Week at a glance!

Well, I have had a week with a bit of R&R and lots of work at the same time! ;) By R&R I mean 7 months pregnant...don't sleep well at night...so naps throughout various parts of the day! Mix that with super humid/muggy beginning of the week, a dr appt and family dinner at LAMBERT's, and CANNING makes for a busy week!

So what have you done for school this week, you ask! Made some more posters to laminate next week when I can get to the laminator at school! :)

I am embarking on WHOLE BRAIN TEACHING this year. While I tried some of the basics in my math groups last year, this year I am going all in. I used the Class, Yes! Mirror! and Teach, Okay! with my kids last year and I loved it! The Class, Yes! really got their attention and the Mirror really helped me know that they were listening and comprehending what I said. So this week I made some rule cards to help implement the rules the first day and some class cheer cards to display as well. The cheer cards are a work in progress, but I will let you have them in western of course!

I also made some Daily 5 posters for my classroom to use when we get that up and running! We are also going to jump on the HOMEWORK CLUB bandwagon (see Pinterest) and maybe a Reading to 100 Club as well! Lots of good things coming this year!

Click on the picture to download your own copy! Again I take no credit for the Daily 5!!! That is why I AM NOT selling these! Same goes for WBT!

All clip art came from mycutegraphics.com!! If you haven't checked it out you should...it is amazing!! And FREE for educators!! :) 

Well it is out for dinner this rainy (THANK THE LORD) cool (AMAZING) evening in MO! I couldn't be more blessed by the rain after last year's drought really hurt all us farmers!! Plus I have managed to can some Dill Pickles and Zucchini Salsa this week along with making some Zucchini bread that I might be addicted to!

Masters NIGHTMARE!!!

Just thought I would stop-in and assure that I have not disappeared. HOWEVER, I have buried myself in homework for my Culture class and Research class. I have worked for over 8 hours today on one POINTLESS and NON-SPECIFIC assignment that made me want to quit, a PPT about a favorite place of mine, and another Chapter of my thesis paper. I cannot wait until I am done with this!!!

After today, I have no desire to further my education beyond my Masters! We will see how long this feel lasts, but for now indefinitely!

Tomorrow, I return to my classroom with the help of my mother! She is going to organize and unpack my classroom library! Wish us luck! I also think I am headed for Wal-Mart in the morning to purchase my own mini-laminator. I think it will be an amazing investment and is WAY cheaper than I thought it would be!

I hope you are enjoying your summer and pounding away at that TO-DO list!

Here is my happy picture for the day:

Goodies from my garden!! Hopefully will add some pickeling cucumbers to the list tomorrow! :)

Classroom Workday, Reward Tickets, and FREE Class Sign!

Today has been a busy day! As I said before, I am moving from 2nd grade to 4th grade this year. This means a new room...which is such a challenge! I was able to work in my classroom today for the first day. It mainly involved arranging furniture and unpacking as much as I can. It is going good, but this little mommy-to-be bent over way too many times today!!

On to even more productive items of business...I decided earlier this summer that I am going to have some positive behavior tickets instead of always using candy or a treasure box. So I created positive reward tickets.

There are 24 rewards and 6 blank reward cards. I look forward to using these with my classroom management system!

Also, I have been seeing all of the posters and signs that say "Our Class Does..." and it looks so cute. So I made a simple one for my own classroom! I made several different prints, but here is the one I made for preview! I will post links below for each template as a FREEBIE!  I plan on cutting, laminating, and then attaching them using ribbon. It will be cute! Pictures to come when it is up in my room!

 Click on the pictures above to download the black dot!

Cow Print Version

Red Bandanna Version

And LAST point of business...here is the finished sewing projects as promised...

Changing pad cover...just DO NOT take a look at the seams ;)

Crib bumper pads-recovered-pictured below- before, during, after!

Student Information Card for Back to School

I saw THIS pin in Pinterest...and thought it fit in really well with my teacher binder! Since it wasn't my idea I am not going to include it or sell it (obviously). Instead, I have decided to create about 8 different forms just like it and give them out FREE. I really like this idea and think it will make parent contact so easy!

What is it you say? It is an information card that you print on cardstock 2 on a page. Then have the parents fill them out, laminate them, and put them on a ring! Hang around your computer or something similar (near the phone) for easy access! This could also be handy to have in case of an emergency. You could make 2 sets for an emergency kit if you needed OR just keep it where it is easy to get a hold of.

Here is the link to the FREEBIE!

And a small little preview:

And for anyone keeping up...I did manage to ALMOST finish recovering the bumper pad. That is until I ran out of Ribbon...so I am 3 sides away from being done. Tomorrow evening Hobby Lobby will be helping me get caught up on ribbon and thread! I also attempted a changing pad cover...and am not sure how well that went. It is on, but I am not loving it! This momma-to-be is a much better creator on the computer than the sewing machine!! I am not completely discourage though...I am thinking of trying a crib sheet later this week which follows the same pattern as the changing pad cover only larger. Maybe I will have learned a little more :)

Bumper pads before (well after I split it into 4 parts)

Middle of the "after" - More to come...I promise it might look impressive, but it is basically a pillow case for covers. That is as far as my sewing skills go! 

Math Groups and a FREEBIE!

I started doing Math Groups last year (teaching math in small group rotations)! It was absolutely perfect for my classroom. There are obviously going to be days when teaching whole group is the best option, but as far as tracking student progress and differentiating math...it's the only way to go!

I got the M.A.T.H. acronym from Clutter Free Classroom's Math Workshop post. For those who don't know- M is Math Facts; A is At Your Seat; T is Teacher's Choice; H is Hands-On Math.

My kids are into 4 groups and the order is always M-A-T-H unless I tell them otherwise. It works wonderfully or at least it did with me 2nd graders. I hope my 4th graders do as wonderful with it! I created a set of board labels or headers or whatever you want to call them for our Math Workshop Board. I am not obviously going to sell them because it was not my idea. HOWEVER, I am going to offer it as a freebie if you want it!

Now this set is Western-ish Print to match my classroom theme. If you want something else, just let me know! I will be doing a set that is black and white dot and colored dot for my teammates, but that will be a tomorrow project!

Click HERE for the FREEBIE!! And below is a preview of the labels...

Also, last night I managed to finish my Contact Info Magnet Cards (great name, huh?) that I plan on laminating, attaching a magnet (I bought a roll of magnet tape at Hobby Lobby for $3), and giving to the parents at Meet the Teacher night. A pinterest idea of course (from this post)! 

I had a picture of them posted...but it has ALL my contact info on it...so I deleted it! I will post a not so close picture when they are completely put together :)

Well, on the agenda for tomorrow...recovering a crib bumper pad for my little man's room, making a few crib sheets, and returning an ink cartridge to Wal Mart because it only made it through 30 pages! I couldn't believe the ink cartridge situation...wish me luck! 

Punch Cards and 2 Posts in 1 Day- GIVEAWAY!!

Wooo Hoo! 2 successful posts in 1 day!! A serious record in this household! I have been crossing things off the To-Do list today (which is better than just adding to it like most days)! 

I have decided to use incentive punch cards this year for Spelling and thought while I was at it I would make several other incentive cards. I have made 8 different punch cards.

Spelling Test Punch Card (5 punches)
Homework Punch Card per assignment (12 punches)
Homework Punch Card per week (5 punches)
Whooo's Got Good Behavior? Punch Card (Owl Theme 22 punches)
Roundin' Up Good Behavior (with girl clip art 22 punches)
Roundin' Up Good Behavior (with boy clip art 22 punches)
Reading Punch Card (1 punch = 10 minutes; 10 punches)
All Star Behavior (20 punches)

Here is a preview of a few of them...

Click HERE for the product in my TPT Store!!

While I am at it...I will GIVE AWAY a set of either the Punch Cards or Post Cards to the first two people who comment on this post with one of their Back to School Goodie plans or ideas! Please leave your email address so I can send them your way! 

Welcome Back to Productivity!

I have managed to accomplish more today than I have in the last 2 weeks! I am going to give credit to being too hot outside and a way to relieve some stress about not being able to unpack my classroom yet! :)

Here is the Polka Dot Colored Teacher Binder... (TADA)

Click the pictures to see more at my TPT Store! 

I have also been thinking about what to do for Back to School and Meet the Teacher night goodies! So far I have a post card created to be printed and mailed out after class lists are posted. These were created with Kindergarten to 6th Grade. So if you choose to buy one of the post cards you will get all grades in that print! Click on the picture to link to my TPT store!

These cow print cuties are what I will send out!! 

What are your plans for Back to School or Meet the Teacher Night????

Masters...ugh!!

Ok, so I would like to say that I have something new to post, but instead I thought I would entertain you with my current exciting life...

Why yes that would be my research for my "thesis" or "capstone" paper...and it is overtaking my coffee table right about now. After about 3 hours of research and finishing one small sub-section...this is the result:

Yes, cookies and ice cream! I am so glad that I took a 2 hour nap (accidentally) today and that my husband is working nights for a couple of weeks so I can slave away at this paper. Now if only I can quit finding a million excuses to do anything BUT research...

Happy Sunday Evening!! Maybe after this I will create something else on my TO-DO list! After all that is WAY more fun!

Teacher Binder Production (TADA!!!)

TGIF! Except for the fact that it is the end of my "NOT TOUCHING" my Capstone paper. Let's hope the week away from it motivates me! After spending all week getting plenty of sleep (the joys of being 6 months pregnant during a Missouri summertime) and accomplishing nothing other than making a huge To-Do List!

Pinterest finally pushed me into finishing (and starting) my own teacher binder for this year. I will be moving on up to 4th grade so I am determined to start organized! I created this file in Black and White Cowprint with red accents AND Black and White Polka Dot with red accents. I will eventually work on adding some colored polka dot designs too! Check out below for the preview of my creations! I promise when I get ink for my printer and get my binder put together I will post pictures of that too.

Various Page Examples

Followed by a Break Down of the Entire Package

Polka Dot Binder Cover Example

Tabs for Both Binders

Sample Calendar Page (also available in black and white dot)

Hope you like it! I will get started uploading it to TPT here in a little bit! This has been a very timely project! :)