Virginia is for Teachers Blog



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I've joined a collaborative blog just for Virginia educators! Since Virginia does not teach the Common Core Curriculum we were in desperate need of a place where we can find resources specifically written for our standards.

Hop on over to download a special freebie (seen below) and enter to win a $25 Walmart Gift Card.

http://virginiaisforteachers.blogspot.com/2015/08/virginia-is-for-readers.html

I'm sharing some School Themed Reading Notebook Templates. If you follow me you'd know that I created them for Christmas, Winter and Spring.

3rd Day of 3rd Grade

When I taught 2nd grade we always celebrated the 2nd Day of 2nd Grade. Well I transferred to a new school four years ago to teach 3rd grade and sort of forgot all about it. I've decided to bring the tradition back and have my students celebrate the 3rd Day of 3rd Grade... there will be decorations, party hats, activities and a small reception at the end of the day. Here are some snapshots of the various activities we'll be doing that day.

 

 

  If you're a 3rd Grade teacher and would like to celebrate as well you can download the 3rd Day of 3rd Grade Activity Packet.

Summer Projects Part 2

It's August and I report back to school in 22 days. Summer school is over and I've had my family vacation at Massanutten Resort. I'll spend the remainder of the month at home creating resources as I promised myself I wouldn't work in my classroom this summer.

 

For the last couple of years I've spent part of my summer working tirelessly in my classroom but not this summer. I intend to do it all during teacher work week, so between the meetings and professional development this teacher will find out if it really is possible to put an entire classroom together during work week, before Open House. Good news is I've done my first week planning and already made my copies, so the clerical work is done.

  Here's what I'm currently working on.

I'm making headings for my focus bulletin board, it has purple fabric with green chevron border so I think these will coordinate with it.

Remade my Whole Brain Teaching Rules, wanted something more simple and chic.

Remade the WBT Call Back Reponses as well.

Made these color posters for a K-Teacher friend of mine, she wanted to update the posters in her classroom. I used the Color Kids from Krista Wallden. You can download these at the Teaching Oasis.

I made a Welcome Bunting Banner for the hallway, I'm going to run them on brightly colored paper and tie them together with ribbon.

I also gave my library labels a makeover. Frames courtesy of Krista Wallden.

#VATeacherBloggersMeet

Last Friday a group of 30 fabulous Virginia teacher bloggers {including myself!} descended upon the Jefferson Lakeside Country Club for an afternoon of networking, laughs, food, drinks, and some incredible swag and prizes! It was an incredible time, and well worth all of the planning and logistics that went into it. I want to share some of the experience with you!

First of all, I have to tell you how absolutely AMAZING all of our sponsors were to work with. If you are making any back-to-school purchases this year, I really urge you to consider purchasing from these businesses and individuals -- they truly value teachers and aren't afraid to show it!

A HUGE thank you goes especially to Educents (one of THE best companies around!) for helping with the costs of the meetup and providing some FANTASTIC swag! Make sure you check out their new Educents Wallet feature to get all of those resources for your classroom at a steep discount! If you sign-up for a new teacher wallet account you'll receive $10 to spend on your classroom -- who couldn't use $10?!

We had over $4,000 in prizes thanks to these fantastic folks!

Check our our FANTASTIC sponsors:

[Educents] [GoNoodle] [ESGI] [Learning Resources] [Ellison] [A+ Images] [Science4Us] [SNAP! Learning] [VocabularySpellingCity] [SitSpots] [Classroom Friendly Supplies] [Kasefazem] [Really Good Stuff] [Planbook.com] [Teacher Created Resources] [Jessica Saunders, ThirtyOne]

And some AMAZING TpT sellers that contributed raffle prizes or digital swag:

[Teaching in the Tongass] [Janiel Wagstaff] [Kimberly Geswein] [Polka Dots & Pals] [Laugh, Eat, Learn Designs] [Whimsy Workshop] [Jewel's School Gems] [The Joy of Teaching] [The Teacher Studio] [KristyBear Designs] [Chalk & Apples] [Teaching in Progress] [There's No Place Like Second Grade]

1. The Fellowship- I enjoy networking and talking with other educators. I met so many new people, a couple of which live right here in Richmond. Looking forward to getting to know them better.

Our Selfie

2. The Goodies- Between the delicious lunch and dessert, prize exchange, Swag Bag, Digital Swag and the fact that I won a year long membership to Spelling City, I'd say I cleaned up! Thanks to our sponsors, no one left empty handed.

The Techie Teacher

3. The Giveaway- I was able to give away a personalized Zip Top Utility Tote and Julie from The Techie Teacher won. It should arrive on Tuesday, can't wait for her to see it!

You can see more fun meetup photos by looking at the hashtag #VATeacherBloggersMeet on Instagram, or by looking at the photo album!

Some of the fantastic Virginia teacher bloggers from the meetup are linking up with Sarah from There's No Place Like Second Grade to share their favorite moments and photo memories from the meetup, as well as share their swag and prizes! Be sure and check-out their posts!