I'm SO Thankful Blog Hop!

We are celebrating all that we are thankful for and that includes teachers!  We want to show all of you how much we appreciate you.  Teachers do so much and this is our time to give back and say thank you!  Thank you for following!  Thank you for participating!  Thank you for collaborating!  Thank you for sharing!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

Join us by hopping through each blog and gathering lots of Thanksgiving and autumn freebies.  In each freebie you will find a picture of a pie with a word on it. That word will tell you something that teacher is thankful for.  Record all of the words on your recording sheet and follow each blog along the way so that you can enter the amazing giveaway at the end!

You may start anywhere along the hop, but if you would like to start at the beginning you may go here.  This is also where you will go in the end, for the giveaway!!

You have made it to blog stop number 19.

Hope you enjoy my freebie, Turkeys All-Around!

Now hop over to the next stop on your journey:  Kate's Classroom Cafe

100 TPT followers, classroom organization, and blog hop coming soon!

Hey  y'all!

   Happy belated Halloween! Did y'all do anything special?  I was kind of bummed because I had a training Wed-Fri so I wasn't at school for the Halloween festivities! I did, however, receive some adorable pictures of my kiddos' creations! They turned out super cute! :)   For most of my products I found ideas on Pinterest, combined different ideas together and added my own twists as well. Click on the pictures below to check out my Pinterest boards to see more similar crafts.

On Monday we made Spider Webs and Spider hats.  I don't have any pictures of those :(

On Tuesday we made bone snacks using pretzels, marshmallows, and vanilla candy
coating, and then we "took Xrays". Here is my "xray" the I used as an example for the students.

On Wednesday, the students made a Bat and completed a Bat painting. I'll try and upload better pictures later.

On Thursday, students made Ghost prints

On Friday, students did a Candy Corn activity where they cut, tore, and sorted orange, yellow, and white paper into appropriate sections to create a Candy Corn. I don't have any of the pictures but here is where I got the idea :)
                                        

  Be on the look out over the next couple of days for a freebie to celebrate my goal of reaching 100 TPT followers! Yippee! So thankful for all my followers and supporters :)

   This is my third year as an ESE teacher, and first year teaching Pre-K ASD.  Even before beginning to teach I knew that the first several years were going to be bumpy (okay, rather mountainous if you want to be honest), but I am coming to terms with the fact that I can't focus on perfecting every little part of my classroom routine/organization/layout etc.. The first two years I was always pulling my hair out because I couldn't seem to get ahead... EVER, but now, I have come to see that it takes time, practice, and even failure, to build myself as a teacher.  I am definitely not saying that I am ever going to stop learning or growing and I have always known this, but I guess I have just made peace with and realized that what I need to do is focus on one certain thing to improve on every year. Does that make any sense at all or am I just rambling on in circles?    Well, anyways, I guess I get so overwhelmed by all of these ideas and projects that I want to implement, but I need to learn to just focus on one idea at a time.  Now that I say this out loud, it sounds incredibly simple and y'all are probably thinking, "Uhhh... duh!" 
    Sorry for rambling on! One thing I have been going absolutely mad over is my classroom organization/layout.  I have seriously already changed my classroom layout more than 5 times this year... and I'm talking major shelf moving and rearranging! My poor paras! They're amazing though and always willing to help with my crazy indecisive self!  How do you organize your classroom?   It's so different with Pre-K AND, especially, with ASD.  If there are any Pre-K ASD or ESE teachers out there reading this, I would LOVE to know how you organize your room and any other advice or tips! :) 
   Last but most definitely not least is the I'm So Thankful Blog Hop that is coming up soon! It will be Nov 8th-10th and it includes over 20 blogs where you can snag fabulous freebies at every single stop! More information coming soon!

Anyways, hope y'all have an amazing start to your November! Thanks, again, for all of your support! :)  Much love,
   
     Mariah

Spooktakular Blog Giveaway!

Hey  y'all!

   Have you checked out the Amazing giveaway going on over at 2 Brainy Apples?! Well seriously, get on over there and check it! There are 4 bundles or products to win and you can earn multiple entries per day, so be sure to stop by her site every day to increase your chances of winning! The rafflecopter is set to run until Sunday, October 20th at midnight, EST, and a winner will be chosen the following Monday!   Ohh... and btw, if you win the k-1 bundle you get winner's choice from my TPT store! So get going, y'all! :)  You'll find some wonderful new blogs, stores, and resources, on the way, as well, which is always so helpful!   Click on the picture below to start your fabulous journey! 

Much love!

- Mariah

Hey  y'all!

   I am still here! Promise! I am in the works of getting my blog all loved up and redone -- yay! 'Bout time, huh?!  I can't wait to showcase the new look!   Also... I am 12 away from having 100 followers on my TPT store! I am feeling my first giveaway approaching VERY soon! Any suggestions or encouragement are widely appreciated :)     Also, coming up this week I will be including pictures of my classroom, as of now... until I decide to change it up again (which will probably be at the end of the week). 
   Ohh another item hopefully debuting this week will be my Primer Sight Word Activity pack! My Pre-Primer packet I posted a couple of weeks ago has taken off, make sure and check it out if you haven't already and keep on the look out for the Primer Packet!

Much love y'all!

- Mariah

FLASH freebie, general freebies, and new prodcuts!

Hey  y'all!

   Ohmyword, was last week crazy or what?! Of course with Labor Day Monday off, the kiddos (and myself) were thrown off for the rest of the week, and we also had Thursday off (for Rosh Hashana), but had to go back to school on Friday! So much craziness! Anywho... with that extra free time I have been watching football --Goo Knights (2-0)!  and Goo Gators (although I am not too happy with them right now... 1-1  poo!) and working on various activities for my classroom and for TPT. Here are a couple of highlights of what is new in my shop...

Football Themed Mini-Calendar Kit for September

 Back 2 School Themed Mini-Calendar Kit for September

FREEBIE! "Read It, Trace It, Write It  Color Words"

Busy Bee Themed Number Posters 0-20

Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Blends/Digraph Posters

Phew!!! Busy busy! :)   Last thing I NEED to mention is that you should click on the picture below to grab my FLASH FREEBIE! It will only be free for the next couple of hours! If you like it I would greatly appreciate your feedback! Hope you enjoy it!  Thank you so much y'all and hope you have a fabulous Saturday evening!

   Much love,
  Mariah

Freebie and a sale!

Hey  y'all!

   Sooo.... first of all.... how are y'all LOVIN' your long weekend?! :) So nice! Any special plans this weekend?  I am trying to catch up with bloggin' and finishing/updating products (I have had several requests so I am trying to finish those all by tomorrow).  Also, I have noticed a lot of people have wishlisted the dots on turquoise products and some of the calendar kits so make sure and head over to my TPT shop by tomorrow because everything is 20% off!!!  ALSO, I just finished adding this big freebie!

156 classroom labels FOR free! (If you download them, please leave feedback, I TRULY appreciate your support!)  Also, if you have a specific label you want added, please message me and I will be more than happy to add it for you!

Another question for y'all... I am going to run out and buy some laundry baskets this afternoon and attempt to use them during circle time from now on. I have heard about this several times before on pinterest an other blogs, but my incredible coworker actually uses them in her classroom and I sat in and observed her the other day and was in awe! Students learn personal space, self control, and it's harder for them to get up and run or misbehave. We'll see how it works out. Has anyone else tried this or have another solution?
Well y'all have a FABULOUS and restful weekend! :) Thanks for stopping in!

   Much love,
      Mariah

It hasn't been 1 month yet! :)

Hey  y'all!

   Wow! This past month has been such a whirlwind and has gone by so incredibly fast! I am IN love with my job and all of my kiddos (I only have 4 right now - BUT, Pre-K ASD classrooms tend to fill up really quickly, and the 4 I have are a handful anyways - a handful but I seriously adore them!). It's kind of funny... I spend so much time creating decorations and coming up with fun ideas to use in the classroom, but when it comes down to it, my number 1 priority for the 1st day of school was to get each student's individual schedule up and ready for them to walk in and start using.  If you are an ESE teacher (especially ASD), you know how crucial it is to have the routine start from Day one!   So... decoration and cutesy stuff has to wait :(   
   How is YOUR first couple of weeks going (or how is your summer going if you're lucky enough to still be celebrating those ancient days)  ;-)   

   Much love,
      Mariah

Chicka Chicka and a SALE!

Hey  y'all!

   So it just hit me… I start work next Tuesday! This week and last week have been crazy! And today, I stopped by my storage unit to pack my car with some teaching stuff which I could swear that I JUST packed up… check it out… this is going to be fun when I get past the first couple of pile, huh?

  So… also, I decided on a theme! I’m doing a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom/Jungle theme so I have been crazy busy putting stuff together for that.   Here is what I have created so far…

Chicka Chicka alphabet line 

 Chicka Chicka Word Wall letters

 Chicka Chicka Pennant/Banners *these banners could also be used for just a polka dot theme too!*

 Chicka Chicka Short/Long Vowel

Oh! And I am having a sale until the end of this week! Everything is 20% off! Click on any of the pictures above to head to my store! J I am still taking requests for items/posters/decoration/file folders and hopefully will still be able to throughout the school year, but I have no idea what the year will hold! So let me know if you need anything!

Hope you are having a wonderful start to your week!  

 wMariah

Pre-K ASD, several new products, and a new freebie!

Hey  y'all!

   Together with me, *siiiiiggggghhhhhhhhh* and relax! I got a job! Yay! My dream job - Teaching Pre-K ASD (Autism Spectrum disorder)! Eeek! So excited! Just a little stressful because I am switching counties so I have to go through the whole employment process again as far as paperwork, fingerprinting, insurance, and all that good stuff! Also – the county I am transferring to starts a week earlier than my previous county so I’m all of a sudden pushed into back to school mode!  

   So the past couple of days I have been creating classroom posters and decoration for my Mom, who also teaches students with Autism. Her theme this year is going to be “Busy Bees” so I have been tending to that theme and it has been so much fun! She went out and bought color ink and cardstock and printed it all out this morning…

    

           Here are a few more pictures of the Busy Bees Calendar Kit! To find out more information, click on the pictures to take you to my TPT store. 

   

  Also to go along with the Busy Bees theme, I created a collection of Long and Short Vowel Sound posters. There is one poster for each vowel sound for both short and long vowels and I also included a second set that uses a simple font as opposed to the more detailed/cutesy font. Click on the picture to check it out!

     I also created a mini calendar kit that includes all 33 of the special events calendar cards on a simple single color background. I created this set so those of you who already have a classroom calendar kit or want a classroom calendar in a theme that I don't have available, can have access to the special events portion of my kit that can go with any theme. Let me know if you have questions or if you would like me to add an event to the kit!

   Finally… to celebrate getting a job, I have a “free-bee” ;)  for all of you!  Click the image below and it should open up a new tab/window with the file. Save the file and you're good to go!

       

     I created a Facebook page as well and am putting another freebie on there too, so make sure to swing by and ‘like’ my facebook page to download that freebie too!  J  

https://www.facebook.com/LittleMissEdugator

Hope y’all are having a fabulous start to the week!

 wMariah