One more thing

Since I'm posting immediately after the last write-up, I figure this isn't double-posting. Right? Hmm.
Just thought I'd throw it out there that I put my Plural Posters on TpT and TN for easy download. Of course, they`re still free.
Find them free at TPT here:

and free at TN here:

No more posts, I promise :)
- Amanda

Nothing educational here...

Wedding countdown is on! Only five more days :) Here are a couple photos of things that are happening:

The lovely wedding day shoes. Yep, they're tall. I have a pair of flats to switch into when I get that foot ache.

Jeff and I made this together for our seating arrangement. Instead of having numbered tables, we are labeling them by countries we have visited together - nine tables in all. I made luggage tags with guest's names to hang beside this so they know to which country they are travelling for the evening. Still some finishing touches to add, but I think it turned our pretty great.

That's all! Happy Monday.

- Amanda

Math Centers with a Circus Theme

They're up:

Fact Family cards with worksheet to record answers

Commutative Property Cards with True/False headings and three different sorting mats to be used with manipulatives:

Addition with regrouping cards and worksheet to record answers

Time to the half hour cards and one page of "challenge cards" {time to the quarter hour} with worksheet where students draw the hands of the clock to match the digital time shown

Addition to 10 concentration game

Find this set here

and here

I will be bundling this set with my Circus Theme Literacy Centers soon - among all the DIY projects on the go for our upcoming wedding :)

Again, I'm happy and surprised! Thank you thank you to Susie Q for awarding my humble blog with...

This award is named for the German word "Liebster," which translates to "beloved" or "favourite", and it is given to "new, up and coming bloggers." 
I love it! It's so easy to wonder, "How come I only have xx followers? Shouldn't I have more?" But I'm resolving to start thinking, "Wow! I have xx people reading my blog? I wonder who they are and how they found me..."  At any rate, I'm feeling the love and I'm just happy to have this place to share and swap ideas.
The rules:

1. Link back to the person who gave it to you.

2. Post the award to your blog.

3. Give the award to at least 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers.

4. Leave a comment on the 5 blogs to let them know that they have been offered this award.

I've chosen to give this award to:

Linda at Around the Kampfire

Storie at Stories by Storie

Jamie at Bright Concepts 4 Teachers

Aimee at Pencils, Books & Dirty Looks

Cindy at Primary Reading Party

I hope all of you enjoy this as much as I do!

Quickly, a little freebie for all. I had one student who broke his arm on the playground and missed an entire quarter in this last school year. I had no idea he would miss that much school and didn't even know for the first two weeks that a broken arm was the reason. I phoned home everyday but never got an answer {oh, Kuwait} and the school nurse didn't inform me {oh, Kuwait}. When I finally spoke with his mother, she said her son had a doctor's note excusing him from the rest of the school year {oh, Kuwait!}. And then, I find out, she's a teacher at a government school! Oh. Kuwait. Apparently the last quarter wasn't as important as the first three haha. At any rate, with high hopes I had made this form to document important work and assessment he was missing. 

In the end, I gave up on this form and had four typed pages of missed work for the student. Click the picture to grab this free from my TN shop. I hope it can help!

- Amanda

Award and More Recipes

This will be a bit of a long post, but there are great things all around: I received a great award and the recipes I'm posting are A LOT lighter than the last one :P {That's for you, Barbara!}

Big thanks to Tori at Tori's Teacher Tips for thinking of me when giving out this award:

!!!!!

I love being a part of the blogging community and think it helped me tremendously throughout my first year of teaching and will for the next thirty years! Thank you, Tori!

The rules:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.  Of course! Huge thanks, seriously.

2. Include a link to their site. I heart Tori's blog. Have a look around.

3. Include the award image in your post. Got it.

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself. See below.

5. Nominate 15 other bloggers for the award. So many fantastic bloggers.

6. When nominating, include a link to their site. 

7. Let other bloggers know they've been nominated. 

Random Facts:
1. My dearest friend, Jessie, has been my best friend since Kindergarten.
2. I have suddenly developed allergies {I don't know to what exactly but not to any foods - phew!} and for someone that L.O.V.E.S. summer, this is the worst.
3. I have been asked to run a workshop for Math and Literacy Centers for our teacher orientation in August. I'm nervous and excited to map out a plan for this.
4. Right now I'm wearing my new Merrell "Barefoots." They are the lightest footwear I've ever owned. Okay, so because it's like walking on bare feet and most of us usually don't, I have to "break them in." Which sounds weird, I know, but its important for my muscles. Jeff and I ended up getting the same pair {plain black} because we do so much wandering when we travel.

5. One of my favourite shows is HGTV's House Hunters International. We have a bit of a dream to one day own income property overseas.

6. I just ordered dozens of white roses for our wedding day, which is coming up SUPER fast {July 21} and I could not be more happy and excited about. I am also working on some white hydrangeas. Gotta keep it simple for an evening wedding :)
7. I find it annoying that my blog posts are filled with so many different fonts, when I specifically have only one chosen for my template. Not as techy as I wish I was!

I'm now giving the award to: 
1. Susie at Learning with Susie Q {Susie is one of my most supportive followers and she has great ideas to share!}
2. Erin at First with Franklin {She's having a giveaway right now in honour of 100 followers}
3. 1st Grade Hip Hip Hooray 
4. Jacque at Mommy & Me Creations
5. Brittany at Sweet Seconds
6. Casey at Second Grade Math Maniac
7. Heather at Second Grade Perks
8. Kimberlee at Teacher Time Savers
9. Nicole at Mrs. Rios Teaches Second Grade
10. Stephanie and Jamie at Prayers and Purple Elephants
11. Barbara at Grade ONEderful {She already has this award of course but she is such a great bloggy friend that I just need to show some appreciation! And she's Canadian!}
12. Alessia at Mrs. Albanese's Kindergarten Class {Another fellow Canadian!}
13. Jenny at Luckeyfrog's Lilypad
14. Amanda {great name! hah} at Reaching for the Top! Ms. Wilkie's Second Grade Class.
And last, but most certainly not least, my absolute favourite teacher in the entire world:
15. Jeff at A New Classroom! He started his blog just a bit ago and is creating a very detailed game-based system for teaching his grade eight class next year. Go check it out if you'd like a fresh perspective on teaching middle school.

Now on to the food.

So this long weekend friends of mine hosted a three-bride {myself and two other good friends} bachelorette party at Blue Mountain and it was SO great! We have a great group of friends that we met while teaching in Korea and I'm so thankful for such a helpful, supportive and loving bunch. I made snacks to hold us over between meals and they were all a big hit. *CLICK ANY OF THE PICTURES OR THE TITLES TO GO STRAIGHT TO THE RECIPE* I highly recommend everything I made: 

Roasted Tomato and Garlic Salsa from Mama Loves Food - make it as spicy {or not} and as chunky {or not} as you'd like. The key is in roasting the veggies. It was definitely like restaurant salsa.

Olive Tapenade with fresh French bread - This was SO EASY to make! Just put all ingredients (black olives, green olives, garlic - that's it} into a food processor and voila. Also Delicious and also from Mama Loves Food.

Warm Spinach and Artichoke Dip {one of my favourites!} This recipe is from Chatelaine, one of my favourite "everything" magazines. If I still lived in Canada I'm fairly certain I'd have a subscription.

Goat Cheese and Bacon Balls - from another favourite recipe site, Buns in My Oven. Blended with cream cheese, the strong goat cheese flavour is nice and mild. If you let them sit too long after making, the basil starts to take over the flavour of the bacon, so I guess it's up to you when to eat!
If you need a quick and tasty bbq potluck, try one out. You won't be disappointed!
- Amanda

Simple, easy, delicious chocolate mousse recipe

Who doesn't love "simple" and "easy" when it comes to cooking? I am loving bbq season and was pretty happy yesterday when Jeff decided to make an old favourite - Nigella Lawson's chocolate mousse. It is smooth and cool and dark AND it's made with mini marshmallows! Amazing, right?! It's a perfect way to use up that leftover camping trip stash.

{Recipe and photo source} 

INGREDIENTS

• 150g mini marshmallows {or roughly cut up larger ones}
• 50g soft butter 
• 250g good dark chocolate (minimum 70% cocoa solids), chopped into small pieces
• 60ml hot water from a recently boiled kettle
• 1 x 284ml tub double cream {we just use whipping cream}
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

METHOD

Serves: 4-6

1. Put the marshmallows, butter, chocolate and water in a heavy-based saucepan.
2. Put the pan on low-med heat {keep it fairly gentle} to melt the ingredients, stirring every now and again. Remove from the heat.
3. Meanwhile, whip the cream with the vanilla extract until thick, and then fold into the cooling chocolate mixture until you have a smooth, cohesive mixture. Try not to mix too vigorously - folding needs to be  a gentle action!
4. Pour or scrape into 4 glasses or ramekins, about 175ml each in capacity, or 6 smaller (125ml) ones, and chill until you want to eat. If left overnight in the fridge, you are likely to have a more mousse-like texture - if you can stand to leave it that long!

Give it a shot if you're craving something sweet, deep, and chocolatey!

- Amanda

Freebie

Just back in to share a little freebie with you from my Circus Theme Literacy Centers. Grab it from my TpT shop by clicking the image below.

I hope everyone is enjoying summer and *trying* to take a break. I know it's a hard thing to do as teachers!

- Amanda

Circus Literacy Centers and TORONTO!

I've just spent a long weekend in Toronto and have enjoyed every minute {which also means I have thoroughly neglected my blogging duties}! It is so great to be home! It's funny, though, because I must be pretty used to life in Kuwait as 1. even at 25 degrees I feel a bit chilly; 2. I put on an old dress and felt a bit ...uncomfortable... at how short it was {although I had random compliments and my friends assured me it was not inappropriately short}; and 3. I spent a bit of money shopping! {Have I mentioned that recreational activities in Kuwait are limited to shopping and eating out for Jeff and I?}

Anyway, I did get a chance to finish up a set of literacy centers I've been working on with a circus theme. They are listed in both my TN shop and TpT. There are five centers: 

1. Sentence Scramble Cards and Worksheet

2. Plurals Word Sort and Worksheet

3. ABC Order Cards and Worksheet

4. Contractions Match and Worksheet

5. Building Words Cut and Arrange (5 different worksheet options)

Again, find these at my Teachers Notebook and Teacher pay Teachers. I hope you'll have a look! There is a  set of corresponding Math centers on the way and I hope to bundle these two together for a discounted price when I finish up.

To end this post, a little joy I'm feeling at the moment: I'm marrying the most perfect man in the world in under a month! Eeeeek :):):)

Happy Monday, friends!

- Amanda

Learning about teaching

So how was my first year of teaching? Well, I survived and I think it was fairly successful! As I reflect, I realize it really was a good year - a great year, actually, in terms of how much I've grown as a teacher. I had a tough class and I clearly wasn't prepared for them. But, with a lot of hard work, I implemented tons of classroom management "systems," made mistakes, and learned a bajillion things about being a teacher. 
There are so many people to thank for inspiration, encouragement and love this year. I won't bore you with a list of people you don't know, but I will tell you about one because it comes with a free little gift :) My VP this year has shown a ton of encouragement, and sadly she is leaving our school next year. For her, I wanted to make a simple keepsake to show how much I truly appreciate her support this year. I came up with this:

It's a collection of words and phrases that she really helped me see as so important and that kept me going all year long.

I simply printed it to a half sheet {select 2 pages per sheet in printer properties - don't worry, it will only print one copy}, framed it, and voila. I love it and think it turned out really well! If you need a last minute gift idea, I have this print listed in my TpT store for FREE :)

On a related note, I've decided to use this summer to delve into the world of Whole Brain Teaching and my first order of business has been creating my own rules posters. I've tried some tactics in April/May with my class and it was well-received by my grade twos with some really positive learning outcomes, so I'm extra excited about next year now! I did change the rules from those used in WBT, because there were a few things I wanted to address straight away next year based on some issues I dealt with this year. Click the images to download {for FREE again!} if you please. Of course, I'm thinking of making a circus set to add to my theme next year... I already printed and laminated these, though, so I don't know if I want to waste them.

It may be obvious, but I chose a rabbit because it has big ears haha! I got really tired of side conversations this year.

Doesn't that flying monkey look fast?!

Please, kids, for my sanity.

A house because I call my class my school family - we all need to get along to live together under one roof for an entire year!

Ahh, the wise old owl. I love this rule because one of my key lessons this year was based upon making smart choices at school. Perfect!

Very important so I can teach the most I can in the best ways I can! And really, if you follow those first five rules, I will no doubt be a very happy teacher.

Now we're off to Canada for some very important events and a ton of relaxing - ahhhhh! Take care.

- Amanda

Smiley Writing continued

Just uploaded rubrics for letter-writing and story-writing with the Smiley Writing poster to my TpT. I hope you can use them!

AND! Great news - I just opened up a Teachers Notebook shop. Come visit me here, please :)
- Amanda

Smiley Writing - 4 levels rubric

 I'm sure many of you have already seen {and probably grabbed!} Valerie's Smiley Sentences poster from last week. If not, go get it NOW! You'll find many more great ideas on her blog while you're there ;)

The idea was inspired by Colleen at Coconut Cutie's Classroom, who uses a similar system to remind students what they need to complete before turning in work. I was immediately inspired after downloading the poster to create a writing rubric - and after seeing how well it was received, Valerie had the same idea! You can find her rubric HERE. She even included a poster set - isn't she wonderful?! It's a great pack, but I need a 4-level rubric so I've adapted it.

This concept is so perfect for my ESL learners: they can see visually what it takes to get a level 4 in their writing. 

For this school year, I used this sign to show my students what I expect to see in their writing:

 

I have updated it by adding the smiley faces to match the writing rubric and have leveled stars {1-4} to attach to show the mark that would be received for each sample. Of course, this is a system that I will have to teach explicitly. I want my students to strive for higher achievement and to understand how marks are awarded. In September I am going to start by introducing Smiley Sentences so they get a feel for it; that way moving on to the writing rubric should be an easy transition. I'm super pumped about sharing this idea with the grades one and two teams for next year!

I know this looks totally intimidating - she wants to use this in an ESL classroom?! I tried to make the poster less wordy, I really did, but it just wasn't enough information. Like I say, I'll have to model/teach, model/teach, model/teach this system so the students understand how it works. You can grab a copy for free from my TpT shop. Note that this is based on Ontario curriculum for Grade 1: Rubric for a Short Piece of Descriptive Writing, page 15. I am working on developing this to align with Ontario writing tasks for Grade Two {Rubric for a Short Narrative} and Grade Three {Rubric for a Letter (to a Favourite Author)} and a more general rubric to be used with any writing pieces.

Last but not least, please let me be very clear here: the inspiration for this idea came from Valerie at All Students Can Shine. I have only adapted it to suit my needs because I love the idea so much! I really wanted to keep it a consistent system, which is why I modeled the writing poster after the sentences poster in colour and style. After talking with Valerie about my plans she a-okayed the share, so I hope you will find this document useful. Big thanks to her for answering all my questions and being so understanding!

Hurray for summer! Take care.

- Amanda

And the winner is...

Shanyn from Coffee, Kids and Compulsive Lists! I'll send you an email with my TpT link so you can choose which pack you'd like. Thank you all for entering and to all of my new followers; I've been hopping around your blogs lately :)

On a totally unrelated note, I went to a baby shower last night here, and it was incredible. Unlike any baby shower I've ever been to, that's for sure! It was this beautiful, fancy, high heels event with flowy dresses, styled hair and make up, and a ginormous dinner buffet. It started at 7:30pm, there were no cheesy games and it was really wonderful to see all the ladies dressed up. Many women practicing Islam wear a hijab and/or abaya in public as a traditional means of protection from harm and of course a statement of religious observance. I actually didn't recognize the mother who threw the reception for a minute because she was not covered! It was a really beautiful event and I am honoured to have been invited. 


Anyway, happy weekend all!
- Amanda

Another classroom theme pack to choose from!

Just one more day to enter my giveaway for one of the theme packs I've created: Circus, Funland, and now...Zoo! Don't forget to enter HERE to win!

All are on sale in my TpT shop for just $4.50. I hope you'll enter my giveaway by commenting HERE to win the pack of your choice.