Life with a Co Teacher // GIVEAWAY!

Martina Cahill, from The Hungry Teacher, and I met nearly four years ago... but I feel as if we've known each other for a life time! The first day we met, she stopped by the school so we could meet each other. My principal was like, "Hey! You're getting a student teacher next year." And my jaw dropped because this was the first I had heard of it. But a teacher does whatever their principal tells them to, so I introduced her to our class (I was looping up with them) and she sat with our sweet Stewart and listened to him read to her for like an hour. It was really only 5 minutes in all actuality. But Stewart was not an easy student and so when she survived 5 minutes,  I knew she was a keeper.

Little did I know how life changing having her as a student teacher would be. First of all - I had only been in the classroom for 2 years before she came and taught with me. Ummmmm - do you know any 2nd year teacher that has their shit together? I'm sure there are some... but I was far from one of them. But having Martina in my classroom made me explain and justify every little thing we did. Why do I do word study like that? Welllllll.... {and into my hour long explanation I would go}. Working with Martina challenged me to think and explain more than I ever had as a teacher and I became a much stronger teacher because of it.

Typical day

I am also one of the most unorganized teachers known to mankind. Piles ontop of piles. Always. Martina changed this. She is uber organized and when she wasn't sure what to do, she would start going through my piles, my binders, and our books, and organize the crud out of our classroom. It was magical. {ANY FUTURE STUDENT TEACHERS, TAKE NOTE!} And I don't think I've ever felt so calm in the classroom {Acts of Service is totally my Love Language}.

Martina isn't just amazing for her organizational skills though. She also is a bombdiggity teacher. Seriously. Just take a look at her blog, or Instagram, and you'll know this in a heart beat. Her love for teaching is contagious... and I think my favorite thing about her is that she's not afraid to laugh at herself, or her students, when something is really funny. I think that her ability to be human while teaching is one of the reasons students and I love her so dang much. She is never once in a bad mood {it's impressive} and she loves and works harder than so many teachers. She's one of the good ones.

So please take a second to stop by her blog and enter her amaaaazing giveaway! Seriously. It's ridiculously bombdiggity and includes ALLLLLL of my favorite items!!

Thanks for stopping by and listening to me brag about one of my faves!
What experiences have you all had with co teachers and student teachers? Please share in the comments!

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Making a Mother's Day Gift That's Also Educational

It's almost Mother's Day (May 8th!) and with that being said, it's time to plan a great classroom Mother's Day gift! My favorite gift involves some educational activities too!

Truffula Trees from The Lorax!

If you're doing gifts, why not tie in Earth Day and Mother's Day? I love to read The Lorax and then plant "Truffula Seeds" for the moms (or grandmas or dads!) You can read more about what I've done in the past, here. It's a great time to discuss our impact on the environment and what we can do to be better to our Mother Nature.

We plant some seeds in order to get more plants and flowers into the world! Some fast growing seeds include sunflowers, daisies, or zinnias. They typically sprout within 5-7 days (!!!!). I buy cheap pots, some acrylic paint, seeds, and soil to prepare. Then, I spend a day decorating and painting the pots with my students. The next day we plant our seeds in their pots using the soil and whichever seeds I've chosen!

Using my Plant Power lesson plans, students track the growth of their plant. From there we'll spend a few weeks measuring the growth, and the mean, median, and mode of the plant's height. It always helps my kiddos get more comfortable with these important math ideas and it's fun! Be sure to order your supplies (via Amazon Prime) this week in order to have flowers by Mother's Day!

4th Grade Writing Curriculum [Make writing FUN!]

4th Grade teachers!!  Have you checked out my writing units yet?  They're made specifically for YOU, they meet all the Common Core Standards, and provide a rigorous yet FUN writing curriculum for the entire school year.  You can buy them individually or save over 20% by purchasing the bundle!

It took me a long time to figure out a writing curriculum that I was happy with, however I can proudly say that I have never had one student who didn't love to write by the end of the school year.  With this fresh approach to teaching writing, you will actually get to build amazing writers!  It works with nearly ANY schedule and is very little work for you!

Each unit comes with a daily lesson plan, lasting as long as you need it to (ideally 60 minutes, but also with the realization that this may be unrealistic).  There's time for a mini-lesson, independent writing, and time to share, teaching students to think about other writing as well as their own.  Each unit comes with a specific conference form to help guide you through writing conferences, checklists to help you stay organized, and all pages that your writers will need.  Just get them a notebook and you're good to go!  Check more out, below or in my store!!

Changes

MIA I have been... but for good reason.  Sometimes change comes and forces it's way into our lives.  Whether we want it or not.  I have always been a huge planner.  I knew my 6 month plan, my 1 year plan, and my 5 year plan.  I knew what I wanted to do with my career.  I knew where I wanted to live.  I knew who I would spend my life with.  I thought I knew it all.

However, these past three months have taught me that sometimes your plans change.  And they're not at all what you would expect. (More to come about these, later).   But, what it means for my readers, is that some big changes are coming to Appleslices - for the better - due to these life changes!  I will be dropping by much more to share classroom tidbits, you can always drop by for Monday Letters (which will resume as a regular staple starting this Monday), and I'll be adding lots of new writing units to my TpT Store! (By the way, have you noticed that there is a 4th grade writing unit available now!?  Hooray!)

As for now, I'm going to stop planning, live my life, keep on TpT'ing, and pray that my new life will come together as it should!  I'm looking forward to it!  Thanks for sticking with me, friends!

$100 to TpT! Will You Win?

It's Monday!  Monday always comes so quickly.  Just like the end of our giveaway... less than 4 hours to go!!  Be sure to enter for your chance to win some great prizes... $100 to TpT, an adorable custom pencil by TallahasseeSunday, and fab products by some of my fave bloggers.

Seriously, you don't want to miss this one!

Back to today... I've had quite the Monday y'all.  And you know what Monday means on AppleSlices... Monday Letters!

Dear whoever scheduled a day of training and progress reports due the same day... Seriously?  Don't you realize sub plans and this teacher's cup now runneth over?  It was a 12 hour school day + Dominoes Delivery for sure. 

Dear bright pink paper airplane flying through the classroom... why are you in the air?  Shaped like an airplane?  During reading?  Where did you even come from?  Seriously?

Dear crisp cool weather... You were a much welcomed friend this weekend.  Add a few cups of tea, a scarf or two, and some boots.  I'm ready for you!

Dear Dominoes... Thank you for your gluten free pizza loaded with mushrooms, banana peppers, and onions.  You make me one happy eater! 

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Inspired by Elle & Co., Monday Letters is a weekly installment where I write four letters each week.  Two letters are to my classroom or are school related.  The other two are for anything else in my world during that week.

What I Learned in Vegas at the TpT Conference

Link up with A Burst of First the share your Vegas Story!

Oh my word!  It’s been three days since I left Vegas and my mind is still reeling!  I cannot believe what an amazing opportunity it was to be there, learning from the best.  In the true TpT spirit of sharing, I wanted to share some of my major take-aways. 

Even the best are still leaning

Sitting in Cara Carroll and Erica Bohrer’s session, I realized, they still have lots to learn too.  In the middle of the session, Cara learned a new way to make Product Previews that was way faster than the way she had been doing it.  Whaaat?  You don’t have it all figured out either?  TpT is "new" and we’re all learning the “best” ways to do things.  There’s still plenty of time to learn more.  I don’t know about y’all, but each time I make a new product, I learn something new.  I realize now, that will continue!

We’re all in this together

I couldn’t have gained over half of my knowledge at the conference if it wasn’t for talking to other TpT'ers.  I love how open and willing everyone is to share.  It also shows me that the conference doesn’t have to be the only time we share.  When I have questions, I can take them to the blogisphere.  We can work through them together.  This is a group effort and everyone supports it as such!

Loved loved loved meeting Catherine from The Brown Bag Teacher!!

There is not enough time and sessions

There was SOO much more I wanted to learn and see and explore.  I wish I could have gone to every single session and talked to everyone.  Just like I would love to spend more time working.  I can’t do it all and so reading about other people’s experiences, talking to other bloggers and TpT'ers, and doing my own professional development will have to be enough.  It’s okay to not do it all and to not know it all.

It was SO nice to catch up with Martina from Mrs. Cahill's Class

Sometimes, you’re doing it the best way, even if it feels like you’re not.

Some things I do, I feel like there has to be a better way.  And I realized at the conference, whatever works for you IS the best way.  Other TpT'ers and bloggers are creating in Powerpoint like me (or Publisher or Notes- please don’t ever try to create in Word!) and working through clip art issues and sizing issues and coloring issues just like I do.  It was a great affirmation that I’m doing what I need to be doing.  

We are all teacher nerds ;)

I won a free commercial font license, y’all!! From JEN JONES!  Oh my word… SO exciting!  No big deal or anything, but I woke up this morning to an e-mail from Mrs. Jen Jones.   

AH!  Now, my husband looked at me when I told him all this and said “wooooo” in the most sarcastic way possible.  But I can literally feel your excitement for me through the screen.  Being surrounded by people who share your enthusiasm and care for teaching and blogging and TpT like we do is just amazing.  I’ve never been in a school where all the teachers share that level of enthusiasm, and so the energy at the conference was just unreal to me.  Everywhere you looked, you could meet people ready to share their brilliant ideas and discuss what they’re doing.  Sigh.  Is it July 2015 yet??  

P.S.  My phone decided it wasn't going to take any more pictures during the conference but I know I have pictures with some amazing bloggers such as Molly from Lessons with Laughter.  If you happen to have any pics, please send them my way!!  Muchas gracias :) 

Two for Tuesday!

I cannot resist a good deal! I'm linking up again with The Teaching Tribune for their Two for Tuesday!!  You can grab my best seller, my Narrative Writing Unit AND my Summer Math Activities for 50% off today and today only!! 

Go check 'em out!!  And be sure to stop by tomorrow for a little tutorial- How to Create Your Own Color Palette in PowerPoint!

And if you have a moment, I have a request.  One of my family friends is in need of votes in order to share her story.  Please, please, please watch her video and take a second to vote for her here!  I really appreciate your help and support in her mission!  If you do vote for her, please e-mail me at Appleslices4th@gmail.com and I will send you any product of your choice, from my store.  Thank you, friends!!

Sale Time!

Eeeeeeeeeee!!!  Like we need a reminder, BUT- don't forget to stock up on all the necessities today and tomorrow!!  Just use the code TPTXO.  Everything in my store will be 28% off!!  Click here or the image below.  Happy shopping, friends!

Informative Writing in the 5th Grade Classroom

Y'all- my 5th Writing Unit is up and on sale!  As of yesterday.  It is the most extensive product I have created yet and I'm so excited for it.  It took me over three months to develop and I am just happy it is all ready for 5th grade teachers to enjoy :)

 

If you're curious about what's included- don't you worry.  It has EVERYTHING you could possibly need to teach Informative Writing.

Lessons? Check!

Interactive notebook pages?  Check!

"How-To" PowerPoints that compliment the lessons?  Check!

Multiple examples of Informative Writing?  Check! 

Pages to track student data?  Check!

AND SO.MUCH.MORE!

I hope you're intrigued :)  Hop on over to my lil old store and check it out! 

MAY CURRENTLY {TpT Sale, Notepads, and Spring!!}

Well, it's May!  Only a month and a half left in Spain and we're trying to soak up every minute of... every minute I have with students, every minute traveling, every minute spent at European cafes, and every minute at the beach... Before we know it, June will be here and the school year will come to an end!  I hope you're savoring every minute of this new month!  I'm linking up with Farley for May's Currently!  Hop on over to see what other fun bloggers have joined :)

 Listening... to Ingrid Michaelson's new album.  In love.  Mine and my hubby's first dance was to her song, You & I.  Mmmm happy memories :) {And in love with this adorable video}


Loving... my new Notepads!  I haven't had time to share about this yet, but something new has joined my TpT Store!!  I now have Teacher Notepads available for purchase!!   They were designed by me, printed and bound by my dad, and the photos were taken by my grandfather {since I'm still living in Spain and the notepads are in Cincinnati, Ohio!}.  So they're truly a family product and only $10 +shipping!  Check them out here or here!  Notepads will ship in 5 business days from Cincinnati and will be on your doorstep in no time!  Come on, I know you want to check them out!! {One even features Farley's favorite quote!!}

Thinking... about what I plan to stock my shopping cart with for the coming TpT SALE!!  I love when TpT has a sale and I just have to stock up on clip art and fun fonts!!  What will you load your shopping cart with? 

Pick this guy up for FREE in my TpT store!

Wanting... SO MUCH!  What items are in your shopping cart?  I'm hoping to pick up these guys during the sale...

Mrs. Cahill's Class

These Beautiful Backgrounds

And this landforms clip art by Ashley Hughes!

Needing... to go read my daily devotion.  I've been reading Jesus' Calling and have really loved every minute of it.  Each day's reading is short with a beautiful message.  I know this will be a book I read year after year- not just this one year.  When I read I try to journal my thoughts and feelings and prayers {time allowing}.  I greatly look forward to this quiet time {or not so quiet time} and it's about time!  Off I go to heat up to water for a cup of tea :)

And SURPRISE... I really love Teacher Julia's sweet blog and think you should totes stop by and check her out!

Happy FRIDAY!!