SNOW DAY!!

We had our first snow day today!! Even though we didn't get the blizzard that was expected we still got some snow and I totally took advantage of the snow day. I spent my morning watching Law and Order:SVU my absolute favorite TV show! If I wasn't a teacher I would totally be Olivia Benson! What would you do if you were not a teacher? 

How many of you use your crockpot often? I recently got one for my bridal shower and I was a little apprehensive about using it at first and leaving it plugged in and on all day while we were both at work but I must say I LOVE IT! Since it was a snow day it seemed fitting to make some chicken soup :) Soup and grilled cheese on a snowy day is the perfect combination! So I headed over to Pinterest (like I usually do) to help find a crockpot chicken soup recipe. I came across this pin for Chicken Soup and it smells GREAT! 

Besides binge watching Law & Order and scouring Pinterest for dinner I also took advantage of this snow day to create some TPT products and do my plans for the next two weeks! Our students are starting their state research papers and I found this cute song on YouTube that helps the students memorize the state capitals. This is a catchy tune and my kids ask to hear it almost every day! If you have never been to Marbles the Brain Store you NEED to go! There is one in our local mall and this store is great. This song is on a CD that is sold at Marbles along tons of other resources that are fun and educational. 

Tour the States Song

Did any of you have a snow day today? If so, what did you do? If not, how was your day at school? 

-Lisa Marie 

APPS!

How many of you have iPads or tablets in your classroom? My class was very lucky to have received THREE, yes you read that right, THREE iPads that are just for our class! Yay! We have a school set but it has to be shared between every class in the building so having our own makes it easier to ensure that my students will get time on them each day. I am also able to download apps that are appropriate for my students :) 

 These are a few apps that my students really enjoy using: 

Toontastic

This app is great for helping student to create stories and use their imagination! My students enjoy the fact that they get to pick everything from the setting, characters, and even the music that will go along with their story line.  This was a very easy app for my students to learn how to manage on their own! 

Splash Math

Splash Math is a fun interactive math game! The math questions in this app cover a wide variety of topics that are taught in the common core. Math Splash is available in different grade levels which is awesome for my multi grade class! 

I have a list of apps that I give out to my parents at back to school night so that they can download some of these apps if they are able to at home. I will post the list either later on tonight or tomorrow. It has a list of every app that is on our classroom iPads! 

What are some of your favorite classroom apps? 

-Lisa & Becka 

Sparkling in Self Contained 

Sunday Scoop!

I cannot believe that it is already Sunday!! I am pretty sure that we must have skipped Saturday... but on the bright side this is our first Sunday Scoop link up! I have been trying to keep up with my blogging and have been getting lost in some amazing blogs that I have found through linking up with others :) So here it goes.....

3 things that I have to do: 

1. I tend to get distracted creating products for TPT and I have to make sure that I am stirring my sauce every once in a while so it does not burn! It would not be a Sunday in our Italian house without sauce. 
2. My plans HAVE to get done today! I have everything copied and I have my new guided reading books for the week and the skill that I am working on I just have to sit down and write them in my planbook!
3. Food shopping probably should be #1 on my list of things that have to get done today. I dread going food shopping on a Sunday but that is what I get for saying "I can go tomorrow after work" every day this week and never going!

2 things I hope to do:
1. I really hope that I have time today to finish (or at least continue to work on) my Wizard of Oz themed classroom decor pack. I LOVE that movie and I have been creating different products to put up on TPT.
2. The dreaded "L" word! LAUNDRY!! Why can't there be a little laundry fairy to wash, dry, fold, and put away your laundry?!?! 

1 thing I am happy to do today: 
1. My husband is amazing and he is always taking care of me when I am not feeling well so today it is my turn to take care of him. In between gatorade and soup runs I will be trying to complete everything else on my Sunday Scoop list! 

On that note time to go stir my sauce and check up on the hubby :) 

-Lisa Marie 

Favorite Things Linky!!!

This is our first time linking up with other bloggers and it is super exciting! We are linking up Teaching Trio for their Favorite Things Linky :) 

#1. I do not think I would make it through each day if I did not have my travel coffee mug! I know they may not be the best team out there but I still support my Jets :) 

#2. KNJ Kreations is a group of AMAZING teachers that I work with and am lucky to call my friends. They are my go to girls when I have any TPT questions since I am a newbie and they have been doing this for a while. If you have time check out their store it is great! They have some amazing resources. 

KNJ Kreations

#3. My MacBook Pro may be my #1 favorite thing! I use my MacBook Pro all day every day! It comes to school with me and it has helped me begin this journey of blogging and my TPT store. 

Here's what to do:

1. Just save the image above, add your text to it (we use PowerPoint), and post! 

2. Include the button above and a link to Teaching Trio on your post.

3. Link up here on the first Wednesday morning of the month (or whenever :) )  The linky will be open for a week.

4. You are welcome to share TPT products, BUT you may only include one of your own products each week. We want to see things from other fabulous TPT authors too! (This post is not intended for self-promotion.)

6. Be a good blog reader, and leave some love for the two posts before yours! 

(rules are from http://teachingtrio.blogspot.com/ )

Lisa & Becka!

Yoga & other cool down strategies

Happy Tuesday! We officially made it past the first day back from winter break! We are always trying to find new ways to help our students calm down and de-escalate behaviors throughout the day. What are some ways that you help your students calm down during the day? 

1. One thing that we do is every afternoon after lunch and recess we do yoga! Our students LOVE yoga time! We started out using flash cards and having the students perform the pose that was on the card until I came across this AWESOME youtube channel.....

Awesome YouTube Yoga Channel!!

http://www.cosmickids.com/

Jamie is the woman on the videos who tells yoga stories while engaging the students in different yoga poses and deep breathing. This site is totally worth taking a look at! 

2. We also have a calming caddy that we made with all types of tools that help our students. In this caddy we have: 

• a small stuffed animal that the child can use to talk to if they prefer to talk out what they are feelings 
• a notebook with markers, crayons, and pencils so the child can write down or draw how they are feeling and what can help make them feel better
• a squishy ball to squeeze 
• play-doh to play with and squish 

Some students ask us if they can add things to the calming caddy and we let them add things to the caddy as long as they are able to explain why it will help them calm down (lego men and batman toys usually don't get a pass into the calming caddy :) ) 

What are some strategies and items that you use in the classroom to help with behaviors? 

First Sale!

What better way to start the New Year than by announcing that we had our FIRST SALE this morning! Yayyyyy! 2015 is off to a great start! :) Did I mention this is also my first blog post EVER? I'm so excited to begin this new journey with one of my best friends and partner teacher, Lisa! 

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Sparkling-In-Self-Contained

WAY MORE to come everyone! 

Stay tuned!! :) 

- Becka