New England Blogger Meet Up!

Hello, All! 

I am so so so so so excited to attend my first Blogger Meet Up in Boston this weekend! The lovely Deirdre from A Burst of First set up this great meet up for all New England Bloggers! I had noticed the post on Instagram a week or so ago, but wasn't really sure if I should go or not.  I received an e-mail saying someone comment on my blog, and it was Dianne, from Hopelessly Devoted to Teaching mentioned that I was local and invited me to come along! I am very excited for the opportunity to mingle with some amazing bloggers and meet some new friends.  We plan to chat about blogging, TPT, school, and our classrooms! Stay tuned for a post on our meet up!

If it's Free, it's for Me!

Hello, All,

I am on a roll with two posts in one week! I am hoping to keep it up/improve it!  This was our first week back from Christmas Vacation, and we had a full 16 days away from school.  I missed my kiddos, but it was a welcomed two snow days that we had! I was a little worried that the kids were going to either be half asleep or super hyper when they came in on Monday morning.  To my surprise, we had a great Monday and a great rest of the week.  I had told them that we were almost half way through the school year and now it was their responsibility to start working towards becoming 3rd graders.  They are now 2.5 graders!  They ate this up and have been doing really well with challenging themselves this week.  I am one happy teacher!

Now onto why my post is titled "If it's Free, it's for Me!"  I will take anything that's for free, as most teachers will.  I am a taker of the paint swatches from Home Depot, Lowes, and especially Walmart.  Over Thanksgiving Break, I was at Home Depot with my husband and I was walking by the carpet section and my teacher eyes spotted the carpet square samples!  I knew I was going to do something with them, but I wasn't sure at the moment as to what they would be.  After some thinking, I brought them into my classroom and introduced them to a group of my chatty students.  I told them that the squares were special "Quiet Carpets." They were so intrigued! I explained that they were to rub the carpet whenever they felt the urge to talk.  This has been working so well that some of them bring them to their ELL class.  So basically, I am using the carpet samples as a sensory outlet.  They are taking their minds off of talking and are getting that stimulation through their contact with the carpet.  I am hoping that this stays working well, since Spring Fever will be coming up soon (not really, but one can dream) and I am going to need to calm the chatting down.  

 

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to follow me on instagram! @owlalwayslove2ndgrade

Milestone!

I don't know about you, but November and December were SUPER busy with school and life in general.  I made a New Year's Resolution to try and blog more! I do have to admit that it is hard to keep up with blogging (I so wish I had an assistant that could take pictures of my day and blog for me)!  

Since I have been making more of an effort to get my blog out there, I have reached 75 followers! To most, it seems like a small milestone, but to me, it's amazing! I never thought that 75 people that I don't know would want to read what I have to write about.  I am thankful for each and everyone of you!  Since I had this small little milestone, I decided to have a giveaway on Instagram that will end on Friday 1/10/14.  If you follow me: @owlalwayslove2ndgrade you will find my post about posting a picture of your favorite spot in your room with the hashtag #owlalwayslove2ndgrade.  On Friday, I will use a number generator to choose a number and that number post will win any item of choice from my TPT store.  I hope to get a lot of you involved! Good Luck!

Friday Fall Freebie #4- Last one! =(

Hi All!

I hope that you have enjoyed this last month of Friday Freebies! I have had a lot of fun creating new things to use in my classroom and to share with you!  Last week, I had a Veterans Day Freebie, so I figured I would create a Thanksgiving Writing  freebie for you.  This can be used for different grade levels to discuss or draw about what your students are thankful for.

Stay tuned for more freebies! =)

*Follow me on Instagram: @owlalwayslove2ndgrade to see what's going on in room 202!*

Next stop: Adventures in 2nd Grade

Friday Fall Freebie #3

Hi All!!!

I hope you have enjoyed the last 2 weeks of freebies! We have some very talented teachers on our hands!!! I know that Veterans Day is in November, and we are still in October, but I created this for my kids to use next month and figured you all might like to have it ahead of time to plan! If you do end up using it, please e-mail me some pictures so I can see how it turned out (furnelltoto@gmail.com).  Enjoy!

*Follow me on Instagram: @owlalwayslove2ndgrade to see what's going on in room 202!*

Next stop: Adventures in 2nd Grade

Friday Fall Freebie #2

Last week's Friday Fall Freebie was SO MUCH FUN!! I snagged some super cute freebies, and I hope that you did as well.  I simply love everything about the FALL; the pumpkins, the leaves, the aromas of those super great Yankee Candle candles, candy, candy corn, spooky stories, Halloween, costumes, and MONSTERS.  This week's freebie is a writing process activity.  It contains a brainstorm, rough draft, and two different final drafts.  I also offer a cute craftivity idea to go along with it that is written in the credits.  I hope that you are able to use this in your classroom!  If you do end up using it, please e-mail me some pictures so I can see how it turned out (furnelltoto@gmail.com).  Enjoy!

*Follow me on Instagram: @owlalwayslove2ndgrade to see what's going on in room 202!*

Next stop on the blog hop: Adventures in Second Grade!

Comparing Numbers, INB, and One Mummy

Hi All!

I am really trying to keep up with this blog, but boy is it tough!  I don't know how all of those super great bloggers do it, and most of them have kids!

Anywhoooo- We have been working on comparing numbers and even and odd numbers.  We even worked in our Interactive Notebooks TWO DAYS this week, and it's only Tuesday!  I am proud of myself for having them get this done!  It's a goal of mine to get them using them more often.

We took some 2-column notes on greater than, less than, and equal to.  We also used these adorable odd and even hands to do a much needed review on odd and even numbers.

We used my comparison alligators from my TPT, which you can find  *here*  to compare numbers. The kids LOVE these. The littles also used strips of paper as an impromptu activity to compare their own numbers that they created using GIANT foam dice from the dollar tree.

 

I also, sort of, finished my Halloween door to my classroom (I change it up monthly)!  

I hope you all of having a great week!! Be sure to come back on Friday for another Friday Fall Freebie!