this photo.... our first day altogether, and what do we do??  Play on our phones, of course!!

M&M World... you could just SMELL the deliciousness...

I saw this in the Margaritaville gift shop and had to snap a picture.... I wish I were living my life in flip flops, but after breaking my toe TWICE this summer while wearing flip flops, I have put mine away :( dang broken toe!!

the only kind of "shots" Lory and I did while in Vegas.... Coca-cola tastes of the world... Very interesting to say the least.  I think my favorite was Pineapple from Greece and Kiwi Mango from South Africa.  Don't worry, we bought some good ol' American Coke too while we were there!

Swimming at the Palazzo pool... working hard, or hardly working?! (notice the cute tote bag we got from TPT when we picked up our conference registration materials... these are my school colors, so I might use the bag this year!)

Fun times sight-seeing and meeting new friends :)

I also fulfilled one of my childhood dreams by attending my first ever New Kids On the Block concert. That's right. Be jealous!! It was so much fun.

We were a *little* bit tired at this point... it was Friday night AFTER the TPT convention and our "wild" night on the strip... But still SO worth it!

Big shout out to my wonderful roommate Lory... Be sure to check out her blog and store... Everything she makes is amazing and I am always in awe of her talent!

to all my new friends.... a message from Elvis, and Nikki, aka Melonheadz!

I'm already looking forward to #tptvegas2015 :) who's with me?!

Feeling "positively radiant" with Aveeno!

Today I want to quickly talk to you about skin care. I have the most sensitive skin on the planet.... Even my dermatologist is amazed at all the problems my poor skin has, and how easily it can break out in a rash from the most mild skin care treatments.

Anyway, one of my sweet bloggy buddies recently invited me to become an "influenster" and I was so excited when I received my first #voxbox (have you seen these things on Instagram?! I swoon with jealousy every month!)  I received a free sample of Aveeno's positively radiant targeted tone corrector which is designed to even your skin tone. I spend a LOT of time at the pool in the summer, so I knew this would be perfect for my skin! I have been using this twice a day for the past week, and can already see some changes with the dark spots around my eyes. I put it on each morning before using any other moisturizers or makeup, then put it on again at night after I wash my face.

Be sure to follow me on Instagram to see my before and after pictures, which I will be posting later on this month, and follow other bloggers by searching #RadiantWithAVEENO on Instagram and facebook.

So talk to me.... What is your one must-have skin care item?!

Stay tuned for my recap of #tptvegas2014 as well as a few new products I'm working on.

Disclosure: I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.  

DIY Flip-flop Wreath Tutorial

Friday was my first official day of summer, and I can honestly say I thought it would never arrive! This has been the longest year ever, and I am so happy to finally have a break. I start two weeks of classes today, so I promised myself I wouldn't even THINK about anything school related this weekend.... So please forgive me for posting something that has nothing to do with teaching :)

My friend and I have a craft group and try to make something each month.... But the last few months we've been slackers and haven't done anything... Anyway, the other day she saw a cute wreath that she wanted to make, so we went to Walmart Saturday night and set out on a crafting adventure! I decided to take pictures as we made these because I couldn't find a lot of tutorials on Pinterest.

Forgive me in advance, I don't really care about fancy photography, so all my photos were snapped with my iPhone. That's just how I roll ;)

basic supplies: flip flops, 14" foam circle

Okay here we go....

Supplies needed:

* 4-6 pairs of colorful flip-flops (we found ours for 98 cents each at Walmart!)

*14" foam circle (I used a foam rectangle board and cut out 3 circles so I could make some for some family members) just kinda depends on what you can find in your local craft store -- I would suggest a FLAT one instead of a round one so that the flip flops will glue on better.

* large flower (Walmart didn't have a great selection.... Try Michael's or Hobby Lobby for really cute ones!)

* ribbon to hang it (Walmart craft section or floral section)

* hot glue gun

You will want to get your circle first, then spread out the flip flops to get an idea of how many you need ** make sure you buy the SAME SIZE flip flops. Also keep in mind that depending on the size of circle you get, you will need more or less flip-flops than I used. **

Step 1: spread all the flip flops out the way that you want them to be on the wreath. Play around with it as much as you want right now (as you can see, I overlapped mine just slightly).

Step 2: glue the flip flops together (I did left over right for each pair of flip flops)

Step 3: once the hot glue has dried, lay the flip flops out again to make sure they fully cover the wreath. I've included a few pictures to show you how I layered them. I also used a sharpie to mark where each set of flip flops sat on the wreath (this way I could take them off and glue one pair at a time and be able to put them back in the right spot) -- your flower will cover the middle of the circle, so don't worry about the marker lines.

Step 4: glue each pair of flip flops onto the wreath; you will find a natural "over/under" layout that occurs as you put each pair on the wreath -- just slide them in carefully and make sure to use plenty of glue.  Let the wreath dry for a few minutes after gluing each pair of flip flops onto it.

Step 5: glue your flower into the center of the wreath (you can also add small flowers around the wreath for accents if you wish). You can also add more glue around the edges of the flip flops at this time if necessary to make sure they are glued on extra well.

Step 6: this was definitely a "winging it" step.... Since we were using a foam board, and not an actual wreath, there wasn't a way to hang it.... We just poked two holes with a small screw driver :) here's a picture of the back-side of the wreath so you can see how we tied the ribbon. You could also glue the ribbon, but I felt like a hole in the back worked better. 

Ta-da. There you have it. A fun, summery wreath, for about $10-12. If you make one, I would love for you to share a photo on my facebook page. Thanks for stopping by!

College Bound Kids {a new packet}

As teachers and educators, I think we all agree that college is important. As a first generation college graduate in my own family, I can honestly say that college was never really on my to-do list growing up. It wasn’t until my aunt decided to take it upon herself my senior year of high school to see that I went to college, and she told my mom that she had to kick me out! I often thank her for that, even though I hated her at the time! I never pictured myself as “college material” and I certainly never dreamed I would someday have a master’s degree!  College just wasn’t something we discussed growing up…

Well, next week at school, we will be having "college week". This is a new tradition that we started last year, and is definitely something I look forward to as the school year is coming to a close. Last year it was all put together pretty quickly, and we sort of made it up as we went along.... This year I decided to make a packet for all of the teachers at my school to use, and today I'm finally getting around to blogging about it. So what exactly IS college week, you might ask? Well, college week is designed to get even the littlest of kids to think about college and help your students set goals and get excited NOW about attending college in the future.

Because my school is K - 6, I wanted to make the packet as versatile as possible, so there are writing pages with both primary and secondary lines, and more than enough activities to keep any grade level engaged throughout the week. Not every page will be used depending on your grade level, but there are plenty of activities to choose from.  Here are some of the highlights:

* College application

* College research page

* Vocational / trade school research page (great for upper grade students who may express interest in trade school over college)

* College K-W-L

* Create a mascot

* If I were a college student – graphic organizer & writing pages

* I would make a great college student because… - graphic organizer and writing pages

* College is important because… - writing & coloring page

* Things I can do now to prepare for college – graphic organizer & writing pages

* When I grow up – writing & coloring page

* Blank graphic organizer and writing pages

* Characteristics of great college students anchor chart (cut-n-glue version is perfect for the littlest college-bound kiddos!)

* Multiple graphic organizers for college versus elementary school, compare two colleges, etc.

* College words word-search

* Design you own dorm room

* Bulletin board materials with endless possibilities (college pennants, college kiddos, caps, etc.)

* College Week Participation Certificates (color & black and white)

If you are interested in having college week, this packet is a great resource to help you get started. Each day, I start by showing my class a YouTube video about one of the colleges here in Utah, and of course you can find videos for colleges in your own area by searching on YouTube... My kids get so excited each time we get to take a virtual tour of a college campus in our area. The videos are also great to use with the Venn diagrams in the packet if you want your students to compare and contrast two colleges in your area.  I will post my youtube playlist at the bottom of this post :)

A few other suggestions to make a great college week:

** Call local community colleges or universities in your area and ask to speak with a recruiter -- these folks are usually more than happy to send you some college "swag" to share with your students (I have gotten pencils and pennants in the past).

** Invite a recruiter to come to your school and speak to the older students about things they need to do to become “college bound”.

One class made a poster and had everyone
sign it to commit to attending college!

** Hold a food drive during the week, and have students donate food in bins labeled for their favorite university in your area…. See which university can get the most food.

** Have a theme each day – such as team colors, university tee-shirts, athletic day (many of the boys wore school jerseys, and some of my girls dressed as cheerleaders for various schools), cap & gown day (if they have a cap and gown from a parent, or you could do a dress-up day where they wear nice clothes and make them their own caps to wear).

** Hold a “commencement” ceremony (as a class, grade-level, or whole school).  We are doing this next week, but it’s new this year, so I don’t know much about it… I’ll have to blog about it later…  I have included a few certificates in the packet if you want to do a commencement for your future college grads.

Ok, I have rambled on long enough… click {HERE} to check out the packet on TPT… if you would like to win a copy, comment below with the university you graduated from… I will pick a winner Friday night whenever I get home from school.  Enjoy!

Here are a few teachers from team USU (I'm in the middle in my cap, gown, and hood). Go AGGIES!

here's a little playlist I put together last year... this highlights some of the schools here in Utah: