It's a Florida Blog Hop!

I'm so excited to be teaming up with a bunch of my fellow Fl blogging buddies to host a fun little blog hop!  

For this Blog Hop we're going to be telling you a little bit about where we live in the Sunshine State, why we love it, and offer up some goodies…as well as a GIVEAWAY!

I live in the northern part of our state.

Right here in Tallahassee!!!

{I did my best to point to the general area in which I live…ha}

LOTS!  We are the capitol city of Florida.  All things political happen right in our downtown area.  Here's what our capitol building looks like:

That front building is our old capitol building and that tall building sticking out from behind it is where you will find the best view of Tallahassee! You can take a ride to the top, the 42nd floor and have a panoramic view of our city. 

I took my kinders on a field trip to the top this year! They LOVED it! :)

Here we are in front of the back entrance to the capitol.

We might not all look that excited because it was 100 degrees and we had spent most of our morning walking outside…poor poor planning!

Even though we're the state capitol of Florida, what we're really known for is FOOTBALL!  We're home to the reigning National Champions…the Florida State Seminoles!  Go Noles!

If you live here, you bleed garnet and gold all year round and you most certainly count down the days until football season returns.  

Home games are by far the best experience! We're all about tradition and a good tailgate! :)   

Here's a pic of me and my besties at one of our tailgates!  I'm on the far left.

Here's another one. Just in case you wanted to see my holding a different red solo cup! :)  I'm on the far right. This is my bestie (2nd from left) and her sister and momma (she's a teacher, too). Love them!

Our stadium, Doak Campbell Stadium, is definitely a sight! Made entirely of brick, it seats over 82,000 fans, making it the 14th largest stadium in the NCAA. It's a beauty and I'm not being bias! Come check it out for yourself :) 

Now that I've got you all wanting to come to an FSU home game (right?!) we'll move on to the goodies…

Alphabet Trace Book Freebie

This little freebie is an exert from my new alphabet pack!

I love this packet and can't wait to use it with my kindergartners this year as we introduce and review the letters of the alphabet.  It's also great for small group and working with RTI.  Here's a preview of what's inside.

Snag in the next three days while it's on SALE! :)

The Florida teachers below have two fantastic giveaways for you! You can enter once from each one of our pages. All you have to do is follow my blog! Hop around to all the blogs listed below, and be sure to follow them to get more entries. The more entries you have, the more likely you are to win! Each pack also includes a Starbucks gift card and who doesn't love some Starbucks?!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Come find out more about the beautiful state of Florida by reading about these other sweet teachers!

An InLinkz Link-up

BIG NEWS!

                     

The hubby and I are expecting a Little Mr this November!!

We are so excited to meet our little man. I am currently 21 weeks and feeling great! The little mr. is due to arrive Nov 30, however, the Dr. expects I'll probably be a little earlier (baby's measuring further than my original due date).  This makes it even more exciting because (regardless of when he decides to show his face) we have a whole bunch of family and close family friends coming into town for Thanksgiving!!  What a special time it will be! :)

Now that the 'cats outta the bag' I can apologize for my absence on this little ol' blog over the past 5 months! You'll forgive me now… right? :)

Since I've been feverishly trying to get all my 'ducks in row' with school before the year starts and things get really crazy, I've been working a lot on getting my Sub Binder all ready to go!  I'll have pictures up as soon as it's all complete.

So in the spirit of this joyous occasion, I'm putting my Long-Term Sub Binder on sale (HALF OFF) for the next 24 hours! :)

Here's a peek:

The new cover option:

 

I'm slightly OCD and have a problem with relinquishing control (especially over my classroom). Any advice/tips on how to prepare for 3 months off?

I know I'll be busy and in love with baby but until he's here I will be stressing!

I Made It!

Today I'm linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It.

Yes, I realize it is now mid-way through Tuesday but we'll just pretend. 

This summer has been quite different from any other summers and that's because I have some BIG NEWS…but I can't share that big news just yet. You'll have to come back next week for that reveal. :)

I have been busy though.  Here's what I've been making:

I finally got around to updating my Long-Term Sub Binder and I made some new covers that I am in love with! Excited to head to Staples to get these bad boys printed out and into a binder!

I also added 18 more pages for even more (slightly OCD) organizing!! 

whoop whoop!

 

You can take a peek at what's included in THIS post.

Or you can check it out HERE.

Then, I made another Parent-Teacher Communication Binder for a friend.

I kinda think it's adorable and it was created to match Melanie from Schoolgirl Style's Owl-themed classroom the best I could! :)

Every cover in this book has 4 options {color and b&w}

I also have 2 purchase options:

an OWL Book Binder as is

OR

an EDITABLE OWL Book Binder (this allows you to type in what you want to say on each cover, as well as in the letter to parents)

I started using daily communication binders with my parents 6 years ago and I will never do anything different.  It is the best way to keep your parents in the loop of what is going on in your classroom and how their student is behaving and progressing daily. I receive the most praise (in terms of communication) about these binders!  You can read more about these binders and see other binder-themed options HERE.

And finally…

I worked really hard on this last product.  Why? Because it's a product/tool that I will be using all year long.  Last year I had two students who struggled all year on learning and mastering the letters of the alphabet, consistently and fluently.  Mid-year I purchased a book titled Interventions That Work and it changed my life.  Everything that is outlined in this book were things that I already knew (or at least heard before) but wasn't registering as an effective way to get my students mastering this foundational skill. 

After reading the book, I began to put all of that knowledge to use and began creating the following packet.  I used many of the games featured in this packet in the final months of the school year and was able to see improvements from both students.

I spent some time this summer researching a little more on orthographic systems and created this packet.  It will serve a supplement to many other great tools that I will use throughout the year.

Click images to take a little peek.

After looking at so many other wonderful things that all of you have been making, my 'to-do' list has grown even more!

Excited to get started on some DIY projects around the house too. 

Don't forget to stop by Tara's blog to check out some other great projects!