Stock up on cardstock!

Michaels is having a one day sale on their cardstock, $2 per pack plus your teacher discount. Time to stock up on pretty colors!

MCLASS Sight Word Book

MCLASS Sight Word Books have just been posted! The sight word books are set up to coincide with the MCLASS word lists. In the MCLASS assessment book there are three pages for each list, I have used the same words and put them in a different order. For list A I labeled the pages A1, A2, and A3, same for list B and list C. (You can choose to print all the lists or just one.) I use the sight word books weekly during small group reading to assess sight words. I prefer to put a small check mark next to each word when the student has mastered it. When a student has mastered all the words on the page I write the date at the bottom. Then I allow the student to put a sticker on the front cover, covering up the list he/she has mastered. The student will continue to review the mastered pages every time he/she is assessed. Go check it out!

New Binding Machine

Just purchased my very own binding machine and I am oh so excited to use it! No more searching around to locate my school's binding machine. Imagine a binding machine where the combs don't constantly pop out of the holes. Here's what I got, GBC ProClick 50 - Binding Machine. I purchased it from Office Depot, it was $54 in store plus I used a 20% off coupon :-) You simply slide the moon shaped button (on top) to punch the holes. It can punch up to six pages at a time. The spines already come open in the box so all you have to do is add your punched pages to the binding spines. Then you can manually click the spines closed or use the little black tool that comes with the spines. The black spines come in different sizes, I purchased the 5/16" (can hold 45 pages) and the 1/2" (can hold 85 pages).

The Phone Calls and Emails

After Ashley arrived in North Carolina we were on the phone talking, texting and emailing everyday, sometimes several times a day. At first it was help with interviews but it quickly turned to help with setting up her new classroom.  Over the next year it was to share stories and ideas with each other. 

After hanging up one night I came up with the idea of starting a blog together. A few years ago I had my own teaching blog. I must be honest that I wasn't very good at posting very often.  I had so much going on between my own teaching career and my family that I did not put in the time I should have.  Earlier this spring I had already decided that I was really going to make it a regular part of my new school year for 2016.  I had been mapping out some ideas for myself and things I knew I wanted to share.  With Ashley teaching in North Carolina I knew that TOGETHER we could use our blog to share with everyone else as well.

Sisters to the CORE is going to share the similarities and differences of:

Toni                                              Ashley
veteran teacher (19 years)           3rd year teacher
New Jersey                                  North Carolina
First Grade                                   Kindergarten
10 month school                          12 month school

We hope that you will join us for a new and exciting school year!!!

A New Start

Before Ashley even moved she worked very hard to research schools and fill out applications for positions in her new home state. She was very fortunate to get phone calls right away and even had a video interview before she left NJ.  We knew from the phones calls and dates of other interviews that it was going to work out for her.  I am pleased to share that after only two weeks in North Carolina Ashley was hired as a full time Kindergarten teacher.  This was exactly what she wanted. Ashley is now in her third year of teaching kindergarten and she absolutely loves it!!

We're Moving

In May of 2014 Ashley and her fiancé stopped by to visit one day.  I knew from the minute they sat down that something was up but I never expected what came next.  Ashley announced that they were moving to North Carolina.  If you haven't already guessed I was not thrilled at the news.  Ashley had moved a few hours away from our family the year before and I didn't like that but I did still see her.  Now she was moving from New Jersey to North Carolina and I knew it was  going to be much harder to see each other.

Ashley's fiancé had a great job opportunity and the job market for teaching is terrible here so they knew the move would be great for both of them.  Even though I knew it too I was still very sad.

My Little Sister

I thought it would be nice to share a little history about us and why we decided to start this blog together.

 

When I was 17 years old, a freshman in college, my mother gave birth to my youngest sister Ashley.  From the moment Ashley was born we have always had a very special connection and it has only grown over the years...even with a 17 year age difference. She was always my shadow and I loved every minute of it!!  I have always been  not only Ashley's older sister but a second mother as well.  I was thrilled when Ashley announced that she wanted to be a teacher.  We even went to the same college.

 

Next I will share why we are in two different states.

 

Welcome to Our Blog!

Hello and Welcome!  My name is Toni and I am thrilled to introduce my new blog...oops I mean our new blog.  My sister Ashley and I will both be sharing on the blog TOGETHER and we are so excited to get started:)  We hope you will join us on our new venture!