Taking a Look Back...

Okay everyone... I decided to look at my first EVER product on TpT to make sure everything looked like I wanted it to in comparison to my other products. I know I have gotten better and more skilled at designing my products so I wanted to update it.

HOLY SMOKES IT LOOKED AWFUL.

Seriously... 

I mean, really....

It needed like a HUMONGOUS makeover.

So ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the before and after photos of The Preamble Poster!

Thoughts? I think it looks much better and the actual product itself looks much better if you were to download it. Take a look and leave me some feedback! I love comments!

Five For Friday [March 28]

Is it strange that I can get a Five for Friday post this early?? I think so! But Spring Break makes wonderful things happen. ;P

First of all, this is my last day of Spring Break! I had huge plans to get a whole lot done, but it didn't really pan out. I still feel incredibly behind. My mistake was that I planned too much and didn't account for my need to actually take a break. I still have the weekend to get my act together and start on Monday fresh.

This is pretty much how I feel.

Although I didn't get as much done as I had originally hoped, I will say that I got to spend more time with my husband when he got home from work. If you've read some of my previous posts about him, he is a YouTuber and HUGE gamer. I had posted a couple of times about a few videos I am in on YouTube and I feel so flattered that I actually have a few fans! Hehe.

We have some exciting news! Ryan was contacted by a viewer of his YouTube channel and his Twitch stream and is making... wait for it.... shirts. They are making.... shirts! Brutall (his gaming internet personality) shirts! How crazy is that??

Here's the video. I'm in it!

And then I did another video! My series on his channel is about how to incorporate a time consuming hobby into a relationship. This one is about how its okay to branch out on your own and to not just do something together for the sake of doing something together. It makes more sense in the video, so check it out and subscribe to his channel for more.

FREEBIE ALERT BELOW

So even though I just got done saying that I didn't get much done this week, I did manage to get a new product finished! I seriously feel like I've been working on this things for MONTHS. It took much longer than expected but I'm happy with the results!

These are "Prop Stories" which I use a lot in my theater classes for the younger groups. Essentially I read, and the kids wait to hear their "name" and hold up a prop. It is AMAZING for listening skills. I mean, you could hear a pin drop while they wait for their part to come up. I had also created shorter versions for small groups which they of course love because one student reads and the others hold up their prop at the right time. They will re-read and re-read and re-read over and over again so they can all take turns at each part. It has been very successful for me so I hope you can say the same.

Here are some shots of the product and click HERE for a FREEBIE of it exclusive to my blog readers!!!

Click any of the images above to go to the full download or click HERE.

If you haven't heard, I have a linky going on! Next week is National Week of the Ocean so link up your Under the Sea posts and products. HERE's the link!

I LOVE Under the Sea stuff!

My product in the link is another Reader's Theater (so now you know my favorite things...).

One nice thing about being off the last week is I was able to cook lots of good recipes for my husband and myself. We are terrible about fast food, so it was nice to take a step back and make a few home cooked meals. We are trying to get back on track and I think we did a great job this week towards that.

Check out what we've eaten this week by clicking the links. The links direct you to some of my absolute FAVORITE recipe blogs!

Chicken Cordon Bleu Casserole by Laaloosh

Slow Cooker Turkey Sloppy Joes by Skinny Ms.

Crockpot Eggplant Parmesan by Stephanie O'Dea

Spring Cleaning Sale!

I heard about some TpT sellers throwing a Spring Cleaning Sale and I just HAD to join in! So stock up this weekend on the things you need to get you through the rest of the year and maybe start getting prepped for next year!

Want to see who else is joining in?

The original link-up can be found at Georgia Grown Kiddos!

Happy shopping!

National Ocean Week Linky!

Hello readers! I hope everyone is enjoying their Spring Break (or if you are like me, a BUSY CATCH-UP Spring Break...).

If you weren't aware, next week is National Ocean Week! I am a sucker for things under the sea themed. I love colorful fish and water and boats, oh gosh, I could go on and on! So, in anticipation of next week's fun, I've decided to host my VERY FIRST linky! I am super excited!

Here's the deal:
Link up your under the sea/ocean posts. They can be freebies. They can be classroom photos or ideas. They can be blog posts of your plans for next week. They can be links to your paid products on TpT. As long as they are Under the Sea or Ocean related, I'll take it. Let's inspire each other with great ideas for this upcoming week!

Here is my Under the Sea themed TpT creation for ya'll. Mine is a reader's theater with short scenes and skits that can be used for whole group fun or as reader's theater centers. I just love them!!! My original blog post about them can be found HERE and the download is HERE or just click the pictures below.

 

Thanks for linking up! Leave me some comments below and be sure to follow my blog so you can more easily access your linkup.

Scenes and Skits

Hello all!

As you know if you've kept up with my blog, I not only work in a Kindergarten classroom, but I have been a theater instructor for about 10 years now. I have taught at modeling and acting agencies in central Florida as well as various community theaters and dance studios. I LOVE this part of my life. I was always involved in theater at a young age. My mother worked as the Music Director at one of the biggest community theaters in the southeast so I basically grew up there! It has helped me come out of my once shy shell and gain confidence. It has also led me to my passion in education.

I currently work in the Education Department at the Ocala Civic Theater. Click their logo above to see what we are up to!

The downside to children's theater is when you have a class of a set number of children it is nearly IMPOSSIBLE to find scripts of scenes, skits, monologues, or entire plays to fit the class you have. Now if you are doing a play and you can audition children and pick kids from a pool of auditions, that's entirely different. More often than not, you have a set number of boys and girls ranging in age and skills.

I normally wind up writing my own material. I have a plethora of scripts ranging in length from half page monologues to six page skits. I also won a play writing competition in my Junior year of high school and still have that play laying around somewhere.

I recently taught a class called "Loud and Proud" all about vocal techniques, projection, diction, rate, and memorization of lines. I decided I wanted scenes... but they were ages 4 to 7, I had 9 of them, 6 girls, and 3 boys. I didn't even bother trying to find a script. Most of them couldn't read anyway...

I went with a gender neutral theme that is always popular with the kiddos: Under the Sea. I wrote 4 total scenes, but only wound up using 3.

Parents were asking me about the scripts and I told them that I wrote them. They loved them, so I decided to share them with the world! Here's my newest product:

Click the images to go to the download.

These skits really were a lot of fun and all the kids really liked them. The vocabulary was easy to understand even for the 4 year olds and they were entertaining for the other kids to watch their peers perform and practice. I typically have young students repeat lines after me in the beginning if they struggle reading, but for older students who are good readers, this can be used as a reader's theater center in the general classroom. I plan on trying it out on my top readers in guided reading in my Kindergarten class and will get back to you on that!

Let me know how you like these little skits! I love and appreciate all comments and feedback. :)

Sweet Baby Daisy

I've been asked why my blog is called Daisy Designs, so I've decided to post a "history of..." type post to answer that question and hopefully give you some SUPER CUTENESS to enjoy on your weekend.

Well, my name is Amanda, not Daisy. My sweet dog's name is Daisy! She is in my TpT logo photo as well as my Google+ profile picture. I'm working on a better button, so I don't currently have one but if I did, she'd be in that, too!

This is a fairly recent picture of Daisy. She is a Chihuahua through and through. She has an annoying bark and uses it all the time at anything. I swear, she barks at silence sometimes. I love it and I hate it. ;)

This is Daisy the day we got her!

My mother and I got Daisy for my husband as a birthday gift in February of 2011.

My husband (at the time, boyfriend) had just had life-altering surgery. He was diagnosed with a rare heart condition called Brugada Syndrome. By clicking the link, you can read more about it.

He was sad and down, out of work for a while, and lonely while I worked long hours. We had also just gotten rid of a dog we were taking care of and I knew Ryan wanted a puppy. He was a lover of big dogs, but I just couldn't get a big dog. We were living in a "mother-in-law" guest house type place which was only about 200 square feet, so a little dog was pushing it. But we went for it! My mom had the idea and we found a lady who was selling chihuahua puppies for $100! We took Ryan to go pick one out and he instantly chose this little lady and named her Daisy.

Look how tiny!!! That's my husband's foot, so you can see the size comparison.

We got Daisy when she was 5 months old. She was born in August 2010 and is currently 3 and a half years old! I can't believe it.

Here are some more baby pictures.

In the upper right corner, that's my friend Adam showing us that he could in fact eat Daisy in 1 bite because she's so small!

The other puppy in the bottom pictures is our other puppy, Pudgy! We got her in June of 2011 when she was 2 months old. We are puppy addicts! She is our chunky monkey and the snuggliest dog in the world. She is about twice that size now. I call her a "Monster Chihuahua" because she's so big! Daisy hasn't grown much since we got her. She's still only about 5 pounds, while Pudgy weighs in a whopping 12!

I love that sleeping picture of Daisy and the one of her all soapy in the bath! Both my dogs HATE water.

Pudgy had to have surgery on her leg in 2012 when she was still just a little baby! That's her with her bandages on in the bottom left picture. Try keeping a puppy still. Just try.

So there ya have it! Now you can see who I named my TpT store and blog after. I toyed around with naming is Pudgy Products after my other chihuahua, but it sounded like a weight loss program, so I went with naming it after my sweet baby Daisy!

<3

My First Giveaway Donation!

This weekend Kristen Schroeder over at Schroeder's Stars is celebrating her 200 follower milestone with a giveaway! I donated a product to her giveaway and there are over 50 (FIFTY!!!!!!!) donated products from other sellers! That means that all you have to do is follow these people who donated a product on TpT and you are entered to win all the products from your grade level's bundle! My product donated is usually $8, so it is definitely worth entering!

My product is geared towards 2nd through 4th grade. So tell your teachers friends to enter! That's a LOT of free resources!!!

Good luck!