Order of Operations Posters

Hey, everyone!  Which is really no one because I don't think anyone knows I have this blog!  Ha!  Maybe I should create an imaginary friend and write my blog posts to her......Bahahahahaha!

I think it is a little scary how much fun I have in my own mind - and I don't even drink!  :-)

Anyway, I made some little posters today.  I wanted to revamp my PEMDAS posters in my classroom, so I made some to coordinate with the STUDY SKILLS posters I have already written about.  They turned out pretty cute!  I am going to laminate them and mount them on some black canvasses that my son splatter painted for me.  I will post pics once that is all done, but couldn't finish it all up because our laminator was not working today (of course.).

Here are the posters - simple but bright.  I have added them to my TpT store as a freebie, so if anyone ever checks this blog...bonus!

Slowly but surely, my classroom is coming along and I feel as if I am going to be so much calmer once school starts because of the prep I am doing this summer.  It doesn't seem like work now - and my boys are at a youth group event close to school, so everyone is happy right now.  All good!

WOOHOO!!!!!!!!

I have now sold 12 products on TpT!!!!!!!!! I am so excited!  (OK - one of them I sold to myself just because I wanted to make sure it was "downloadable" - HA!!!!)

Phew - this is the encouragement I needed.  What a good day!  :-)

INTEGERS!

You know, I have been told by my students that every time I introduce a new topic, I say, "Y'all, if there is anything I want you to really get this year, its..... It is the most important thing you need to know!"  I think they are probably right - I tend to exaggerate quite a bit in most areas of my life.  :-)

But....INTEGERS really are the most important thing I want my students to get!  I absolutely LOVE the light that snaps on in kids eyes when integers just click - and for some it happens right away, but for others, it is a process.  For that reason, I teach integers in multiple ways all year long.

I am working on a few integer products for my TpT store, and thought I would post links to two of them today...they are both really good, and I think anyone would love them.  As the school year gets going I will post pictures of some of the integer lessons and activities I do, and include pics of these two products in action.

First, integer ISN notes - a must.  I teach integers with two color counters and with a number line, and even by acting out a basketball game involving the "positives" verses the "negatives".  I play integer war and we use task cards and anything else I can come up with to learn the concepts - but notes are necessary and important for kids to internalize the concepts with a resource they can repeatedly go back to.  Here are my INTEGER ISN SKETCH NOTES:

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Integer-Sketch-Notes-2603488

They include notes and practice for concepts - all ready to print and use - along with answers for teachers.  Here are a couple of  pics, but there is much more in the product!

Then, last night, I added the product "The Value of Words".  I often write the alphabet under my number line at school so that each letter is assigned one integer.  Then, I give the kids words to find the total of if they combine the integer values for each letter.  I finally put it all together in a neat and fun product that includes cards with integer values, word lists for each season, and word cards with suggestions for games to play using this idea!  It is awesome and I cannot wait to use it with my kiddos!  Here it is!

https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Integer-Operations-Combining-Integers-Centers-and-Games-2612770

Hope you check these out!  They are really great!  Once school starts, I will post about how I implement them in my classroom along with pictures.  It makes me excited for school to start!

Study Skills Posters!

Ok - it is June 23rd, and I am already getting my room ready for fall.  I have a problem.  I know I do! I honestly do not understand myself sometimes, but the truth is that it is so peaceful in my classroom today, and I have cleaned and organized and it just feels so GOOD!  I am not neglecting my family to be here, so I don't feel too badly.  I have three sons and one is working right now at Chick-Fil-A, one is in driver's ed class, and one is at camp!  What else would I do???? (only teachers would understand this, right?)

So, today, I thought I would post a couple of things I did and through that, practice uploading pics on this two day old blog.

First, I love bright colors and have found some AWESOME classroom posters at Erin Condren that I bought for my room.  There are 12 of them and they actually reverse to a monthly calendar, so I can display all twelve and just flip around 1 or 2 months at a time for the calendar.  I LOVE THEM! (sorry about the glare in this pic.)

Click on picture to go directly to website where I bought these!

I also have an item in my TpT store, Connie Jennings, called STUDY SKILLS posters.  I printed them in color today at Office Max (cost 5.84 for all 8) and then laminated them and hung them in my room.  I think they look great and they match my Erin Condren posters.  Happy Day!  Here is a picture of them on my wall.....

Click here to see these in my TpT store!

It was a pretty good day.  I feel good about where my classroom is, and I was able to take the time to do things like THINK without stress.  Isn't it funny how we go from day to day working so hard, and we rarely take time to just sit and think about what we are doing and why? I enjoyed today - good for my soul - and I feel very satisfied, even though it is summer and I am sitting in my classroom at school.  :-)  Oh well!!!!

Teachers Pay Teachers

I want to learn how to create links within my blog posts so that I can refer readers to my items on TpT and to other's items that I use.  I also want my blog to serve as a way for me to categorize all of my resources so that I, too, can go back to things I have used.  So, I am going to try by posting a link to my TpT store - which is almost as new as this blog - I opened on June 1.  Wish me luck!

I am a Blogger!

Hello, teacher friends!  I am very excited, but very nervous about starting this blog - which I felt very compelled to do since starting my TpT store.  I feel as if I have been drinking from a fire hydrant this summer with everything I am learning about Teachers Pay Teachers and social media and selling products and now blogging!  It is overwhelming and I think I must be crazy because I am already a teacher stretched as far as I can go........

Regardless, I am all in, and I am going to do my best to learn and hopefully I will find this blog and my TpT store to be a creative outlet that helps me process what I do every day.  So far, today I have set up this blog, added a free background and am typing this post - all in about 30 minutes.  I am looking forward to learning more and getting better and better at this new world of teaching which involved more technology than I ever imagined I would ever need or use!!!!

Here's to being a lifelong learner!
See you soon,
Connie