Teacher Week 2013: Ten Random Tidbits about ME!

I looove teacher week!  We are squeezing in one last summer vacation right now,  so this post is going to be short and sweet but I did not want to miss out on the party! 

I also LOVE my new blog design.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to Kassie at The Cutest Blog on the Block for giving my blog a little one year anniversary makeover!

Here are 5 random tidbits about ME:

1.  I got married in May in the Outer Banks.  It was the most fun thing I've ever done!  We rented a gigantic house and all of our family and closest friends stayed with us. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect, laid back way to start our lives together! The whole event was so "us."

*Another fun fact: My older brother got ordained online and married us because we didn't want a stranger at the beach to do the ceremony!  He now has the nickname "Rev". :)

2. My husband's name is Andy.  He's a firefighter in the same city where I teach.  We have a dog, Sawyer, who we treat like a child.  He was even part of the wedding!

  

Sawyer is completely spoiled rotten.

3. My dad was the principal at my high school.  It wasn't as bad as it may sound because I was a pretty good kid (had to be, right?!).  I wish I was at home to share a high school picture, but I'll just have to leave the awkwardness to your imagination.

4.  In high school and college, people used to get my best friend and I mixed up all.the.time.  It was ridiculous.  We get it less often now...but what do you think? Twins or no? 

This is us during our freshman year at Virginia Tech. Go Hokies!

And now...

Maegan is in Uganda serving as a missionary since January and I miss her SO daggone much!

5.  Andy and I hope to have children of our own in the future but for right now we LOVE lovin' on our friends' babies and our precious nieces and nephew.

Cuteness overload!

6.  I've seen Bon Jovi concerts in 4 different cities.  Maegan and I may been considered groupies for a short time. We actually traveled to Denver to see him one time (from Virginia...wow) and it was totally worth it because we had front row seats.  No one believes me except Maegan, but Jon Bon Jovi did indeed blow me a kiss at one of the concerts.  And I liked it.

7.  I met M.C. Hammer when I was a little kid in an elevator in Richmond.

8. If I go to a restaurant and they have fish tacos on the menu...there is a 95% chance that is what I will order.  My favorite fish tacos of all time are from a little place in Blacksburg, VA called "Cabo Fish Taco."

9.   I wish I could draw.  Even my stick figures are sad.  :(

10.  My favorite place in the world to be is at the beach!  Which is where I am now...which is why I need to get off of the computer. :)

Don't forget to link up and check back all week for fun teacher week posts!

Happy Back to School!

Guess what?

I have a new blog design that will be unveiled VERY soon I hope.  I'm so darn excited.  Here's a little sneaky peeky...

Cuteness!

Stay tuned, friends!

I haven't been able to get back in my classroom for a few days but I've been working a little bit at home and my favorite finds this week were these lightweight, bright frames at Michael's! They were buy one get one free PLUS the sweet lady at the register had a coupon for 20% off instead of my 15% teacher discount. Woohoo!  I love them and I think (hope!) they're lightweight enough to stick on the wall with a command hook.

Everything looks better framed, am I right?  I obviously couldn't afford to frame everything on my walls so I decided to frame the rules and motivational posters.  Here is a start on that.

Click the links to be taken to the original source if you like these posters.

If You Can't Be Kind, Be Quiet  (Can I get an amen?)

Be Kind. No Exceptions.

And the class rules were made by yours truly.  

I actually posted a different one a couple weeks ago and I changed my mind on the color scheme (big shocker!) so...you are welcome to grab yourself a copy of either one if you want them!

Click here to download.

I like to keep my class rules short and sweet.  I let the kids have input on what kind of rules they want in the classroom on the first day of school...but for some reason they always get bogged down in things that pertain to physical violence and gross stuff.  Is that just my kids?

If I took all of their ideas, we would have 6,972 rules.  

1.  No hitting

2. No pushing

3. No kicking

4. No spitting in other people's food in the lunchroom (an actual one from one of my kiddos from last year)

5.  No biting

6. No calling people "cry babies" even if they are  (no...I couldn't make this stuff up)

etc. etc. etc. etc.

You get the picture.  So...I still get their input, but I have these 3 ready to rock because let's be honest I can slide any transgression into one of these categories.  I'm good like that.

Pretty sure spitting in other people's food qualifies as not being kind and respectful.  Just saying.

Last but not least,  I've been working on a little "Back to Basics" math and literacy pack and it's up and ready to go!  This is full of activities (whole group, small group, individual work, and partner games) that I plan to use to review basic skills with my first graders at the beginning of the year.  It would be perfect for kindergarten and Pre-K all year long.  I also plan to keep these activities handy to use for intervention as needed throughout the year in my first grade classroom.

Language Arts Skills:

first day writing template

-alphabet letter cards (lowercase)
-alphabet letter cards (capital)
-letter sounds picture cards (26 plus ch/sh/th)
-beginning sound assessment & answer key
-CVC picture cards
-CVC word cards
-"write around the room" CVC activity and/or assessment
-missing letter CVC assessment and/or guided practice
-DRAW IT (CVC word version)
-DRAW IT (CVC sentence version)
-rhyming picture match/pocket chart cards
-"No Nonsense" real vs. nonsense word rhyming activity
-rhyming sentence challenge activity

Math Skills:
-"A Number Book" (students illustrate simple sentences to show mastery of one to one correspondence with simple pictures)
(numbers 1-10)-"Adios Monsters" dice game & recording sheet
-"Spin it to Win it" card/unifix cube game (numbers 0-20)
-"It's All About the Dots" subitizing cards...perfect for number talks!
-"Fill it Up" card game (numbers 1-30)
-colorful number cards 1-30

It is ON SALE for 5 bucks this week. :)  Check out the preview here if you're interested!

I'd also love to GIVE IT AWAY to the first 5 readers that head over to my facebook page and leave me a comment there telling me you could use it! 

Happy Summer!

Classroom Sneak Peak & Scrap Fabric Banner Tutorial

I got the itch to start working in my classroom this week.  The spare bedroom was filled to the brim with "stuff" that needed to go to my classroom so I packed up my car and went in on Monday morning expecting it to be 120 degrees in my room.  I was pleasantly surprised to find out that the AC was on (thank you summer school)!  So, I stayed longer than I had originally planned and got some things put back.

Here is what I walked into on Monday morning. Yikes.

I've had a "jungle" theme for the past few years and each year monkeys have slowly started to disappear. Bless their hearts. They're cute but I got tired of them about 2 years ago but couldn't justify spending the money to completely re-do everything.  I finally decided that I'd built up enough bright, colorful decor to make THAT my theme.  

The last reminder of "the jungle" was the vine hanging in the meeting area.  I decided to replace that with a black and bright, whimsical rag banner.  I kept seeing them popping up on Pinterest...mostly as photography backdrops and party decorations. I decided that I could whip one up faster than cutting out triangles for a pennant.  I am am impatient crafter and I'm really, really bad at measuring things. Eek.

I can't even describe how easy this was and I'm thrilled with the final product!  I had a LOT of fabric left over from various unfinished projects and I ordered some more (chevron...duh!)  on fabric.com!  They have an awesome selection.

So I ended up with a ton of playful patterns and colors to work with.

The best part of this project was NO MEAURING required.  The strips do not have to be uniform or perfect.  In fact, I think it is better if they're not.  That's what I tell myself, anyway.

 I used some decorative black cord from Hobby Lobby to string the fabric.  If I was using this for a party in my house or for photography or something...I think twine would look adorable, but the black worked best with my classroom colors.

 Just cut strips, lay them out, and get ready to tie!

 I tried to show you how I tied the "knots" but it was hard with one hand on the camera. ;)  Basically I folded the strip in half.  Put the "open" ends on the top and pull the "closed" end through the hole and then just pull it snug.  The end result was a knot that looked sort of like a man's tie.  My fabric was not double sided, so I just pulled on it and arranged it so the pretty side was facing out for the most part. The cutting and tying combined took about 2 hours.  I made two really long banners.

So easy. So cute.

And her's my little fashion model posing with the finished product.

And ta-da!  Here it is hanging in my classroom.  Please ignore the crummy quality and everything else in the photo.  Good grief. I still have a lot of work to do...but no more jungle vine!

I have some more fun projects planned for that pretty fabric...stay tuned!

Now, I have a pajama party planned with my laminator.  Friday night...what else would I do? 

Happy Summer to you!

Favorite Pins Friday

I love this linky party because I've been a pinning machine this summer!  Thanks, sweet Cara!  It makes me feel productive without really doing anything. ;)  

YES...it should.

Here are some of my latest favorites...

Painter's tape to make handwriting lines...easy and useful!

(the link was bad on this one...let me know if it's yours so I can give credit where credit is due!)

I am skeptical that 24 will fit in a soapbox but Pinterest says yes...so it must be so!  I'm hoping I can find a pack of 3 at the Dollar Tree?!?!

I am afraid to print this yet, for fear it will suck the rest of my precious black ink out...but I love it and plan to display it in my classroom this year and refer to it often.  It reminds of Bambi when Thumper says "My momma always told me...if you can't say nothin' nice, don't say nothin' at all." So true!

Click the image to find the original source!

Here is a dreamy little pin for my pretend beach house. ;)  This looks like the PERFECT room for afternoon napping.

Click the image to find the original source.

And I've been pinning LOTS of ideas for finishing our basement onto my "DIY...or ask Andy to do it" board! :)

Click the image to find the original source.

And last but not least...this pin was titled "hundreds of healthy lunch ideas that don't involve sandwiches."  I get in such a rut when I pack lunches for school.  I think it's the hardest meal to plan for.  I love some of these ideas...and I love that there are pictures! :)

If you want to see more...follow me on Pinterest!

Happy Friday & Happy Pinning!

Throwback Thursday Style!

I'm linking up with Cara at The First Grade Parade today to bring back a short & sweet little post from last September.  It includes a freebie that you can go ahead and download and get ready for your new babies this year!

I looooved my Weekend News journal!  It was so easy to look back and see/document growth in writing.  My kids and parents also loved having all of the little snapshots of their entire year.  I will most definitely be doing Weekend News again this coming year!  It makes for the easiest Monday morning work EVER...and who doesn't need a little something easy on a Monday morning?!?!

*The only thing I did differently than what I posted is that I went ahead and copied, hole-punched, and  put together all 36 weeks worth of sheets at the beginning of the year.  I'm so glad I did that so I never had to go back and put them in....like that would have happened!  Let's get real...those folders would have been a hot mess if I had just put them in the pockets! Ha!

Click here to see the post and grab your FREE weekend news cover and writing pages!

Happy Summer to you!

Sunday Randomness & some WINNERS!

 

 

Michelle over at Fabulous in First is hosting another Sunday Smorgasbord linky...perfect for me today because I'm feeling all kinds of random!

First things first... I have some winners!

(Sorry it has taken me so long to post this...no good excuse...summer just "got in the way" ;))

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

Congrats, girls!  I'll be sending you an e-mail today so you can get your goodies!

 

We had a RIDICULOUS amount of rain last week. It rained every. single. day.  It was crazy.  I did some work and redecorating around the house and then busted out some school work! 

 

I usually wait until closer to August but I have some fun projects that are calling my name. :)  I made a new "class rules" poster. I always use the same 3 rules...but I just redesigned it. I like to keep the rule "list" short and sweet...and pretty much any behavior can relate back to these 3! I'm going to put it in some sort of pretty frame to hang but I haven't found the right one yet.  If anyone wants this, feel free to grab it! Just click the image and download or pin it for later!

 

 

 

I also made a trip to Hobby Lobby when I went to Greensboro to spend time with my sweet neice. 

 

 

Love this little girl!  Now, if we can just get our trip to Nashville planned to see our other precious niece and nephew...my summer will be *almost* complete!

 

We don't have one where I live...which may or may not be a good thing.  I found so many things I HAD to have for my new little home office and my classroom.

 

The first thing I saw when I walked in was this sign!

 

 

 

I love it (and it immediately made me think of sweet Teri at  A Cupcake for the Teacher!) I really feel like you should have this in your house! ;)

 

 I didn't get it, but oh so cute!

 

Here are some of the goodies I found for my office, mixed in with some TJ Maxx finds!  I'm waiting on my dad to paint my desk, so for now...to the floor it goes!

 

 

 

 Here is a peak at some of the fabric I got. I also found a good deal on some scraps from fabric.com that I'm waiting to receive! I got the awesome contact paper on amazon.com and I'm planning to do one of the little filing cabinet makeovers that I've seen on Pinterest with it!

 

 

 

And I loved this little sign so much that I got it for my house!

 

 

 

My new Erin Condren planner arrived this week as well! I love seeing my new name on everything.  Well, except my driver's license.  I didn't realize they would make me take a new picture so I went to the DMV MINUS a shower and PLUS a rainstorm and let's just say the picture on it was as good as I thought it would be after the camera clicked...oy.  It's a special kind of bad. And no, I will not post that. ;)

 

 

 

OK...enough randomness!  I think this little boy is ready for some pool time with his mom!

 

Thanks to everyone who entered my little giveaway! 

 

Happy Summer!

XO, Amy