The World Works in Mysterious Ways!

Sometimes there are days when you wish you could bottle up the good feelings and positive energy and keep it for those days that get you down. Today is one of those days that I wish I could bottle up! I have loved reading your comments on my last post - and it reminds me that I love what I do and am where I'm supposed to be. (Not to get all heavy/sentimental on ya - just a good affirmation!).

This came in my email last week too - and I really am serious when I say it is an honor just to have my blog nominated/considered. There are some great blogs in this contest - written by fabulous teachers who are willing to share their ideas and thoughts with the world!

If you want to check out some great blogs, click below. Vote if you want to while you are there! There are 82 fabulous blogs for you to check out. :)

Thanks bloggy friends for being awesome!

Directions for voting:

1. Make sure you have upgraded to Google Plus. If not, you will find the Google Plus button on the uppermost part of the page. Creating your profile will only take a few minutes.
2. Click on the Comments to view the entire list of nominees and look for your blog of choice.
3. If you hover your cursor at the end of the Blog URL, a red "+1" will appear that you can click on. It's on the same location where you can find the votes that have been cast for other blogs.
4. For blogs that already have some votes, the "+1" should be found immediately beside the vote count, to the right.

Year Long Planning

I’m fairly sure I can say with almost 99.9% accuracy that there isn’t a teacher out there not thinking about the upcoming school year. Sure – we’re on vacay (hopefully at the beach!) but it’s in our nature. We’re planners – and like to have a big picture of what our instruction will look like.

(Promise I won’t tell our secret that we think on our toes a lot of the time…so sometimes things don’t go according to, uh, plan!)

My yearlong plans are in the process of being complete – this is just a document that I keep mostly for my own planning. It helps me to see a big picture of where we are going during the year – and what will be taught when.

This is what it looks like at this point.

Want to explore the poetry links? Here they are:

Jessica Meacham's Shared Reading Page

CanTeach Songs and Poems

Nellie Edge Free Poetry

Aloha Kindergarten Click on the “poetry journal” or “freebie” label

Teaming Up to Teach ABC Poems

Everything Elementary

If you know me (even through my blog), you know I like to plan plan plan. I don’t always follow my plans – but I like to have a whole picture before I jump into something!

I uploaded a copy of the yearlong plan to Google Docs – in an editable format! It might look a little weird because of the fonts. If you want the font, it’s called Pea Hollee from KevinandAmanda.com! Super cute font. Once you download the font and the document, it should look all nice and neat!

Digital scrap papers courtesy of Sassy Designs! Check out www.sassy-designs.net.

My plan is on legal size paper! I know, weird size. I usually scale it to 8.5”x11” when I print it. When you go to print, there should be a “scale to” button or resize button that gives you the option to print it on letter size paper.

Enjoy!

Pin-spiraling out of control!

Summer break officially started at 3:11 today. No, I wasn’t keeping track of time or anything! Whoohoo! I’m really excited to rest, read, relax, pin, pin some more and in my spare time pin. Seriously.addicted.

I have some grand plans for my Pinterest boards too – so many projects that I really want and need to devote time to.

I am a planner by nature – everything needs to be way over planned – and accompanied by pretty fonts and backgrounds of course! My thought with my Pinterest project is to plan it all out before I try to do to much and end up with nothing (anyone else have that problem?!?). Here’s my plan that I’m really going to try to stick with!

First step: Pick your top 10 projects from a board. (p.s. The Pinterest police won’t come get you if it’s not 10 – do what you feel comfortable with!)

Next: Plug your top 10 into weeks throughout the summer. Maybe you can do 3 the first week but the 4th project is larger and you want a whole week to complete it. Go for it – whatever works for you. :)

Step 3: Determine what supplies you need for each project {printer, paper, glue, etc.} and write it down. It’s nice to see what you need at a glance.

Step 4: Start keeping track of where you are for your pin projects. Mark whether it is in the “supply” phase, “progress” phase or the “completed” phase (yeah!!).

Step 5: Reward yourself by picking out a fun food treat from your pin boards. Use the last sheet to make your grocery list! Technically this is just a fun one – but isn’t there so much deliciousness on Pinterest?

Are you pinning like crazy or are you focused on making items based on your pins? It can get downright overwhelming. Hopefully these planning sheets will help! Grab your freebie here!

Sigh{s} of Relief!

Oh.dear.goodness. I haven’t updated in forever! I seriously don’t know where the time went – but May had so many activities that overtook my life that it wasn’t even funny! Field trips, parent luncheons, graduation, last day, etc.

My nephew’s 1st birthday party was also this weekend – so we did some major prep work for that! I would love to be a graphic designer in my next life – there are so many different items that can be created to spruce up a party. :)

Such a cutie patootie. Love him!

I am in summer mode – but before I get there, I have to pack up my entire room. Yes. The.Entire.Room. We have to put everything away, uncover every bulletin board and stack all of our furniture in one corner. Major ugh.

I took some final pictures of my room – hopefully I can remember this post come August and it will help me with the layout.

I’m super lucky to have an amazingly large classroom. I’m also somewhat of an obsessive classroom buyer – so I continue to buy and buy so I can fill it all up!

My library. I’m not lying when I say I’m slightly obsessed with books!

Left board is what we are focusing on in reading and right side is calendar.

Our circle/rug area. Such a central part of the classroom.

My desk area and Working with Words station…don’t judge that it’s slightly messy!

I still haven’t found a perfect way to organize my skill specific activities, but these drawers have helped. Writing center is in the back of the room.

Small group area with word wall and binders for student assessments. Math corner houses all of my math manipulatives – easy for on the go access.

Free choice and recess area. Blocks, legos, etc. You know, the items that kids should be able to use in Kindergarten?!?

The picture on the right is the backside of my shelving units – it’s amazing what some butcher paper and border can add to the overall look of a classroom!

Are you finished? Almost there? Hopefully so and then we all can relax, spend time on Pinterest and get those projects going that we all have on our to-do list! 

I Appreciate You! $600 Worth!

Here it is bloggy friends! The day has finally arrived! Grab a cup of coffee and get ready to browse through over $600 worth of products from a variety of K-12 blogs!

Today only, I'm offering my Brain Boosters - April Edition pack free! 20 pages of ELA Review that is suitable for Kindergarten and 1st grade. The May edition is also available in my store - and my summer to-do list includes creating September - March!

Know what you do is appreciated and admired by many. :)

Check it out by clicking on the link below to go directly to the April Brain Boosters! Enjoy!

All too often our hard work goes unrecognized. We put in countless hours, cut more laminating than anyone truly knows, are copy machine ninjas because we spend so much time there, are lesson plan professionals, Pinterest fiends, etc. The list goes on and on!

Each and every one of us does it for the students in our class – and next week is a time to share our appreciation for one another! Get ready for a mega jackpot bloggy friends.



Mark your calendars for this Sunday, May 6. No seriously, go mark it now! You don’t want to miss this!

April from A Modern Teacher (who is coordinating K-2nd grade products), Adrianne from The Tutor House (who is coordinating the 7th-12th grade products) and Laura from Corkboard Connections (who is coordinating the 3rd-6th grade products) have teamed up to offer an AMAZING teacher appreciation gift.

Over 140 participants will be offering a free product that is normally available for purchase (valued from $3- $8) from their TPT store. Be sure you have an account with TPT (you don’t have to be a seller – but make sure you are registered!).

$600 worth of free products – one day only!

PK - Grade 2 - April McNair on A Modern Teacher http://www.amodernteacher.com/2012/05/teacher-appreciation-jackpot.html

Grades 3 - 6 - Laura Candler on Corkboard Connections http://corkboardconnections.blogspot.com/2012/05/teacher-appreciation-jackpot.html

Grades 7 - 12 - Adrianne Meldrum on The Tutor House http://thetutorhouse.blogspot.com/2012/05/teacher-appreciation-jackpot.html

On Sunday, get ready to blog hop to your little heart’s content! The list of awesome PreK-2 bloggers offering freebies is below!

Thank you for all you do.

Boosting that brain

My kiddos are rocking with the Brain Boosters! It’s a really nice way to review ELA skills in a consistent format on a daily basis. Wheww. That’s a mouthful!

The May Brain Boosters set is available from my TPT store. Whoohoo!

20 daily review pages are included in this packet. Each page has 5 questions/themes.

Want to save some moolah? Act quick! Don’t forget your e-mail!

p.s. I went a little crazy and bought some new digital scrap papers courtesy of Sassy Designs! Check out www.sassy-designs.net

Are We Going To Graduation Today?

Kinder Graduation is a pretty big deal at my school – and a few weeks ago we took pictures of the kiddos in graduation caps and gowns. We don’t actually wear the caps and gowns at the ceremony – just to save our sanity time! We take pictures of the kids though and print them out for parent gifts as a nice little memento. My kids were definitely thinking they were going to graduation that particular day though!

I can’t believe it (procrastination is seriously my middle name) but I have Graduation Gifts together – yeahhhh! Last year, I gave them a very similar gift (you can read about it here). It was really easy but meaningful – and inexpensive! This year I found some great items and revamped the label (frame courtesy of The 3AM Teacher – awesome!).

Inside: Puzzle, Smarties candy, (and for added fun) Play-doh and bubbles.

I got the puzzles from Dollar Tree – 3 for $1. They had boy and girl versions. I loved the box puzzles that I had last year, but the variety at Dollar Tree this year left a lot to be desired!

Each puzzle fits perfectly in a snack size bag. This is probably overkill, but I cut the picture out of the back of the package and placed it in the baggie so the kids know what the puzzle looks like.

You don’t have to do this next step – it just saves a little time. I bought full-sheet labels( from Wal-Mart) to use. They stick right to the bag.

Voila! I’m figuring my cost was around $.75 per kiddo – not including the bags/labels. Not too shabby. I don’t mind spending money on my kids or classroom but it’s always nice to have a gift that is cute but didn’t cost a crazy amount!

Want to make it? Awesome. :)

Click on the pic below to grab your copy of labels. Labels for Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd and a generic next year are in this freebie. Enjoy!

Cute background graphics on this pic courtesy of Sassy Designs, Inc. If you haven’t been there, check it out!