Hello, my friends! Anyone out there? It seems like less and less people are connecting over blogs and more of us are connecting over Instagram. I do it myself. Seems like I rarely have the time or inclination to go search out a blog, but I certainly do have time to flip though my Insta feed. You know - at a red light, in the line at the grocery store, at faculty meetings. Oh wait, not at faculty meetings. At faculty meetings all of my undivided attention is on the important information being shared. ;) Actually, our faculty meetings are not bad. And they're not all that frequent or long. And plus we don't have reliable wireless internet connection in the media center, so I'm for sure not flipping through Instagram at faculty meetings. I have to say, my principal loves social media as much as I do, so he's probably scrolling and posting to Insta during the meetings himself! I know. I'm lucky. He's pretty awesome. If we're not connected yet on Insta, feel free to join me. Find my profile here. And if you want, you can find my principal here . He's on Twitter here. He tweets a lot of good info and all of his posts make me even more thankful to work for him.

Ok, so on to some new stuff. I've recently finished my February Math Mats. I started these back in October and I've been using them every month. I love them because they're quick and easy to prep and get into the hands of my kids. No cutting and sorting and organizing. If I'm feeling particularly lazy busy I don't even laminate them. I just stick them in a page protector and call it done! I've been very careful to research standards and pacing for first and second grade to be sure that the skill on each set align as close as I can to what's typically taught in each grade during each month. Of course, we're not all on the exact same page, but it should be pretty close. I love the red and black theme for February. And the little bunting. And the hearts & polka dots! Squee!! I'm such a sucker for cute. But cute without substance is just a darn waste of cute. So be sure that there's lots of substance and rigor and standards and such in these little mats too. Click on the pix to see them on TpT.


You can find the other mats here:

I've been asked about bundling the mats. I will for sure bundle them when they're all done. I don't want to start a growing bundle because the pressure of that kind of freaks me out!

In other math news, I created some addition practice pages that are just simple and straightforward. Sometimes I just want plain, old practice for my kids. Oddly enough, that's a little hard to find! This pack includes 2 computation practice pages and one problem solving page for 2 digit with and without regrouping, 3 digits without regrouping, with regrouping once, and regrouping twice. I did have a suggestion to add some mixed practice and I'm working on that. Besides being great for classwork and homework, this pack can also help you differentiate and assess. Click on the picture to see it on TpT. A subtraction set is in the works, but still a while away from being done.


I've been waiting to hear about a big site-wide sale on TpT, but no news yet, so I'm going to join some other sellers and throw my own! Tomorrow (Super Bowl Sunday) only. I know I'll be shopping while fake-watching the game...







I have been raving about my Xyron machine forever. It really is an amazing little thing, so when my blogging buds over at Owl-ways be Inspired decided to have an awesome New Year's giveaway bash, I knew exactly what I wanted to pick as my prize! Yup, this is YOUR year to own a Xyron Machine!


Enter with this Rafflecopter widget below:


I'm not the only one giving way a something awesome, so are most of the Owl blog authors. Be sure to check out the blog to see what else you can win and to enter to win the grand prize of a $100 Amazon gift card! But hurry, the giveaway ends January 3rd.


Best wishes for an incredibly Happy New Year!

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