Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Bilingual Back-to-School Blog Hop

T-Minus 8 days until my students come back and I have been working like crazy to get my new classroom ready for them!  I thought I would take a moment to join this awesome Bilingual Blog Hop with 19 other Bilingual Bloggers for Back-to-School.



Can I just take a minute and reflect on how awesome this is?  When I first started teaching I remember having to cut and glue Spanish text over English worksheets to make resources for my students...  I love how because of Teachers Pay Teachers and blogs we are now able to collaborate and share resources that we use in our bilingual/dual language/ESL classrooms with teachers around the world.  It has made my planning so much easier and taken my teaching to a whole new level!

Speaking of which, I am so happy to share one of my new products with you... Completa el cuento (Finish the Story in English).  I started making these packs for my students last year and the students loved them!  They started being a staple at my writing center and I loved seeing the stories that they came up with!


 I plan on using some of this pack on the first day of school with my second grade kiddos.  Not only does this activity let them use their supplies and jump into 'real' school work, it allows me to assess their writing and drawing skills.

I thought that I would share a sample that isn't included in the pack for this Bilingual Bloggers hop. Follow the links below for the pack in English and Spanish.  After you download, I would appreciate if you could take a moment to leave some feedback.  It would mean so much!



Now for the super fun part of this blog hop!  We are offering $100 worth of Teachers Pay Teachers products to two people after the blog hop!  Enter the Rafflecopter giveaway below!  Good Luck!



a Rafflecopter giveaway




Thursday, August 14, 2014

Organizing Flash Cards


Hi guys!  Today I thought I would share a little organizational idea that I had for my classroom. My students love to play with flash cards during math rotations. One of my biggest problems is how my students put the flash cards back in the basket:


It isn't that they are being careless; these boxes are already packed full of cards and when they try to put them back all at once, they rip the packs.  I could be mad about it, but I would rather find a solution that helps them be responsible enough to put their cards back nicely.


I found these index card boxes at Target for 97 cents.  I picked up 3 blue for subtraction and 3 green for addition.  I recycled the ripped boxes and now each set has their own box that the kids can easily put their cards back in.


A pretty simple solution and I am happy how organized the basket looks!  This really allows the kids to take charge of their own materials.




Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Meet the Teacher Linky Party



Hi!  My name is Bobbi and I am the person behind Bitty Bilinguals.  I am a second grade bilingual teacher and I create for Gracieface Learning at Teachers Pay Teachers.


I met my husband, Josh, 9 years ago while we were in college at Northern Illinois University (Go Huskies!).  7 years ago we were married and 3 years ago we had our little girl, Grace.


This girl is so full of spunk!  She is one awesome little three-year-old!  We are trying to raise her bilingual and after this summer I feel like it is finally happening!  She does something every day where I am amazed and I have to stop and think, wow... I am so lucky!


These are a few of my favorite things...
my family ~ my students ~ Target ~ shopping ~ languages ~ reading ~ listening to music (it makes everything better) ~ naps ~ binge watching tv series ~ chevron, wide stripes, and quatrefoils ~ creating things ~ reality tv ~ my laptop ~ my phone ~ lists ~ concerts

If you weren't a teacher what would you be?
I had many majors in college before I finally admitted to myself that I just wanted to be a teacher.  I originally went to school to be a radio producer.  Now?  Hmmm, I love planning parties, I could see myself being a party planner... I go all out for Grace's birthdays; it would be fun!

Three little words that describe you:
creative. sensitive. dorky.

It's your birthday and you can invite anyone {dead or alive} to the party.  Who are you inviting?
The male cast of Freaks and Geeks...  It would be awesome to hang out with James Franco, Seth Rogen, and Jason Segel!

If someone wrote a book about your life, what would be the title?
The Absolute True Story of a Dorky Teacher

You get to pick one superpower, what is is?
I want to say mind reading because I am so worried about what others think of me, but maybe some thoughts shouldn't be known.  I would die if someone could hear some of my thoughts sometimes...

Your favorite quote or saying?
I have a Pinterest board full of quotes: I love them!  I think my favorite is:

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent. -- Eleanor Roosevelt.

...now if I could just follow her advice.

If you had to sing one song on American Idol, what would it be?
"Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world..."

Hands down the best song ever, Don't Stop Believin' by Journey

Are you a morning person or a night owl?
I am typing this post out at 3 a.m.  Does that answer your question?

My summer has been filled with super late nights and naps with my three-year old.  I need to get in a better schedule, like now, because school is coming soon...  I can't help it... I am so productive  at night time!

What is your favorite resource that you have created in your TpT shop?
I really like my Finish the Story packs.  I started making these for my students last year and I was amazed at the stories they would come up with.  They would even ask for them if we didn't do one in a week.  So I decided to start the year off with my new second graders and these packs.   I made them in English and Spanish and I am excited to see how the new group of kiddos like them!



Share something that we might not know about you...
My hubby and I just drove across the country to go to the Las Vegas Teachers Pay Teachers conference.  I wanted to see mountains so we drove instead of flying.  I saw more in that trip than I have seen in my whole life.  I want to travel everywhere...maybe one day!  

...after that trip though... I know that I want to retire in Colorado one day...what a beautiful state!

That's about me in a nutshell.  Tell us a little about yourself...  Link up with Stephanie over at Falling into First!