Sarah's Elephants...Adorbs!

Holy cuteness. I just finished up a new classroom decor set and I am just lovin' it!

Ok, let me give you a little background first. Last year our first grade team received a new member. She was a veteran teacher and fit in right away.  I made the Birdies & Bunting set for her.  Well, a few weeks in to the year she was needed in a special needs classroom at our school and was excited to return to her passion.  At that point, we had a 1st grade class with no teacher!!! OMG!  I was so nervous about what we would do. Luckily Sarah, a brand new college graduate, had taken an aide position on our campus at the beginning of the year. She agreed to go take her certification tests and step into 1st grade immediately.  I was so thankful to have her.  But she didn't have the typical first year teacher experience.  Don't get me wrong it was hard tough challenging like all of our first years, but most importantly she didn't get to do all of the things that we get excited about doing in our first classroom. No choosing the theme, decorating the bulletin boards, or setting up the layout.  She basically moved into someone else's room.  I know that it never felt like "hers!"  She wasn't there at the beginning of the year for "Meet The Teacher Night." She didn't get to teach beginning of the year procedures. All of that, while trying to learn the 1st grade content.  I assured her, almost daily, that it would never be that hard again.  And she made it through...in one piece...and doing a great job.  Along the way, she also became a critical asset to our team. Of course she will miss that group, but we were so excited to celebrate the end of school and the completion of her first year of teaching. 

This summer we've been talking about her new room and how she wants to set up and decorate. We checked TPT, looked to Pinterest for a little inspiration, and discussed a handful of themes. While at a training a couple of weeks ago she said, "You know I've really always liked elephants!" And that was that.  I was so motivated. I was going to make exactly what she wanted. We were going to create a set fit for her. 

Now that the set is finished and printed I feel so much excitement for her.  I sent her a picture yesterday of her goodies ready to go.  I hope that it will help make for an amazing 2nd, 1st year of teaching!!

PS- Did I mention that I am IN LOVE with these darlin' elephants too?

Here are the sets added to my tpt...

Preppy Elephant Classroom Decorative Set

Preppy Elephant Classroom Numbers

Preppy Elephant Literacy Signs

(Graphics/Fonts By: Erin Bradley, Cara Carroll, Nina's Design Studio, JW Illustrations, DreamlikeMagic, Ms. Talley)

I will post pics of her classroom in a few weeks, once we get it all going.  Be back soon!

Favorite Pin Friday!

This linky over at Cara's fabulous First Grade Parade is just perfect for me today.  I worked this morning to begin the process of re-organizing my Pinterest page.  Previously, I only had one education related board called "Teacher Style." It had about a gazillion pins and was not real easy to find what I was looking for based on memory.  So today, I created a few more boards to help me (and you!) stay a little more organized with my pin obsession.  Perfect!

Since I've been organizing my teacher related board, I start with my new favorite education pins.

I am lovin' this craftivity by A Cupcake for the Teacher. I can't wait to make this the first week of school.

This vowel pack by Teacher to the Core is just adorbs.  The color and design have my name written all over them! And come on, as a first grade teacher, I've always wanted to figure out a way to use the cute Chicka Chicka books on a level appropriate for my firsties. BAM!

 At first glance, this pin may not seem education related BUT I am in need of a new read aloud chair since I'm afraid mine won't make it another year! Tear.  I would love to have this cute little chair added to my classroom posted by F is for First Grade! 

In the "take me shopping" department, I pinned this fabulous little return address label that I plan to order from MoxyPaperie on Etsy. 

The hubbie and I have been daydreaming of adding a pool while battling the Texas summer heat and I saw this amazing design pin linked to IZI Funny. *Disclaimer-I'm not sure about the content of the remainder of this site, but did enjoy the Beautiful Nature Made by People tab.* I mean Oh. My. Word...how fun would this be!?

A little home decor...This is actually from Walmart and is called the Emily Accent Chair!

This quote is posted on my "Wonderful Words" board and is very humbling to me! I kind of like to switch it around for me though and think about not comparing my middle to someone else's beginning!

And I've always wanted to post this one of my sparkly little blog so here it is...

I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend!

I "Mustache" you a question...

Who loves summertime...I do!!!  Sleeping in, catching up, family time, reflecting on the past year, and getting ready for the upcoming school year.  Also summer is a perfect time to give my blog and TPT store some TLC!

As I logged on, I noticed that I am 2 followers away from 1,000. Woohooo! That is so exciting.  I'll need to put together a sparkly little giveaway.  

A year ago, I shared this post with a picture of my door all decorated for college & career week.  This year I focused on career instead of college and I really wanted to figure out a way to incorporate my new obsession with mustaches. The result...

 

We took a picture of each student wearing a neon mustache and they wrote what they wanted to do/be when they grow up.  I loved the way that it turned out.  giggles

(Bright letters are from Frog Street Press)

For all of you owl lovers out there, check out my bff's door... at 3rd Grade's a Hoot! Too Cute!

Back soon with classroom photos, new products, and that 1,000 follower giveaway.

In the meantime, I'm working on setting up my blog in blog lovin.

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