Currently and a *Freebie!*

Today my plan is to not have a plan.

It is my last day in Orlando and I am going to soak up every. last. drop. of sunshine & happiness! You see, I need it to last me through the next few weeks until Thanksgiving Break when I'll have my toes in the water and booty in the sand once again.

By the way, no one ever told me teaching was so stressful! I was counting on you all! Holy moly it's a lot of work. :) 

Anyway, this break has been exactly what I needed. I have spent a lovely week with my mother and my grandmother laying by the pool and thinking about everything BUT school. (Well, except when I  am on here... and Google Reader... and Pinterest... and my email... ok maybe not.)

A couple of nights ago we went to Downtown Disney. Every time we come to Orlando (which is about once or twice a year), we have to take a day and check out Disney World and Downtown Disney. Since it's just the 3 of us this time, we decided not to go to Disney World, but we did manage to spend the evening at Downtown Disney and it was a BlAsT!

Where Dreams Come True...

This is made completely out of Legos! So cool!

(Sorry it's a little grainy...these were taken with my cell phone and the sun was beginning to go down.)

I'm a Mr. Potato Head kinda girl! :)

This was taken at our resort... the fountain and the lake is just so pretty I couldn't help myself.

 Alright on to the teacher stuff! I created this {Apple Themed} Even and Odd Numbers Activity as morning work a few weeks ago to give my 3rd graders a little more practice. The kiddos love it because they get to cut and glue, and it was also fun! If you want to grab this FREEBIE click {here}!

Now on to Currently over at Oh' Boy Fourth Grade with Farley...

I noticed that there's a typo in the "wanting"...oh well.

This is my first Currently with Farley! I am so excited to be able to share and take part in such a great linky with so many inspiring and encouraging educators! Reading everyone's posts helps me realize I am not in this alone and how I feel, which is sometimes overwhelmed and exhausted 75% 90% of the time, is pretty normal! :)

Go link up!

Linky Party and a *Freebie*

One of my plans for fall break was to clean up some of the files on my MacBook and organize all of the documents into neat little files. I did this over the summer, (hey I even have a TpT file with mini-files of all of my products!) but once school started and I kept making new forms/activities... it's a big mess once again. I LOVE organizing and making things neat and tidy, but it seems like it's the first thing to go when I get busy during the week. I am lucky if I have enough energy to take a shower, slip on jammies, and kiss my sweetie goodnight. ughhhhhh

Question: How do YOU keep all of your files organized for TpT/ school on your laptop?



During my cleaning spree this morning, I found a form that I had planned to post and totally forgot about!

My Behavior Form Report is a version I used during student teaching in the spring. Now that I have my own classroom, I felt like I was lacking in my weekly parent communication, and I remembered that I used to send this home every week. It's quick and easy (helloooo it's just a check mark!) and parents like to hear about their child's weekly performance. You can use it in any way you wish, but I have been sending it home in our Monday Folder. If you want to check it out, click {here}!

Now for this awesome linky party being thrown by Leah at Learning 4 Keeps called "If You Can't Be Deep... Be Funny".

Sometimes, it's nice to take a break and have a laugh! Pinterest is GREAT for that!

The theme for this week is THAT IS SO ME! :)

Here are some funny posts I've ran across recently:

Please?

Oh Target...

...so it's not just me then??

Really though...

I love fall, but this is true!

...maybe not with the beard though? :)

I could sleep for days...no WEEKS!

Last but not least....

Oh Kate!

Now, get on over to Learning 4 Keeps and link up with Leah!

Fall Break and Teacher Organization Binder!

Hi friends!
     How is October treating everyone? October has to be one of my favorite months of the year. The breeze blows a little crisper, the leaves are a lot more colorful, and the festivities are so fun! This year I happen to be enjoying October a little more than usual, as I am enjoying the sights and sounds of Orlando, Florida! So yeah, I'm kinda missing out on all of my favorite Midwest fall festivities, but nothing compares to swimming, laying out, and listening to island music for a week after months of stressful fun school work!

The view from my balcony! Orlando, FL

With my Mom by the pool yesterday evening!

   While I have been floating around with an umbrella in my drink, I have also been working on a new Teacher Organization Binder that I made for myself several weeks ago. I was inspired by so many organizational binders that have been floating around TpT, Pinterest, and even my colleagues at work. I sort of combined the best of the best and even added in a few things I felt were important/useful too!

The result is an adorable Chevron Themed Teacher Organization Binder! It turned out so great that I think I am going to have to redo my personal binder at school (as soon as I get back to Indiana that is... haha). If you want to check out my Chevron Themed Teacher Organization Binder, click {here}.

How is everyone else planning to spend their Fall Break? Are you looking forward to your own fall festivities, spending time at home in your jammies and sleeping in til 8 am, or are you jet setting to a warmer location?

Tell Me Something GOOD Linky!

Long time, no see...I know! I think about my blog on a daily basis, but I can't seem to get a handle on my everyday work enough to sit down and WRITE! I have so much going on right now, and it's all so exciting. {I say this in all sincerity, but no one ever told me that teaching was so time consuming life consuming!} I mean, WOW! My days fly by which makes my weeks fly by, and before I know it I can't remember what I even did yesterday. I am so loving my job as a teacher, but I have yet to figure out the balance. Right now, I get up at 4:30 am and usually don't make it home until 7:00 pm. Talk about being tired... but that isn't what I'm here to talk about today!

I wanna tell you something GOOD! :)

Something GOOD from school: 

I am finding that classroom management is probably my biggest strength as a teacher. I know this is odd, especially for a 1st year teacher, but managing behavior is something I just have knack for and I LOVE it! My class has been getting so many compliments, even from custodial staff, and we even earned a "Good Behavior" party! Each time my students have excellent behavior as a class, they earn a letter towards spelling "Good Behavior". {They can also lose a letter for bad behavior as a class} I write the letters at the top of our white board. We have been working towards spelling Good Behavior since the first week of school and we finally got to write that "r" last Friday! As their reward, they chose to have a cookie and drink party. The cookies and drinks for that party were the best $7 I have ever spent! :)

Something GOOD from home:

I found out I am heading to Florida with my mom and grandmother for Fall Break in October! Yay! First of all, this is the first Fall Break I have had since high school, because my university didn't have a Fall Break. Second of all, this will be the first break I haven't had to waitress! So it is actually a BREAK! I am so excited, and I always look forward to spending time with my mom and Nana!

1st Week as a Teacher and a *FREEBIE*!

Hey everyone! I'm so excited it's finally the weekend. My 1st week was AMAZING! Everyday, I go home thinking about how much I love my job and how lucky I am to have such an amazing opportunity at such an innovative school. I was sooo pooped yesterday from all the excitement this week that I didn't get to add my Freebie Friday post...but I know ya'll love freebies so I didn't want to disappoint.

I actually created this freebie to use when I was subbing, before I was hired as a 3rd grade teacher. I found that I always preferred to leave the regular classroom teacher a note at the end of the day, and they appreciated it as well. I created this form to make it easy and cute!

{For some reason, the picture makes it look like there is only border on one side, but the actual file includes the entire border and everything is centered!}

You can grab a free copy of the "A Note From the Sub" {here}!

I also promised that I would post a couple of more pictures, so here ya go!

My job board: "Whooo is helping"

The sign I painted for door to my classroom!

This is my meeting area. My mom found this rocking chair on our local Buy, Sell, Trade and spray painted it tiffany blue! She also painted the owl stool {on the left} for me as well as a gift.

The top of the table my mom painted for me!

The rest of the table. I love it!

My mom also painted a stool for my best friend, who is also a first year teacher teaching 2nd grade {on the right}!

This comic doesn't really pertain to me, but I thought it was funny! Gotta love life as a teacher!

Have a good weekend!

O.W.L. {Outstanding Weekly Learner} of the Week

This morning I woke up and realized that this is my last weekend of the summer. My life will forever change on Wednesday... my first day of school as a TEACHER! I have been waiting for this moment since I was in 3rd grade, but I am still starting to get nervous. I have a million post-it notes in my purse, car, nightstand, couch, pants pockets etc with reminders of things I need to do! My mom asked me yesterday what else I had left to do for my classroom and I told her "I have no idea! I'm just gonna keep going until I can't think of anything else!" haha

My classroom is thiiiiisss close to being finished. I will be posting pictures as soon as I think it's ready...which will probably be Monday night.

In order to strengthen my classroom community, I decided to create my own version of Student of the Week. In one of my practicums during college, I was in a 3rd grade classroom where they had a student of the week every week. The teacher did a great job of keeping up with it, and it allowed students to feel special and share parts about their life that may not have come up otherwise. It also allows students to find things in common with other students!

So, I will be implementing an O.W.L. of the week to go along with my classroom theme of owls! O.W.L. stands for Outstanding Weekly Learner. If you are interested in having an OWL of the week, you can click {here} to check it out at my TpT store!

Now, off to the pool to enjoy my last weekend of summer :)

*Freebie* Friday!

Hey ya'll! How is everyone's week going? I have been crazy busy this week. In addition to getting my room ready, lesson planning, and doing home visits, I had a 3 day orientation for my school district for all new hires. Each day, orientation lasted from 8:00-3:00, so it didn't leave much time for extra blogging time. I am SOOO glad it's Friday ya'll, so to celebrate the weekend, I decided to do a Freebie Friday!

I have been making a TON of stuff for my room, so I thought I would post some of it for you to use, if you wish!

First of all, I saw several "sharp" and "dull" pencil labels floating around the Pinterest universe, but none that I really loved. So, of course I made my own! I tell you what, I don't know how in the world something so little could make me so happy, but it does! I also have a pencil sharpener job on my job board, and these little labels will make the routine so much easier to teach and implement!

Talk about micro-organization :)

Click {here} for your FREE copy of these adorable pencil cup labels.

In addition to this freebie, I have ANOTHER freebie! I've been one busy girl on my Macbook, and loving every minute of it. The school where I work requires us to post the acronym W.A.L.T. {We Are Learning To} our board  as a way to display our learning objectives every day. If your school just so happens to expect the same, or if you just want the letters as well, here they are!

Check them out {here}!

I hope you are able to use one of these freebies in your classroom! If you do, leave me a comment and let me know how you like it!

Lastly, as a 3rd grade teacher, I think time telling is a VERY important skill for our students to learn for many reasons. I have been searching for ways to implement as much time telling into my lessons, and I ran across this great idea! In addition to managing your student's bathroom trips AND creating a clear classroom routine, these worksheets also get students to tell time with every bathroom trip! Students must sign-out and sign back in every time they use the restroom during class! I LOVE it!

Check them out {here} at my Teachers Pay Teachers store. 

To Do List Linky Party!

Hey everyone! I found this linky party that I feel just helps everyone! As a new teacher, I am always finding myself asking more experienced teachers for advice or helpful tips. By reading other teacher's to do lists, I keep getting reminded of something else I need to do! {By the way, I have had to prioritize my list in order to sleep at night!!!} 

Here's my list:

1. Create daily schedule cards for whiteboard

2. Organize classroom library

3. Create library basket labels

4. Level and sticker new library books

5. Make message center

6. Finish bulletin boards

7. Look up activities for Open House

8. Finish Open House information packet

9. Create Sharp and Dull pencil buckets

10. Create Word Wall

11. Address labels for student folders/notebooks

12. Buy foam poster boards for Reading Goals

13. Find clips for calendar days {the small gooey kind...have no idea what they are called!!!}

Looks like I need to get off my MacBook and get started! Did my list help you think of anything you may need to do in your classroom? 

Student Displays Giveaway and an Award!

Hey ya'll! I have been working on my classroom NON-STOP all week! I am so excited that different parts of my room are beginning to come together. I still do not have air conditioning in my room {wahhhh}, but nonetheless I am getting more and more excited about the first day of school {August 8th}!

I will be posting many more pictures once my room comes along a little more, but I do want to share the Student Display area that I created on my cabinets! I do not have a lot of wall space, so I decided to get creative with my classroom cabinet doors that line my back wall. I originally got the idea from The Clutter Free Classroom.

To make these, you will need a pack of bright scrapbook paper, clothespins, my number cards, and masking tape! I printed my number cards onto white card stock and laminated them for durability. I used masking tape to attach the scrapbook paper, and hot glued the number cards in the top left corner. {I am finding that hot glue is one of the best adhesives to use in the classroom! Seriously!} I covered the top of the clothespins with scrapbook paper for a little extra wow factor {ha!}. I tried to vary the colors of the scrapbook paper and the clothespins for more interest.

 I think it turned out pretty cute, and I can't wait to start hanging my students' work on them! It really brightens up the room and it is going to be so functional.

Here's the giveaway! I will give a free copy of my number cards to the first person who leaves a comment telling me one way you plan to use the number cards in your classroom! Please include your email address where you would like to receive the classroom number cards.

Student Display Area

Clothespins with scrapbook paper

You can check out my Classroom Student Number Cards {here}! 

Since my last blog hop, I was nominated for my first award by 2 people! Thank you Ashley from Inspire, Dream, and Create & Leah from Learning 4 Keeps for nominating me for the One Lovely Blog Award!

1. Follow the person who gave me the award.  done :)

2. Link back to the person that gave me the award.  done :)

3. Pass to 15 new bloggers and then let them know they have received the award. 

One more Blog Hop!

Seeing as I am a newbie blogger, I felt I should join in on one more blog hop before calling it a night. I found this "Newbie Bloggers Blog Hop" and it seemed pretty obvious, right??

1. What state are you currently in: I live in Indiana, but I teach in Kentucky.

2. Current teaching position: 3rd grade!

3. Started blogging: I started blogging at the beginning of this year, but haven't explored the blogging world until I got my first teaching job a few weeks ago!

4. A blogging tip: Do you want a signature at the bottom of every post? Here's how you do it!

"If you already have an image, all you need is the HTML code for it. Upload it to Photobucket, copy the HTML code, and you're good to go."
-Go to Settings
-Posts and Comments
-Post Template
-Paste that code in
-Save settings


No I didn't think this up on my own. I got it from an a-mazing blog I stumbled upon that helps all newbie bloggers figure out this crazy world of Blogger! It's called I teach. What's your super power?

Click {here} for more awesome tips and tutorial videos.

You're welcome! :)