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!

completa el cuento - regreso a la escuela

finish the story - back to school

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!

Five for Friday (Linky Party - April 4th)

I am happy to be linking back with Doodlebugs Teaching for Five for Friday this week...it has been awhile!

Probably one of my biggest excitements...  I got a new phone!  It is an LG2 and I feel like I am finally in the 21st century.  I had a great phone before and I accidentally put it in the wash pretty much when I got it...  That meant I had to deal with a very old school phone (or pay lots of money for a new one) until my contract was up.  No more yellow pictures (think Instagram antiquing without actually wanting that filter)...no more 10 minutes to upload one picture to my email and then another 10 minutes for another picture.  Now, I plug my phone into my computer and bam!  100 pictures ready in less than 3 minutes...

Ay!  You all are probably thinking, um, yeah, so my phone does that already...  I know, I am catching up with the rest of the world!

The best thing about this is that it means more blogging!  It was such a hassle to upload pics before (and who wants to read a blog without pictures?  Visual learner, much?)  and I was so embarrassed to post my yellow-tinted pictures, but now...  Watch out world!

I am all signed up for the Teacher's Pay Teachers conference in Las Vegas!  I am so excited! I can't believe I am actually going!  I hope I don't get too star-struck with all the teacher celebrities!

I am excited because well, first off we (hubby is coming too -- well at least to Las Vegas) don't do stuff like this...we talk and talk, but never actually do it.  This will be our first time on airplane together in nine years -- and his first time in Vegas.

Then!  Think about all that I am going to learn!  I am obsessed with making things for my classroom and my friends' classrooms and I am just excited about learning how to do more.  

Are you going to the conference, too?

April Fools in Second Grade -- Some years I am creative and others...actually most...I am not.  The thing is, these kids just love anything different, so they think I went all out.  I turned all of their desks backwards and put their chairs back up.  They were so cute when they took their chairs down, "The teacher pranked us!  Look, she pranked us!"

I also gave out April Fool's Day mats that I got through Really Good Stuff on clearance one year...I have had small classes for the last couple of years, so these have lasted a while.  Thing is, a lot of the mat had things that native English speakers would take a second to understand...like, "Very Punny," the students don't understand what a pun is -- explain that, then they made pun into an adjective, that sounds like funny, but it's not...  And they just look at you like, huh?  

Oh well, they were thrilled to work on their mats and that their teacher 'pranked' them.  I had to remind them that students don't prank teachers though...  Haha, I am no fun, but no wonder what they would have come up with!

Today is School Librarian Day...  did you know that?  I didn't either until Mailbox magazine came up in my Facebook thread this morning, announcing it was School Librarian Day!  I had to Google it real quick to see if it was a real thing (or just something Mailbox magazine made up) and it was!  We love our school librarian...we really, really do...  So we had to whip something up for her to show our love this morning.  I thought it was would be a quick 20 minute activity...75 minutes later....

Ha, ha!  She was worth it -- the kids were really proud of their work!

Phew!  This has been a long Five For Friday -- maybe I should blog more often so I don't have so much to say in one post!  Okay, my last thing...  New Products!  My close friends know I am a product hoarder...  I make all of these products with the intent of sharing them on Teachers Pay Teachers and then I just leave them in my Dropbox.  I don't know the explanation behind it...

But!  I have been getting a lot of messages asking for more syllables packs for Kinder, so I made another set... and here she is!  (Hmm, "she"...  Don't know why I feel that my packet is a girl...).  In this pack there are activities for d, j, r, and v syllables: depending on your needs you can buy the mega pack or the individual packs (links below each picture).  

 (Gracieface Learning - Mega Syllable Pack #3)

  (Gracieface Learning - sílabas divertidas)

 (Gracieface Learning - sílabas jubilosas)

 (Gracieface Learning - sílabas reconocidas)

(Gracieface Learning - vistosas sílabas)

Thanks for sticking around until the end!  Now to get off the computer and do some family time with this cutie!

Fun and Family in 2014!

Day one of 2014 and I am back!  One of my goals of this year is to be more consistent with my blogging and the people at Blog Hoppin' have made it easy by doing this fun little linky about New Year's Resolutions.  So this week will be a lot about myself and goals, but I hope to offer some cool things (read freebies and awesome products) along the way.

 So, today's topic is Fun and Family and I tried to narrow it down to three goals in this area:

I love making lessons and creating stuff for my students, but that means me with my laptop on the couch, making stuff....with daughter playing in her playroom or handing me food that she made while I type.  I want to make time for my Gracie girl. She is growing up so fast and I want to treasure all the time that I have with her.

We went outside and played in the snow for two hours today.  No laptop, no cell phone -- just played.  And she CRIED when we had to come in.  I want that awesome quality time with her because she is just that awesome.  So even though I want to continue being the best teacher for my students, I need to carve time out for Grace and if that means I don't touch my laptop until she goes to sleep...fine.  I am literally lying next to her while she sleeps as I type this:  I will make the most out of nap times!

If you follow me on Pinterest, you will know I am constantly pinning activities for her, I want to start trying some of them out!

Electronics come into play here, too.  Hubby and I need to put down our devices and really focus on the three of us (and the two of us!).  Every summer I make a bucket list of things I want to do as a family and believe it or not, it keeps us busy.  That doesn't say much for the other seasons.  I want to go and do more...and sometimes money is an issue, but with our new focus on spending (do I dare say, budget?), we should be able to do some cool family stuff together.

We have a membership to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, I want to visit there more often and just do little getaways to Galena and Lake Geneva.  I also, I want to go on some good family vacations this summer.  Grace is just a sponge and I joke when we are out about giving her background knowledge (I am such a teacher), but it is true.

I debated putting this one on the list, but I'm doing it... These are pictures from 3 years ago...is it creepy that I am putting them on here?  I am so NOT pregnant right now -- that baby bump is courtesy of Gracie circa 2011, but I think 2014 is the year to get preggers again (even if the baby is born in 2015).  Grace needs a sibling and I think it is time for it.  Last year it was our plan, but I wanted to make sure my mama was doing good and healthy and it seems that all is well...  Now, this is the year for baby #2.

So..what are your Fun and Family goals for 2014?  Leave them in the comments or if you have a blog, link up!  Come back by tomorrow!

Five for Fraturday and Saturday Snapshots

Yes, my Five for Friday turned into a Five for Fraturday as I type at 1 a.m...and as long it is Saturday, I have to do Saturday Snapshots!  I go back to school (teacher institute days) on Monday and I don't know how I am going to get out of this sleep schedule!!

So I have been M.I.A this week, but it has been crazy full of getting my classroom ready, trying to spend some extra summer family time, and dealing with contract negotiations with my union and our district.

{uno - family time}

We took Grace to her first baseball game on Monday.  Just a local baseball team (Kane County Cougars - who are a Cubs team, woot!), but she loved it!  I told Hubby there was no way I was spending $6 for one of those foam fingers, but Grace saw everyone with one and kept on trying to grab theirs or kept asking for one...I gave in.  When she threw it on the ground and stepped on it 5 minutes later, I knew it was money well spent.

{dos - piggies}

I got my piggies done finally!  My friend and I have a before school tradition (it is our second year doing this, is it a tradition yet?) of getting pedicures and doing lunch.  My mama watched Grace during her nap time (it was her first time back watching Grace) and I got some good 'me time.'  I totally bite my nails (I so wish I didn't) so I know I would never be able to do the one accent color nail on my hands, so I did it on my toes.  I don't know if it is lame, but I love my piggies!

{tres - printer love}

Our printer hasn't worked all last school year and it was horrible.  I was having save my files on a flashdrive and take it to Office Max to print every time I needed color prints and it really stunk!  So I was ready to take a $50 print order in and I asked Hubby if we could just get a printer instead.  He agreed and we brought this little baby home.  We got an awesome deal on it...and the best part of all?  I can sit my little behind on my couch with my laptop and print from the office at the same time...love!!!

{cuatro - contract negotiations}

Our district is going through contract negotiations right now...can you say STRESS?  I won't go into all the details, but all the teachers (and their families, along with supportive community members) met at the School Board meeting on Tuesday night to show support for our teachers and it was pretty cool.  I don't know if it changed anyone's minds, but it was heartwarming seeing everyone come together.  Hubby and Grace came to show their support.  I puffy heart them!!!

{cinco - sound wall}

My classroom is coming together finally and I am getting excited!  I moved to upstairs to a smaller classroom this year so putting my classroom together this summer has been very frustrating (I am not a fan of change!)  Thing is after I got over the idea of moving, the room has really been coming together. I hope to have some pictures for everyone this weekend, but here is a sneak peek of my sound wall.  I love how it came out: the pocket charts are going to make it way more interactive than it has been in the past.

So that is how my week has been going...

Feel free to link up with Doodlebugs Teaching for Five for Friday or...

Michelle at Run!  Miss Nelson's Got the Camera for Saturday Snapshots!

Freebie Friday!

So have you heard about the little sale that is coming up?!?!

Thank You Michelle at 3AM Teacher for the logo!!

I am putting everything in my store at 20% off and then TpT is adding 10% off (which comes out to be 28% total)!  I am so excited because this is my first sale!

That being said, I have been working, working on my products.  I swear it is an addiction!  I have been making a lot of math centers and activities and getting them ready in mt Teachers Pay Teachers store:  Gracieface Learning.

So, I decided to link up with Teaching Blog Addict and join Freebie Friday to give everyone a taster of what I have been working on:

I am excited about these little posters.  They are chevron bilingual (in English and Spanish) number sense posters from numbers 1-10!

Head over to Gracieface Learning to grab these freebies and have a look around.  I will be back tomorrow to show everything I have been working on!

Teacher Week: Taming the Wild!

Well, I didn't keep up with Teacher Week like I had planned...here it is Thursday and I am just getting my second post of the week done.  The days before school starts are slipping by so quickly and I am just now realizing it!

Oh well, today's topic is classroom management, so I am linking up with Blog Hoppin' to talk a little bit how classroom management goes in my classroom.

Last year I started using Class Dojo in my classroom and I love it!  It is an online class management system and best of all -- it is FREE!

So this is a screenshot of my students' page from last year.  I had a superhero theme and the site allows you to upload your own clipart (love that!).  I have this set up at a computer in the classroom and it is so simple to use.

The students can get points for positive things (great ideas, being kind, working together, etc.) and negative things (hitting, stealing, being dangerous, etc.).  To get or lose a point, the students just have to click on their names and click what they get a point for.

What is nice about the behaviors, is that they are editable.  So if you have something important in your classroom you can make it a positive or a negative point.  The added bonus to being editable, at least to me, is that I can edit the behaviors to be in Spanish!  I love that!

All I have to do is say, "Emma, Amixam, and Gael, I really like how you are working together, go give yourselves a point for teamwork."  And the students take care of it.  (I know what some might be thinking -- I haven't had any problems with dishonesty, they are really good kids).  If I had an awesome lesson and everyone was on task, I can give everyone a point with one button, too!

We have a color system to go along with Class Dojo.  I won't go in so many details, but it follows the clip chart idea.  I think my students should end the day with at least 3 points - they are on green.  Those who have 4-6 points are a little above my expectations and they are on blue.  Those who have 7 or more points have just had an awesome day and they are on purple.  When they are on purple they get an award ribbon sticker (those simple ones from Target's Dollar Spot) and an "You Rock" ticket.  What is an "You Rock" Ticket?  Well...

In my class, we do "You Rock" tickets for individual behavior.  I made business cards at Vistaprint and cut them up to make mini tickets for my students.  

My kids can get these for getting seven or more points on Class Dojo, for returning things on time, for getting a compliment in the hallway, etc.  These are a pretty big deal to get and my kids feel awesome for having them.  On the 15th every month we have a class store and my kiddos use these to buy items.

I don't have a picture of my store, but I took a pic of my store sign I use:

I made this also at Vistaprint (I love them!).  A quick translation is:  

5 tickets - A prize from the small prize box

10 tickets - A pencil and an eraser

15 tickets - A prize from the big prize box

20 tickets - A coupon to sit next to a friend for the day

25 - Lunch with Mrs. Stears and a friend (in the classroom)

30 - Lunch and a movie with Mrs. Stears and two friends (in the classroom)

I am still amazed how my students will save their tickets so that they can eat lunch with me.  I am really honored when they do that.  Seriously, I would be all over the skateboard erasers before eating with me!!!  I love my students!

Then the last thing I do is Brownie Points. I know that this is all over Pinterest and in many classrooms, but I use it as my whole class incentive.  

The students can get a brownie point for good behavior at an assembly or a good note from a substitute teacher; if we get a compliment in the hallway we can also get a point.  

When the board is filled the kids get a brownie party (aka, eating brownies while watching a Magic School Bus movie).  We usually get 2 or 3 parties a year and the kids love it!

Wow!  That was a long post - if you made it all the way through it -- I puffy heart you!

Tomorrow's topic is Teacher Tips and Tricks - I am going to have to think about that one...hmmm!

What are you using in your classroom that works for classroom management?