1300 Followers Freebie & Sale item!

A HUGE thank you to all of you for following me  throughout the past couple of years. I find joy in creating items for you and want to also thank you for supporting my classroom.

I have been on hiatus for a couple of weeks, as we have had a lot going on at school... busy, busy, busy! I haven't done any creating since then. I finally have a little breathing time today, so I wanted to thank you all by creating a freebie which can get you excited to be thinking ahead to a fresh new year (as some of us think about what next year has to offer... you never know)!! I created this welcome sign, which can be used as a banner (just add ribbon). In addition, I have marked down a newer item in my TpT store (see below). Just a way to say THANK YOU!

{FREEBIE}

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{SALE for one week}

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A Little Bit of Sunshine...

I am so thankful that Courtney @ Polka Dot Lesson Plans awarded me with the Sunshine blogger award. She is super sweet and posts such cheerful messages!! Thank you Courtney:)

This is such a fun way to get to know other bloggers. 

Here is how it works::::

The rules of the Sunshine Blogger Award are:?

1. Post 11 random facts about yourself

?2. Answer the 11 questions asked by the blogger who nominated you?

3. Nominate 11 bloggers you think bring sunshine to the world?

4. Make up 11 questions for your nominations to answer.

11 Random Facts About Myself

1. I wear flip flops year-round... LOVE my flops!!

2. Shrimp is my favorite food & love to eat it in different formats: scampi, fried, etc. 

3. I began playing the flute when I was in 4th grade and continued into high school playing for our marching band (yes, band nerd)!

4. I played softball in high school, and our team were state champions for consecutive years in South Carolina! (yes, a band nerd AND a jock...lol)

5. I model, model, model for my students - I model how to do things correctly AND how I do NOT want it done (I have fun with this part and the kiddos think I am either crazy or hilarious - or maybe BOTH).  

6. Back before TpT and when there were few teacher websites (2003), I created my first teacher site where I began offering things I created for free. I was determined to learn HTML, which I did, and created my website from scratch! Was tough, yet rewarding.  

7. I enjoy being crafty and creating things, when I have time.

8. I enjoy watching hummingbirds and actually collect hummingbird decor. 

9. My daughter, husband, and I act very goofy and will jam to MJ (Michael Jackson) on random days... We love MJ!

10. I love watching Judge Judy!!!!!

11. I love to go fishing! We have a lake near our house and fishing for striped bass is SO fun!

My questions from Courtney: 

1. What is one thing that isn't in your curriculum that you wish you could teach? Hmm... when I taught Kindergarten, it would have HAD to have been how to tie shoes, but now that I am in 5th grade, I really wish I could teach more about character education. :)

2. If you could have an unlimited supply of one food what would it be? definitely SHRIMP - love it prepared in a variety of ways!!

3. Have you always wanted to be a teacher? When I was little, I talked about typical things like: veterinarian, police officer, etc. When I got a little older (teenager), I began to really look closely into teaching, as I truly enjoyed school and learning. 

4. What is your favorite season and why? Spring and Fall are my faves, but if I HAVE to choose only one, it would be Fall. Why? My baby girl was born in fall, it is the beginning of a fresh new school year, and I love college football season (the cooler weather is a plus here in GA, too).

5. What is the most unbelievably funny thing you've ever had to say to a child at school? (Don't lick the pencil sharpener?!) This would have been when I taught prek and it is gross... as I had a child have a potty accident and trying to PAINT the hallway wall with it!!! O_o "We don't play with our stinky!!" - not sure of my exact words now, but it was something similar to this...eek! 

6. Would you rather not have any books to read for 6 months or have to reread the same book for a year? Rereading the same book for a year would be tough, as you wouldn't be able to explore new adventures!

7. What is your favorite vacation spot and why? We love going to Savannah, GA, as we love the relaxing environment of just moseying around River Street listening to the street performers. 

8. What is your favorite thing to do on the weekends? Spend time with my family by playing some games - either board games or Wii, etc. 

9. How do you relax at the end of the day? This is going to sound CRAZY, but I love Judge Judy and DVR all her episodes, so I can watch a few to calm down at the end of a long day... she makes me laugh :D

10. What is your favorite subject to teach? LOVE, LOVE, LOVE teaching writing. It is tough, but I enjoy seeing the creativity in their minds transform onto the pages!

11. What book should I read next? Killing Jesus, by Bill O'Reilly

The 11 Bloggers I nominate are: 

Magic Mistakes and Mayhem

Paula's Place

My First Year in Fourth

Fifth in the Middle

Teach n' Tex

Mrs. Beattie's Classroom

Thinking of Teaching

Smart Kids
The Teacher's Desk 6
Learning, Lessons, and Life
Teaching to Inspire in 5th

Here are the 11 questions for my nominees: 

1. If you were the principal of your school, what is one change you would make and why?

2. What is your favorite teaching tool in your classroom? 

3. Tell about one student that holds a special place in your heart (I know we love them all, but choose one). 

4. What is your hobby?

5. What do you feel is your strength in the classroom? 

6. What do you feel is your weakest area in the classroom?

7. What would be your one piece of advise for a beginning teacher?

8. Why did you become a teacher?

9. What is one thing you would change about the educational system today? 

10. What do you hope to accomplish this coming summer?

11. What is something you have too much/many of (in other words, what do you hoard)?

Another Arctic Blast is on the Way... O_o

Okay... is there any one (besides myself) that is freaking out with all the winter weather in the south? Don't get me wrong, I love a little snow here and there, but the fact is, I have to finish this novel THIS week!!! EEK! We have a couple of weeks before our GA State Writing Assessment, and I wanted to model a mock test before then and go over some loose ends. How are you managing the make up of weather in your neck of the woods?

One of my colleagues sent this to our group this week & it made me laugh, as I am having to take a few more ibuprofen due to increased headaches lately... or is it the change in weather? Hmmm...

One stressed out teacher...

Don't want to handle 6 more weeks...

Really?!? Blah... I do love a little bit of snow and winter time feel, but I am through with it for a while! I am ready to get out my capri pants (keep my flip flops out year round... just in case I need them ;). Saw this when I awoke this morning... phooey! Does anyone know how often he is correct? I hope he's wrong this year... LOL!

Add me on Facebook now!

I have been running our school's FB page for some time now and have had my own account for a long while, but never made the steps to have a page for my site until now! Please join me, as I will post updates and sales there:) Thank you for supporting my classroom!

https://www.facebook.com/2fulbrighthugs

Sticky Love - A Dollar Tree Treasure

After spending several hours over the summer painting my classroom, I have been uneasy about sticking anything on my walls. Well, I get tired of the same ol' boring letters from stores, die-cuts, etc. Thankfully, I found these wonderful letters (which also were cute colors) from the Dollar Tree. I kinda stumbled across them when I was looking to decorate my daughter's bedroom door... (Wall clings) They look really good on my paint colors and remove so easily. In addition, I have used them to label on bulletin boards and the white board!! Take a look at how I used them - possibilities are endless!

(some are already pilled off...)

(Labeled where reading notebooks are located + reading logs)

(Labeled on bulletin board)

(Labeled our daily schedule - removes without taking paint off)

(can even be used and removed easily from white board - these are AM procedures)

Tech Signs for Managing BYOT

I am SUPER excited that myself, along with one other 5th grade colleague, are about to embark on the BYOT journey! Our HS and MS just began this year, and we are using a county-wide user agreement (so all of that tough paperwork is mostly taken care of - phew)! In the past few years, I have slowly integrated tech more and more... Now that we are the 'pilots' at our school, I am hoping that others will jump on board. A little team (5 folks) from our school visited a wonderful school system that has been implementing BYOT for a little while. If you have not looked through the resources at Forsyth County's website, you are missing out - take a look:

In preparation for the upcoming adventure, I have been thinking a lot about how to manage SO many devices. I will of course model, model, model procedures, as I do at the beginning of the year. One way I will manage the devices are by using signs/posters. The posters I created below immediately show students whether or not they will need their devices for instruction/etc. on any given day. They simply look for the sign and comply. The turtle sign is something that I tweaked a little from a response on the Cornerstone site. When I taught Kindergarten, I had students come in and have "Turtle Time" (invented by Bobbie Starcher - my wonderful mentor teacher), which they put their heads down for a bit while everyone had a turn for water. Well, it made me think of turning the devices over where I can only see their 'shells.' When the turtle time sign is presented with a "Turtle Time" from the teacher, students must turn devices over and give attention to the teacher (kind of like an attention getter saying - 1, 2, 3, eyes on me... ). Hope these work out for YOU!! 

You can get these here!

Christmas Carol Puzzle (neat bit of history)

A few years back during a faculty meeting, our principal pulled out an old Christmas Carol Puzzle for us to try and figure out. Of course, there was a little prize for the first group to correctly solve each puzzle. Now that Christmas is quickly approaching (and because I want to do something fun with the kiddos these last 2 days before the holiday break), I revisited this little puzzle. I thought it would be interesting to see which carols the students know! I did adjust the puzzle slightly and do not take credit for the idea. If you want to know about the history of this puzzle and the many variations throughout the years, please visit this website: http://ssqq.com/archive/christmaspuzzlemore.htm

(Also have a word scramble below - no answer sheet - good luck!)

Since I have just begun selling my items, I am in the process of creating Paypal buttons for all items. Until then, please email me if you would like to purchase something, and I will send a Paypal invoice.

Christmas Carol Puzzles $0.50

 

Christmas Scramble $0.50

Back to School Goals #b2s13

Well, it is always good to set some reasonable goals. I am not sure if these are SMART goals, but I have a few more weeks to think it over!! I am linking up with I {heart} Recess for our B2S Goals!!

I have been teaching for 10 years, but there is ALWAYS room to grow, improve, and learn! This is one of the reasons I enjoy teaching :)

Here are some of MY goals for this year (as I embark on a NEW adventure going from Kindergarten to 5th grade... yikes..LOL - this was MY decision after all *what was I thinking*...haha)

Personal - It is always my goal to walk more closely to Christ. Through reading God's word, I am who I am and am very grateful that He saved me!!! I want to read more of the Bible, pray more deeply and walk more closely to my Heavenly Father:)

Organization - Folks tell me I am pretty organized... I am not always so sure..LOL!! Last year, I went through all my Kindergarten files and aligned them to the CCGPS. I now have the lovely job of creating the same thing for 5th grade! It makes sense for me to file things this way!!!

Planning - A colleague and I have met twice and mapped out a good bit of our first unit. My goal is to take "One day at a time"... sweet Jesus (have you ever heard that song?...LOL)!! I am learning a new grade level, so I am not going to stress.. I am simply going to take it slow and learn more and more each day!

Professional - There are a lot of things I would like to do (one of them is going through the Lucy Calkins books - which will be part of my professional learning this year). I want to hold off on going into a lot of detail with that just yet, as I am getting my feet wet this year. I will love to incorporate what I learn this year through the PL into next year's units. For this reason.... I would like to get more familiar with the 5th grade standards, so I plan to use lots of LOTS - Language of the Standards. :)

Students - I pray that I can be a role model for these children. I want to build positive relationships through trust and also make learning as fun as possible!! I want them to know that learning can be a life-long tool!

Motto - I always tell me students that they need to "Be the best YOU, YOU can be!" If nothing else, you need to give something your all, your best... That is all that I can ask of them!!

Something a little different... Prayer Journal

Do you want to pray for everything and everyone, but you seem to forget someone or something from time to time? We are human after all.. right?...LOL. Anyway, I wanted to do a little more focused prayer and more detailed prayer, so I wanted a calendar to keep me in line! Here is a copy in case you would like to do the same:

(FREEBIE)

Remind 101 - Student/Parent/Teacher Communication

Need to send a quick message about a homework assignment? or maybe need to remind about an upcoming event...? Remind 101 is a wonderful app/online tool that teachers can use to text their students/parents (without the hassle of giving out your personal contact information). It is also very easy to use.

@Remind101 #R101LOVE 

Back in the Spring, I conducted a Professional Learning session trying to introduce Remind 101 and Class Dojo to our staff. Here is a link to the presentation - PLEASE view the PowerPoint. 

You can use this resource online: https://www.remind101.com/

or through their app: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/remind101/id522826277?mt=8

I set my account up online, but truly love using the app to send the quick texts to parents/students. 

What is the BEST feature??? I love how you can set the date/time for the message to send out. I always forget unless I type it right away and set the date/time for it to send out!!!

Please consider trying this teacher tool! 

Businesses Helping Teachers...

Many businesses are trying to give teacher discounts as a way to help out their classrooms. Here is another one of those great opportunities. Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts is providing a Teacher Rewards program to help educators out with creative items to spice up your classroom.

Here are the program details:

Jo-Ann Teacher Rewards � Registration & Benefits

Teachers and educators can register at http://www.joann.com/teach2014 or in-store to receive discounts on classroom craft and sewing projects, classroom d�cor and organization products. Benefits include:

• Free discount card for 15% off every purchase.
• Bonus coupon for 20% off any one total purchase when you enroll or re-enroll in the program.
• More money-saving coupons as a Jo-Ann Preferred Customer.
• Personal notice of the latest sales offers, crafting trends and inspiration.

Please head on over to Jo-Ann's to find some lovely items to make your classroom super organized and ready for back2school! 

Limited time only... 50% OFF!!!

50% off of a custom blog design...

This is a great deal, considering how much time goes into designing the overall look of a blog. I offer tons of items for FREE on my blog. I hope you will help me out by ordering a custom blog HALF off the original price. This is for a limited time only. Don't miss out on a chance for a CUSTOM designed blog.

Please email me if you are interested... (click my email @ link in my pennant above) :) Thanks!

Shopping, shopping, shopping... and fundraisers to get $$

Okay... When I taught Kindergarten last year, we had 2 fundraisers to help teachers earn $ for our classrooms. The first was our freezer pop fundraiser. Students could purchase freezer pops for a quarter each day (if they so choose to). After the year is over, we combined all the sales and split it 4 ways between the teachers. In addition to this, we always had a 50s day on the 50th day of school. On that day, we sold Coke floats for $1.00. Parents donated the items (cokes & ice cream) and McDonald's donated the cups and straws. After all of this, we again split the funds. I ended up with over $400 to spend on classroom supplies, which is nice so I do not have to ask for as many supplies from the children.


What did I spend my $ on this year? I did spend a little of this on painting my room this year, but I bought new 5th grade items/charts/etc. (see pic) there are tons more items that I was unable to show on here like folders, paper, tape, etc. :) Perhaps this kind of fundraiser can work for you. If you have another idea, please share in the comments below!! :) Thanks!


Some of my online/catalog buys:

Bought this with my own $ (so far... still have more to get):

 

WALMART

WALMART

http://www.christianbook.com/

Calling all Chevron Lovers...

Okay, Chevron fans... I purchased this chevron rug at Wal-Mart a couple of days ago. It will pull in the lavender and sage colors of my wall and tie in nicely with my curtains (pictures in the future). I have been searching for one of these & it is just the right size... 36in x 56in. I needed something for a small reading area where my little couch (donated to me by a friend) will be housed. I cannot wait to get into the room soon to begin designing!! I am not chevron crazy, but think it is cute!! Not everything in my room has to be chevron, but a little touch doesn't hurt 

Want a classroom website?

Want a classroom website, but not the headache of all the codes, etc...? I just completed a design for a non-profit organization - she wanted it to be created in Blogger, but look like a website instead of a blog (see below). I am also working on a design based upon the lovely idea of Ladybug Teacher Files new parent page. Go check it out. Want something similar, but not sure where to begin?

I can design you a lovely page through blogger. You can revamp your current blog or have this as an additional blog - your choice. I created myself a new blog for parents. You can check out my front page of my site for more details:

Attention all Followers!!

I know many of you enjoy all the free resources, so make SURE you follow me on Bloglovin' to see the most recent items (K & 5th grade items, as well as some that can be used for any grade level). The Bloglovin' link is at the top of my page on the banner:) Do this ASAP, as you will no longer see updates through Google, as of July 1st!!!

I appreciate you all!!