8/31/13

Five for Friday (Last Week of Summer) and SLANT Box and Classroom Reveal

I know every year I say that the summer went by too fast, but this was one weird, quick summer. The weather wasn't the greatest and I don't know where the time went. In changing districts I actually had an extra week (my old district started back to school on Tuesday and I don't start until this coming Tuesday), but it didn't seem it. 

I cannot wait to meet my new kiddos and to teach 4th grade, but I didn't get to the beach enough, I didn't manage to squeeze in all of the day trips that I was hoping for, and as much as I love all things pumpkin, I am not ready for the pumpkin spice coffee/lattes at Starbucks and DD yet. 

As usual, here I am a day late for Doodle Bugs Five for Friday. 


Last weekend we celebrated my nephew's 1st birthday. When I say nephew I actually mean a distant cousin, but these kiddos are just so special that it makes more sense to call them my nephews. One of these little guys lives all the way out in Wyoming, so we don't see him very often, but we did last weekend! Here's the birthday boy!
On Tuesday, I had new teacher orientation in my new district. Most of you know that I am not teaching in my hometown. A couple of the presenters were some of my old high school teachers. Kind of weird, but great to see them! I also got to drop by and visit one of my favorite teachers who happened to be setting up her classroom in the room we were in. When I had this teacher, she got engaged to her husband. We threw her a little bridal shower at school and a couple of years later, I attended her baby shower. She had her kiddos with her at school, they are going into 5th grade, 3rd grade, and preschool. Talk about feeling old!
This was the week that all of the teachers were allowed into my building to set up their classrooms so I had the opportunity to meet many of my new coworkers. Everyone is so nice and so welcoming! And I cannot begin to count the number of times that I have heard "Pinterest" in my hallway...makes me feel right at home! :o)
When I got home from school on Wednesday my SLANT box was waiting for me! Jameson from Lessons with Coffee created the SLANT box exchange and she is a genius! This was so much fun...I am already signed up for round 2! :o) If you haven't done so yet, check it out on her blog by clicking below. 
Emily from Confessions of a Third Grade Teacher sent me the most amazing box filled with my favorite things! 

 

Everything was packaged in my favorite colors and Emily wrote me a very sweet note. The pink and green theme jumps right out when you look at the picture of all of my goodies! I love the owl that Emily made! It is the cutest and will soon be hanging up in my classroom. I also will be putting my new ID right onto the sparkly pink lanyard that Emily chose! There are also some fun pens, Post-It notes, water flavor packets (yum!), rewards, stickers, sentence strips, and more! Thanks so much Emily! 
Finally, I finished my classroom yesterday. Take a look...
View from the door                 Math manipulatives












                                          Love my Target chairs!







Finally, I made my numbers using chalkboard frames courtesy of Julie from My Journey to 5th Grade. Click the button below to check out her blog and great designs!


Thanks for reading! 




8/25/13

A Peek at My Week - A New Linky Party

I have been MIA recently. I was so excited with my 100 followers and now I'm not exactly deserving all of you with my lack of posts. Just quickly, I have been busy trying to get my room set-up, making the most of the end of my summer, meeting with my new teamies (they are AH-MAZING!) and preparing for 4th grade! :o)

Today I am excited to be linking up with Jennifer at Mrs. Laffin's Laughings for her brand new linky: A Peek at My Week. The idea is to share your plans for the week (school or home) in the hopes of giving others who might working on the same thing as you so ideas. I love it! 



Tomorrow is the day when my school is finally open to teachers to work in their classrooms. We officially go back to school next Tuesday, so this is it! Being new to the building, the custodians kindly allowed me to come and go for the past few weeks so my room is pretty well set. I will be enjoying a day with my Mom tomorrow before school starts up again, though. 

NEW TEACHER ORIENTATION! This makes it all just a little more official; kind of strange though because my old district begins their PD on Tuesday and I will be at my orientation for my new district. Luckily I have another friend who is attending orientation as well so I won't have to walk in alone (yes, I'm that girl that needs a buddy)! 
 
Finishing up my classroom and getting all of those school things done, laminating and copying for the first day, and meeting lots of new coworkers. I am very excited about this part of the week! :o)

A long weekend before school really starts. My goal is to not have to go into school on Friday. I'm sure I will still be preparing from home this weekend, but I will try to stay away from school. I am also hoping to get one more day at the beach in over the long weekend before I head back to school. 

So that's all, nothing too exciting yet. Next Sunday will be more school related, I can share some plans for the first few days. To those of you starting school this week, have a great week! :o)

Thanks for reading!




8/11/13

And the winner (of my very first giveaway) is...

Cherie Mae Ong

I will be contacting you via your email!! Congratulations! :o)

Thanks to everyone who entered my very first giveaway. I loved reading all of your comments and I am loving all of my newest followers! 

Just a reminder that my bloggy friend Lacey is hosting a Blog Launch Giveaway at her adorable new blog The Fabulous Life of an Elementary Teacher.  You have five chances to win, as Lacey bundled her amazing prizes into 5 groups. I have contributed my Monthly Perfect Attendance Brag Tags to this giveaway. Head over right now and check out Lacey's blog!


Thanks for reading! :o)

8/9/13

Five for Friday - Back at it!!

I know I missed the first Five for Friday of this school year last week, but I am excited to linking up with Doodle Bugs Five for Friday



This has been quite the week! 

I had the pleasure of helping my bestie set up some bulletin boards in her classroom on Monday. She is a kindergarten teacher in my old district. While I was there, I found out that I could get into my own classroom this week! Yay! :o)

The purple and green boards are two of the bulletin boards we completed. I love her bright colors!


Getting into my classroom on Tuesday was so exciting...until I started opening closet doors and seeing just how many goodies I had to go through and organize. The retiring teaching left behind some really great resources, but I am a bit OCD and I had to organize everything in my own way. Here are some before and afters. 



I love the great storage space that I have in this classroom. 


I was going to school on Wednesday to drop off my great new rugs. Of course that turned into a couple of hours of working on my classroom. Everything is still a work in progress, but here's the next round of photos. 

Top Left: These are baskets to hold work for each day of the week. The clipboard on easel will hold my guided reading plans. 
Top Right: Supply baskets in my great closet, labeled, of course!
Bottom Left: Classroom Jobs (more on this to come)
Center: Interactive whiteboard, I can statements, and 2 of the 3 rugs. I have always wanted a good whole-group meeting area and I finally have one! :o)
Bottom Right: I can statements


Yesterday, my bestie came to school with me help me out with my bulletin boards. I have one very large green chalkboard...I had the genius idea to cover this board with black contact paper. There is no way I could have done this on my own, so I am so grateful to my dear friend for all of her help! 

I am so pleased with how everything is turning out! 


The weather here is terrible today. Gloomy, rainy, windy, flash floods - a perfect crafting day. I have enjoyed completing several project today, but I'll share those on Monday. I would like to remind you to enter my 100 Bloglovin' Follower/200 Instagram Follower Giveaway! 


I am also participating in a giveaway. My Instafriend, Lacey, has launched a brand new, fantabulous blog: The Fabulous Life of an Elementary Teacher.



Lacey is giving away 5 bundles of assorted TPT goodies from some amazing sellers. Head over right now, by clicking on either of the above pictures, and enter the great giveaway! 

Thanks for reading!