Birthday Extravaganza Day 2

Today is my actual birthday! I am turning 30! Eeek! How did that happened?


It is also Day 2 of my Birthday Extravaganza!

One of my favorite things to do as a kid was to play scavenger hunts. I'm sure all of you have played before but just in case you haven't, there are items hidden all around a certain area. You are given clues to help you find each item.

Well I will not take you on a true scavenger hunt but I thought it would be fun to do a small modified one.

So...this is how my scavenger hunt works for today.

One of the products in my Teachers Pay Teachers store is FREE for today only! The "hunt" part is that I am not going to tell you which product is free. But I will give you 1 hint...it's math related. You have until tonight (July 3rd) at 10pm to find the freebie.

Don't forget about the Giveaway I am holding either. It ends July 5th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Birthday Extravaganza Day 1

In my family birthdays are a big deal and it doesn't stop once you get older either.

So in honor of my birthday (which is on July 3rd) I am throwing a party. Well a online giveaway/freebie party and all of you are invited.

Each day, for the next 4 days, I will having some sort of deal or sale for a limited time. I will be using Instagram, Facebook, and this blog to announce each of the deals.

Today's giveaway is...

through Instagram.

Today you have the chance to win my Back to School Unit before you can buy it just by reposting the imagine below, tagging me @msrichardssmusings, and 2 of your friends.

AND there is more...

I am also throwing a Giveaway for one lucky follower to win a $25 gift card to Teachers Pay Teachers and 1 product from my store chosen by the winner. Giveaway ends July 5th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Don't forget to tell all of your friends and check back tomorrow for a new freebie or giveaway!

July Currently 2014

It is July 1st! So I am linking with Farley for her wonderful linking: Currently.

Listening: I have to have background noise when I am reading or working. Today it is Good Morning America.

Loving: It has been absolutely beautiful these last couple of days. Usually it is grey and cloudy for the 4th of July. This will be perfect camping weather.

Thinking: The USA vs Belgium game is today. Are you watching? My house has been everything World Cup since it has started. I believe...

Wanting: So I live in an apartment. Most of the time it is okay, except when my neighbors are yelling at each other. Today they were yelling at each other at 6 am. (Grrr) Maybe I can get in a nap before the USA game. :)

Needing: Among other reasons, my boyfriend and I are moving into a house in 3 weeks. We are ecstatic! Unfortunately that means we are in the process of packing up everything. My house is a mess and it is driving me a little crazy. I can barely walk through it without kicking or knocking something with my knee.

4th plans: My birthday is July 3rd and my boyfriend's birthday is July 5th. (Weird, right?!) This year I will be turning the big 3-0. (I'm not sure how that happened.) In honor of my birthday, I have a little something up my sleeve. Check back tomorrow for more details.

Working On It: June 25

Hey everyone!

I'm linking up with the lovely KinderGals for their weekly linky: Working on It! I am sharing what I am currently working on.

I have only been out of school for about a week and I already have started working on my Summer To-Do List.

If you follow my Instagram account, you have already seen this picture.

I am only on Chapter 10 and I love this book. Many of the things I didn't consider to be the turning point to successfully interacting with your students are. For example, I have the rule that there are no toys allowed in the classroom. When students "test" your rules by bringing toys into the classroom, I have always told them to put them back in their backpacks. While that usually works for that DAY, I am having the same conversation with either the same student or another one the following day. This book points out that I have this rule, however students are noticing that I showing them that I will just give them a warning if they bring in a toy and there are not any real consequences to bring a toy to school. This is just one example of what is discussed in this book. I have found this book to be really eye opening and I have enjoyed it so far.

I am also getting my lesson plans ready for my read alouds during the year. We start the year reading Because of Winn-Dixie. 

I finished packing up my room yesterday. YEAH! While it doesn't look like it, it is ready to go. My janitor is a gem and he said that we don't need to have lids on all of our boxes. That helped a ton because I have oddly shaped boxes, shelves, etc  that was really hard to pack.

Last but not least, I am working on making my long range plans for next year. I usually don't make long range plans but I always wish I did about half way through the year. I figured I would give it a shot this year.

It is not all work though, next week I am going camping for my 30th birthday. We are actually going to the same site I used to go to as a kid! I can't wait!

Don't forget to link up with the KinderGals.

Five for Friday (1st Day of Summer Edition)

Hey all!

Today is my first day of summer! I work in a school district that goes late into June. However, we don't start until after Labor Day so it all works out. This is about the time that I wish we had year-round school but sadly there is only a couple in my state. In honor of my 1st day of summer, I am linking up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs for one of my favorite links: Five for Friday.

On Saturday we had lunch with my boyfriend's dad. I snatched these photos while we were at the park. Not too shabby for an iPhone.

Did you know the Word Cup is going on in Brazil right now? Oi! World Cup fever has taken over my house. The game on Monday against Ghana was a nail bitter, so I am hoping we can keep it together against Portugal. This is my favorite commercial I have seen about the World Cup.

Over the last month, I have seen blog posts about these wonderful books everyone is reading this summer. I have been slowly collecting the ones I would like to read. I didn't realize until today how many I have. I have a A LOT of reading to do this summer.

Wednesday was field day. Sadly I only took a couple of pictures. Here is the bouncy house station and the chalk station.

I found out that I will be moving to a new classroom next year on Wednesday. (Last day of school was Thursday) I am excited except...here is the problem. The portable has not been put in yet. As of right now, I don't have anyplace to put my boxes. Eeeeek!

I'll be going into my classroom today to work on this mess.

Happy Friday!

Behavior Management and a Freebie

Hello friends!

I am linking up with Laura from Where the Magic Happens... to talk about a subject that I struggle with every year...behavior management.

It seems every year, I try to figure out different ways to approach managing my students. Last year I tried parts of the Whole Brain Teaching model. I started by using the Super Improvers Wall that is used to encourage students to set individual goals that are specific to their needs.

Click on the picture to download this freebie.

I had students select their own goals to try to encourage more ownership. The goals could be academic or behavioral. For example, sit at the carpet correctly or turn in my homework every day. Every time I noticed a student doing this for the day, I would put a star on their chart. When the chart was filled, the student would made a new goal to work on. The different color cards reflect how many goals each student has made. The colors correspond to the signs on the left.

At first I had my doubts about how this would work in my class. After using this system for a year, I really like it. My students LOVE "beating" their goal. I made certificates for each student every time to beat their goal.

I found most of the students picked goals that they honestly knew they needed to work on. If they didn't, this was a perfect time to discuss why they picked the goals they choose. I got my signs for free from Tara West's Teachers Pay Teachers store.

In addition to the Super Improvers Wall, I also used Class Dojo. If you are not familiar with Class Dojo, it is an online system that you can use to help manage students behaviors.

I found about half way through the year, the students do not seem to really care about the Class Dojo scores. When they hear the cheerful dings of the positive points and the dongs of the minus points it doesn't seem to change their behavior one way or the other. Parents can also go online and check to see how their child is doing throughout the day. Unfortunately many of my parents do not have access to a computer. I started sending paper copies home every Friday but I still didn't notice a difference in student's behavior.

I love the idea of the Class Dojo system, however I am finding it difficult to make it work the way that I want. A couple of years ago, I tried the Clip Charts and I really liked them. My students also really liked the chance to move up for positive behavior too. I think I am going to try this system again next year.

Also I am reading Setting Limits in the Classroom this summer. I am only a couple of pages in and I already have made some great connections. Like for example, I give too many warnings. This book suggested that I am sending the message that they can continue to do the same behavior and they will just get a warning. I didn't even realize I was doing that! I can't wait to continue reading this book.

Reading while waiting for the ferry yesterday.

What are types of behavior management strategies do you use? Don't forget to link up!

I only have 3 1/2 more days of school left. I can do this, I can do this!

May Currently and What I have been up to

Hey friends!

Remember me?

It has been way too long since I posted anything and I have missed it. Last time I posted I was just getting into the National Board process. Well 5 months later and I have 2 weeks until I have to submit all of my evidence and papers. (Ekkkk!) Everyone I talked to before starting this process said that it was crazy and rewarding. I just was not prepared for how much it has taken over my life. Well thankfully I am close to completing all of my requirements.

On to my May Currently!

Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade!

Listening: My family is a soccer family all the way. Saturday and Sunday mornings we watch English Premiere soccer. It is almost the League Championship so the games have been full of upsets and really good.

Loving: This last week I have been waking up 1-2 hours before my alarm and have not been able to fall back asleep. :( One of my co-workers reminded me that the end of the year is very similar to the beginning of the year. For me this means that I have a hard time shutting off my brain because I am thinking of all the things I need to remember to do.

Thinking: All of my papers for my National Boards are due May 16th. I should be finalizing all of the corrections I need to make on it instead of getting wrapped up wasting time online with Pinterest and Facebook.

Wanting: I desperately need new shoes for school. My old flats have holes in both heels and they have started to get me blisters. It has been so hot here lately that I am really limited on which shoes I can wear to school that won't kill my feet and are still practical for school. We are not supposed to wear open-toed shoes to school however I don't have any other schools that are appropriate for school. Any suggestions? Any brand of shoes that you can't live without that are fabulous?

Needing: One of the last things I need to do is to scan all of my evidence for my Boards, proving all of the things I talked about in my paper. I just got a new printer a couple of months ago and I haven't figured out how to use the scanner feature yet. Hopefully it is as easy as it looks.

Surprise: Have you checked out Nicole Swisher's blog All Things Apple in 2nd Grade? She's fabulous! She has some great ideas and her Reading Skills Posters are wonderful.

I am looking forward to getting back to blogging and creating more units.

Happy weekend!