Viva Las Vegas!

I got back from Vegas on Saturday and slept for hours!  Wow!  I  didn't realize how tired I was! But now that I've rested, I have to share about all the exciting things I learned and saw!

Most importantly, I met and reconnected with so many wonderful people!  The most exciting thing that has come from having a teaching blog is meeting wonderful teachers!  I finally got to meet my blogging buddies from Classroom Tested Resources!  We've been Facebook friends for awhile, but we met for the first time face to face in Vegas! These ladies are such talented individuals!

Wednesday, I woke up bright and early and worked at the Go Noodle booth!  I love Go Noodle!  I had so much fun sharing my excitement with other teachers.  I still can't believe there are teachers who haven't heard about this FREE website for brain breaks!  If you haven't checked out this website, no shaming - I promise, just do yourself a favor and set up an acccount before school starts!  You will thank yourself!

My grade level teaching buddy, Renee Dooly,  and I had so much fun "GoNoodling"!

Go Noodle - Click the cute pic above to visit their website and sign up for your FREE account!

I also found some resources for my classroom that I cannot live without!  You've seen magnetic slates and whiteboard slates, right?  Well, this is a new twist on the slate...Kleen Slate!  The templates fit behind the plastic sleeve, so you can write on it and wipe off...on any template you choose!  The versatility made my mind go crazy!  I'm thinking ten frames, five frames, 100s chart, fact families, vocabulary, sight words, word families, addition, etc.  They sell them with handles and without.  Great for formative assessment and center work.  I definitely see these in my future!

KleenSlates are amazing for classroom use!

I also met Dr. Klemm!  Her products teach numbers in such a higher level way!  I loved how she integrates math into real life experiences.  She has a free download on her website that is wonderful...check it out!  She was so sweet!  I saw the number 1 and the matching t-shirt!  She created a birthday bundle for my cute little nephew and shipped it for his First Birthday!  Now who's the coolest Aunt?!  ME!!!

Numbers Alive - Click the Number Friends to go to Dr. Klemm's website! 

Ok, last but not least, I bought a cute apron to use in my classroom!  This is not it:

The one I bought does NOT have a tutu, but I love it so much, I may have to order it!  How engaged with those little firsties be if I was wearing a tutu apron?  If you don't have an apron to use for word building or math instruction, you should check out Kinder-gardening!  She has so many choices!

There is so much more that I want to share, but honestly, my brain is on overload with all of the wonderful information I gathered.  I love attending professional development when I have time to process the information and then plan my year!  Also, I love getting excited about what I do and being surrounded by like minded folks...teachers really are the nicest people, if I do say so myself! :)

So here's to what's left of summer!

Vegas here I come!

It's been a whirlwind summer so far!  Right after school was out, my daughters and I hopped on a plane and headed to Texas to visit my family!  We've been having fun in the sun (and rain)!  Lots of shopping (Woodlands Mall, Willowbrook Mall, Cypress Outlets!!!) and eating out, YUM!  I love the variety of restaurants for sure.  My little Northern California town does not offer too much variety in the dining out department!

Well, I am gearing up for VEGAS now!  I'm so excited to meet so many friends that I have met through blogging and Teachers Pay Teachers!  When I started this little blog 3 years ago, it never occurred to me that I would make friends doing this!  Seriously, I had no idea!

I have multiple "meet ups" scheduled for each day that I'm in Vegas and am chomping at the bit to get there.  Last year I attended the "I Teach First" conference so was able to be there early!  I couldn't justify the extra money this year, so I'm waiting until Tuesday to leave :(  Next year, I think I'll be there for the whole event!  I don't like missing a good party:)

I can't wait to meet up with my Roomie and Grade Level Teaching Partner, Renee Dooly!  She's the best traveling buddy E.V.E.R.  She's super organized!  She makes sure we have reservations for dinner and that we're on time for all the meet ups!  (This super organization comes in handy all year, too!  ;-) )

Since I've been out of town and not near my own printer, my sweet blogging friend Melissa Michael, from the Teacher Treaure Hunter helped me out!  She offered to print all of my session handouts for me!  Then she even put it all in a binder for me!  This woman is amazing...I can't wait to meet her and thank her!

You can follow me on instagram during the conference for fun pictures of our Vegas adventures!  Follow @friendlyfroggie!  If you're in Vegas, I'd love to meet you!  I'm in awe of teacher bloggers now!  :)

More to come...stay tuned!  I'm planning some fun post Vegas Giveaways!

Hop Over to Classroom Tested Resources!

I'm blogging over at Classroom Tested Resources today!  Hop over for a new idea and a freebie!  See you there!