Hello darlings! I have loved my time at 3 teacher chicks, but if you've been a follower for a while, you know that this blog started out with 3 teachers. For the past year, it's just been me (Amy). Jamie and Shelley have since gotten married or had babies. Family is super important and I am so glad they are enjoying every minute with theirs!!
So... I was starting to feel like I had multiple personality disorder with the 3 Teacher Chicks title. It just doesn't make sense for 1 chick! I'm taking a big risk that you might not read this or find me, but... I'm trusting you will.
Head on over to That Teaching Spark my new blog baby! Tell your teamies and your friends! Make sure to enter the HUGE giveaway!!!!
Good-bye! Until we meet again at That Teaching Spark!
Hello darlings! Thanks to all of you who are following me on Bloglovin! I'm pretty sure when I transition over to That Teaching Spark, they will transfer all of you over with me! Yay!
Listening: Yep just cleaning house and takin' names. I hate cleaning, but someone's gotta do it!
Loving: I'm so excited and slightly nervous about leaving this collaborative blog for my own blog at That Teaching Spark. It was a huge decision and is going to be a lot of work transitioning all my old products with my new name, but I think it will be worth it! This blog can't be 3 Teacher Chicks with only 1 chick blogging! My blog buddies have moved on to marital and baby bliss. I can't blame them!
Thinking: I'm leaving Friday for Mexico with some college girlfriends. I can't wait to lay on the beach and feel the sand sifting through my toes! Right after that I am going to the TPT Vegas Conference! Woo Hoo!! Can't wait, but I'm freaking out because lots of people have already blogged about the outfits they are wearing! I'm over here doing laundry...
Wanting: I've heard (read) a lot of people are nervous about going to Vegas. I'm a classic introvert which means I hate and I am no good at small talk. I come across as a stuck up B because I have no idea what to say and I don't really think you care what I have to say anyway. I can't be that fascinating to hold a stranger's attention. Ok, maybe you care a little. LOL! But I really am a fun, funny, good conversationalist when you earn my trust! Just the way of the introvert. Thanks Jesus... could you have thrown in a little small talk manual?
Needing: So I have some AMAZING bloggers who have agreed to donate products for my Blog Launch Giveaway and I have a few of my talented friends creating crafts to giveaway. I've got to get this all ready before I leave in TWO days so I can launch it when I get back from Vegas.
All: I suck, with a capital s, at running, but I am so proud of myself for sticking with it and not giving up. My breathing is the worst! Yes, I've read the articles about foot movement tied to your breath, but that doesn't work for me. I sound like a train, but I run. My goal is to run a 5k, but right now I can only to half of that! I think I need a class on how to run and not die.
Hello darlings! Just a few more days until I leave 3 Teacher Chick and launch my new blog That Teaching Spark. The blog still looks yucky and I am just waiting on the designer for some finishing touches! She has been awesome!
Make sure to check back for some amazing gift card giveaways, TPT Product giveaways, and crafty giveaways!
This post is an overview of the Word Study Program I use in third grade. Stick with me though, because you could do the same thing in your classroom, you just need some word lists. These pics will take you through the program step by step. It is a mash up of Words Their Way, Fountas and Pinnell, and Beth Newingham.
Click the pic to get the entire program from my store!
Wow! You stuck with me this far! You deserve a freebie!
What program have you been using? Is it differentiated?
Hello darlings! Yes, I know it isn't Wednesday, but I saw a motivating linky party over at Queen of the First Grade Jungle! Her linky is all about staying healthy and active this summer. While I don't have beautiful menus and pictures of my food, I do have some pics of my workouts.
First off just let me say, I have never been really active and after my brother and mom passed away, I just didn't care and I just kept gaining weight and getting unhealthy. I was super out of shape and got out of breathe easily. Flash forward about a year after my mom and I just had it. I felt sick to look in the mirror and I knew I had to do something. Interestingly enough, about that time in April 2014, one of my neighbors posted to our neighborhood facebook page about starting a Crossfit Box (Gym-there's a whole crossfit language) in his garage. This was the sign I was looking for.
I remember watching this video about Crossfit and thinking, there is no freaking way I will be able to do half of that! But... I messaged him and told him that I felt like I needed to workout just so I could workout there! Joe was incredibly nice and made me feel comfortable enough to try it out. I went for my first class and I was hooked!
That was a little over a year ago, when I couldn't even run a minute without stopping. I had never lifted any kind of weights and I was sure my body wasn't made to jump up onto a tall box. Since then, I can run 1.2 miles without stopping (which is HUGE for me!). I can complete a WOD (workout of the day) using a 24in. box and I am lifting weights like crazy! Not little baby weights, heavy barbells. Oh, and I LOVE IT!
But why do I love this insane form of torture? How can a girl who loathed working out like it was the black plague look forward to going to the box everyday? Simple. It's all about family and building confidence in myself.
You see these people here? They are my family. My Coaches Joe and Erin and all of the members push me and encourage me everyday. My Crossfit BFF, Jessica, is always there to commiserate with and tell me to suck it up at the same time. My sister and brother and law also go here. I love these people and the other members not in the pic too! I am able to do far more than I ever imagined possible. I'm gaining confidence to try new things.
In January, Joe and Erin got to open up a brand new gym in a beautiful location. If you can't tell, its called Show Me Crossfit. I have also gotten the opportunity to visit another Crossfit gym with my coaches for a Memorial Day WOD. Crossfit is such a community and everyone is so welcoming!
Crossfit is my outlet and my stress reliever. It is my inner voice pushing me when I want to give up and it is the overwhelming since of accomplishment I feel when I finish.
This is a little video Coach Joe took of me when we were doing the Snatch. It looks pretty easy, but let me assure you getting that bar up over your head and then squatting it down while maintaining stability it tough. This is my favorite movement! You really should try it! With proper coaching of course! ...and Joe is reminding me to shrug.
I am beyond thankful that God brought Crossfit into my life. I can't imagine it without my Coaches and my Crossfit family. If you are looking for a push, here it is. Research and find your local Crossfit box. Teachers have to have an outlet! If you are from Missouri, message me and I would love to tell you about my Crossfit Box!
Stayed tuned for more info about my transition to That Teaching Spark! There is a huge giveaway coming!
Hello darlings! We started a new evaluation tool last year in Missouri. Teachers are evaluated based on The Marzano Teacher Evaluation Model. We only focused on the first domain which is all about Learning Goals and Scales and tracking student data.
If you aren't already having your kiddos track their data, you need to! Even kindergartners at my school track their scores! I saw a huge jump in my students' score from previous years because suddenly they were accountable and those numbers actually meant something! For each unit, I gave my students a pretest to assess their schema. I used this data for small groups, conferences, and to up my game. Students graphed their pretest scores and we talked about the meaning of the scores.
At first I had straight A students in tears because they just didn't understand that I was checking what they ALREADY knew before I did any teaching. When they got a low score, they just didn't understand. With some modeling and a lot of encouragement, they finally got that I was NOT taking this score for a grade! I expected them to get a zero on pretests! This score simply showed me what I needed to teach them. The score that they needed to think about was the post test score. This is the final assessment when we look at growth.
Once kiddos got to see how much growth they had made since the first assessment, they were hooked! They were even measuring the graph with a ruler to see how much larger the line was. Don't worry, I showed them how to calculate their growth! My kiddos couldn't wait to take the pretest. They knew that they did need to try their best and not just skip everything because that would be cheating their own brain.
I love my Data Tracking Binders and I don't know how I've gone the last ten years without them!
Here are just a few teaser pages! You can purchase this in my TPT store here OR................. You can get it for FREEby following me on Instagram!!! I'll have the free file address waiting for you! But hurry, because it will only be there for a short time!!!
So what's my Instagram name? It's @ThatTeachingSpark Yep, it doesn't match my blog anymore because I am LAUNCHING A NEW BLOG! Check back for an AMAZING giveaway coming your way as I transition!
Why am I moving? Originally this was a blog that two of my besties and I collaborated on. Since then Jamie has had a beautiful baby boy and Shelley has gotten married and moved on to bigger and better things. That just leaves one chick as 3 Teacher Chicks. LOL! I was feeling like I had multiple personality disorder. So, I saw Ashley from Teach Create Motivate successfully moved her blog and she gave me some great ideas and inspiration to make the leap.
So... if you want to stick with me (and I hope you will!) keep following on Bloglovin for updates and follow me on Instagram @ThatTeachingSpark You won't regret it! Thanks darlings!!
Hello darlings! So these are the kinds of blog posts I tend to stay away from- the ones about me. I don't know about everyone else, but I feel like no one comes to my blog to get to know me, they come to my blog to get ideas and resources. This may just be me being cynical, but unless I am giving away a freebie, I don't get much traffic and people don't comment.
The goal of this post is to explain why I create for TPT and what I hope to achieve through it.
Be a light in the darkness: One of the main reasons I want to be successful with my blog and with TPT is so that I can be a light in the darkness. John 1:5 says that "The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." We live in a crazy, fallen world where people are hurting. I want to bless others with all I have. My late mother was such an amazing example of bringing hope and kindness to others. She was constantly buying meals for strangers or talking to random people who just needed a simple word of encouragement. If you have ever heard the song, Save My Life by Sidewalk Profits, you would know what I mean. She was someone who took action. I want to be like her. I want to give hope to those who have none. One way I do this is with World Vision. I sponsor a family in Ethiopia and there is NO WAY I could do that if it wasn't for TPT! I am so blessed to be able to tithe to my church and I have seen how He uses my obedience to help others!
Help Teachers with PD: I'm kind of surprised with this one myself because I am such a scardy-cat when it comes to speaking in front of groups of people. But, I have come to LOVE helping other educators! Whenever I get a chance to share an idea or present on some kind of professional development in my district, I do it. I would love for this blog and TPT to somehow give me the ability to present to teachers around the World! I had a chance when I first starting blogging to join a Curriculum team in NY, but I didn't have the time. My former blogging buddy, Shelley, took the opportunity and she is now presenting PD all over the country! She knows I am jealous, but I hope another opportunity arises! I just want to help, encourage, and motivate as many people as I can!
Travel: TPT has already allowed me to travel and I can't wait to continue! Last year I was brave enough to join a tour group all by myself! It was the BEST thing I have ever done! I went to nine different countries in Europe with Contiki- a tour company for 18-36 year olds. We started in London then went to Amsterdam, St. Goar (Germany), Munich, Austria, Venice, Rome, Florence, Switzerland, and then Paris. I got to take a bike ride through Munich, go white water rafting in Austria, climb a Mountain in Switzerland, ride a gondola in Venice, sight-see off the top of the Eiffel Tower and so much more.To say I had fun and learned a lot is an understatement. This year I am so excited that I can attend the TPT Conference in Vegas! I hope to meet lots of amazing people and learn how to take all of this to the next level!
Future Family: My biggest dream right now is to just meet my husband. LOL! I love the freedom of being single, but I can't wait to share my life with someone! I know TPT isn't going to help with this, but it will help when I am ready to start a family. Like many of you out there, I would like the choice of being a stay at home mom. We shall see! I am waiting on God's perfect timing for this giant dream to happen. I am trusting him because I know that "God is able to do far more than we would ever dare to ask or even dream. " Ephesians 3:20
Hello darlings! Your FREE planning Calendar has arrived! Check out this new beauty! This year I added some inspirational quotes and a new color scheme. I hope you LOVE it!
Don't forget to follow me on Instagram @teacherchickamy to get up to the minute notifications of Flash FREEBIES and other sweet deals!
Hello darlings! Many of you have already been using my Realistic Fiction Writer's Notebook. I wanted to let you know that I have done a complete Makeover on this resource! It used to be 15 pages and now it is 31 pages! I also revamped the overall look with fun fonts and new graphics. This was one of the first resources I had uploaded to TPT and to be honest, after all I know now, it looked like crap! Aren't you glad I learned how to use Powerpoint to create my materials!?!?
So... if you have already purchased it, go to your TPT purchases and sort by "Recently Revised". You can then download the new and improved copy!!
