Theme Thursday {New Easter Unit}

Well, tomorrow, it will be April...WHAT??!?  Where did March go?  Anyway, April is one of my favorite months (probably because it is the month my precious boy was born), & I LOVE Easter!  I have such sweet memories of yummy Easter lunch at my Memaw's house, cute little Easter dresses (yes, I had a new one every year ~ Girly Girl here), egg hunts with my cousins, and special Easter church services.  


So, I wanted to introduce my new "E is for Easter" unit.  It is 32 pages of spring-y language arts and math activities.  Use it with Pre-K, K, & 1st grade!  


But first, I also wanted to share some fun Easter activities and treats I found recently...

Egg Games at Playing House

Jellybean Bark at Scissors and Spatulas

Coffee Filter Eggs at The Chocolate Muffin Tree

Peeps Cookies at The Sweet Adventures of SugarBelle

So, here's a preview of my new "E is for Easter" Unit.  

As usual, for the introductory week (until Thursday, April 7), you can receive 40% off by using the coupon code BUNNY40.  The regular price for the unit is $5.00, but with your discount, it will only be $3.00.  

Click HERE to purchase!

What I Love Wednesday!

I'm in love with a new product, and I have to share!  For years, I have been looking for a GOOD Hair day!  You know those days where you leave the salon and want to run into everyone you know, because your hair looks FABULOUS!!!  Thanks to a dear friend from school,  I can now have GREAT Hair dayS!  She has amazing hair and recently shared with me her hair care products!!  I have had more compliments on my hair in the past two week then I can ever remember before!  I am in love with MOROCCANOIL products!  I use the shampoo, conditioner, oil treatment, and hair spray! I will tell you that a little goes along way with these products! It can be a little pricey, but for me you cannot put a price on a GREAT hair day!  So ladies if you have been like me and searching for a GOOD hair day,  I tell you to get yourself some MOROCCANOIL and have FABULOUS hair DAYS!  Thanks to my sweet friend for sharing her secret to great hair with me!

Declaration of Guilt

Situation #1- Ok, so just to give you a little background of my "tattle" here it is- usually while my kids are working they like to listen to music so I try to upload many different things that I know they would enjoy hearing and something I don't mind either :) My go to place WAS limewire, but now I've graduated to better things. So I downloaded a song my kids had been begging me for and quickly put it on the iPod and docked it up and let it play. Little did I know- I really downloaded a recording of someone that sounded just like Bill Clinton saying "I did not have sexual relations with that woman." I was mortified and immediately prayed that would not be repeated. Thankfully, none of the children caught it therefore no reason to be called into the office. Whew. 


Situation #2- this one is a little bit like the 1st, but it's still funny as I continue to think about it. I forgot my iPod one day at home and decided to use Pandora Radio to entertain my kids while they were working. WELL....I have news for you my friends, Pandora Radio (the free version) has MANY commercials that are not suitable for children (especially 1st graders). I was over at my desk helping a student and all the sudden I hear "Sex? I will not have sex with you, not today, not tomorrow, NOT EVER!" Then my students were busting up laughing and repeating the word saying "oh that's a bad word." Again, the mortification sets in and the prayers are prayed that parents would not contact me about this issue. I did not and nothing has ever come of any of the situations, except for learning. I definitely know God has my back. THANK YOU! 

Management Monday {Classroom Management}

For our very first day of Management Mondays, I thought I would share one of the most important things to keep your classroom running smoothly ~ a good classroom management system.  During my last three years of teaching before I had Noah, I used a behavior system that focused on rewards for good choices rather than consequences for bad choices.


I was skeptical at first, but it REALLY WORKS!!!  It gives the kids that are showing good behavior more attention than the kids who are acting up.  We all know that a big part of why kids misbehave is to get (say it with me)...attention!!!  So, if you're taking time out of your lessons to stop, put a child in time-out or tell him/her to get back on task, that child is getting the attention of the whole room.  On the other hand, if you say for example, "Thank you, Suzie, for following my directions," the attention is on the child doing the right thing.  And, what does that do?...makes all the other kids want to do that too so they can get your attention!


Sounds simple, but it takes some time to train yourself to point out the good and not the bad.  Everyone's first reaction to a child pushing someone in line is to say, "No, Bobbie, stop pushing!"  However, you would have to say, "Oh, Rachel, I'm so glad you are standing in line no nicely & keeping your hands to yourself!"  You get the point!  :)


So, to go along with my new way of thinking, I had to come up with a behavior system that mimicked that positive reinforcement.  So, I made a leveled system with rewards at each level.  Right before I had to go on bed rest, I made a brand new behavior system called "Bright Forecast."  The theme is weather & has 5 levels (one for each day).  The levels are: (1) Sunny Skies  (2) Partly Cloudy Skies   (3) Uh-Oh Overcast  (4) Chance of Rain   (5) Crying Clouds.

The allure for this system for the kiddos is, of course, the rewards!  You have to decide on rewards that will work for you as well as be exciting for the kids.

Here are the rewards I chose.  At my school, the kids had the option of buying a "Breeze Freeze" (slushy) in the afternoon.  So, I added that to my rewards.  They had to be on a certain level in order to buy a Breeze Freeze.  The reward that the kids worked the hardest to get was lunch with me on Fridays. In the late fall and winter, I would bring them back to the classroom and they could eat lunch while watching a movie.  In the early fall & spring, I would take them outside to eat picnic-style.  The others had to eat in the cafeteria (boring)! :)

So, here's how it works.  You post your wall signs showing the levels vertically on a classroom wall or bulletin board.  When you attach them, leave room around the edges to attach your student name cards.  I used mini clothespins (from craft stores) to attach my names.  All the kids start out on Sunny on Monday.  Then, each day, if a child makes a bad choice, they are given a warning (Cautiously Cloudy).  That child would move his Cloud Name to a basket (this helps you remember who you've given a warning to).  If that child makes another bad choice, s/he will have to write his/her name in the "Dark & Gloomy Day" Notebook (a 2" notebook works well).  At the end of each day, the kids who have written their name in the notebook will be moved down a level.  Behavior charts are kept in the kids' notebooks or folders & they have to color in the level they are on each day.  Parents are asked to initial behavior charts each night, so they are kept well aware of their child's behavior in school.


So, you may be saying, this behavior system would take FOREVER to make!  Well, I have made it easy for you!  I put all of this together for you in one 16-page Bright Forecast PDF booklet in my etsy shop.  Everything you need to implement this behavior system in your classroom is included.  Here's a little preview!

So, just for you, I want to offer a 20% discount for ONE WEEK ONLY.  Regular price is $3.50, but from now until Monday, April 4, you can have it for $2.80.  All you have to do is enter the coupon code SUN20 at checkout.

Click HERE to purchase.

FREE Downloads for Spring Decor

Do you need some cute Spring decor for your home or your classroom?  I found some printables around blogland, altered some, and made some of my own!  So, here's a collection of what I think would be cute framed in your home or just to add some Spring-y goodness to your bulletin boards or classroom desk area!  Follow the links to download your favorites!

 I Share Printables

This one was made by some awesome graphic designer, I'm so sorry, but I cannot remember where I found the original!  If this is yours, please let me know, so I can give proper credit!  Anyway, it was all black and white, but I altered it a bit adding the lavendar!  You can download the 5x7 print HERE.  

2Day I Choose (in 3 color options)

Simple Crafter

This one is my own creation.  You can download the 4x6 print here and the 5x7 print here.

I hope you all enjoy!  Have a fabulous weekend, friends!

FBU Girls Night Out & A New Blog Schedule

So, last night, the FBU Girls got a much needed night out!  We started out the night at a garden on the UT campus to take some new pictures for the blog!  We felt like our pictures needed updating!  Then, we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Mimi's Cafe & then on to one of our fave stores, Hobby Lobby!  We finished the night off with some yummy frozen yogurt at Menchi's.  


Most of our photo shoot was spent laughing, so we thought we would show you our fave group shot as well as some of the candid silly shots too!

Ok, moving on...amidst our craziness last night, we did do a little official FBU business!  We decided on our new Blog Schedule, & we are so excited to get started!

{image courtesy of Bubba & Doodle Etsy Shop where you can get these cool vinyl chalkboard squares & much, much more!

• Management Mondays:  tips for organizing, classroom management, ways to simplify your busy life 
• Tattle Tuesdays: stories from the trenches of the classroom (to make you laugh, cry, and just feel better because it happened to you too!)
• What I Love Wednesdays: a glimpse into what we love right now (for the classroom, to wear, to eat, to watch, etc.)
• Theme Thursdays:  craft ideas, teaching tools, and helpful hints for using classroom themes
• Fab Find Fridays:  an introduction to something AWESOME we find on the web
• Shout Out Saturdays:  spotlight on a super teacher that we find out about (want to be featured for this fun part of the blog?...email us).

 ***On Sundays, we'll take a break to enjoy the day with our families as we worship the Lord together!

• Once a month, we'll bring you a fun Giveaway!  
• We'll still offer freebies along the way and give you great discounts for our units and other teaching activities!

What'cha think?  Are you as excited as we are?  We hope you stick with us & enjoy the ride along with Frogs, Bees, & Under the Seas!!! :)


Make sure you check out our updated About Me Page with our new pictures!

Milk & Cookies Baby Shower

I came across the cutest baby shower today at From Glitter to Gumdrops!  The Mommy-to-Be is a Reading Teacher, and the shower was given by her co-workers!  The color scheme was brown, white, & yellow (so fresh & cute)!  All the food was centered around cookies & the hostesses used some creative touches to make this a special shower!  Take a look at the photos, and then make sure you read the full shower post to see more pics and details!

She made these adorable milk carton invitations.  Click HERE for the how-to.  

 the shower set-up in their library (the sign-in table, dessert table, and cookie bar)

Guests were asked to write a greeting to the baby in the book, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

{The Dessert Table}

Stacks of children's books were used as cupcake pedestals (love it!).  Water bottles were dressed up with scrapbook paper, and milk was served in milk jars purchased at Hobby Lobby.  The Oreo Cupcake recipe can be found HERE.

This is a creative way to get something returned at a party that you want to keep for future celebrations.  It keeps guests from throwing away those cute bottles and keeps guests from asking "where should I put this?"

For party favors, a cookie bar was set up for guests to take home a personal selection of yummy treats!  Scrapbook paper was used to dress up the cookie jars.

Each table in the library was decorated with cute fabric, daisies in vintage jars, and a book to start the baby's library!

HELP!

So, I'm in need of some MAJOR help. I was just over loaded with papers on my desk so I decided to get something to help me get (and stay) organized throughout the year (and hopefully years to come). So, I just bought a new Filetastic at mardel.com and it's super cute and I love it, but I'm wondering how all you super organized teachers out there organize your files at school. I know what I need, but then again I don't because things keeps piling up on my desk. Can you help me with labels for my file folders?? And ideas will be greatly appreciated!!

FREE St. Patty's Day Card Template

I LOVE St. Patrick's Day!  I'm not sure why...I'm not Irish & green isn't my favorite color, I just like it!  So, this year I found the cutest green stick-on mustache in the Target Dollar Zone.  I put it on my little cutie while he was wearing his new St. Patty's Day tee from Old Navy & took pictures.  They turned out so cute that I just HAVE to send them out to family & friends.  I plan on emailing my pictures because I'm in the midst of mailing his 3rd birthday invitations, so I don't want to bombard everyone with mail right now! :)


So, I thought you might want the template I made for my card too!  It's cute for pictures of your own kiddos or also for pictures of your class.  How about printing out the card & giving one to your Principal & Assistant Principal or sending a copy home to your kids' parents?  Just a few ideas!  :)


The card template can be downloaded as a 4x6 or a 5x7 size.  Both versions are formatted as psd files, so you can insert your photo easily!

Here's the one I made...  

And, here's what the template looks like when you download...

Download the 4x6 version HERE.

Download the 5x7 version HERE.

NEW WINNER!!!

Hello friends!  We have a new winner of the Polka Dot Patch/Porter's Polka Dots Giveaway!  Using random.org, our new winner is comment #11...Michelle from Fabulous in First!  Congrats, Michelle!  We'll be in touch soon to let you know how to claim your free gift!

St. Patty's Day Freebie

I remember when I was in the classroom how hard it was to find St. Patrick's Day treats for my kiddos.  So, I decided to make some circle tags that you could use to dress up cupcakes, tie onto wrapped cookies, or onto a bag of gold chocolate coins.  It would even be cute tied onto individual bags of Lucky Charms.  So, as a gift of luck to all our AWESOME readers, you can have them for FREE!!!

Click HERE to download.  Enjoy and here's wishing you the best of LUCK for now and always!

Polka Dot Patch Winner Update

So far, we have not yet heard from the winner of the Polka Dot Patch {Porter's Polka Dots} Giveaway.  The winner's username is "My Corner."  If that is you, please contact us at frogsbeesundertheseas@gmail.com by Sunday, March 13.  If we don't hear from our winner by then, we will choose another winner on Monday!  

Also, the FBU Girls have been trying to devise a new blog schedule, but we want to hear from YOU, our wonderful readers.  Please leave us a comment telling us what you want more of {organizational tips, classroom theme ideas, craft ideas, decor ideas, party ideas}.  We want to give you what you want!