Image Map

Sunday, August 31, 2014

New Ideas For the New Year

As I sit here with my second cup of coffee, I am in one word EXHAUSTED! The past two weeks have been absolutely crazy. We sold our house in 12 hours, but had to move out in 10 days. That meant packing up all of our belonging, during this first week of school with a 16 month old! I have never been so thankful for Labor Day! I get an extra day to relax! Woo hoo! Since my daughter is down for her nap, it's time for a much needed blog post! I feel like I have neglected my blog with all of this craziness! So here I go...

I love getting my classroom ready for a new school year! Everything is so fresh and clean. You finally get to use all of the wonderful Pinterest ideas and crafts you've worked so hard on over the summer. I added a couple of new items/ideas to my classroom that I wanted to share with you.

The first item I wanted to share is my birthday display board. I absolutely love how it turned out! I made little three-dimensional cupcakes for each month. This display was super easy to make. I used chalkboard foam boards, cupcake papers, tissue paper, colored craft sticks, a white paint pen, glitter pom poms, and a hot glue gun. Each student has a candle with their name and birthday written on it. This display has been a hit in my classroom! My students love the cupcakes and had fun finding their candle.


I also wanted to share an organization idea I had for my classroom library. Every summer I reorganize my classroom library, and every year my students mess up that organization. So, over the summer I was trying to come up with some ideas to stop this annoying cycle. The books in my library are organized by genre, and the books are placed into genre baskets. I found great baskets at Wal-Mart that are intended for CD storage, but they work perfectly with chapter book. I have used these baskets for years, but my students always put the books back in the wrong baskets. So, this year I have a new system in place! 


Behind each genre label, I placed a library book pocket that you can find at the dollar store or any teacher store. I then labeled small craft sticks with my students names. Each student has two sticks, so they can check out two books from my library. Whenever they take a book from my library, they have to place one of their sticks into the pocket in front of the genre basket. When they finish reading their book, they will know where to place their book, and they can take out their stick and check out another book. I keep the extra sticks in a container on the top shelf of my library.


So far this system has been working really well in my classroom. I hope that I have finally broken the library organization cycle! What new ideas are you trying in your classroom this year? 

Tuesday, August 19, 2014

TpT Back-to-School Boost Sale


Get all of your back to school essentials with the TpT Back-to-School Boost Sale. For one day only you will be able to get all of the items in my store for 28% off. When checking out, use the promo code BOOST for the extra savings.

Thursday, August 7, 2014

Free Back to School eBooks!


The TpT Back to School eBooks are here! The best part is that they are FREE! These books are loaded with freebies, teacher tips, and great products to help you begin the school year. Plus they introduce you to some fabulous TpT authors! I don't know about you, but I am downloading all of these wonderful books!

There are different books for different grade levels. Find the links for your grade level below, and start downloading!

Grades K-2 Back to School eBook
Back to School ELA eBook for Grades 3-5
Back To School eBook Math, and Science for Grades 3-5
Back to School Math eBook for grades 6-12
Back to School English eBook for Grades 6-12
Back to School Social Studies eBook for Grades 6-12
Back to School Science eBook for Grades 6-12

**The K-2, and English 6-12 eBooks will be up soon!**

Look for my page in the Math and Science eBook for Grades 3-5!

Saturday, August 2, 2014

Back to School Sale


It's that time of year again! Time for the annual TpT Back To School Sale! Time to stock up for the upcoming school year. I don't know about you, but I have a bunch of items on my wishlist that I can't wait to buy! All of the items in my store will be 28% off, so stock up and get ready for the new year!

Remember to enter the Back to School Prize Pack Rally by August 10th for a chance to win one of the seven AWESOME prize packs!

Friday, August 1, 2014

Back to School Rally Prize Pack


It's time for the Back to School Rally Giveaway! Once again, I would like to thank Hope at Teaching with Hope.Without her this giveaway would not be here! Thank you, thank you! So much preparation and hard work have gone into this giveaway and these products. 

I won't go on and on for too long- I promise, but I think it is important to tell you how this giveaway came to be. There are incredible TpT creators out there. There are the BIG ones who we all know, love, adore and go to again and again to fill our classrooms with love and learning. I am so thankful to have resources literally at my fingertips no matter where I am. 

I have spent a lot of the summer creating and collaborating with other teachers and have come to find some "hidden treasures" in stores with very few followers. So what better way to showcase these incredible teachers and all their work than with one of the most enormous giveaways we have ever seen? 

 Over 100 TpT sellers and Etsy creators have donated these products. There are 7 prize packs and each are grouped by grade level. You can enter to win them all! The more entry tasks you complete the better your chances of winning. Plus you can share this giveaway on your Blog, Facebook or Pinterest once a day for an additional 10 entries each day! So without further ado.....


Prize Pack #1 includes 18 products from TpT sellers, a handmade "welcome" banner for your classroom from M Paper Designs and a personalized teacher cup from Sugar Stitches Designs!
Click any of the pictures below and a link will take you to the listing for each product. 


a Rafflecopter giveaway






Prize Pack #2 includes 19 products from TpT sellers, a teacher planner  from The Nifty Planner, and a  personalized teacher sign from Blended Creations Inc.

a Rafflecopter giveaway



                                                          Product of your choice!



Prize Pack #3 includes 17 products from TpT sellers, a handmade classroom garland from MPaper Designs and a pencil door sign from Details in the Design.
 Prize Pack #4 includes 18 products from TpT sellers, a handmade classroom garland from MPaper Designs, and a personalized pencil door sign from Bows and Bells Hangers.


 



Prize Pack #5 includes 15 products from TpT sellers a personalized sign from MACInspired Crafts plus a personalized teacher block sign from Blended Creations Inc!




Prize Pack #6 includes products from 16 TpT sellers a personalized door sign from Cara's Southern Designs and a personalized teacher cup from Mommy's Latte Fund!



Prize Pack #7 includes 16 products from TpT sellers, a teacher planner of your choice from Little Drop Designs, a personalized door sign from MACInspired Creations plus a personalized teacher cup from Mommy's Latte Fund!