LIVE LADYBUGS & LIFE CYCLE FREEBIE!

Happy Friday!! Made it through the first week back after spring break! Summer's on the countdown now! 

We had our "Writing Fair Share" at school today and it was a success......alotta fun. If you don't know what this is, a fair share is where teachers get together and share their ideas. 

Basically, what we already do in the blogging community. I got lots of great writing ideas & came up with alot more than I thought, of my own to share! And I want to share all of these fabulous resources with you! So let's have a "Writing Fair Share Linky Party!" 

I'll have the post and linky up tomorrow for everyone to share their writing ideas............so make sure you come back tomorrow and link up your writing ideas and resources! 

Now, for this ULTIMATE BIRTHDAY PARTY TBA is having! Wow, is it huge! Nearly 1000 freebies! Holy cow! 

My class just got this!

Last year we did butterflies, so I thought we'd try ladybugs this year. Plus, with our flower garden growing so beautifully...............

........we need some ladybugs to protect it! The ladybug land came from Insect Lore if you want one! 

So anyway, back to the TBA B-day celebration. It's so hard to find resources on teaching the life cycle of a ladybug. So, I'm putting together a "Ladybug Life Cycle Unit" for my kiddos and you get the page I just finished as a Freebie! 

You can get it at my TN shop!

I'm hoping to finish the unit this weekend, so follow my TN and TpT stores so you'll be notified when I post it! 

Also, be sure to come back tomorrow to join the "Writing Fair Share" party!!!!!!

AUTISM DAY, WINNER, & CURRENTLY

In case you didn't know, today is National Autism Day and the whole month of April is National Autism Month! If you teach Autism children, you may want to read my Sunday post {here}as I provide a wealth of information on Autism, including two PowerPoints, reading resources, teaching resources, and information on ABA and DTT. 

There are also a couple of fabulous Autism linkys happening right now over at "Autism Classroom News" and "Crayon Box Learning."  Both blogs are offering a wealth of freebies for Autism children!

Now, to announce the winner of my two TN shop items! I didn't realize that you had to pay to use Random Generator, so I generated my own system. I had 8 comments, so I put the numbers 1-8 in a lunch sack and I drew comment number 3...........which is 
Samantha at "Ms. Smarty Pants!" Congrats Samantha! 


And last, I'm linking up with Farley's fun first of the month  "Currently." 

My husband and his Pawn Stars. I think I've seen more re-runs than I have new episodes! We did visit their pawn shop in Vegas last year, and I must say it was pretty cool! I didn't get to meet the STARS though! 

What a great day! Came home to dinner ready in the crockpot....pulled pork.....yum!
Had my Donor's Choose project (ipad) funded!
& sold 3 items today......two from TN & one from TpT. Exciting!

And then there's the fun 'ole IEP that every sped teacher dreads. But it's my last one for the year!

I seriously hate my blog design. I sooooooo want a custom design! 

How fun!!!! My school is having a Writing Teacher's Fair Share Friday morning! Everyone will bring writing stuff to pass along & share with one another! Now I just have to find something "really" good to take!!! I probably stress about things like this more than I should! 

And last.....my advice is "BE WHO YOU ARE." This is big advice not just for you, but for me! I tend to worry too much about how my posts sound and how I word things, and what others will think or how it sounds! I need to stop! I need to just be myself and if others like what they see or read, then they like it, if they don't, then oh well! I need to be ME!!

I'm outta here to go make my pulled pork sandwich! If anyone has any great writing tips I could share Friday, pass them along!!! Thanks!

GRAND OPENING & 5 FREEBIES!

Who else is thinking of what they're gonna do to their kids for April Fools?? Or maybe your day is over and you do have an April Fool's story! I'd love to hear it. 

For those of you that prefer TpT over TN, I just opened my TpT store yesterday, so head over and check it out. I still have lots more to get uploaded. Head there by clicking the widget on the right. 

But first, get your freebies all right here! Since it's my grand opening, I'm linking up all of the freebies I've uploaded so far right here for you in one spot.......here with Manic Monday & Freebielicious on the First! 



Your first FREEBIE!

Your second FREEBIE!

Your third FREEBIE!

Your Fourth FREEBIE!

Your fifth FREEBIE!

Container Labels

If you find and download something you can use, I'd love for you to leave me a comment! 

I'm also celebrating my grand opening with a small giveaway from my TN shop! Any two items of your choice! Just leave me a comment and I'll use "Random Generator" to choose the winner on Tuesday! 

ABA, DTT, & Some Other GOOD Stuff!!!

HAPPY EASTER!! 

I don't know how many of you will be looking for blogging tips on Easter Sunday.....but I'm a person of my word.....so here I am with your "Bloomin' Blogger Sundays" tip. 

And it's a special post, because I'm presenting it to you in a screencast for the first time! I was a little hesitant about posting this because I've always hated the way my voice sounds, but it's definitely a more user-friendly way to do a tutorial......for you and me both!  So I hope you like it!





Don't go anywhere.....I have more goodies for you! 

Recently, I attended an incredible 6-day Autism Training in my district on ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) and DTT (Discrete Trial Teaching) and I have had a couple of requests to share more on these topics. I put together 2 PowerPoints to share with my aides, so if you're interested in learning more about this phenomenal teaching method  and see how I teach in my classroom, you can view my PowerPoints below. **note: Even though the training was an Autism workshop and ABA is known as a strategy used for teaching Autism children, ABA works for all students. I teach a diverse group and use it with all of them; Downs, LD, EH, OHI, and Autism. It works!!

PPT #1
PPT #2

Students were actually brought in during 4 days of the training and we got to work directly with these students while being shadowed and receiving feedback by expert trainers. I just had to have some of the materials that were used for my own classroom, so I purchased these and just got them last week! I highly suggest all of these for your primary Autism classrooms or even for regular ed Pre-K or KG!

 These are all from either Lakeshore or Lauri Toys. You can click on the pictures to take you to the direct link. 

Here's a couple photos of my little Down's boy using the fine motor jars and the shape discovery boxes. 

I also highly recommend this book for all Autism classrooms! I use it daily! It is truly the best resource in my room!

Crafting Connections is another fabulous book by Dr. Ron Leaf. I got lucky and won this at the training, but it was already on my book wish list! It focuses on teaching social skills.

Dr. Ron Leaf is a fabulous and iconic presenter (and researcher) on Autism and his resources are all worthy! He even works alongside Lovaas and if you know Autism, you know Lovaas. If he is ever in your area, you have to make time to see him. You can find more info on his research and where he will be next at www.autismpartnership.com. 

Here's a great leisure read for both teachers and parents of Autism children, suggested by Dr. Leaf. A must read, but have plenty of tissues handy!

Now...for more goodies! 

I fulfilled my spring break goal and over the last couple of days have added these creations to my TN shop! 22 items now.....yippee! 

I made this with my Autism students in mind, but will use it with other students too. This is a great activity for Autism classrooms!

All are only 2 bucks or less and I feel confident you and your students will really enjoy them! The link for my store is {here}. 

But one lucky person can get 2 of them for free.....or if you don't like these, any 2 items from my TN shop!! Thought I'd try out punch tab this time! Enter to win below! 

You can also have a chance to win 3 more items from my store if you enter Mo's giveaway! 5 raffles from numerous bloggers and MY FAVE....the $40 TpT gift certificate!!!! 

Click her button to enter.

Have a great Easter & last day off for those of us returning to work from spring break tomorrow!!

FREEBIES GALORE!

I hate to admit it, but my very first linky party was a failure!!! Not one single link up!!! Can you believe that?? Hey, I thought it was a great idea.....and if anything it has helped me stay on track during my spring break! For those of you yet to go on your spring break, the linky is still open 'til the end of April. 

One of the things on my to do list was to upload and create a few more items for my new TN store...........mission accomplished!! I now have 20 items listed and have already sold 7 items since my grand opening 1 1/2 weeks ago!! I can't believe it! It just makes you want to keep creating!!! Here's a little preview of my two newest items!

I have a couple of students learning size attributes, so these will be perfect! This set includes 45 cards (one page of cards not shown) and 10 different sorting mats. This item can be purchased {here}. 

This a preview of another new item for sale at my store, but since this is Freebie Friday, you get it for FREE {here}. 

I'm also going to give this away for Free on Monday at "Manic Monday with Classroom Freebies." 

If you're looking for Easter Freebies, be sure to visit "Elementary Matters." She's having an Easter Freebie Linky Party!!! I have a freebie for you there too! 
Go link up and grab some more freebies!!!