A place to share thoughts, ideas, gadgets, and giggles from my classroom. 💜

Teacher Tool Gift Exchange


Last weekend was awesome! I went to French Lick with some of my favorite blogging/teaching buddies to meet up with more awesome blogging/teaching buddies! There were over 100 of us! Some of my favorite bloggers were there, more about that later! We did a favorite teacher tool gift exchange! This was one of the most fun activities to prepare and exchange!
I was all ready to exchange, and did you notice how my whole bag matches my blog and business card!?! I didn't even do this on purpose, and believe it or not, I'm the worst at matching!! We all got in groups by grade level. We played a left/right story game to do the exchange! This is what I do to exchange Christmas gifts in my classroom! It is pretty fun! We went in a circle and unwrapped our gifts. Here's what I got! 
{Drum roll}
The first thing I pulled out was the measuring tape masking tape! I said, " Oh my husband is gonna love this!!" Well I guess it wasn't for my husband, because I got some funny looks!(HAHA!) But it just popped out! He is always looking for a tape measure when we are working at the new house, I just couldn't help it! It will come in super handy when we get to our measuring unit! I really can't wait to use it! 
UMMM do you SEE that big green Post-It pad!?! I'm totally in love with the big Post-It's! I have those sticky monsters everywhere! I also got two packs of the smaller Post-Its, these always are useful!
I also got a super cute notebook...which I began using immediately! I kept some great notes from the sessions that attended, made notes about my cousin's baby shower that I am planning next weekend, and made notes about what needs to be fixed in my new house before the final inspection!!! I never realized how useful a little notebook is! I was so caught up in all my new goodies, I just can't remember who gave it to me... But thank you so much! I love it all! Check out the other tools that were swapped over at {Second Grade Sugar and Spice!}
What would you share as your favorite teacher tool ($10 limit!)? I'd love to know!


Read-a-Thon Friday!

I just love a good read-a-thon! Friday we had a Read-a-thon in second grade, and some of the other grades too! We ended up with a two hour delay in the morning due to the cold, so we started it after recess.
The kiddos got to wear PJs and bring blankets and pillows. We used our AR tests to help us keep track of what we were reading and how we were doing. We set a goal for twelve 100% on AR tests for each student. This was before the two hour delay, but the kids still thought they could reach 12 in our hour and twenty minutes of reading, so we didn't change it. For each 100%, they would fill in our graph on the board. 
I loved hearing, "Got another hundred Mrs. Rigsby!" If they lost track, I could just look it up online. They were reading up a storm!
We also had a birthday, so we enjoyed Hi-C and cupcakes with our stories. It was such a fun afternoon! No one reached their goal of 12, we just didn't have the time. Those that did were going to get a coupon of their choice. Since we ran out of time, I had the top three get a coupon of their choice. I was so proud of my kiddos! All of them got at least one book on the board! For the strugglers, it was awesome to see how proud they were. 





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