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Monday, August 19, 2013

100 follower giveaway -- already!?!

I am so excited to announce that I hit 100 followers over the weekend - I can't believe it! So, you know what that means...it's time for another giveaway :)


Remember the cute watch I shared on my post the other day? Well, I decided to go ahead and order another one to use as a prize for my next giveaway! So here it is..

Prize #1!!

The next prize in my giveaway bundle is this adorable chevron bag...

It's the perfect size for makeup, pencils and pens, or small snacks!

The last prize in the bundle is a $10 credit to my TPT store!!

The giveaway will go through Monday at 12 AM, so make sure you enter before then!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Speaking of giveaways, how cute is this Vera Bradley bag?!?


I won it at a giveaway hosted by Jamie over at Teaching Tidbits and More. It was such an awesome giveaway, and I can't wait to get my brand new teacher bag in the mail :) Thanks, Jamie!!

One more thing I wanted to share for today is my new organizing drawers. They are sooo cute, and go perfectly with my chevron and owl classroom!

You can get these adorable drawer labels here!
It was super easy to put these together - I bought the 3-drawer Sterilite drawers, printed the labels, and attached them with double-sided tape. I can't wait to put these in my classroom :)

Well, that's all I have for today. This is my last full week of summer before going back to work next week! I don't have anything planned, except working in my classroom..as soon as it's finished, I'll be posting a classroom tour!

PS - Don't forget about the huge TPT sale going on right now - you can get 28% off EVERYTHING in my store (be sure you use code BTS13)!! It ends tonight at midnight, so be sure you get your shop on before then!

Click to go to my store!

XOXO

Saturday, August 17, 2013

Oh Happy Day!!!

Good morning, everyone! I just wanted to do a quick post to let you know that it's finally here...The Teachers Pay Teachers Back to School Sale!!!
How perfect is this graphic?? Owls and chevron on the list?? Those 2 things make me a HAPPY girl!
Thanks to Graphics From the Pond for this adorable graphic!!

The sale will be Sunday and Monday ONLY, and you'll receive 28% off your purchases!! Be sure to use the  code BTS13 when you check out. My entire store is 20% off today through Monday, but on Sunday and Monday you can use the code for an additional 8% off. Such a great deal!!
I did want to highlight a couple of my best sellers..just in case you need some ideas :) Click each image to go to the product.




HAPPY SHOPPING!! I hope you all have a fabulous weekend!

XOXO

Friday, August 16, 2013

Days 4 & 5 Teacher Week + Giveaway Winners!!

Yay, it's Friday!!! I know for those of you who have already started back to school, you're especially excited that it's Friday :)




I'm linking up for days 4 & 5 of Teacher Week..this has been a lot of fun!



I'm combining days 4 and 5, since I didn't have time to do a post yesterday..





My number 1 Classroom Management Tip is the clipchart system:
Clipchart available here
Student number labels available here
I will be using calendars this year from Alyssa over at Just a Primary Girl. Students will have a copy of the calendar for the month in their communication folder. At the end of the day, students will color in their color for the day on the correct day, and the parents will initial it each night. This will allow me to have an open line of communication with parents regarding their child's behavior. These calendars are also fully editable, so I can fill them in to fit my needs - awesome!!
Click the picture to get this fabulous resource!!
Day 5 is Teacher Tips, and my biggest teacher tip would be to use VistaPrint! I have gotten so many great things to use from this website. You can actually create your own designs for things such as business cards, stamps, and postcards, and upload them on the website. Groupon runs deals for VistaPrint where you get $70 worth of products for $17. I bought that deal recently, and was able to order several things for my classroom. Unfortunately, the $70 won't count towards taxes or shipping, but I was pretty happy that I got $70 worth of product for less than $20 :)
Here are some things I've ordered lately..
Also, this is totally random, but how cute are these watches?! I ordered one from Groupon yesterday in gray, and it was only $8.99!

See them here

Ok...now to the winners of my blog launch giveaway!!!









I will be contacting the winners by email shortly - as soon as I grab some lunch!! :)
Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. I think it was a HUGE success!!

XOXO


Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Teacher Week: Now Teach! Organizing for Instruction

Happy hump day!! Don't you just LOOOOVE that camel commercial?? I know I do :)

Anyway, today I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' for Day 3 of Teacher Week: Organizing for Instruction.

I did get a chance to work in my classroom for a couple of hours today, and I got a few things accomplished. I still have soo much to do!! Unfortunately, I've lost misplaced the cord to hook my camera up to my computer, so phone pictures will have to suffice for now :(

First up is my mailbox organization. I use the number system in my classroom, which is SO helpful in so many ways. This set of mailboxes is a set that my sweet principal found in the storage closet for me :) They were nice and dusty, so I had to scrub them down. Then, I applied some washi tape {which I am OBSESSED with} to spruce it up a little. 
Here is a close-up picture of my mailboxes. I hot glued these numbers to binder clips, and clipped each one to the little cardboard slot :) I think this will work out well with my 3rd graders!
Next up is this little organizational beauty! Although I haven't actually put it together {obviously}, I still wanted to share what I plan to do with it! My plan is to store my math centers and materials in this cart. I will be team-teaching with the teacher next door this year, and I'll be teaching math. Instead of our students changing classes, we will just switch classrooms. So, I'll just roll this handy little cart next door when I switch rooms each day. Hopefully this will help me keep my materials organized!
This cute little file box from Thirty-One is where I will keep my daily materials. I will have a folder for each day of the week, which is where I will store my copies and materials for each day. I will also have a folder to keep things that I need copied, so that I can take this with me to the copier, and file each thing as I copy it. It even has little pockets on the front, where I keep Post-its, pens, and paper clips {OH MY!}. Sorry...anyway, it seems that I always forget something when I head to the copier. Hopefully, with this file box, I'll have everything I need with me when I go! And of course - the best part is that it's CHEVRON!!! :)







Finally, the last thing I have to share are my desk drawers. My drawers have to be organized, so that I can find things easily when I need them. I invest in some drawer organizers, and it makes it easy-peasy to find my junk educational materials.
{notice the economy sized bottle of Ibuprofen :)}

{I have a slight pen obsession}

Well, that's all I have for today! I'll be back tomorrow to share some of my ideas for classroom management.

Remember to enter my giveaway - tomorrow is the LAST DAY!!! :)




XOXO

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Classroom Digs

Hey everyone! I had a really great plan to go into my classroom today to take some pictures with my camera, but that didn't happen. I had to take Gracie to the vet to have some follow-up x-rays from her surgery. The vet that did her surgery is about an hour away from where I live, and the appointment took much longer than what I had expected. So her 10:00 appointment put us getting back home around 2:00, and I had my graduate class at 4:30. So, that meant no classroom time :( However, I did have some classroom pictures on my phone, so I'll share those for now. Then I'll do an actual classroom tour as soon as I can get some real pictures!


Here is a panoramic view of my room (before desks and chairs)
Fun little reading area (rug is from Walmart, and pillow is from Big Lots)
Cute kiddos from Ashley Hughes printed on a poster maker
My bulletin boards + desk lamp. The STAR WORK letters are part of my Chevron Classroom Headers pack.
My classroom curtains! (I have 2 sets of 3 windows)
Clipchart is available here. Hand signals and voice levels charts can be purchased here.
My clipchart with the clips added! Washi tape + these number labels = PERFECTION :)
My "Show What You Know" chart for quick sticky note assessments! Labels are from Mrs. Heeren's Happenings.

Well, that's all I have to share for today! I do apologize for the quality of these pictures - I promise I'll do a classroom tour very soon with pictures from my "real" camera. I'll also be back tomorrow for Day 3 of Teacher Week: Organizing for Instruction.

Don't forget to enter my BLOG LAUNCH GIVEAWAY going on right now!! There are only a few more days to enter to win some of those amazing prizes!!

Thanks for stopping by!
XOXO

Monday, August 12, 2013

My First Link-Ups...2 in 1!

Happy Monday, everyone! I know a lot of you have already started back to school, and some started back today. Lucky for me, I still have a few more weeks of summer..
So I have decided to join 2 DIFFERENT linkys today..am I crazy?! Yes. The answer is always yes.


First up is my Monday Made-It. Since I didn't have time to get crafty this week {since I was getting this here blog up and running}, I created a new product that I'm SUUUUUUPER excited about. Any Duck Dynasty fans in the house? It is one of my favorite shows, and I love that it is family-friendly, so I don't have to worry about keeping the volume down when my nieces are around :) When I saw that Melonheadz had created this adorable set of clipart, I knew I had to come up with something.

So...here it is!! A set of 20 different math games (10 using dice, 10 using playing cards) for your students to use to practice important math skills such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, place value, and MORE!!

I've been working hard on this product, so I sure hope you enjoy it!! The first 3 people to comment on this post with their email AND their favorite Duck Dynasty character will win this pack for FREE! You must include both! Even if you aren't one of the first 3 to comment, no worries! I have this pack on sale for 20% off in my TPT store today only. So go pick it up :) Trust me, your kiddos will thank you for it!

Next up is this fun little Linky Party with Blog Hoppin'!


Every day this week, I will be posting (eek! Everyday?!), following this fun format..


So, here goes nothing!! Today is..





Under my About Me tab above, I've already posted 10 random facts about me. So, that meant I had to come up with 10 OTHER things that I haven't already told you! It was a little tricky, but here we go..

1. I was a competition gymnast when I was younger. I absolutely LOVED gymnastics, and really wish I had stuck with it! At one point, I placed 5th in the state of Georgia overall :)

2. I have a sister who is 15 months older than me - my mom says it was like having twins when we were younger! Here is a picture of us when we were younger - weren't we adorable?!

How adorable is my button shirt?! NOT!

And here we are on my wedding day!

3. I met my best friend, Cindy, when I moved schools in the middle of 8th grade. Middle school is bad enough, but throw in moving to a school where you don't know anyone, and it's a recipe for disaster. Luckily, I met the sweetest girl, who ended up becoming my best friend!! We've been best friends for 15 years now, and I don't know where I'd be without this girl!

Cindy and I, back when I had blonde hair and a tan!
4. I have a secret addiction to the Lifetime channel. I can truly spend an entire day getting sucked into those movies! I also love watching the ID Channel, even though it makes me have bad dreams!!

5. If you follow me on Instagram, you already know this. But my sweet furbaby Gracie was hit by the mailman at the beginning of July. The worst part? He didn't even stop! She was very lucky, and we are very broke as a result. She had to have surgery, and has been recuperating ever since. This means that her mommy {ME} has to stay home with her during the day, because she can't be left alone for long periods of time. My hubby and I had a vacation planned this summer, but guess what? We had to cancel :( But she is SO worth every bit of it, and I'm so happy that she's on the road to recovery!
This is her "caught off guard" look! You can see her scars on her belly :(
6. I have 2 tattoos. Both of them are faith-based, and I don't regret them for a second. One is on my right foot, and the other is on my left wrist.

7. As I stated in my About Me section, my husband and I met on a blind date. I didn't mention that our mutual friend that set us up has 3 successful match-ups under her belt! Her matchmaking skills have resulted in 3 marriages :)

8. 3rd grade was my absolute favorite grade when I was in school, so I'm super excited to have the opportunity to teach 3rd this year!

9. I am not a fan of the ocean, but I love going to the beach! Especially this one:
Punta Cana, Dominican Republic {where we honeymooned}
10. My husband and I live in his grandparents' old house that his grandfather built. It's small, we don't have central heat and air, and we also have no dishwasher, but this little house is our home. That's what I love most about it!

Well, I hope you've been able to learn a little bit more about me! Link up with Blog Hoppin' to join this linky party! I'll be back tomorrow with some snapshots from my (not finished) classroom!

XOXO