TPT SALE!!!

I am excited to say that I am having a Big sale on TPT this weekend for 3 reasons:
1. Columbus Day Weekend
2. TPT Facebook got 100,000 followers
3. I sold 500 Units!!!

Because TPT reached 100K followers they are offering an extra 10% off on top of my 20% off using code FB100K!! That means everything in my store is 28% off!!  Click the link below to see my products and if you like what you see please follow my store.

Behavior management please. ..

So it's a month and a half into my first year teaching and I have added and implemented many different behavior plans.  At first I had the expectations that I wouldn't really need a classroom management plan besides the one the whole school uses. Boy was I wrong! Our grade has a tough group and behavior is out of control.  I feel like I barely get to teach because they talk soooo much. I started with a "Wow Jar" where if the class behaved as a class they would get "Wow Gems" in a jar and when they fill the jar then the class earns a"Wow" party.  I am still using it and they are loving it., but I needed something for individual behaviors.

 

 

  At first I was taking away their "Eagle Bucks" which the whole school uses, but some of my kids didn't care after a while and would give me 2 if I asked for 1 because they could care less. So I started doing some research, or should I say "pinteresting", on classroom management.  I'm extremely addicted to Pinterest!! I then implemented a clip chart which the kids love. If they were misbehaving they would move their clothes pin down a color but if they were able to change their behavior move it back up.  I then started sending slips home to parents if their child was on a lower color and why they were asked to move down.  The parents liked this method because they were able to speak with their children about their behavior.  The only problem with this was remembering to write the slips up and went they were asked to move down. 

 

Then I remembered a management system the county showed us at an orientation before school started called class dojo. I implemented it Monday and the kids and parents love it! The system is ran on the computer and even had an app for your phone! Students are given positive points for specified good behavior and given negative points for specified bad behavior. There is even a sound linked to positive points and negative points so the kids hear the points being given. The BEST part is the parents can sign on with a code and see their child's behavior!! Just what I needed.  Have to love technology!!  If a parent doesn't have a computer I can print their child's report and send it home. So far it's working great and I am still using the clip chart but they have to earn certain amount of positive points to move up.  Our school being I.B. I created a clip chart based on the attitudes of I.B. This reinforces how they should act and think.

 

                                              

 

Lastly I'm noticing bullying going on in my room.  Kids are very mean and angry for only being in 2nd grade.   So I have decided that starting Tuesday I will start doing "bucket filling." This weekend I will try to get everything together and hopefully it will help all the negativity in my classroom.

 

I surly hope that my kids will stay to mature a little more and allow me to teach them.

FIRST YEAR TEACHER!

 

So yes it is official I am a first year teacher finally!! I have only been out of college with a masters for 5 years. Not only am I a first year teacher I also moved 10 hours away to North Carolina. As you can imagine I will be blogging a lot about my new experiences.

Let's start with my classroom which I love!! I am all about making my room bright and colorful.


Before...


View from door entry

Front of classroom

Back corner of room

 

After....

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to say I do love my room. As you can see I have garbage pails at each group of desk with a box of tissues which eliminates the hundreds of times the kids would get up out of their seat. It has worked amazing this year so far.

 

 

 

Here is my Alphabet and Number Posters I created with an apple theme. My room is covered in apples that I have been collecting over the past 5 years. The kids love how colorful they are and refer to them on a daily basis. The best thing about the alphabet posters is I made each letter have a picture of something the would find in a school/classroom that starts with that letter! I have these for sale in my TPT store and an Animal version as well.

 

 

 

 

 My school is an International Baccalaureate School and each grade learns about a different continent, and as you can see 2nd grade is focusing on Asia. I will get more into what an I.B. School is in another entry.



 

 

 

I am so excited to share all the new and fun things I am doing in my classroom and promise to post more frequently. I am finally settling into the postion and my new home so I have time to get back to blogging and TPTing!

 

 

 

Oklahoma donation on Teacher's Notebook

Teacher Appreciation Sale on TN!!

I have been slaking on my Teacher's Notebook Store since I have been doing so well on TPT I kind of forget about it. My teacher told me she has been doing the new Daily Deals and it has increased her sales by a lot. I am def. going to start doing them if it will bring traffic. But why not start off with a HUGE sale!! I am part of the HUGE Teacher Appreciation Sale starting tomorrow until the 10th! I will have 40% off everything plus an additional 10% that TN is giving so that HALF OFF EVERYTHING!!! How could you not want to check out the sale starting tomorrow!! Click the picture below to take a look.

Where Did April Go???!!!

So I have MIA for a while....my teacher was out for 2 1/2 weeks with pneumonia. :(  Luckily she is feeling better and is back because then I got sick!  This NY weather always gets me sick when it cant make up its mind if its 40 degrees or 70 degrees. It plays with my immune system! I cant complain too much, I finally finished my MONEY UNIT!!
We were working on money a few weeks ago and thought I would make a unit with some skills we have been working on. My new unit has many activities that can be done as a whole class, small groups or even in math centers. I tried to use lots of color and pictures, but of course if you cant print in color it all prints in black and white fine. I should know I don't have a color printer at home. Haha  It is all aligned to CCSS.

If you click on the picture it will bring you to my store. Please make sure to take a closer look at the preview. And since you are such a fan and reading my blog why not surprise you with a FREEBIE from my unit!!!! Why not right???  Here is my mini book I created that is a review of all the skills we worked on.

Click on the title page to download your FREEBIE!!! Above is a sample of the a couple pages from the mini book.  You could use this book as a review at the end of your money unit or use it as you teach each concept.
What else happened in April??...Oh yeah it was my BIRTHDAY! My kids are the best, they all made me cards and two of my girls brought me in flowers!!! My mother sent me into school with goodie bags and a crown for me to wear. :) Gotta love my mom!!!  Yes I wore it all day!! Why NOT!

It was a busy month which is why I haven't blogged in a LONG time. I'm back for good I promise.


Now we are working on TIME. I had to get observed by my Assistant Principal so I did a lesson on a.m.  and p.m. and created a cute mini book for my lesson as well!! And since you read down this far and didn't just stop at the first FREEBIE why not give you another FREEBIE!!!  This mini book will be part of a Time Unit I haven't started on yet but will in the near future.

Click the picture above to download your FREEBIE!! How to use this mini book?? The first page is a short review on  the parts of the clock and what kinds of clocks. Then there are 3 groups of 2 pages. Each set of two pages they pick 2 things they do in the morning, 2 in the afternoon and 2 in the evening. Then they show the time on the analog and digital clock and underneath write if its a.m. or p.m. Then they write a sentence of what they do at that time and draw a picture. This connects time to their lives. When printing just make sure to flip page 3 and 5 the opposite way so they all print the same way. This is what the inside looks like...

 HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES FROM MY STUDENTS:

 One of my girls even decorated the cover page more. I thought it was cute!

Oh right and one more thing that happened during April....WE GOT PAID!!! OMG I was soooooo excited!! I did amazing for my first quarter and I have to say I am super excited that they are now going to pay monthly!! This will help out a great deal. Why you may ask?? Well I have officially applied to over 30 jobs in North and South Carolina combined!! I plan on moving south this summer and this extra money will be a huge help with the bills. So yes I am actually saving my money for now. I actually haven't even put it in the bank yet lol.        I even printed the emails of my first sales in TPT and TN.

Thanks so much for catching up on my busy April. Hope everyone did well on this past quarter.

4 more days!!

So excited that the first of my quarters is ending in 4 days!! I'm $54 away from my goal!! Hopefully I can make it. How close is everyone to their goals?

SomeBUNNY Loves Your Blog!

I found this great linky party on Pinterest that is sharing blogs they love, so I am linking up with Christina from Bunting, Books and Bainbridge and sharing one of my favorite blogs.

I'd like to let Ashley from That's So Second know that SomeBUNNY loves her blog! She is a first year 2nd grade teacher who inspires me since I have not had a classroom yet. For someone who is just starting off teaching she does a lot of creative things with her students. She incorporates what she does in her classroom on her blog with pictures of her students doing the activities. She also has another blog for her parents to see what their children are doing in the classroom which I fell in love with!! I would so want to do this when I get my own class. It gets the parents involved and I am sure they love it. Also I love how organized Ashley is with her work. She has great Common Core organization on her blog so definitely check it out.
Please check out this first year teacher's blog and let her know someBUNNY loves her blog!

Almost 200!!!!

Almost less than a month ago I posted how I sold 100 units and was so excited in 2 months and I've sold another 100 in less than a month!!!! I'm so excited!!!!

Spring Break is Here!

I feel like I havent been in my office in 3 weeks! I have been so unmotivated working on products. I have also been slightly distracted since my best friend is getting married in June and I have the Jack and Jill, the Bridal Shower and Bachelorette party in the near future to plan for. I am so glad it is Spring Break. Unfortunately I am not going anywhere for vacation, I am having a stay-cation. I need it because I have 4 big products I want to get up this week. I have a feeling I will get most of them up since I am seriously broke so I cant leave the house really all week. I am getting more excited about getting back to work on my products and I have been steadily making around $100 a week on TPT which is amazing. I cant believe how well I am doing. I am so proud of myself. Cant wait to get paid. :)
I officially found out yesterday that I will not have a job next year. :( I now have to really get myself out there and try to find a job for next year. I wish I had money saved because I would love to go down south to the Carolinas but as I said before I'm broke. haha I also have to figure out what I am doing over the summer also which is somewhat approaching fast when you need to find a job.
Well I will keep everyone posted on my new products as I work this week and you never know I might post some freebies!!!
Thank You
A Passion Driven Teacher

Fun Blog Hop and a small question if I may ask...

Hi everyone!
I have been slaking the past 2 weeks. As you see I reached my 100th unit 2 weeks ago and I am excited to say that since then I already sold another 50. I have been really growing and the networking is helping a lot. I just started reading and posting on the TPT forums that my teacher said was a must and she was right. I have gained followers and a lot of great information from other sellers.
 I did create 2 new small products this past week because my teacher had me plan and teach reading all this past week, except today since we have a snow day!! :-)  I created a mini book of compound words and I also created a flip up book for verb tense. I think I am going to create a compound pack with some activities, and I was thinking of making the verb tense activity free. I am going to post some pictures of my students' work since they came out really cute. 
This morning I was on Pinterest and came across this great blog hop. It was ran by the same ladies who ran the Valentine's Day blog hop that I really enjoyed. This is a St. Patrick's day blog hop and it has a small game attached to it which I find really creative. Each freebie has a clue word and at the end of the 15 blog entries you can enter to win $100 for TPT by submitting the scrambled phrase. I really hope I got it right. Here is a link to the blog hop! Also there are some really great freebies for St. Patrick's Day!

Now I am going to try to get serious about writing at least twice a week and share any new products or ideas I find on Pinterest, etc. I do have a question for everyone. My Wanted Numbers product has really been selling and I was wondering if I should increase the price a small amount since it is popular and is a quality product? I am a little scared to increase the price since I don't want to discourage people from buying it. Please let me know what you think. Here is a link to the product. I am in the middle of creating a Literacy version as well, so this would help me know how to price that one as well when it is done.

Thank you so much for your feedback.

100th Unit Sold Giveaway!!

This morning I am so excited to say I sold my 100th Unit! Due to my excitement and everyone's support I am doing my very first real Giveaway of ANY 2 items from my store since I sold 100 units in less than 2 months. I am soooo excited!! Please enter the giveaway and spread the word. But WAIT I am choosing TWO winners!!! That's right 2 people will win 2 of my products!!! It starts today and ends by midnight on Tuesday. a Rafflecopter giveaway

St. Patrick's Day Craftivity and GIVEAWAY

I found this great book to read with your little ones on St. Patrick's Day called Fiona's Luck, by Teresa Bateman. I created a craftivity to go along with the book. Below you will see a picture of the craft and the book.
Book Overview:
The greedy leprechaun king has locked away all the luck in Ireland and the whole country has fallen into despair. Through clever charades, Fiona outwits the leprechaun king and restores luck to the land.
Connection to Book:
In the story the king locks up all the luck in a chest in the leprechaun’s cavern. Fiona can get a wish granted if she shows she has no luck, but it would be for exactly the value of luck she has, which is nothing. She says that she wants a hole, which is nothing, in the top of the chest. This allows all the luck free in Ireland.

 You can check out the product by clicking on the picture.


FYI all my boggers I am running a Giveaway on my Teacher's Notebook store! I am giving one lucky person my Money Wallet product for free! Take this chance to enter in the giveaway. Click the picture below to be brought to the Giveaway.

I am really starting to feel like I got a lot done this week off. Next on my list is Energy since we are teaching it in our classroom next week. Maybe I should have started with that. Oops haha.
Everyone have a Happy Friday tomorrow.

2 New Products!!

I am so excited! I finally finished the 2 lapbooks I have been working on the past few days. I probably would have gotten them done sooner but I have 4 different products going at once. I actually let my creative juices flowing and made the one lapbook into a craftivity as well.
The first one is on Immigration to America. This is the one I made into a craftivity by making it in a suitcase.

              
 The second one I created and I actually already sold one is a Lapbook on The Statue of Liberty.

I am really proud of my work. I keep getting good ideas for things and everything I make I would use in my classroom if I had my own. I am working on a St. Patrick's Day craftivity linked to a very cute story I found about luck in Ireland. It's called Fiona's Luck, by Teresa Bateman. It's not your traditional St. Patrick's day story and revolves around the time Ireland was suffering from the potato famine, so it is good for a lot of grades. I will def. have it done by tomorrow and will share it with you.

If you like either of the products above feel free to check them out at my store. Oh and I'm only 9 products away from 100 sold!!! So exciting!!

My Co-Teacher is a Beast!

I don't know if everyone knows but I am currently a TA for second grade in "Simply Skilled in Second's" classroom. She is an amazing teacher and she creates such beautiful products!! She has been giving me inspiration for creating some of my products as well. She has already uploaded 2 new lapbooks this week. We are lucky to be off all week and I am in the middle of working on 4 projects! I am having trouble focusing on one at a time. I did start creating the Heart Hunt as a Pot of Gold Hunt! Two are up and loaded, two more to go!

They have the same cards but in this version they are on St. Patrick's Day Gold Coins.
 Like I said Ms Simply Skilled in Second has been a beast creating lapbooks and I wanted to share her two newest with you. They are linked to her store so you can get a closer look.

You can also check out her blog by clicking on her button to the right of my blog. If anyone else would like me to share your products I would be more than happy. I am not all about making myself money, which of course I do need, but I am about helping each other out.

HEARTS Galore

I am getting a pretty good hand on creating products, thanks to my lovely Co-Teacher. Now my main focus is to get myself out to everyone. I know my last blog was about networking as well, but this is the stage I am at right now. I just joined  Teaching Blogs Traffic School (TBTS) and have learned a lot so far which is why I am finally blogging today. I did create a fan page on Facebook which you can take a look at and please "like." I will soon have it where you can follow me on Facebook and Pinterest from my blog. Taking baby steps. You can "pin" any post by clicking on the "pin it" button on the bottom of each post.

Here is the link to my Facebook fan page: A-Passion-Driven-Teacher-Fan-Page

Now onto what I have been working on. Just before Valentines day I created some activities that gets the kids moving around the room. There are four sets of cards on hearts. Each set has a different skill that they need to find in objects in their classroom. Below are the four sets I created with an example of each. All sets come in many colors:

Included in the products with you can click on the title pages to go directly to the store, I included a cute idea I got when I was at Dollar Tree one day. I saw these cute heart shaped candy boxes and created hearts small enough to be folded into them.

They come in packs of 10 and come in 3 colors. I numbered mine to match the numbers on the cards. Soon I will have all four of these same activities with a St. Patrick's theme as well. I have a cute idea for them as well but you will have to wait and see when I finish them and post about them. So keep an eye out for the post. Before I get to that I have 2 big products that I am very proud of that will be posted within the next day or so. Cant wait to share them with you!

Please make sure to like my Facebook fan page and I will like yours as well and we can work together on new and fun ideas!