Minnesota Nice, Mrs. Leeby's 600 Follower Give-Away & A Freebie

I am so excited to meet up with some awesome bloggers tonight!  Not only do I get to meet some great people with great ideas, but we get to do it at Brit's Pub!  I love that place!!!  Let's see if my lack of city driving skills will get me there safely.

I am so excited for Mrs. Leeby.  She has 600 Followers and is giving away some great stuff! Congrats!  Hop on over to her blog to check it out!  I am excited that I get to meet her tonight!

Finally, I added a freebie to my TPT store.  You can grab it here or here.  It's a mini book for the first day of school.  I plan on using it when I am teaching my kids how to use some of their supplies.  There are 10 pages.  You can pick and choose which ones you want to use.  

Have a great day! 

Sara

Getting Organized & A Freebie (CAFE posters)

Tonight I spent some time getting things ready for school.  I know I'm crazy because kids don't start school until after Labor Day, but hearing about so many people starting back already or soon scares me.  When I go back, I want to be prepared and I don't want to feel like I am rushing.  Tonight, while shopping, I saw so many people buying school supplies.  I think they are feeling the same as me...and want to get their supplies while there is still a good selection.

I found some great stuff.

 These erasers were in the Dollar Spot at Target.  In first grade, our kids have to sort objects into categories.  I am going to make some sets of these and have the kids sort them out.  They will have to tell why they put the objects in the groups that they did.  They has sea life, sports and sweet treats erasers.  I already have so many ideas of how to sort them.

This cup holder was at Office Max.  It was $10 and some odd cents.  It has two handles on it. I have so many ideas of how to use it.  I haven't decided if it will go in my Writer's Workshop table, by my easel or by my doc cam.  So many different choices.

After shopping, I was motivated to print some of my classroom labels off.  I updated my Get Organized Pack and wanted to start printing some of the labels in it.  My son helped me laminate some of it.

I mentioned that I updated it.  I added some ABC posters, management posters for guided reading and I changed the background on the supply labels so there are two choices now.

 Headers for Word Wall

 ABC posters for wall

 500+ words for word wall.  

 The top 100 words are on posters for hanging in room.

Frames for putting kids pictures in.

 Labels for above tables.

 Job chart

 Jobs

 Basket Labels

 Name tags for tables.

 Blank locker labels.  You can write kids names in.  I really wish I knew how to make these editable.

 Labels also have numbers on them.  You may chose to give your kids numbers for their book bins and lockers.

 Cycle Day cards

 

Signs to hang outside door in case you leave the room and want people to know where you are.

Labels with two different backgrounds.

 You can write kids names on clips and attach them to the side of the posters.  When they switch a group...you just switch the clip.

 Heading for special days. I took all the big ones listed on the calendar.

 Calendar squares...3X3 inches.

 Days of the week headers.

I apologize for pictures off my phone.  You can check out this bundle here.  The two main colors of my room are blue and green.  These match those colors.

I also am including a freebie.  Someone was looking for CAFE posters for their kindergarten classroom.  I made these.  You can download them here.

Have a great night!
Sara

Favorite Pins Linky Party

Can I just start by saying, "I just love, love, love this Linky Party?" I am a Pinterest addict. Sometimes I find a pinner and think that they would maybe be my best friend because we have the same tastes in food, clothing and ideas! I am linking up with Cara at The First Grade Parade to share some of my favorite pins.

 

My Favorite Teaching Pins

1.  This Just Write pin from jmeacham.com/ has saved me.  There are so many times that I get my kids started on their writing and then I get busy with a student or with something else and I lose track of time. Or, I have those kiddos that will start to write and within a minute they say that they are done.  With this board, I can chose a time and the kids have to write until the timer goes off.  Very easy.

2.   Labeling things in the beginning of the year can take a lot of time.  I usually saved my mailbox labels for last because I hated peeling off the old labels and putting on new ones.  I found this pin from teachingwithloveandlaughter and it has saved me tons of time.  All you need to do is attach a sticker with your kids's name on it to a binder clip and clip it to their mailbox slot.  I love it!  At the end of the year, you can send the clip home or attach a new name to it for the next school year.

3.  I will admit, I am a hoarder.  I started teaching with NOTHING in my room.  I had to find EVERYTHING that I needed.  Because of that, I saved EVERYTHING.  I have 4 huge filing cabinets stuffed crammed full of things.  They are an eye sore.  I found this pin from apartmenttherapy and am going to do it this year.   Because of teacher blogs, Pinterest and Google Docs, I have started throwing things.  My goal is to be down to 2 filing cabinets by the end of the school year.  It's all about baby steps for me!

 

My favorite Accessorize/Clothing I Want finds

1.  I love necklaces but sometimes have a tough time deciding if my necklace really goes with what I am wearing.  Thanks to this fun little find, I can now run to Pinterest if I am stumped on what to wear!  kellyvphotographyblog has so many fun ideas. 

2.  After seeing this fun pin at fashionworship, I decided I needed to get myself a fun pair of colored shorts. I am all about the coral & mint colors this summer!

3.  Chevron.  Need I say more?  I jumped on the Chevron bandwagon this summer.  I learned about Hazel and Olive through Pinterest this summer and found this fun dress that I just had to have!  I can honestly say, "It is one of the best purchases I have made!"  I get compliments and this little number everywhere I go! 



 

Pinterest has changed my teaching style and has helped me keep organized!  I love finding new things there everyday.  If you want to see other fun finds of mine, you can check them out here... My Boards.

 

Have a great weekend.  I can't wait to pin more finds from this fun Linky Party.

Sara