Birthday Synonyms and Antonyms!

Happy Monday!!

I have been so busy this entire month that I have just now gotten around to my second, count it, SECOND post! I am a procrastinator and should be on post 10 by now!! I haven't been up to absolutely nothing, though. I turned 30 on December 9th and have been getting spoiled by my family and friends. I got a night out with my brother and his wife (they got a night out with no babies) and then my best friend took me to a fancy pants spa so I could get my first facial, ever! Besides all of my birthday festivities, we have been up to some fun in my classroom! We had an awesome week learning about the Synonym Sisters and Antonym Brothers! I absolutely love teaching language standards because I love relating the rules to a little story that helps students retain the concept. So here is how I teach synonyms and antonyms...

The Synonym Sisters are older sister Susan and younger sister Sammy. Sammy likes to do everything that her older sister does, but older sister gets very tired of her younger sister always copying her. So since Sammy is super smart, she copies everything her sister says, but instead she changes the word to a different word with the same meaning. So if Susan says something tastes yummy, Sammy will say that it tastes delicious. Susan and Sammy say the same things! (I usually say this repetitively while touching my two pointer fingers together).

The Antonym Brothers are Anthony and Alex. They are twins that were born on the same say, same time, and they look exactly the same. However, they could not be more different. They never, ever agree on anything! If Anthony likes day, then Alex likes night. If Anthony likes morning, then Alex likes night. Even though they are identical, they could not be more opposite. Anthony and Alex practice antonyms that are opposites! (And this is where I say this repetitively and I shake my fingers away from one another).

In order to reinforce this concept I have created my very own Synonym Sister and Antonym Brother Mini Unit! Here is a sneak peak, and a few of my kiddos using the product in action!

You can check out this product at my TPT store by clicking HERE! They absolutely loved the story behind the skill and loved hearing about those silly sisters and brothers!

3 more days until winter break!! What???!! Happy Teaching Everyone!

Let me introduce myself...

Welcome to my blog! I would like to take a moment to introduce myself! My name is Stacy, and as of 2015, I am a fifth year teacher. I spent four years in Sun Valley, CA, and my fifth year is in my home town of Tucson, Arizona. I taught first grade for three years, third grade for one year, and now I am comfortable in second grade. Besides teaching, I have a huge passion for Crossfit! I grew up playing softball my entire life along with lifting weights and embracing a muscular body. No other workout has come close to making me feel as powerful as Crossfit has. I needed the team aspect that I was so familiar with and nothing- yoga, spin, hours at the gym, etc., could fulfill that need. I found my fit in CF and love, love, LOVE throwing heavy weights around, so I figured I would create this teaching blog with a hint of Crossfit...just to show that us teachers don't have to get old and moldy...we can be fit, strong, smart, and beautiful. Hopefully some of you can relate to my life and find what I have to say interesting or helpful!

Anyways, It has been a dream of mine to get my Teachers Pay Teachers store off of the ground, and eventually begin a blog. With time I will upgrade the template, but I was just so excited to get started that chevron would just have to do! But here I am!! I finally did it, and my gosh do I have a long way to go!!

I recently moved back to Tucson from San Francisco. I moved there with someone, and needless to say it didn't work out. Moving home was difficult considering San Francisco is beautiful and has so much to offer, but I am finally home with my family- parents, brother, sister in law, and my two beautiful nephews. However, moving back was not going to be sufficient enough for me...I needed to set some personal goals to know that I can overcome difficult times and come out on top. Here are the goals I set for myself...

1. Start a teaching blog (check!)
2. Get off my butt and create all of the resources I have written down that are just sitting on post-it's (on my way!)
3. Compete in a local Crossfit competition...just to show myself that I did it...(working on it....)

Short list, but for some reason it has taken a tremendous amount of time to get at it!

With that being said, I hope you enjoy hearing what I have to say and I am open to hearing anything that you have to say as well! Wish me luck!

Welcome to my world :)