Halloween Round-Up: Freebies & Favorites

Hi Friends!

Just stopping in to share a few of my favorite Halloween activities for the Halloween week ahead (aka SURVIVAL WEEK)

The good news: they're all fun & educational
The great news: many of them are free!

First up: a freebie of my own made to accompany everyone's favorite Halloween book (okay, at least one of your favorite Halloween books): Room on the Broom.

This freebie features comprehension cards, sequencing, and cause and effect activities. Read more about what's included and grab it here.

Practicing dialogue with your kiddos? I have this fun freebie for a ghostly greeting bulletin board:

Okay, this one isn't free, but it's HANDS DOWN my students' favorite Halloween center that we do...and I do Halloween BIG in my room. Costume Clues is so much fun that your students don't even realize they're practicing their inferring skills (unless you tell them...in which case they'll still have so much fun).

Honestly. I wouldn't lead you astray...grab it here.

This fun activity from Jamie at 2nd Grade Stuff is also a crowd favorite:

Wanting some Halloween math activities?

I have a freebie or two for you:

This ghost bump is too cute. I seriously love this ghost clipart and look for a reason to use it every year:

And this freebie is fabulous for building number sense. So many options for how to use it:

I hope I was able to help you stock-up for this week of craziness! And remember, drop lots of hints about your favorite candy to your students...they'll bring them in to share with you. You deserve them for getting through this week :)

New Look, New Name, New Giveaway!

Ok, can I start by just saying "SWOON" to my new blog design? I am in love with the new look. And it's all thanks to Becca over at Jumping Jax Designs! She actually designed my last blog too, but with a new job and a new blog focus, I felt change was in order.

So the new look: again, SWOON.

The new name? It's subtle. You probably didn't notice when you were admiring my new design, but I dropped the "in 2nd Grade" part. This is mostly because I don't just teach 2nd grade anymore. And also because I plan on bringing a little more of my "outside the classroom life" into my blog. For such a long time, I held back on writing about something that happened in my personal life, or talking about new things I found for my home, or a new recipe I tried b/c I felt like I HAD to focus on teaching. And while more personal things seeped into the blog, I was still limiting myself. Now I feel like I don't have to do that anymore.

Plus, I'm not just teaching 2nd grade anymore. My new position has me teaching language arts to grades K-2. That means more resources and lessons across a broader range of ages, grades, and abilities. I don't want someone who teaches kindergarten to come across my blog and turn away because it says 2nd grade. I'll have ideas for that person too now! Soon, I hope!

The general idea is that a great idea {or a laugh, or a what not-to-do} is across the hall. I hope you'll come along for this next step of my blogging journey.

And I FINALLY updated my "About Me" section. It was a just a tad bit outdated. Check it out while you're here.

Now to the good stuff:

In honor of my new name and my new look, I'm having a new giveaway!

Two giveaways actually!

The first is easy to enter, right here on the blog. Use the rafflecopter below to win $25 in resources from my TpT shop. It's super simple and super-fast!

The second giveaway is also really easy to enter. I'm hosting it over on instagram. I want to send you a few of my favorite things in honor of this blog now focusing on my life outside of teaching.  You can win...
*a THANKFUL banner from Target
*an adorable coffee mug from Target
*a Starbucks giftcard
*adorable days of the week pencils
*super-cute pumpkin candle from Target

Click the picture below to head to instagram and see how to enter there.

Both giveaways end on Saturday, October 17th!

Good luck, and thanks for following along!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Changes

September is a month of new beginnings for many of us who head back to school during this month. But, boy, has September been a month of change for me a few years running.

September 2013: I was teaching second grade in the district I had worked for since I started my career as a teacher. No big changes other than a new class and a new superintendent.

September 2014: We welcomed Ella Grace into the world and EVERYTHING changed {for the better}. I put teaching on the back burner and became a stay at home mom for the entire school-year.

September 2015: I started a new job, in a new district, with a new title. {and my baby became a toddler...sigh...where does the time go?}

That's right, if you follow me on Instagram, you *may* have seen my subtle announcement that I have accepted a different position in a different district and I am pretty darn excited about it!

I will now be teaching Language Arts to grades K-2 as a pull-out teacher. My position is pretty new to the district and school where I now work. Because of this, I'm not quite sure what my responsibilities will be, what programs I will be using, etc.

I'm not quite sure what lies ahead, but I do know I made the right decision. I had contemplated not going back to work at all, and actually, for about two weeks over the summer that was the case. I resigned my former position without having anything else lined up. We were fine with me staying home a for a few years, but there was a small voice in my head telling me I wanted to be back in the classroom sooner rather than later. I started searching for part-time teaching positions and I found the posting for the district where I now work.

I am hopeful that my new position will offer me a deeper understanding of literacy and language arts in the primary grades, which will in turn lead me to creating resources for a variety of grade levels.

I am also hopeful it will create the work-home balance I was searching for when I applied for the job. Because the job is part-time, I get to devote more of myself to my family, friends, and home. I am excited to hopefully have the best of both worlds.

Because of these changes, my blog is undergoing a little bit of change as well. I will of course be blogging about all the things my new position entails: lessons, funny stories, products, and pictures. And I also hope to blog a little bit more about my personal life as well: parenting a toddler {again, sigh}, house/home/decor, favorite things, and just any little thing I want to!

I hope you will want to follow along :)

Keep an eye out for the new look, soon!

-Halle