Someone pinch me!

Someone pinch me!

You know those school years that just all fall 

Oh-so-Nicley into place.

THIS is one of them.

Such a sweet bunch of kiddos this year.

life is good.

We are gearing up to celebrate "Fire Safety"

for the month of October.

So many cuties in this pack,

can't wait to make our firemen!

Maybe we will even get a visit from a fireman,

A very tall, handsome, uniformed fireman.

(It's for the kids, right ;)

Is this teacher heaven?

If you are reading this blog then you are probably a teacher.

And chances are, 

if your a teacher, then there are some strange things that make you happy.

You know what I'm talking about....

freshly sharpened pencils

clean desks

school supplies 

freshly laminated things...

I got a little antsy.  

I've been creating all these things for my classroom, 

and I just wanted them laminated..

like NOW. 

Say hello to my little friend.

I am in teacher heaven!

Do you need that napkin laminated? 

:)

Sight Word Fun!

These make me happy.

They bring a little fun to sight words.

Also love that they incorporate some math graphing skills.

They include Dolch sight words, Pre-Primer- 2nd grade.

Can't wait to debut them in a few short weeks!

(Goodness...WHERE did the summer go?)

Be a Bucket Filler!

How cute is this.

I mean seriously, 

who WOULDN'T want to be a bucket filler?

I always try and start my year off with this.

Setting the expectations for how we treat others.

A cute edition is to actually have a bucket in your classroom.

Every time you catch someone "filing buckets"

or getting complements in the hallway

add a pom pom to the bucket.

When the bucket is filled treat those little ones to a surprise!

Okay...get excited...

because....

It's a FREEBIE HERE!

WOoHoo, happy Back to School everyone!

Banners!

I've got a thing for party decorations.

Poms, banners, the whole shambam.

I love decorations!

That is why I am so excited about THIS!

On the first week I'm going to have students fill them out as a

 getting-to-know-you activity.

Then we're going to string them together to make a pennant banner!

Why didn't I think of that?!?

As teachers we're always learning.

Learning from your own mistakes, learning from your students,

and learning from other teachers.

I'm on year 7 of teaching and still have "ah-ha" moments every year!

Here are a few fun tips and tricks...

the kind that make you think,

"Why didn't I think of that!"
(Thank you Pinterest!)

1.  Tie Crates together with zip ties: Instant Cubbies!

2. Dye Clothes pins with Fabric Dye. So much prettier!

3. Or dip them in glue, then glitter. (Yes please!)

4. Chairs too loud?  Tie felt onto the bottom with rubber bands. Cheap and easy!

5.  Students using too much glue?  Soak a sponge in glue...problem solved!

6.  Students keep forgetting name?  Have them highlight it before turning in papers!

7.  And if they still forget...A simple towel bar and hooks. Genius!

8.  Messy Paint?  Put it inside of Starbucks cups.

9.  Logins on paint chips.  So pretty!

10.  Pencil dispenser.

11.  Glue PomPoms onto dry erase markers for instant erasers!

12.  Text parents without them getting your phone number, genius! 

(And trust me, never give out your cell phone #, NEVER!)

13. Vinyl decals for instant writing boards!

14.  Wrist bands for student reminders! 

(You know how hard these are to get off, there's no losing these on the way home :)

15.  VistaPrint for student punch cards! They are almost always offering 250 cards for FREE!

(I know that word got your attention, teachers love FREE!)

 Earn a punch for doing well!

16.  A cool down jar.  Shake it up...student must cool down until glitter settles.

(I know some adults who could use one of these :)

17.  Paint Glue.  Add paint to glue.  (You KNOW how much glue us teachers accumulate!)

Math Wall

This project took forever.

My perfectionism kicked into high gear

I wanted to be sure everything was just perfect, 

that every math word was included,

the every card had the perfect graphic to explain.

I can happily say that they are finished! **enter applause here**

I'll be laminating them promptly,

ready for my rockin' Common Core Math wall this year!

A few random, ramblings...

1 year ago today was my last day of school.

It was also the day I went into labor with this little lovie.

talk about good timing.

And now here we are...getting ready to party!

It's going to be a foam finger theme.

The Mommy in me just wants to sit around and play with these boys all summer,

but the teacher in me wants to teach them :)

My older son is really into Eric Carle right now,

he's a little young for some of these, 

but rocking parts of it!

Such a fun unit!

Me in this world

My littles always have a tough time with geography.

No matter how much I teach it I'm always hearing things like,

"I live in the state of Disney World."

"My country is Florida."

I made up a little project to break it down a little bit for them.

It takes their location and breaks it down piece by piece.

school-- town-- state -- country -- continent -- planet

I think we're finally getting it!

Woot woot!

                       

These are a few of my favorite things...

I'm a bit of an instagram addict.

LOVE it!

Oh course it's filled with pics of these lovies!

                                       

                                       

So you can imagine my excitement when I found out 

that I can combine instagram AND teaching goodies!

Now, yes, I do realize it's Wednesday...

but I couldn't contain myself...

no way could I wait a whole week!

Find me HERE! 

A little piece if heaven...

My whole teaching career I have had a love hate relationship with electric pencil sharpeners. I love their ability to sharpen the perfect pencil point in seconds, but hate the fact that I have to purchase 4 a year.  That is until I found this little piece of heaven.  Another teacher mentioned that he had, had one of these bad boys for over 5 years and that it was still sharpening perfectly.   I am now on month  6 and we are still going strong. I may just have found a teachers best friend! 

Number of the Day

I love anything that makes my life easier.

Number of the day is one of those things!

I like it because all I have to change is the number each day.

Kids like it because it becomes very familiar to them,

they get really fast at it!

This year I made it even easier,

I laminated the kids sheets so they just had to write, wipe, repeat!

Have already begun making a new fresh set for next year.

I also kicked it up a notch for the older grades here!

What about Dad?

Poor Dads...

always get left out of all the school fun for Fathers Day.

Don't forget Dad this year...

He would love a little poem too!

Happy Father's Day