Work Hard, Play Hard, & Be Kind

Happy summertime teacher friends!!! I hope you had a fabulous school year.  I'm so giggly to be able to share a new freebie with you.  But first a little backstory...

Like many campuses, every year my school selects a building theme.  This past year we chose a game theme and our slogan was "Work Hard, Play Hard, & Be Kind!" 

Our team does a wonderful job decorating and our students always love coming back to see what we've done with the building.  The foyer was decorated to match our theme announcement and each grade level hallway decorated in a specific game!

school foyer

(excuse the blur...bleh!)

Now the goodies...

I love, love, love the way our staff works together.  We have an awesome rapport!  One tradition that we implement, every year, is Affirmation Bags.  Each staff member has a bag that we place in the lounge or bring to faculty meetings to be filled with kind notes from other staff members.  It's amazing.  Somehow you always seem to have your "bucket filled" with just the right note on just the right day! Of course our affirmation bag has to match our theme for the year.  Check out our game themed bags that I made this year!

Striped bags from Amazon.

 I just love the way they turned out!

You can snag the editable labels in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store. 

Classroom Reveal...Burlap & Black

Ok well it's not technically my classroom BUT I did create the sets.  In fact these pictures are actually a combination of 2 different classrooms in my building that used my Burlap & Black decor.  I am loving the results.  Ms. Durbin (whom I'm uber-excited is my daughter's teacher this year) from 3rd Grade's a Hoot wanted a change of pace from her bright owls...and well since I am no longer in a classroom myself {more on that in a future post} I had to get my decorating fix some way... so I volunteered to make her set. I am super happy with the results and well she says it feels so "zen!" Fabulous! Disclaimer: Please excuse the blurry pics.  Had to count on the iPhone for this one.

Calendar

      

Table Numbers & Name Tags

Clip Chart and Hall of Fame

Student Book Boxes & Leveled Library

(Bins from Walmart)

Daily 5 & CAFE Board

Welcome Sign & Subject Headers

How cute is the little valance! It was made using burlap and black ribbon! (No sew!)

Other Decoratives!

(Fabric & Burlap: Hobby Lobby)

(Door Sign - Painted Canvas w/ Printable burlap sheet: Walmart)

All of this burlap business makes my southern heart happy! 

You can pick up your Burlap & Black Decoratives in my Teachers Pay Teachers store here!

See this post about the available Burlap & Black products!

     

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!

Math Flashcard "Monstage"...with Freebie!

Well earlier this year I posted here about storing word wall flashcards into our daily binders.  After cleaning out my own first grader's binder, I realized that I never posted the math flashcard pics and printable!!! This one actually took me awhile to figure out. I knew that I wanted to use the super cute alien/monster duck tape.  I also wanted to figure out how to incorporate the word monster or alien into the label.  The results....

So I did have to explain to my firsties what a montage was, in order for them to pick up on the "mon-stage" reference.  I really don't think they were as concerned at that point with the words as much as they loved the super cool duck tape! giggles

The labels turned out too fun!

(Graphics & Fonts by: Springhill Graphics, Kevin & Amanda)

Of course you can grab your own set of labels by clicking here!! They are made to fit Avery 5163. 

If you've got another fun idea for a play on the word monster, alien, or space that would work for flashcard storage...I'd love to see your comments. Perhaps I can re-vamp for next year!

Saving Space...

Just a quick stop by to share a space saving idea that was a great improvement to my classroom!! I use every square foot of my classroom as I'm sure MOST of you all do as well.  Reading area here, writer's workshop supplies there, oh and where shall I put listen to reading?...I'm blessed with a fairly large classroom, but there's one thing that was driving me bonkers! MY POCKET CHART STAND!!! I'd tried a mega stand from Lakeshore, a small garment rack from Walmart, and I just couldn't get all giggly over any of them. I think the pushing them around was the problem.  Then it hit me...put it in a place that was easily accessible and could be put away in a snap.  Taadaaa!!! I just attached it to the top of my white board with staples and used the little velcro to roll it up for storage. Now I'm certain I'm not the first to do this and I'm sure at some point this is what the velcro on the back was intended for, but it was new to me! And it's made my teaching life just a tad easier.

Have a great week!!



Word Wall "Stache" Freebie...

Well you know with all of the fabulous Duck Tape prints available it was only a matter of time before I got my glittery hands onto a few packages! It's been super fun creating a handful of projects with the tape lately.  I'm lovin' my newest Pinterest inspired project with the adorable mustache tape...

Each week we (First Grade Teachers) send home a page of flashcards for students to cut out and keep for word wall word practice.  Until this year, we've just kind of crossed our fingers and envisioned that every child kept a plastic bag of flashcards at home in their quiet homework spot...giggles!!! So, this year we decided to add a spot in their Daily Take Home Binder to "stache" the flashcards. Perfect opportunity to use the "stache" tape.

First, I printed matching labels...

and attached the Duck Tape and labels to a quart sized plastic baggie.

Then I punched holes using our electric 3 hole punch (1 bag at a time) and added them to Take Home Binders. tadaaaa!!! Love!

Click HERE for your free copy of the "Stache" labels!!!

Happy taping!!

New Zebra Leveled Labels!!

As you can see from the previous post we were allowed back into our classrooms early this summer.  It was very rare. My campus is usually the last one on the cleaning/floor tour for the district.  This summer we were moved to first! Some of my teacher besties and I totally took advantage! Laptops in tow, a Cherry Dr. Pepper in hand, and lots of giggles along the way we spent multiple days prepping our spaces. We had a great time helping each other out and sharing ideas. 

One of my most re-pinned classroom pictures on Pinterest is my leveled library from the Where It All Goes Down Post from last summer. The boxes are from Really Good Stuff (Wow my classroom has changed a bit since then!)...

On to my point...

One of my teammates has a jungle themed room and asked if I could make leveled labels to match her theme and color scheme.  I was so excited to see how they turned out and I LOVE them! (The white buckets are ice buckets from Walmart!)

You can check them out in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!

Sneak Peak (well really it's a sneak read?!?)...in the works for 1st Grade Glitter and Giggles...I'm pairing up with 3rd Grade's a Hoot for a Pirate sized giveaway!!

Classroom Makeover...

Well kind of...maybe I should say classroom update!?!? I needed to re-arrange to create some wall space in order to implement Cafe this year and let the owls join in the fun, and I'm all glitter and giggles with the results! The owl tree turned out just fab! I was also in need of a new guided reading table so Misty and I headed to Ikea.  My previous table just took up too much room.  I'm not sure how much I'll like the new table, but it looks sooo much better.  Check out some of my new glitter...

Daily 5 and Cafe Owl Tree!!!

(For a vertical version of this bulletin board, check out 3rd Grade's a Hoot)

Cafe Menu

Cafe Menu: 3rd Grade's a Hoot - Free

Cafe Letters: Frog Street Press' Bright Sassy Dot - $9.99

Blue Border: Frogstreet Press' Blue Sassy Solid Border - $6.99

Owl Clip Art: JW Illustrations

Tissue Poms: I made those!

Daily 5 Board

Literacy Signs: 3rd Grade's a Hoot - $5

Daily 5 Letters: Frog Street Press' Bright Sassy Dot - $9.99

Blue Border: Frogstreet Press' Blue Sassy Solid Border - $6.99

Owl Clip Art: JW Illustrations

Tissue Poms: I made those!

Listening Station & Word Family Board

White Tables (2) : Ikea - $8

Green Stools (2): Ikea - $8

Dr. Seuss Word Family Board: See my blog post!

Guided Reading Area

White/Pink Table: Ikea - $35ish

Pink Swivel Chair: Ikea - $25ish

(I'm still working on the student chairs for my guided table...looking for something just right!)

A little glitter behind my table...

Keep Calm Printable: 3rd Grade's a Hoot - FREE!

Pink Frame: Hobby Lobby - $19.99

Lamp: Made with supplies from Hobby Lobby - About $20

Classroom Library

(I changed this up a bit from my previous pics and I haven't filled the bins with books yet...)

Paintings: This is my number 1 follower question...I painted these canvas prints myself! Just took a canvas, acrylic paint, and some patience!

Couch Pillows: Made using fabric from Hobby Lobby and old decorative pillows

Shelves (2): Target - $45

Plastic Bins: Dollar Tree - $1

Word Wall

I finally changed out my alphabet and I LOVE the results!

Alphabet: Tricia Lyday - $3.50

Bright Book Bins (under word wall): Really Good Stuff - $35.99 (set)

Table Numbers

Tissue Poms: Party City - $6.99

Pink Ribbon: Hobby Lobby - $3

Owl Decor: 3rd Grade's a Hoot - $10

Behavior Chart

Owl Behavior Chart: 3rd Grade's a Hoot Blog - Free

This room has me all smiles and sunshine.

In other news...I know that several of you have contacted me looking for my Birdies and Buntings & Camping Cuties Daily 5 sets.  I'm currently working on updating them to meet "guidelines".  I will have them re-posted soon. I hope everyone is having a restful summer!! Up next for me grade level shirts and a little Florida sunshine! Giggles!!!!

A Blogger's Summer Schedule...

Well summer is in full swing and I am adjusting quite well...giggles!!!!! I AM LOVIN' IT! I am able to give a little TLC to all of the things that I enjoy doing but get pushed to the side during the fast paced school year.  One of my absolute faves is getting new ideas and creating for my classroom. (Of course that time is split with several of my other faves...sleeping in, creating for my home, and time with the fam!) However, I quickly find myself scattered all over this pink laptop of mine with a bajillion ideas floating around in my head. I would imagine it looks something like a confetti of clipart, bright colors, blog reading lists, pin boards, at the moment tons of chevron & quatrefoil print, and of course the sparkliest glitter you've ever seen. I have GOT to get all of this confetti from my brain organized into some nice color coded files. Well here's the plan...I've created a little schedule to hopefully keep me on track and actually get results.

The inspiration...this fabulous little summer schedule from www.somewhatsimple.com that I've seen sprinkled all over pinboards and that I totally plan to incorporate when I'm wearing my domestic hat...

And now...A Blogger's Schedule to a Productive Summer...

(Fonts: Keven and Amanda Graphics: Dreamlike Magic & Flavoree Digital Scrapbooking Supplies)

I realize that it doesn't have the cute little alliteration that the summer schedule provides, BUT I really think it's going to work for me!  Here's a little commentary to the thought process of this little gem.

Get Inspired Monday: There are so many amazing ideas out there. My "Teacher Style" pinbaord is loaded with pins of activities I'd love to incorporate or adapt to fit my classroom.  On Mondays I hope to just choose 1 for the week to actually get started.

Create It Tuesday: What I wanted to say for the description was...grab your favorite beverage, get your favorite Scentsy scent going, turn on a little reality tv, and get to work (checking Pinterest one more time because you KNOW something else wonderful has been pinned). For me, this scenario looks something like this...a chai latte in my leopard print mug, coconut lemongrass in my Scentsy, and housewives of something on my tv!

Craft It Wednesday: I love adding printed ribbon, tissue poms, and of course a little glitter to whatever it is I want to display. (maybe you should check Pinterest on a break just to keep you going...since you're on your computer already, might as well take a quick look at your blog reading list too...giggles!)

Share It Thursday: I know that many blog more than once a week and that is fabulous!! Blog on! However, I'd like to be a little more consistent. And let's be honest, if we ALL blogged only on Thursdays blog stalking would be a little less exciting. Make it work for you.

Read All About It Friday!: I've got to get better at answering questions, responding to comments, and answering emails! (apologies for anyone awaiting a reply...lol!) This will also be the day I do a little reading for professional development. (and probably check Pinterest one more time!)

Well that's it in a nutshell.  Just a little organizational inspiration! Have a productive summer and I hope this helps at least a handful of busy bloggers like me!