Last Minute Teacher Gift

Hi Friends! I'm stopping by for a quick teacher gift idea, and then I'm headed to bed because it's only Wednesday. I feel like it should've been Friday two days ago, and break doesn't start for me for a week!  

Sigh. 

Anyway, I wanted to give you a last-minute teacher gift idea...a teacher t-shirt! 

We are lucky enough to have jean day every Friday, and I am always taking the opportunity to wear one of my favorite tees.

This summer, A+ Images was kind enough to give teacher bloggers a free shirt to try! 

I already had this one that I bought at their booth in Vegas last year and always get compliments on it, so I definitely wanted in on the deal! 

These were just a few of the shirts they made for bloggers this summer: 

 They have tons of great options on their website! Click here to check it out! 

You can even have class shirts made with pictures that your kids draw! So cool!

Hang in there for a few more days, friends!! Christmas is coming!!

Building Engineers: The Presentation

In this blogging series, I will be highlighting some of the ways I have been able to incorporate engineering activities into my classroom. For several years, engineering was the part of the STEM acronym that I struggled with the most. This year I have been brave enough to experiment, and the results have been phenomenal! 

That was the idea anyway. Then life happened, and I've been a terrible blogger. But I'm back today to share my presentation on Integrating Engineering into the Primary Curriculum from the ICE Indiana conference today! 

I was a nervous wreck, but I loved having the opportunity to share my passion for bringing Creativity, Collaboration, Communication, and Critical Thinking into the primary classroom, and I learned a lot from my session attendees, too! Win win!!

Click on the image below to go to the Google Drive link for my presentation today. 

Thanks so much to all of the attendees this morning! I hope to see some more awesome educators tomorrow morning! 

Go Back to School with GoNoodle!

I'm so excited to be linking up with so many other fabulous bloggers to share my love for GoNoodle! 

I use GoNoodle twice a day every single day in my classroom without fail. We take a brain break/restroom break in the morning (usually two or three videos/songs) and another one in the afternoon. It provides the perfect way to get my kids up and moving, get them in and out of the restroom quickly, and help them transition from one activity to the next. 

This is our fourth week of school, and we've already maxed out two Champs! 

I also came up with some attention signals using Koo Koo Kangaroo songs and posted about them on the GoNoodle blog {here} and on my blog {here}. They work like a charm! 

I even use GoNoodle as part of my classroom reward system, and you can read about that {here}. 

Can you tell I'm a little obsessed?

This year, I will be using GoNoodle Plus for the first time, and I'm so excited! 

We will begin our 15 day free trial next week, and then I have three months paid for by generous parents who took stars off of my "Grant a Wish" board at Meet the Teacher Night! If you need ideas for what to ask parents for, a month of GoNoodle Plus is an excellent choice!  

There are so many amazing features of GoNoodle that you just can't afford not to use it in your classroom. 

 AND GUESS WHAT?!

GoNoodle LOVES teachers and wants to spread the GoNoodle joy, so they are allowing each of the bloggers participating in this blogging blitz to give away an item from the GoNoodle Shop!! 

I am giving away a set of 25 "Champtastic" Activity Books! 

I actually bought a set of these last year and gave them to my class as part of their Christmas gift from me. They loved them! 

Enter to win using the super easy Rafflecopter below! 

And get 15% of anything in the GoNoodle Shop by using code BTSwithGoNoodle. 

Not sure what to buy? If you don't already own one of their t-shirts, you NEED one. 

They are THE softest t-shirts I have ever owned in my life. And my kids go crazy when I wear them. 

Lanyards are another must-have. I wear mine every day! 

Be sure to check out all of the posts this long weekend and enter to win some of your favorite GoNoodle Swag!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Happy GoNoodling! 

Vegas 2015 Recap!

Whew! I'm sure you've seen a ton of #tptvegas15 pictures by now, so I'm just stopping by to give you a quick recap of my trip!

This was my second annual trip to Las Vegas for "teacher week." 

You can read about last year's trip {here} and {here}. 

This year we arrived later in the week, so I missed the I Teach 1st conference this time around. I would have LOVED to see some of the presentations, though, and I heard they were great!

After we got settled, I went up to the Exhibit Hall to explore and ended up in a GoNoodle dance party with some of my favorites! #onlyinVegas 

I know I talk about GoNoodle all the time, but I seriously love it. I'm already looking forward to introducing my new class of STARS to some Koo Koo Kanga Roo!

That first day was also my 8th wedding anniversary #070707, so my husband and I had to go out and celebrate. And what better way to celebrate than with amazing food?!

So so so SO good. 

And how sweet were they to give us that little (super delicious) dessert!?

Wednesday night was the highly-anticipated Vegas Teacher Meet Up! 

I have to tell you that I was so terribly nervous about this meet up as the event approached. The thought of walking into a room filled with over 1000 teachers and bloggers by myself was causing me major anxiety. Finally I just decided to reach out and email an Instagram friend that I had virtually connected with to see if we could go together. 

Best. 

Decision. 

Ever.

Sarah from Mrs. B's First Grade is one of my new favorite people. We became instant real life friends, and I'm so glad I was brave enough to put myself out there. 

We had such a great time meeting and talking to so many amazing teachers! 

This is only half the room. There were teachers everywhere!

I met so many people but only remembered to take a few pictures! 

I always love seeing my fellow Hoosier, Jodi Southard from Fun In First, and I was so excited to finally meet my talented blog designer, Megan Favre from A Bird in Hand Designs! 

Plus, we received this AMAZING teacher swag bag! 

Thank you GoNoodle, Scentos, Ellison Education, Creative Teaching Press, Carson Dellosa, Creative Clips, and any and all other sponsors of this awesome event! 

AND I WON an Erin Condren Teacher Planner!! 

After the meet up, I was starving, so I went and had my first-ever Chipotle (and yes there is one in my city…I've just never made it over there) experience with the always stylish Elizabeth from Kickin It In Kindergarten and another new fabulous friend, Danielle Ann from DanielleAnn.com. I have never met a sweeter person, and I am so so happy we were able to get to know each other! 

Seeing old friends and making new ones was by far the best part of the trip. 

That, and I could wear my hair straight in July without it becoming three times the size and frizzing out like I just rolled out of bed. 

Just sayin.

The TPT Conference: Come Together, Go Further started the next day. 

Apparently I didn't take any pictures during the day, but that night I went with my husband and our friends who came to Vegas with us to see Rock of Ages. 

It was SO fun! 

Flash photography was not allowed, so that bottom pic was the best I could do. Still, it was an awesome show. A little on the raunchy side, but very talented performers and amazing music!

Friday was the full day of TPT conferences, and I was able to meet, connect with, and learn from even more of my favorite teacher bloggers! 

I have followed Jennifer White from First Grade Blue Skies for years. She was just as wonderful in person as I had pictured, and her session was great! The quote from Zig Zigler (pictured) was my biggest takeaway from her. 

These women are amazing! Holly Ehle, Danielle Ann, Hope King, Cara Carroll, Erin Klein, and Sarah Barnett are all incredibly talented, inspiring, and NICE people. 

Overall, it was a wonderful trip! 

My biggest takeaways:

1. Focus on the task at hand - turn off all other distractions (this one is especially tough for me).

2. Keep your to-do list for the day to a minimum so you can actually accomplish what is on it. 

3. Be Brave. Reach out. Make connections.  

These lessons can apply to all areas of my life, especially the third one. 

I absolutely adore all of the friends I've made through this blogging journey, and it only happened because I was brave enough to reach out and was willing to open myself up to new and wonderful friendships. I have learned so much from them and am inspired by them daily.

I'm linking up with Elementary Entourage for this post. Click the button below to read about other Vegas experiences!

Stop What You're Doing, And Sign Up for Camp GoNoodle!

Sign up for what?! 

KEEP READING!

If you're like me, you are in love with summer. 

Staying up late, sleeping in (well unless you have little ones like mine), long lunches, bathroom breaks anytime you want one, the list goes on…

But one part that is not so fun is when your kids at home, probably while sitting in a room filled with toys and games, say, "I'M BOOOORRRREEEEDDDD!" 

Can you tell this just happened in my house last week? 

Well, I have some good news for you. 

Just as GoNoodle saves the day in your classroom, they're back this summer with a program for your kids at home! 

Beginning THIS Monday, June 29, GoNoodle is launching 

CAMP GONOODLE!

Camp GoNoodle is a free online program for kids to stay active and be creative this summer! If you already know and love GoNoodle for the classroom, you'll love Camp GoNoodle for your own kids! And if this is your first time hearing about GoNoodle, Camp GoNoodle will be a great introduction for you and your whole family! 

Here's how it works: 

Head to Camp!

Each Monday starting June 29, a new set of five adventures will appear at www.camp.gonoodle.com. Each adventure uses GoNoodle.com's active videos and games for inspiration and challenges kids to use their imaginations, get moving, and be outside. 

Go On Adventures!

Imagine building your own DIY jetpack, creating an obstacle course race, or making sushi with things you already have at home. 

Sing Along!

Each week also includes two brand new camp songs to inspire creativity and movement. 

Connect with Fellow Campers!

Share your adventures using the #campgonoodle hashtag to join the camp community. Each week, "Campers of the Week" are recognized as All Stars and earn excluding Camp GoNoodle prizes. 

Earn Badges!

Complete each week of adventure by printing the weekly badge to hang up and show off your accomplishments!

There will be four weeks of camp, each having a different theme! 

All you need for Camp is 

1. A free GoNoodle account

2. a device with internet access

3. a family ready for adventure! 

If you already have a GoNoodle teacher/classroom account but want to participate at home with your own family, you will need to sign up to receive Camp GoNoodle emails by going to www.camp.gonoodle.com. 

*This is important because Camp GoNoodle emails are only being sent to parent accounts.

If you don't already have a GoNoodle account, click {here} to sign up! 

So who's with me?!

Share what you love about summer and link up below! 

Here is the blank Summer Loves Linky image for you to fill in: 

And use this image on Social Media to spread the word: 

AND as a BLOGGER BONUS, GoNoodle will be doing a (random number generator) drawing on July 4th to choose one lucky blogger who links up to win this awesome Camp GoNoodle prize pack! 

#campswagwhat

Bloggers, click below to grab the code to put this full linky on your blog, too! 

get the InLinkz code

Link up below and help us celebrate summer with GoNoodle! 

An InLinkz Link-up

Five for Friday: Five Days Left!!

I'm getting back into the swing of blogging with a much-needed Five for Friday post! 

This week started out with Mother's Day, which has become my favorite holiday since becoming a mom almost five years ago. My children are the best part of my life, and their little faces and handprints are my favorite. 

My sweet husband started having our girls complete pages in this book a couple years ago after I tagged him in a Facebook post about it gently hinted about how neat an idea it was. I love it so much.

We're trying to fit in working on a PBL project that involves deciding which of our old playground equipment to propose we keep and move to our big playground space. The weather and end of the year activities have made this difficult, but we're managing. We tried out the Easy Measure app on the iPads to measure the length of some of the equipment. The jury is still out on how accurate it is because we didn't have long enough tape measures to properly measure that way either, but we're going to give it another go next week. :) 

This happened on Tuesday. 

And this. 

On stage, in her little cap and gown, my daughter said she wants to be "Mommy" when she grows up. 

Tears have never hit my eyes faster. 

I have no idea how almost five whole years have gone by already, but I do know that I am so very blessed to be her mommy. 

On Thursday, we went on a field trip to our local wetlands to explore some animal habitats. It was a really awesome experience once we got there. We walked a not very clearly marked trail from a park and took a few wrong turns. We eventually made it and had a great afternoon! 

Today was the Celebration of Reading at my school. It's the culminating activity for our monthly reading program that our fabulous PTA sponsors, and it's my favorite day of the year! It's a whole day of fun for our kids, and teachers, parents, and the kids who earned all of their "Book Bucks" for the year get to dress up as book characters. It's so much fun to come in and see everyone's outfits. 

I decided to be Ms. Frizzle this year. :) 

That was my week in a nutshell.

Five days left. The countdown is on!!

Spring Teacher Blogger Meet Up Recap and GIVEAWAY!

I'm so excited to recap my fabulous weekend at the #springteacherbloggermeetup2015 along with all of the other bloggers in attendance! 

AND we're giving you the chance to win one of THREE amazing teacher swag bags! 

On Friday night, I arrived in French Lick and met up with my friends and roommates for the weekend, Tiffany and Brittany. I love these girls and had the best time just hanging out with them. 

We met up with some other friends for dinner and spent the rest of the night putting together these adorable name badges from Schoolgirl Style. Schoolgirl Style also donated the lovely decorations and a gift card for the giveaway! 

The next morning it was time to get ready for the luncheon and meet up with over 100 other teachers!

The set up crew (minus Tiffany and Micah): Brittany, Heather, Holly (amazing host of the event), Amanda, Heidi, me, and Brittany (amazing co-host). 

After lunch, we all helped to complete this INSPIRATIONAL display by writing our names, an adjective to describe us, our favorite subject to teach, and our blog name. Then we took turns sharing in order to get to know everyone in the room. This stayed up all weekend! 

I posted about our teacher tool swap gift exchange {here}. So much FUN! 

Then we had a blogging tips and tricks session and some roundtable discussions. I loved being able to learn from some of the best teachers in the country. I should definitely qualify for some PD points from this afternoon. :)

 

I loved meeting Dee Dee Wills, and she had some great blogging and teaching tips to share. 

So many wonderful sessions, it was hard to choose!!

Then it was time for the GIVEAWAYS! We had so many generous sponsors for this event. These companies definitely support teachers and the work we do everyday! This is just a sampling of the prizes. There were so many! 

 Hue Animation 

 BrainPop

 Lakeshore Learning

 Seat Sack - They donated three different class sets of products. I so wanted to win!

SDE 

And many more! You'll definitely have to check out the other posts below to see the other products and the winners! Spoiler alert: I didn't win. I'm the unluckiest person when it comes to drawings! 

But the good news was that no one left empty-handed! After all of the door prizes had been awarded, Holly announced that every attendee would receive some amazing teacher swag!

No attendee will be without a scented writing instrument or sticker thanks to WeVeel/Scentos! Their products are so much fun. Teachers and students love them!! If you've never tried these, you must! These markers are my go-to every day for anchor charts!

Creative Teaching Press donated stickers, magnets, and door prizes from their new line! Be sure to check it out!

We were able to take all of this home in this fabulous Vera Bradley market tote! I am in love with mine! It is perfect for hauling supplies to school and back, and it is SO CUTE! 

 And the biggest surprise - We all got an Erin Condren teacher planner!!!

I have always wanted one! Now I'm not sure how I lived without it. It is the most adorable way to stay organized, and I need all the help I can get. 

You can enter to win your own swag bag by entering the Rafflecopter giveaway at the end of this post. 

Three winners will win all of this: 

If you thought the day ended there, you would be wrong! 

Thanks to Teachers Pay Teachers and GoNoodle, the fun continued well into the night with a PJ Party! 

Have I mentioned that I love these girls??

Heidi and I were in charge of passing out GoNoodle lanyards at the door. Thank you, GoNoodle!!

Obviously we had to get down to some Koo Koo Kangaroo.

We love Teachers Pay Teachers!!

The photo booth was hoppin' all night! 

The whole PJ Party group!! What a fun night! 

It was such a wonderful weekend. I hated to see it end. I left feeling inspired and supported, and there is no better feeling. Thank you to our amazing, generous sponsors, our fabulous hostesses, and the inspiring educators who filled the room with passion for this profession. I couldn't have asked for more. 

I'm already looking forward to next year! 

Be sure to check out the other posts below and enter the giveaway!! 

An InLinkz Link-up

a Rafflecopter giveaway