P is for Pushing Up the Sky

Woo hooo! I actually love Pushing Up the Sky. The kids get so into it. Click the picture to get it in my TPT shop.

A LOT of bloggers are having a Leap Year sale and I am, too. My TPT store will be 20% off on Wednesday. You can also enter the coupon code from TPT for an extra 10% off. Yahoooooooo! (ha! That's what they say in this story!)

P is for Permission to Pin

I give you complete permission to pin anything you'd like to here on my blog or in my TPT store.

Apparently there is "fine print" that we all "agreed to" on Pinterest.

Click the icon to read more about it before you click that "Pin It" button.

H is for Hot

I don't know about you, but when I was 8, this is what I thought "hot" meant.

dictionary.com

Well, we were taking the "hard quiz" for the Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle video on on Brain Pop, Jr today. This was the question:

Annie read it to us in her super sweet voice and I hear, "Psssh...no he's not!"

I (of course) said, "No he's not what?" since I had just been talking about "grown up talk" again the day before.

Flashback to earlier this week. Same kid as above. He hugged me at least 73 times. Everyone cracked up when he did.

Me: KID! STOP HUGGING ME SO MUCH!

Kid's friend: He liiiiiiiikes you!

Me: Of course he likes me! I'm his teacher!

Kid's friend: No, he thinks you're pretty!

Me: Of course I'm pretty! All teachers are pretty!

Them: speechless

Me: Let's be appropriate. (wah wah waaaah wah wah)

Back to today.

I was hoping he'd just drop it and that nobody had heard.

Him: He's not hot.

Me: How do you know? Do you have a thermometer to take his temperature?

Ms. G (our VE teacher): There's only one kind of hot. (Don't worry, I'll show her how dictionary.com has 27 definitions.)


Them: Not that kind of hot!

Ms. G: Well, there's only one kind, so I don't know what you're talking about.

Stella: YOU KNOW! Like when a boy thinks a girl is HOT!

Me: (shaking my head) Okay! Let's answer this question!

They can't POSSIBLY mean this:

They just can't! They're 8 years old! That confirms it though, I'm not having kids. I can't handle it.
Pretty soon, we'll have to start Human Growth and Development in Kindergarten! Sheesh!

Have a great weekend. I hope it's not too "hot" for you!

B is for BAM!

I've been in a portable for 4 years now. I really don't mind except for none of my stuff fits, I've had to move things around so many times to please the fire marshal, and every time it rains (in Florida!) we all go a little crazy. I could list the positives, too.

The year before I moved into this portable it was treated for the case of mold it had been growing. The previous teacher noticed it when she was taking posters down off the walls and moving furniture at the end of the year.

All of the walls were taken down and now I have a super awesome mish-mash of paneled walls. (That I am only allowed to cover 20% of mind you...) It gives it character.

Last Friday a maintenance worker from the district asked me which day would be best for him to rip up my floor and replace the tiles. What did I say? Um...Saturday?

Thankfully he did it on President's day and I was off the hook. Shew! Close call! That would've been a MAJOR distraction.

So I could totally sympathize with my "learning cottage" neighbor when they told her she would have to "get out" so her complete back wall could be replaced.

I thought it would be no problem for us.

Boy was I wrong!

Every time the workers sawed, hammered, or even just spoke to each other, we heard it through the air vent.

Imagine 18 little bodies trying to read about "How to Help Planet Earth" while jumping into the air. EVERY TIME the sound of a nail being hammered was amplified through our room we came up out of our seats.

This was our reading lesson:

BAM!

(jump)

First the plactic bottles are...

BAM!

(jump)

taken to the recyc-

BAM!

(jump)

ling plant and crush-

BAM! BAM! BAM!

(really big jump)

-ed into little pieces.

SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWW

Me: Okay guys, let's just do centers!

Stella:  How do they expect a girl to learn how to save the earth?!

We agreed it was ridiculous.

But hey, I have a new floor. Mrs. B has a new wall. And tomorrow is FRIDAY!

Just another day in the life of a teacher. =)

W is for Winners!

Congratulations ladies! I will be emailing you with details!

Everyone else: If you did not receive the fluency file you wanted, please leave me a comment and I will send it! There were a few comments with no emails and I'd love to get it to you.

Thanks again to Teacher's Exchange for helping me with this giveaway and thank you all for your wonderful comments.

D is for Disney Dream

Shawna at The Picture Book Teacher's Edition is having a linky party so here is mine:

Raise your hand if you love all things Disney and have ever been to Disney World/Land.

I live an hour from Orlando and have been to Disney World plenty of times. I've owned kazillions of Disney movies (on VHS!) and have been known to randomly break out with a Disney quote/song. Have you ever seen Disney Bound on tumblr? Yeah, I'm addicted. And being a teacher, I get to have an excuse to love Disney stuff!

Anyhoo...call me a dork, but Disney is part of being a kid. Especially a FLORIDA kid.

It saddens me how many of the kids at my Title 1 school aren't able to afford the trip to Disney World. Let's not even talk about the ones who've never been further than the next town.

I wish we could just go, act like kids, experience the magic and have plain fun.

It would be even better if were an all expenses paid trip. =)

You don't have to keep your hand raised anymore, but you DO need to do these two things:

1. Enter my giveaway. It ends tomorrow night.

2. Go link up with Shawna.

{Sorry for the bossiness...I was in a mood today} =)

D is for Dig, Wait, Listen

Dig, Wait, Listen: A Desert Toad's Tale center resources are now available in my TPT store. Click the image to go there.

F is for Future Student

One of my BFFs and I took her three boys to the Florida State Fair yesterday. We saw the animals, went to Cracker Country, I ate corn on the cob (and funnel cakes and wanted an apple and a corn dog), rode/watched the 'fair-is' wheel, and just had a grand old time.

My friend's oldest son was in my very first class. He is now a teenager.

My friend's middle son was in my third class. He is almost a teenager.

My friend's youngest son is in the first grade. He is 6 going on 16. He was in his mommy's tummy when I was an intern on his mom's team.

He has been waiting to be in my class since he even knew what school is.

We have a love-hate relationship. I keep telling him that if he isn't nice to me, he's going to be in another second grade class.

So last night we went to a restaurant for dinner after the fair.

This is what my future student wrote for me on a paper towel:

"You are a weirdo."

I clutched to my chest and said, "This is the nicest note you have EVER written to me!"
To which he said, "Do you know what it says?"
I replied, "Yes. It says that I am a wonderful lady."
When he corrected me I acted extremely hurt.

He took it back and added this (excuse the restaurant lighting):

"I was just kidding. I love you."

I beamed at him.

Then he took it back to add this:

"But, don't tell anybody else."

I'm sure I'll have a lot of blogging material next year!

Don't forget to enter my 100 Follower Giveaway.

H is for Hundred Hoorah!

Yaaaay! Happy day! I've reached 100 followers on my bloggy blog!

You have to understand that this is crazy because I started this blog (to vent about Mr. TV) on January 10, 2010. I had about 18 followers. There were about three of you guys that I didn't bully into signing up. =)

Then, I lost my "inspiration" for blogging when he went to third grade and I had a great class last year. I was so busy with teaching, tutoring, being a first time Relay for Life co-captain, and a Teacher of the Year that I did only a handful of posts. I had a whopping 22 followers.

When my 2nd blogiversary came January 2012, I had a new plan. A friend (Hi Heather!) inspired me to start a TPT store and it fit my new year's resolution perfectly.

So here we are a little over a month after my revamp and I'm at triple digit readers. I know it's not a lot but compared to some people, but it's a lot to a girl like me. You all mean so much to me.

Thanks to The Eager Teacher for being 100. Go check out her blog. It's adorable.

So now for the giveaway!

I grew up in Lakeland, Florida and now live in a town very close to it. I often head over there to go to this awesome teacher supply store to stock up. I was so lucky my first year because they have a consignment section where you can get a lot of crazy good deals.

It is the Teachers' Exchange and it's in the most awesome building in Lakeland.

 The owners, the McKowns, generously agreed to be a part of the giveaway and offered a $25 dollar gift certificate their store! You have to check out their website...anything you need is on there!

So here are the prizes:

Winner 1 - $25 gift certificate to the Teachers' Exchange that can be used online.

Winner 2 - $10 gift certificate for Teachers Pay Teachers.

Winner 3 - Three things from my TPT store.

The rest of you winners - Your choice of one of my fluency centers.


Here's how to enter: (Make sure to leave your email, too!)

1. Leave me a comment telling me you follow my blog and tell me which fluency center you'd like.

2. Follow my facebook page and leave a comment below.

3. Follow my  TPT store and leave a comment below.

4. Follow me on Pinterest and leave a comment below.

5. Follow the Teachers' Exchange facebook page and leave a comment below. Leave another comment if you live in or near Lakeland and have been there!

I will use a random number generator and announce the winners on Wednesday, February 22.

Thank you all for reading my silliness and being such great bloggy buddies! 

L is for Light Bulb

We're on triple digit subtraction. Let's just say I'm happy for the three day weekend...

But a glimmer of hope presented itself today. I believe the best sign of learning is that students can teach what they've learned to others. I've seen the best  proof of this during math lessons.

I've had one little darling who can add all day long, but subtraction takes him a bit longer to figure out. He had troubles with two digit regrouping and I told him not to worry. I assured him that he had more time to work on it when we got to triple digits.

Well, we got there today. I was sitting with just this little guy and trying to show him how to regroup  the tens AND that you have to borrow from the hundreds to do that. He kept forgetting to take from the hundreds place and was 100 off on about 8 problems.

I was wracking my brain trying to think of what would turn on his light bulb. Being the kind of kid he is I said, "Who do you think you are? You can just give the tens place more for free! You've got to go next door and borrow some from the hundreds' place! Sheesh!"

He cracked up and fixed the rest of the page without forgetting to borrow.

15 minutes later, I let him put on a Math Wizard hat and help some of his classmates.

I overheard him saying, "Don't you know that you just can't give the tens place some without going next door and taking some away from the hundreds to give to the tens? They don't just get it for free, they gotta steal it from the hundreds!"

I consider that light bulb lit!

V is for Visitors

We had an author visit today. And I'm not going to lie. He totally hooked me. He was hilarious!

You might've heard of him. His name is David Sargent and he writes stories about his precious dogs.  He is from Arkansas and has an adorable accent.

We've had the Tricky Dog Show at our school several and I absolutely love those dogs. 
But, this guy was better because his dogs did tricks AND I GOT TO HOLD ONE! I got to hold Tatum for the whole show! Well, after she was done with her part anyway. Someone HAD to wear the queen's crown!

Afterward my arms ached from holding Her Chubbiness for 30 minutes, but there was NO WAY I was letting someone else hold her. She was so sweet and kept laying her head on my shoulder to rest from all her 'hard work'.

The kids loved hearing about his dogs and even the older fourth and fifth graders were enthralled. The funniest part (to us teachers) was when David meant to say "version" and accidentally said "virgin". He turned bright red and was cracking himself up while trying to recover. The fifth graders' snickers didn't help any...

He writes such cute books, so go check out his website.  His dog Emma sounds a lot like mine.

For example, my dog:

Those are feathers and ripped up magazines you are seeing. This is before I got Penny her own dog to take care of.

 My favorite was that he could tell them to look at the camera and they'd turn their heads right to the cameras! I must teach my pups to do that! Right now, Paisley runs and hides when there is a camera.

I saw our second visitor of the day from afar. I was taking my darlings to lunch and spied our district's superintendent coming down the hall with our assistant principal! Nobody knew she was coming!

I quickly hid myself since I was using one of my "Wear Jeans for Free" coupons I had earned. Then I prayed she didn't feel the need to visit my classroom. I heard Ms. Super visited the first grade classes, though. Shew! Close call!

I prefer the dog visitors any day!

Have a happy Friday tomorrow! Any one else extremely thankful for the presidents that give us the day off? =)

V is for Valentine's Day

This was my day:

5:50
Alarm - Me - Snooze

5:58
Alarm - Me - Snooze

6:06
Alarm - Me: Bah-love bug!

8:10
Student in the hallway: Ms. Buckwer! Look at the Vawentime's cards I bringed!
Me: Cute! Put them in your backpack until you get to your classroom!

8:11
Student #2 in the hallway: Ms. Buckler! I have Valentine's Cards for my friends! They have puppies on them!
Me: Awesome! Put them in your backpack until you get to your classroom! Go to breakfast!

8:12
Student in the hallway #378: Ms. Buckler! Look at my Valentines!
Me: Hey, after I help you pick these up off the sidewalk, keep them in your backpack until you get to your classroom.

(None of these kids were actually mine.)

8:30
Stella: Can we pass out Valentines now? I have three for everyone.
Me: No. We are doing that at 2:00.

9:45
Student: Can we do our Valentine's party now?
Me: Nope. 2:00.

10:30
We make Valentines for our parents.
Me: Step 1 - Trace your hand and cut it out.
Student: WE HAVE TO CUT OUT OUR HANDS? THAT WILL HURT!
Me: Step 2 - Trace the heart and cut it out.
Student: YOU WANT US TO CUT OUT OUR HEARTS!?
Me: Very funny...No party for you!

10:48
Student: Is it time for Valentine's yet?
Me: No, sir. It's time for P.E. We'll do them after lunch.

12:15
Student: It's after lunch. Can we do Valentine's now?
Me: No! 2:00 AND IF ONE MORE PERSON ASKS ME, I EAT ALL THE CANDY!

1:55
Student: Can we do Valentine's NOW?!
Me: I guuuuuueeessssss.
(Last year's class I said, "Have at it!"...This year's class I said, "Everyone sit on the carpet and three people at a time will pass out Valentines." Can you tell we have a controlling ourselves issue?)

They are so spoiled.

2:15
Student: This is the best day of my life!
Student: Ewwww! (So and So) said he "woofs" me!
Student: (eating the marshmallow pops I brought) Mmmm...double thumbs up!

2:30
Me: Let's go home!

3:05
Me: (getting screamed at by a parent in the office for her bi-weekly rant) I don't have to listen to this! I am the teacher and that's the way I handled it!

4:26
Me: (in the parking lot) Who did this to my car???!!!

 Someone had turned my car into a Love Bug!

She said I've been too grumpy lately. =)

After that I enjoyed some yummy Sangria with friends and now here I am sharing my day.

I hope you've had a wonderful Valentine's day!

L is for Liebster Award

I have been awarded the Liebster Award from some bloggy buddies! This award goes to bloggers with less than 200 followers.

Here are the rules:
Thank the award presenter and post a link back to their blog.
Put the award on your blog.
Pick 5 blogs with less than 200 followers, let them know about the award, and encourage them to pass the award on!

So a big THANK YOU to these ladies:

Ms. T at Second Grade Math Maniac - She's inspired me to get together some take-home math packets.

Laura at Peace, Love, and First Grade - I love that she puts the words 'Peace' and 'First Grade' together.


Amy at The Crazy Adventures of a University Grad - She is a "Teacher of Call" =)

Now for the blogs that I recommend you check out:
(It was hard for me to pick 5 because so much love has been passed around!)

Lisa at Stories from Second 
Melissa at Life Gave Me 2nd Grade...
Linda at Primary Inspiration

And here's what kept me busy yesterday:

Have a Happy Valentine's Day!

C is for Catchup

A Way to Help Planet Earth center resources are now available in my TPT shop.

That's right...I did two weeks today. I had to keep myself busy between making cake pops to sell for Relay for Life donations. Otherwise, I'd eat them all!

Have a fantastic Monday friends!

S is for Super Storms

Super Storms center resources are now available in my TPT store.

Yep, going out of order is typical of me. Watch out for 4.3 (A Way to Help Planet Earth).

H is for Hope

Okay first of all, I have to share my excitement with you!

I rarely win anything! I have to say rarely now because I did win Teacher of the Year last year...

But I've won two things in the past week! I won a giveaway from The Teacher Wife and from Teaching Heart/The Organized Teacher Blog! So exciting! Go check out these sites for some really cool things.

I'm hoping to reach 100 followers soon so so I can pay if forward and do an awesome giveaway myself.

I'm also paying it forward as our school's Relay for Life co-captain as well as being on the event committee's Team Development subcommittee (whew!). We are having a Relay Rummage Sale tonight during our PTA's dance! I'm hoping we can raise some funds. 

If you've never heard of Relay for Life check it out HERE! It's an awesome cause that helps each and every person affected by cancer.

I hope you have a super fantastic weekend!

N is for Nutik Centers

Nutik, The Wolf Pup centers are now available in my TPT shop for you Treasures users out there.

Also, Jamie over at Second Grade Stuff is having a 200 Follower giveaway. She is so awesome, so go check it out!