Ugly Christmas Sweaters

Ugly Christmas Sweaters...YES. Everyone should have one...or two. It is that time of year! Last weekend I baked...all weekend and this weekend we are hosting our first annual Ugly Sweater Christmas Party:)

On to school things... I attended a Kathy Richardson training session yesterday with my partner in crime;) and I took several things away from the training that I can use in my classroom and daily life.

"Teachers are artists. This training is providing you with tools (IOWA Core, KR, textbooks) to put in your tool belt."

Isn't this so true?? Our school day is our blank canvas and our students 'paint' that canvas with us everyday with the tools in which we provide. Our attitudes and preparation lead our students to achieve all of this success. Just a little tidbit of info from our training:) InSpIrInG! 

This week my kindergarten kiddos built whatever they wanted to build with foam geo blocks. After they finished with their creations, we discussed the different 3D shapes! They had a blast:)

Christmas Cookies!

Good Evening Bloggers! I hope your weekend was spectacular! I was in the kitchen all weekend... I baked cookies, bars, dipped things into almond bark and stirred until my arm was tired~ I must say... the finished product was not to shabby! Many thanks to Pinterest for my Christmas cookie inspiration!

I made sugar cookies (Thanks to Pillsbury), pretzel rods dipped in white almond bark, peanut butter cookies with a Reese's peanut butter cup in the middle, peanut butter cheerio bars with marshmallow icing, Oreo truffles and Chocolate Carmel Squares. I'm taking a tin full of cookies to our daycare and a tin full of cookies to school tomorrow! YES! 
I wanted to leave you tonight with a quote I found on Pinterest Friday evening.
         *It's up to you to find beauty in the ugliest days.* 
~ I kept this in mind all weekend and enjoyed being in my home with my husband and beautiful baby girl. Sometimes, the beauty, is surrounding yourself with loved ones and doing what you love to do. Other times, the beauty is making amends and being able to move on from stressful moments in your life. Take from it what you will. 
Good NIGHT!
~Stephanie

Elf

Good Evening bloggers:) Thanksgiving came and went...all to quickly. BUT, I did get a ton accomplished over break! Black Friday shopping was a success, spent a lot of time with family and friends and got ALL of my lamination done. I also cut it ALL out. WHEW! Before the kiddos left for turkey break, we did a math craftivity to review our ten's facts and the commutative property of addition. I purchased the craftivity from Teach Forward. My first grade Title math group had a blast with it!

My school is trying to implement 'I CAN' statements along with the IOWA Core this year and I was trying to figure out, as a Title math teacher, how can I do my part to help my kiddos become responsible, confident learners? I came up with an idea to post the 'I CAN' statements on a bulletin board in my classroom, specific grades K-5. For example, my third grade students are working on subtracting within 1000. I posted the 'I CAN' statement for that standard on the bulletin board. Now this idea is just a work in progress... 

Sophia Lynn was my inspiration for the blog post title: Elf. Her Grandma Scott got her a super adorable red, green and white p.j. set. She looked just like a little elf! LOVE HER!

Have a great week everyone! 
P.S. I'm working on a three part math lesson which will incorporate some literature that will be available in my TpT store soon!
-Steph