Back at It!!

Hello Friends!  

I have been on hiatus this fall.  I have changed schools this fall.  I currently teach at the Hawthorn School of Dual Language.  It has always been a dream of mine to go back to where I first began.  When I started my teaching career, I taught Dual Language (English/Spanish) and I have always wanted to return but have been scared to leave the comfort of what I knew.  But I went out into the waters and found the most perfect job.  I have an amazing team that I work with and even though I miss my old school, I am super happy.  It has been tough teaching in two languages but it’s such an awesome challenge.  I have been able to celebrate events from the Mexican culture that I haven’t had a chance to do before.  

My classroom was a mess when I first went in. There were boxes on top of more boxes.  I didn't think that the room would ever be ready for students and parents.  But with my family’s help the room transformed into a beautiful learning space for students.  

We quickly began learning how to best pick books that “fit us”.  We did a lesson using each other’s shoes to find that “right fit” book.  The kids had a fun time and the laughter was so awesome!

We learned how to read a chart using our classmate’s names.  They thought it was really cool to see who had the most letters in their first names!  

On September 16, we celebrated Mexican Independence Day with the class.  We made a book and listened to some Mariachi music!  The kids loved it!!!

To celebrate Red Ribbon Week, we got to wear pajamas to school.  I took full benefit of this and wore my brand new Star Wars jammies.  I also had a district workshop that day after school and I still wore them!!!  

I shall return!  May the Force be with you!!!

TPT Sale

This summer has gone by super fast!!!  I am starting on Monday to go into my brand new classroom and set up for the year.  This year has brought some change in my life.  I am leaving a district that I have been working in for the past 7 years to follow my dream of being a Dual Language teacher once again.  I will be in a beautiful new school.  This has been an awesome summer but I sure am ready to meet my new class!!  

In a couple of days the Teachers Pay Teachers sale will be starting.  I am working hard tonight to finish a couple of projects that I have been on the “to do list”.  Please check it out along with all my fellow TPT sellers.

Quinceañera time has come and gone.  We have been planning this magical night for the past 2 years and on Saturday it became a reality.  My daughter looked like a princess in her beautiful gown that her Godmother bought her.  My son looked like a prince in this pink bow tie and black vest.  It was an amazing night spent with family and friends.  My daughter is so lucky to have such an amazing group of friends.  They worked hard on learning 2 dances and making her day so special.  Check out my Instagram page and #roznowski15 for more pics!   

Now I can relax and enjoy my summer break!!!

Teacher Appreciation Week

We all know a teacher that we just love!  One that has inspired us to become a teacher or one that just loved on us.  This week we are celebrating teachers all over our great nation.  Take time this week and tell teachers how much you value them.  It’s not easy being a teacher but this is the most amazing profession!  Join us at TeachersPayTeachers for an awesome sale May 5-6.  Help show teachers that you appreciate them!!

Last Day Blues

This whole week I have been home sick with a sinus infection and vertigo.  I got caught up on all of my favorite shows.  There are many!!

I also started thinking about the end of the school year.  I have a great class of 22 energetic, funny and wonderful little people.  I will miss them a lot.  Next year, I will be in First grade.  Which is new but it’s also where I began my teaching career.  Back in 1997, I was a brand new First Grade teacher.  I began in regular education then by year 2, I was a dual language teacher.  I am excited to go back.  But I digress.  

So since I was home sick and thinking about my kiddos, I wrote a unit based on the book by Julie Danneberg, Last Day Blues.  She is the same author of, First Day Jitters.  You can find both of these books on Amazon.  The titles are linked to them.  Make sure you check out at my store! 

 Now it’s time for bed and my meds!!!

Easter

This past weekend we celebrated Easter at our house.  It was a nice and long weekend.  I didn’t have school on Friday. 

One of our family’s traditions is to decorate cascarones and fill plastic eggs.  The cascarones are hallow egg shells that we dye and then fill with confetti and cover the little hole up.  When we hide them, we can crack them over peoples heads!  It is the most amazing time.  I have done this since I was a small kid in Mexico but now I get to share this with my own family. 

At school on Thursday, my class worked on my Easter M&Ms graphing packet.  It was such a fun activity for the kids to work on as well as learn about bar graphs and picture graphs.  I’m so blessed to have a class of 22 awesome students!!

Spring Bloggers Weekend in Review

This was my very first Bloggers Meetup ever!  It was such an amazing time.  It was great to meet some of the individuals that I treasure.  I took this shot of Deanna Jump because…...well, she’s awesome! 

We met in grade level teams to pass our teacher tool gift.  Mine was awesome!  We all sat in a big circle and got to hear why that person picked those items to put in their gift. 

We also got to pick sessions to sit in and to learn from the experts.  My favorite was sitting with Greg from thekindergartensmorgasboard.  One tip that has stuck with me is to allow one day for school planning.  I am trying to follow this tip. 

We also received some amazing goodies from some amazing companies that were extremely generous to this event.  A big shout out to Teachers Pay Teachers for all their support!  I am forever grateful to them and will continue to sponsor them as much as I can.

  

Plus I won a set of Hand-e-Sacks for my classroom!!

At the Teacher Blogger PJ party that was sponsored by GoNoodle we got crazy with props as well as decorating pillow cases!  We were happy to hang out and to chat. 

 We each got to pick a business card of a fellow blogger to whom we will keep in touch with during the year.  While we were picking my TPT cha-ching went off!!!  It was quite hilarious since it hasn't been working for many teachers!!!  Everyone busted out laughing!!!

Overall it was an amazing time with fellow teachers.  I can’t wait until next year!!!

LUPE

An InLinkz Link-up

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2015 Teacher Tool Gift Exchange Linky

Two weekends ago, I went to French Lick, Indiana for Springteacherbloggermeetup2015.  It was a really amazing time with over 100 of the best TPT teachers and bloggers.  I got to meet some of the faces behind some of my favorite TPT stores and blogs.  It was a weekend of pure inspiration!

One of the items that we were asked to bring was a teacher tool that we can’t live without in our classrooms or for ourselves.  I brought: a big bag for lugging things to and from school, a notebook for all our notes we write, a hot glue gun to put things up in our rooms and some hot glitter glue to go with the hot glue gun!  I use these items all the time in my teaching life! 

In return, I received: post-its, multi-colored pens, Ticonderoga pencils, Mr. Sketch markers, and a pack of Extra gum!  All of these are essentials and I am so happy to have them.  A huge thanks to Anita Goodwin at ilive2learnilove2grow for the awesome gift!  I can’t wait to see what other’s also received during this fun activity!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Lupe

springteacherbloggermeetup2015

Just got home from my bloggers weekend in French Lick, Indiana.  It was such a blast meeting all of my favorite bloggers.  Not going to lie.  I had a celebrity moment when I met the wonderful Deanna Jump!  I kind of froze for a minute then I got it together and said “hello”!  So funny!!  Plus DeeDee Wills said she liked my scarf!!!  I also got Mr. Kindergarten Smorgasboard to take a pic!!  TOO FUN!!! I want to send a shout out to the wonderful companies that sponsored this event and gave us tons of goodies. 

#gonoodle  #verabradley  #lakeshorelearning  #teacherspayteachers  #creativeteachingpress  #springteacherbloggermeetup2015 #erincondren

Spring Teacher Meet Up

I'm all done packing and getting ready for bed.  In the morning me and my pal Carrie from tabletalkwithcandc, are off to French Lick, Indiana for the 2nd Annual Spring Teacher Meet up.  This is my first time attending and I can't wait.  http://mrsehleskindergartenconnections.blogspot.com, has put this event together with the help of Ms. Banister and they have out done themselves.  It will be a fun weekend full of over 100 teachers coming together to learn and have fun.  I am leaving bright and early in the morning to get there in time for all the festivities.  We will even be having a PJ party tomorrow night.  French Lick, Indiana here we come.

1 to 1 Technology

This school year I got the privilege to pilot 1 to 1 devices in my 2nd grade classroom.  We were given LearnPads to use.  They have been both a blessing and a curse.  The kids and parents were so excited to learn that our room would be piloting such devices.  In the beginning when we first got them, everything was great.  Then the devices started to act up and now they are on their way to being returned to the vendor.  But along the way we were able to do some fun things with them.  I was able to download apps from the Google Play store.  The kids were able to practice math facts using Xmath.  We were able to play and learn using QR codes.  We were also able to listen and watch stories on Tumblebooks.  We even used them as an alternative to the white boards.  Students were able to practice their word work words, solve math problems or to draw an illustration to a vocabulary word.  During guided reading time, I would have the kids continue to research on the parts of the books that really got them engaged.  It's been fun.  The best part of all of this is that my partner from tabletalkwithcandc and I got to present what we have learned along the way at a district institute day.  That was a lot of fun and a real privilege to do that among my colleagues.  Next year, we still don't know what type of devices we will be getting but I can't wait.  It will be fun!!  

Hello!

My name is Lupe.  This is my first blog ever!  I want to thank tabletalkwithcandc for her help in making this dream of mine come true.  I am so excited and a bit scared about the blogging world but I'm jumping in.  Today has been so amazing.  My family has been so supportive of me on this journey.