July Currently...HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, EVERYONE!!

I'm trying to get back to some sort of blogging schedule this summer by linking up with Oh, Boy 4th Grade today for another summer "currently"!!

Listening: Pandora has these great genre stations, just type in a genre and it plays fantastic music for you! I constantly use this in my classroom for centers, class parties, Field Day, etc. This year I will be purchasing a premium membership so that I don't have to hear any commercials!

Loving: Husband works too hard. He deserves some time with me, right? HA-HA! 

Thinking: Seriously, I haven't thought about school one bit since we let out mid-June. Totally not like me at all! I'm sure it'll kick in soon....or maybe NOT!!!!

Wanting: Seriously...have you ever had the deliciousness that is "Tropical Sno"!? These little road side stands are heavenly in the summer. It was my go-to last summer when I was pregnant and so unbearably sick....try the Ocean Pacific flavor...you won't regret it! NOM NOM NOM....

Needing: We hit up the local parade this morning, D went down for a nap, and we will be heading out to a BBQ this afternoon. We are really, REALLY lucky to be going to Long Beach, IN tomorrow to attend a party with a famous chef! HOORAY! So excited to eat all the delicious food!!

All Star: I am an ALL STAR when it comes to Dubsmash. I LOVE IT. If you don't have this app, get it now and have fun. I send videos to my husband, parents, and friends daily. Lip sync is totally my thing. Get into it!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe holiday with their families and friends! Eat, drink, and be festive! WOO HOO, AMERICA!

Talk soon!

Happy summer!..and a quick update!

I'm so excited that summer break is upon us once again! (Well....in 5 more days for me.....) 

There have been some REALLY big changes in my life since last fall when I fell off the face of the blogosphere. In January, my husband and I welcomed our first child!!!! Our son, Douglas, is now 5 months old and a happy and healthy little boy. We are just thrilled! Between that, maternity leave, and now back to work (and feeling a tad bit lost), I've been pretty busy...This picture is an accurate description:

The other big news is that I interviewed and was accepted as an ESL teacher for my district for next school year! YAY! So, I've been working on finishing the year with my sweeties, then on to "bigger and better things" as they say. I'll continue working in our k-2 building, but now I get to work with our ELLs in all three grade levels. Bye bye classroom! Hello new adventure!!!

Any advice from current ESL or bilingual teachers is much appreciated! I'll try my best to blog my way through the summer and set some goals to make it to some linkys once in a while. I hope everyone has a great start and I look forward to seeing your blogs soon!

Talk soon,

Monday Made It 8/18/14 {Table Signs and Classroom Magnets}

Good morning! I'm back again for this week's "Monday Made It" with 4th Grade Frolics!

 And....it's official....I'm back at work. In my district we have "Administrative Trainees" that help out with certain administrative tasks, and I'm one of those people. That means I stay a week extra after school lets out in the summer and go back a week earlier in the fall among many tasks we each have during the year. It's always a nice week that is full of class lists, planning, ordering, and organizing. The downside is that I don't get time to work in my room during these special weeks so I try to cram it in during the rest of the summer. The kids return next week! Eek!

Anyways, I have two "Made Its" for you again this week!!

Now that I have tables in my room, I've been working on getting things organized and labeled. I made these adorable table signs for my tables. You can pick them up {here} in my TpT store if you have a magical Harry Potter classroom like me! (Send me a message on TpT and mention that you saw my blog and I'll send you the file as a freebie!!!)

Secondly, I have my "Back to School" presents for my first grade teaching team. I stole this idea from The Short and Sassy Teacher who made adorable glitter magnets for her classroom last summer. You can check out that post {here}. So I got crafty and made each team member some magnets for their classrooms this year. I used clear stones (the kind you use for vase filler), scrapbook paper, magnets, mod podge, and hot glue:

They turned out really well!

(I packaged them in these adorable little bags from Michael's!)

I hope you enjoy my little makings this week!

Talk soon,

Made It Monday 8/11 {Go Math posters and "Building Stamina" Anchor Chart!}

I'm back again this week linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for another rendition of "Monday Made It"! I have two items for you this week, as I am now officially in back to school mode. Enjoy!

I attended a training last week on our new Go Math! curriculum and have a renewed interest in math! One of the things I really love about the CCSS is that there are essential questions to focus the students on each day for each lesson. I was inspired to make some posters for my class for each of the lessons in the Go Math! first grade curriculum. You can download them at my TpT store {here}!

I was also in my classroom getting things ready for the first few (critical) weeks of school and decided to make this cute poster to help get my firsties excited about building stamina for "read to self" time! I love training little cuties to become independent readers and they LOVE having a book box of their very own!

Can't wait to be inspired by the other Made Its this week!!!

Talk soon,

Monday Made It! 8/4/14 {Shared Supplies}

DID THAT BLOG TITLE REALLY JUST SAY AUGUST? August only means one thing to teachers on summer vacation....the days are dwindling....and according to Calvin, I have to come out of the coffin.

I, however, have been in B2S mode since the beginning of July. I moved my classroom down the hall and we had some major changes happening in the building. Plus, I got bored with my old classroom stuff and needed some new things.

SO, I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics again this week to bring you my "Monday Made It"! Two weeks in a row! That's a record for me!

Last year I had more of an "owl" theme than a Harry Potter theme. I don't really know how that happened, seeing that my original idea was to have a Harry Potter room. Alas, most of the gifts and things I received from students last year were all owls. Although I love and appreciate any and all gifts, the owls were a little out of control. The plan for this year, more Harry, less Hedwig.

We are starting this year with brand new tables in first grade. I'm pretty excited to have them. Our old desks were outdated and a mess. They didn't stay propped open and always SLAM-SLAM-SLAMMED all day. So now the new conundrum.....how to do this whole "table and shared supplies" thing?!

I started out knowing that I did not want my students to have a million supplies to play with on their tables all day, so I purchased mini caddies for $2.99 each at Hobby Lobby. You can order some {here}! I bought the neon green to match some things I already have in my room. They only had blue in my store. I will keep scissors, glue, markers, etc. in these bins and keep them on a shelf off the tables until we need them.

I also knew that I wanted my students to have pencils and crayons on the tables all day, so I purchased small crayon bins (2 per table) at the Dollar Tree. They were only $1 for a set of 4! So I bought 3 sets. SCORE! I got them in the store, but the pickings were getting slim. I think teachers stalk out the Dollar Tree waiting for shipments. You can order in bulk on their website {here}! I, again, purchased the neon green which magically matches the Hobby Lobby bins! I love it when things work out for me that way!!

And then the decorating and labeling began. Here's what I've ended up with for each of my tables!!

{Crayon bins for each table}

{Supply bins, one per table}

I'm ready to get these things in my room and see how they work out! Now to go check on what other people are making!! :)

Talk soon,

August Currently and Back to School Thoughts

I can't believe I actually made it to "Currently" on the first day of the month! This might be a first for me!! I'm linking up with Farley at Oh Boy, 4th Grade to bring you some thoughts on this oh so wonderful "Back to School Month" Friday!

I'm feeling it...I'm feeling it...That familiar excitement for the return to a brand new school year. The end of last year was *rough* for me, make that ROUGH with all caps. I was losing my creativity and had no energy and didn't think summer break would ever be long enough. Now that I've moved classrooms and gotten a few new things made, I'm getting ready again! I think my favorite part of the beginning of the year is the shiny, brand new supplies, and the anticipation of the school year ahead. (It's always peaches and cream in the beginning isn't it?)

Anyways, enough rambling. Here is my currently! Can't wait to see what you all have for me to read!

Listening: to the soothing sounds of Roseanne on the Logo TV Network...ha! I love this show! Tuning out to some trashy TV is such a luxury after a day spent working and creating and thinking and thinking and thinking....and thinking.

Loving: I've made so many cute new things for my room this year. Continue to check back each Monday as I post my creations as my Monday Made it! Next week I'll show you how I'm handling shared/community supplies in my classroom for the first time ever! Eek!

Thinking: I can't stop thinking about planning and organization lately. It must be the pregnancy brain in me..."nesting" they call it? Can you "nest" in your own classroom???

Wanting: It's a Friday tradition in our home to make or buy pizza. We call it "Pizza Friday" and it's the one night a week I look forward to dinner because it's easy, yummy, and my husband can do it all on his own with minimal instruction from me!

Needing: More money is always a necessity. There are so many containers and things I've purchased for my classroom - but I'm pretty good with coupons, discounts, and gift cards. I NEED to get this room finished next week!

Talk soon,

Monday Made It! 7/28/14 {Bulletin Board Clips}

I finally made it to a "Monday Made It" this summer! Linking up 4th Grade Frolics this week after an *eh-hem* extended "made it" vacation....

 It's been a little nutty trying to get things ready for a new room in the first grade wing, new tables, and *finally* shared supplies! I've been hard at work crafting things for my Harry Potter themed classroom, so today I bring you my latest and greatest idea. 

Last year I displayed my student work on a large bulletin board with the usual staples. Every time I wanted to switch work around (usually once a week or every other week), I would inevitably rip and tear my students's work. GAAHHH!!! So frustrating. So in the middle of year I decided that next year, there had to be a change and TA-DA!....the idea was born. 

I started out thinking I wanted to hang student work in the hallway on string using clothespins. I did this and it worked out well, until someone opened the door and blew all of my papers right off the wall....again ripping or tearing them. Oh, the headaches.

This year I'm going to use my large bulletin board WITH CLOTHESPINS! {What, you say? Clothespins can't be affixed to a bulletin board you say?!!?} Well, genius me decided to glue thumbtacks to the back of mini clothespins to hang work from! No more rips, no more tears, no more sad teacher ruining hard work!! Here's how it works:

I started with the following supplies:

1.) Mini clothespins

2.) Hot glue gun and glue sticks

3.) Thumbtacks (the kind with the semi-flat end, NOT push pins!)

4.) Yellow acrylic paint

5.) Black sharpie

I hot glued a thumbtack to the back of each mini clothespin until I had an army of them ready to paint. Since you only see the front of the clothespin, I only painted the front of the clothespin. {Why make more work for yourself?}

After the paint was good and dry, I drew a lightning bolt on each clothespin with black sharpie, because (duh) Harry Potter has a lightning shaped scar. 

I'm super excited to get these babies up on my board at school and display some fun first grade projects! I made sure to make some extras in the event that thumbtacks come unglued or clothespins come apart. Can't wait to see what everyone else is working on for their rooms!

Talk soon,