Blog Launch GIVEAWAY!!

Whether you've visited us here before or are just stopping by for the first time - Welcome!  You're just in time for our Blog Launch Celebration!

What does that mean for you?  It means you can enter to win fabulous prizes!  Look at these - Tieks, Amazon, Target, iTunes, Starbucks, and Teachers Pay Teachers - seriously, something for everyone! Interested?  Keep reading!!  (Can you tell we're glad you are here??)

While we may be newbies in the blogging world, we are very excited to be creating this space that allows us to share our passion for what we do!  We'll continue to make small changes to tweak this space as we ourselves grow and learn, but we feel so blessed to have this opportunity to shout out lots of positive vibes to fellow educators!  Education gets enough negative press - let's show the world that there are also PLENTY of reasons to celebrate what's going on in our schools, too!

Just CLICK the link below:

a Rafflecopter giveaway

We've grouped the embedded links by type: blogs, TpT stores, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Pinterest, to make it easy for you to find a particular blogger or seller - or so you can focus on the type of social media you are most likely to use.  Enter from July 1 to July 9 - winners will be announced right here on July 10!

Speaking of reasons to celebrate - we wouldn't be blogging at all if it weren't for the amazing and creative support we've received from other teachers, teacher-authors, bloggers, and some folks who are gifted at creating resources to make our own projects sparkle and shine!  Let's give them a little love and attention, too, so be sure to check out our faithful Blog Supporters below!

Our Story

Welcome! We're so glad you stopped by to check out our blog! Whether it's your first visit, or you've dropped by before - you might just be wondering, "Who are these folks?"  We think it's high time we filled you in on our story.

We are two teachers who are blessed to be able to walk into the BEST job every single day!  As we write this, we have had the privilege to work with kids for a combined total of nearly 40 years....yep, that's 4-0.  During these years we've worked with kids in many capacities:  instructional assistant, pull-out-program teachers, a staff development/curriculum specialist, and classroom teachers.  

Currently we teach 3rd grade, but we've taught everything from preschool to 5th grade, and have worked with all types of students - from special needs students to gifted-and-talented (aren't they all??) students.  We've served on every possible committee you can name, and we've taught together for several years....by far the most fun years we've had as educators!

Now you may be thinking, "That's all fine, but 'Flubber Gals??' What's with this FLUBBER stuff?"  Well, in all honesty, our journey teaching together really did start with FLUBBER!  It goes back more than a dozen years...

Imagine a science lab with two energetic teachers and 50+ students exploring states of matter by making...you guessed it:  FLUBBER!!

Can you just picture the epic fun of guiding 50 students in the process of discovering various scientific principles involved in this exploration of states of matter...throw in green dye that {somehow} ended up EVERYWHERE - not just on clothes and hands, but on faces, on the carpet, tables, sink...everywhere we looked there were smudges of green - like little aliens or leprechauns had taken over!

Here's the thing, though - immersed in this mini-kingdom of green globbiness with the 50 excited kids were two equally thrilled teachers (ok, exhausted teachers who looked like green versions of Smurfs) who were still laughing after school as they scrubbed green dye from every imaginable surface in that science lab...teachers who still (generally outdoors now using food coloring, no more dye) make flubber with kids each year and even years later have to stifle a giggle.

That day, that moment, making flubber with more than 50 students at once in a regular-sized classroom -- that's when we knew we were a {green} team-teaching-match made in heaven!

Have fun exploring our blog - and please be sure leave us some comments and feedback! We'd LOVE to hear your story!

Making Memories

Is your school year winding down?  Ours is coming to a close in the coming weeks, and this is a great time for reflecting on what made this year special.  For us, it was the many hours spent creating memories with our students, sharing the journey with them!  

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We treasure our time spent exploring, creating, investigating, failing, predicting, trying again, observing, writing, discovering, blogging, revising ideas and predictions, reading, sharing, laughing, collaborating, growing, and learning!

Students in our classrooms love to write letters to the incoming group!  We ask them to name a few things to "look forward to" and a few to "watch out for."  It's hilarious to see what they think of!

What was the highlight of your year?  Do you have any must-do-every-year activities?  {{Global Read Aloud, Flat Stanley, Kidblog}}  Did you try anything new that you'll keep?  {{Skype with a scientist and an author, March Madness books}}  What will you ditch for next year?  {{those blasted toilet-paper tube angels and slip-n-slide for field day}}  Does anyone else allow students to help determine what is worthy of our time?  Make a simple Google Form for them to use and you'll get some fun comments!

Do you solicit feedback from parents?  Use a Google Form to allow parents and other stakeholders to give insight into what programs are valuable and what else might help our students succeed.

After all of the time we've spent together making these memories, we like to give our students a framework for recording some of the moments that made our year.  Be sure to take the time to discuss these moments and memories with your students.  We've found that this exercise is as much for us as teachers as it is for the students!  Ask your students what memories they're taking with them.  What events were their favorites?  We're always amazed at the little moments that we don't even think of!

As a teacher, we have a distinct privilege to make an impact on each student.  Years later they remember us and the activities, books, stories, songs, trials and tribulations we've shared.  It's always a thrill when we get a glimpse into what they remember.  Here is a letter a senior in high school shared with us recently - it was written when she was graduating from 5th grade and moving from our building to middle school.  It brought tears to our eyes, and made us again so very thankful for the opportunity to share in the lives of these young people!

If you need some ideas, please check out our End-of-the-Year Survival Kit - it's filled with ways for students to chronicle their memories of this year as a family of learners.  The years in elementary school seem to slip by so quickly, students will revisit these memories and lists years later and will share a smile or a laugh about what they've written.

Please leave us a comment to tell us how you mark the end of the year.  

Thanks for stopping by - and have a marvelous end to your school year!!