Meet The Chalkies: Stacy and Katie

Well hello there. This is Stacy and Katie saying hi from separate sides of the USA. Even though we live on opposite coasts we have a ton in common. Most importantly a love of:

 coffee

 family

 faith

 and 

teaching!

We are answering a few fab questions, factoids, and we are offering you two fabulous freebies!

 Stacy's Favorites

      

Katie's Favorites

         

One of our favorite things is freebies!

Stacy and I have some goodies for you!

Stacy created amazing chalkboard inspired labels.

Katie is bringing you 

A Birthday Chart Bulletin Board and Graphing!

Plus, head on over to our blogs to win all

 four units and $10 Starbucks cards!

Meet the Chalkies: Lisa and Faith

In marriage, they say opposites attract.  Well, apparently that's also the case with blogging friends.  We are opposites in so many ways from Lisa loving cheese curds to Faith loving boiled peanuts.  Lisa is a northerner and Faith is a a southerner.    However, we are also the same in so many ways.  We are both first grade teachers, lefties, and have birthdays in March.  We also adore each others accents, personalities, and LOVE football, although one of us is a Wisconsin Badger and the other one yells, "Go Dawgs!"

So, when the opportunity came to pair up we jumped at the chance because we are blogging buddies, but we are also real-life friends and who wouldn't want to write a blog or create a freebie with a friend?

Oh, and yes, we realize we already told you a few fun facts about us, but we figured that since this is a blog mostly about teaching, we should probably give you a few other fun facts about us.

Question 1: 
When did you know that you wanted to be a teacher?

Faith: I knew when I was in second grade.  I had an incredible teacher and remember thinking I wanted to grow up to be like my Mrs. Lash.  I liked her so much I didn't tell my parents that I had little spots popping up on me.  I ended up giving Chicken Pox to my entire class.

Lisa: Well…I started college with a plan to become an actuary. Three semesters of Calculus and Computer Science later…I knew it was NOT what I wanted to do. AT ALL! So…for a month or so, I had NO idea what I wanted to do. But I was dating my then boyfriend (who is now my husband) and having all kinds of fun. One morning I woke up and I just KNEW that’s what I wanted to do. Just in time, too…as the applications were due within a week! So, I applied nervously…it was hard to get in to the Elementary Ed program. My PPST score for math put me in automatically, though! Yay for math! I still love math but I certainly don’t use my calc background to teach firsties, hehehehe!


Question 2:
What is your academic teaching strength?

Faith: I love to teach writing!  My middle school English teacher taught me to love writing, so I try to pass that to my students.  I try to come up with as many creative ways as possible to make writing fun.  Just today, we were late to lunch because I lost track of time while we were writing our stories.

Lisa: I suppose my academic teaching strength could be math (see my #1 above...), but I am super duper passionate about growing readers and writers.


Question 3:
What is a bit of advice you wish someone had told YOU your first year of teaching?

Faith:  I'm not sure.  I know it sounds funny, but I had a wonderful first year.  Knowing my personality, I think I was told everything you should be told, but I have a tendency of testing things out and trying something even if I was warned.  I think the biggest thing that I've learned is sometimes it is best to do and not ask.  Unless it is something huge, you can typically ask forgiveness later.  Also, follow the chain of command.  Nothing makes people angry faster than jumping over their heads to someone over them.

Lisa: You will never ever never ever never ever be done! Never ever ever. So…do your best to complete a few things each day and then GO HOME and take care of yourself and your family!!!

Question 4:
What is your favorite freebie from your store?

Faith: I think my favorite freebie is my Math Robots Addition freebie.  I picked it because it doesn't have to fit a specific time of year.  It can be used anytime.

Lisa: Favorite freebie of mine??? I can’t decide between my Indoor Recess Activity Bag parent letter and my StudentSelf-Evaluation Form…the Indoor Recess Bags are lifesavers! And the self-evaluation form is so revealing!


Question 5:
What is your favorite freebie from another seller?

Faith:  Well, obviously I'm picking something from Lisa because friends, she is incredible and you don't want to miss out on her store.  She has a ton of freebies, but my favorite is her Wintry Fun Syllable Sort.  I know, I know.  We have awhile before we see snow, but this packet has sentimental value to me.  This packet is how Lisa and I became friends.

Lisa: Awww...Faith...you are a sweetheart! My favorite freebie from my pal Fabulous Faith! Gotta say my current favorite is her Popcorn Math (graphing)…Popcorn is my favorite snack and her freebie is just too fun!!!


Now that you have read all about us, we joined forces to create a little freebie.  Since football season is right around the corner and we know it is on the mind of every little boy in America, we thought we'd gear this packet towards our boys.  We did throw in a few cheerleaders so the girls don't feel left out.  We included a noun, verb, and adjective sort plus two cut and paste printables.  If you like it, click on any of the pictures and it will take you to our freebie.

If you'd like to check us out...

Faith blogs at...


Lisa blogs (and is currently co-hosting a giveaway) at...


Hope you enjoy!
Faith & Lisa

Meet the Chalkies: Alyssha & Tamara

We've got an international connection for you today! :)  

There is lots of history between Florida and Spain and so it seemed fitting that we get together and share a little bit about ourselves with you today!

We made up a list of 'getting to know you' style questions.  We will both answer five so you can get a little better picture of our lives in the classroom!

TAMARA RUSSELL - MRS. RUSSELL'S ROOM

1.) What is your academic teaching strength? Math & Science.  I love breaking things down into smaller pieces for the kids and making things approachable for them!  So fun!! 

2.) What is an intangible that you have that makes your classroom environment special?  I am super relational!  I am great with both parents and kids!  I love to spend time with their families...and to have them spend time with mine!  Last year, I brought my mom to Meet the Teacher.  I told my firsties that it was only fair to bring my mom...since they were bringing theirs!  They LOVED it! :)  My mom told all kinds of stories about when I was a firstie.  And even whipped out all my old pictures. :) The parents thought we were ADORABLE! :)

Daina & I teaching the scientific method with Mentos and Diet Coke.
We are wearing the rain slickers to protect our clothes!
That was a good day!!

3.) What is your classroom routine for literacy?  I do a hybrid version of the Daily Five.  Our district has given us a basal series as a resource, and limits our copies, so, I am a wee bit tied to what comes with the series at times. I have a whole group lesson to introduce the story of the week, and then I do 4-15 minute literacy centers.  Every other week I do skill based lessons in small groups.  On occasion, I will substitute my common core close reading units, and those are always fun to do with the kids! :)  Our phonics program is called Discover Intervention Phonics (DIP).  We use that in isolation of the basal.  It's got a really neat marking system that goes with it! I really like it a lot! :)

4.) What is your classroom routine for math?  I teach a 20 minute whole group lesson and then do 2-20 minute rotations 3-4 times a week.  I typically work in ten day bands.  The first five days, I do the centers with the students...the second five days I do skill based instruction and pull students based on whatever deficiencies they are showing during the whole group lesson.

Click HERE for that freebie!

5.) What is your favorite freebie from your store? I love my 'Flying High with the Sounds of Y' Center.  It goes with my exemplar text close reading unit on How People Learned to Fly.

Last but not least...here's an exclusive freebie for you! :)  I've got a pirate themed classroom, and I whipped these Daily 5 Center Rotation headers up for my learners.  If you have a pirate themed classroom, you may want them for your learners.

ALYSSHA SWANSON - TEACHING AND TAPAS

1.  What is a bit of advice that you wish someone had told YOU your first year of teaching? I wish someone told me that being "done" rarely happens when it comes to professional development, learning the ropes, or organizing paperwork. I am in my tenth year of teaching and I know I grew as much as a teacher last year as I did in my first year of teaching. Change happens and effective teachers adapt. It's hard, but it's good for us! Every year is another year to re-evaluate what works and what needs to be modified. Yeah, it's probably going to be like this for as long as I am in this career :)

2.  What is your classroom routine for literacy? My school is moving toward a workshop model in areas and I LOVE IT! I have a 45 minute

block for reading and a 45 minute block for writing. For both reading and writing I always start with a 5-10 minute mini-lesson. I try to use a mentor text in these lessons as much as possible which ends up being about 85% of the time. In writing, often my "mentor text" is my own writing that I share with the kiddos. After the mini lesson, my students move off for independent reading or writing. During this time, I confer with students or teach strategy lessons to small groups. Accountability is huge! I keep good conferring notes and I also have students reflect on how they use the strategy on our "Show What You Know" board. I also always have a daily writing goal (i.e. include a small moment in your writing today). In between conferring, I do a quick check of my students to see who tried out the strategy and they get a sticker on our writing goals chart. Afterwards, we all gather together again and share our triumphs and struggles.

I teach grammar and spelling in a separate 30 minute block. We use Words Their Way for Spelling and my own stuff for Grammar. I teach a high ESL population so there is a lot of differentiation going on. Thank goodness for the ability to create individualized lists on SpellingCity!

Sample math journal response

3.  What is your classroom routine for math? I use a workshop model for math as well. We start with a mini lesson (either extending past the work from the day before or correcting misconceptions). Then the students break off and work either independently or with a partner, or even in small groups. I usually give 2-5 challenging problems per day for the students to attack. They can solve the problems however they like, but they must justify their thinking in pictures and words. Communication is HUGE in my math class! We always follow up with a whole group discussion about the strategies used.

4.  Do you have any apps or tech discoveries you are excited about right now? I have an app that I just found that is kind of TOTALLY amazing and I have barely scratched the surface of what it can do. It is called iDoceo and it is a perfect replacement for so much paper! This year I plan to start off using it to record my conferring notes. You can even make audio recordings. AWESOME. Then when it is time for report cards, you can pull up all recordings or notes of a certain student in and BAM, it's there! You can also snap photos of the students work. Then it is filed right there next to the students name. PERFECT. Here is a great review that shows more of the features:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bScu6ghoDLg

Find this freebie here 

5.  What is your favorite freebie you have discovered from another seller? This year I want kids to be talking more about what they are doing everyday when they get home so I am excited to start using Surfin' Through Second's "What did I do today" exit slips. There are six slips and I am thinking of giving a full page to each student each week. They get to decide which slip they use each day. Some of the questions are academic and some are more more social, i.e. "One nice thing I did for a friend today was..." I am sure parents are going to love this! 

Tune in tomorrow to meet more of the Chalkies!

Welcome to Our Chalk Shops ~ They're ALL on Sale for Back to School!

We're sure you've heard the BIG news. 

Teachers Pay Teachers is kicking off the school year in a BIG way!

This coming Sunday and Monday, TpT is running a 

HUGE 

Back to School Sale! 

All 20 of us Chalkies will be running sales in our own

Chalk Shops ~ AKA TpT Stores. :)

Click here to visit The Primary Chalkboard's Chalk Shops page where you can meet each of us and take a closer look at 20 fabulous first and second grade shops chalked full of back to school resources and beyond...On Sale!

Each shop will be offering up to 20% off in our own shops, so now's the time to stock up and save BIG on TpT! 

PLUS, be sure to enter coupon code BTS13 during checkout to save an additional 8% on your entire purchase!

So, chalk it on your calendar and join us Sunday and Monday for some back to school bliss ~ Shopping Style! 

But before you get your blissful shopping on, don't forget to enter our Back to School Bliss Giveaway {here} for your chance to win a $50 TpT Gift Certificate, $50 Erin Condren Gift and more!
One winner will be selected for each of three prizes on Saturday. Just in time to spend for the sale. 
Good luck!

Back to School {Tips, 20 Freebies eBook, and Swag}

We want to have the best school year of our lives.  We would like the same thing for you!  So we have gathered together some tips to "Bring you Bliss"  We are dying to know what your top tip is. Please comment with what you do to keep yourself sane, happy, and in a state of bliss during your first few weeks.

 In addition to tips that just might make this the best school year ever, it's nice to have a few activities to engage your students, get them back into routine, and help them all get to know each other better! You might also want a few teacher's helper pages that help you mange the chaos during the start of a new school year!  We want to help!

Presenting The Primary Chalkboard eBook! Just click {here}, print, and go! 

We are glad that you have joined us for our maiden voyage on this collaborative adventure. We hope that you want to join us and leave your back to school tip in the comment section,  follow this AMAZING blog, and enter the giveaway below.  There will be three winners. One will get a $50 TpT gift card, another will get a $50 Erin Condren gift card, and our third winner will have their choice between a 1st or second grade bundle!  Wooo-Hooo! Join in the fun on the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway