Made it Monday!!

Well, I'm back for another #MadeItMonday! This time with an exciting new made it!!

This weekend and this morning I finally finished my Accountable Talk Rocks mini book, posters, practice text, and graphic organizer to help your students become accountable talk rockstars!! 

I am loving the Melonheadz Rockstar Clip Art we got in Vegas! This product was inspired by my best seller, Analyzing Text Structure. In the past, my kids really love creating mini books and getting a chance to model and practice as we go, so hopefully this year's bunch will be the same!

And for made it #2. With the help of my amazing boyfriend, who may be a better laminator than I am, I also got all my new TpT things printed and laminated. As I said yesterday I am loving my new Polkadot and Burlap Banner, Calendar Labels, and Numbers! 

I am also totally freaking out about getting into my classroom, which has apparently been postponed until THURSDAY. What?! We begin school Monday!!! {Full panic mode ensues!} 

But will I take others word for this? Nope. I am about to march by Nike shorts into school and hope my smile and pure desperation will get me in for a few hours today.

Last, but not least, I want to wish a happy birthday to this girl. 

Yes, I said girl! Today, my granny is 90 years young. After a wonderful family gathering last night, I could not be happier :) Quick funny story- My Granny always wanted to be a teacher, so much so that as a little girl she played school with a deck of cards and when one blew over they got a "bad mark."

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the lady that taught me piano, sang and danced with me, watched me after school, let me and my cousins build tents all over her house, and who always reassures me that being a teacher was the right decision. 

Additionally, Way too much food {Yeah, were from New Orleans-- its always like that} means I have lunch and dinner for a few days. NO COOKING-woohooo! 

Don't forget to check out my sale today and tomorrow!! 

Made It Monday!

So excited to link up with 4th Grade Frolics for another Made It Monday.. seriously they keep me productive! Even more excited to do it with my new blog design!

This week I made my G.O. (Get Organized) Folders for this school year. These are my folders that go to and from school with my students. They are expected to bring them back each day after their parents have checked them. This idea is totally stolen from my bestie Alison! I am not sure where she got this idea but it is awesome and has helped me and my kiddos stay organized. 

So, what's so different about a G.O. Folder from a  regular folder? Well, for one it has 4 pockets instead of 2. If you have looked for 4 pocket folders, you know they can be pretty pricey. So, I made my own! 

Turn the folder without the prongs inside out, so the two pockets are on the outside. 

Insert with folder without prongs into the folder with prongs. (Most of the time the holes are already punched. If they are not you can totally punch your own!)

Label each of the pockets so your students know what goes in each one. I do "Left at Home", "Right Back to School", "Conduct" and "Homework" in that order. I do this on labels so it is neater-- and its also totally because of my font addiction :)

 

 In the middle section (where there are no pockets) you can paste a speller's choice menu or any other kind of ongoing activity. 

On the front I put a sticker with each student's name. Since I don't have a definite class list yet, I haven't made this yet but I will add it as soon as I do! 

Back from Vegas, Baby!

Hello friends! 

After waking from the deepest sleep this morning, I couldn't wait to get on and post! I had an amazing extended weekend in Vegas! Before I go into all the details, I am linking up with Becky Baxter @ Teaching, Learning, and Loving to give you my Top 5 TpT Tips.  

Apparently I have been creating a preview the much harder way. In the session with Erica Bohrer, I learned you can create a preview by downloading Picasa for free, saving your slides as .PNG files, inserting them into Picasa, and creating a collage. No more hours of sorting images on PPT! I found a great tutorial on this on A+ Firsties that lays it out and makes it seem so easy!

A+ Firsties  includes a tutorial with images that I will surely be using in the next few days :). 

I learned a lot and refreshed what I already knew at Erica Bohrer and Cara Carroll's Q is for Quality: Inserting Quality into Your TpT Products. I learned that not all my products are secured and I definitely need to invest in Adobe Pro ASAP. This will allow me to securely save my products so everything is protected. Most importantly though, I felt inspired by these two women, who were even nicer than I would have thought. I aspire to be as good as them one day! 

Networking is important! The more I talked to other teacher bloggers, the more I realized many of them had gained followers through being mentioned by other teachers on blogs or joining up to linky parties. This is something I am going to dedicate myself to in the future. Also, Deanna Jump even attributed much of her success to being mentioned on the TpT newsletter. I can't wait to share with you a little something special that I will be doing with these ladies a little later this week :)

One of the biggest themes I heard over and over again in all the sessions is to be true to yourself and your products. Cara Carroll said it best when she said, "Who wants to be a lesser version of someone else?" I totally agree with this sentiment and in this journey I always want to be true to myself and my educational beliefs. Though those may evolve as I grow as a teacher, I am going to be sure to be true to me! As we were about to leave I saw this piece of artwork at Channel in the Wynn. How perfect? 

"To be irreplaceable you must be different"

If you want it go and get it. Success is not just going to knock at the door, you have to chase after it and want it with all you are. In Deanna Jump's inspiring Keynote, I took away that if I want to be a teacher whose products are amazing, I need to make it a priority. I need to create more, blog more, and network more. This year this is going to be my goal- I hope you will follow me in my journey! 

I had an amazing trip and was so fortunate to meet so many amazing teachers! I am excited to begin this new phase of my teaching life and I have more drive than ever! 

  For today's Made It Monday, I have created my back to school newsletter! I am hoping to send it to parents within the next couple weeks! I am also working on classroom labels, which will hopeful be up for next Monday (fingers crossed)!

Happy Planning, 

Ms. Winter

Back to School Made It Monday

Today I had a very productive day back at school! So I have a few "made its" this Monday!

First, I create my "When you enter this room" sign. I didn't have much room so I had to be creative, but I really like the way it came out!

I was unable to use all the ones I wanted because of the size, but with the help of CC Fonts, it turned out so precious! 

With the help of my amazing future teacher friend, Brooke, I was able to get tons done in my classroom! I set up my word wall and I am almost done my library! Once I am done I will upload some pictures, but I don't want to spoil the surprise :)

But for my real Made It Monday, I finally finished my Bubble Multiplication Centers!

 Brooke even helped me cut them out so they will be all ready for the kids! I absolutely love the clipart from Melonheadz!

I am absolutely loving being back in my classroom, especially since it is so clean :)

Happy Teacher Prep!!

Ms. Winter

Post Wedding Weekend!

Hello everyone!!

I am back after a weekend of wedding madness! On Friday, one of my good friends Molly (previously pictured in a hot pink wig) and her new husband David tied the knot.

The beautiful bride, Carly, Emily, and I!

I didn't have a picture on my computer of the wedding so here is my cousin, Katie, Ruthie and I at the rehearsal on Friday night!

Then, Saturday afternoon my cousin and his beautiful bride Ruthie said, "I Do" as well! It was a great weekend of friends and family. And even Lilly got to come along!!

But on Sunday it was back to work! For today's Made It Monday, I have made a student booklet for reading.

It covers why we read, what happens in our brain when we read, the history of reading, and reading today. I am planning to use this during centers during the first or second week of school! Once I create the rubric I will post it as a freebie!!

You can get Reading-Whats the Deal Anyway? at my TpT Store.

Oh, and this week I found a new love…

Yoplait Yogurt Pops! These are soooooo delicious! If you haven't tried them, you need to! 

Alright, well back to PD!

Happy Teaching!!

Ms. Winter

Is it really JULY, already?

Well friends, it looks as those summer is going by much quicker than I could ever have imagined!! This summer has been so busy, too!

This summer my friends (especially those teacher friends who have so much more free time than usually) and I have started trying to do those things we never seem to make enough time for! So last Monday we had a Pinterest Party! I made wonton tacos! Some of the other awesome food were Cowboy Caviar,  Perfect MnM cookies, Spinach, Feta, and Ricotta Roll Ups, and White Wine Sangria. All of them were amazing and it was a fun way for us to get together to see The Bachelorette!! 

Then just two days later one of our New Orleans teacher friends came up to visit and to play Plucker's Trivia. As a true nerd, I love trivia and it is a great way to hang out with a large group. We didn't win but we did tie one round :) 

And then it was off for a busy Bachelorette Beach Weekend! 

The beach was a little scary at the end of our first day….

But we made up for it with a fun night out in our super fun wigs…

And now it's back to reality! Today has been a "Made It Monday"!!! 

I have finished my "READ" bunting for my reading center. It was super easy to make! I cut out triangles of western scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby, laminated it and attached it to a thin string! I can't wait to see it hanging from my classroom this fall!!

And then came the serious stuff-- I am starting to create my objectives by breaking down the CCSS into measurable chunks that I will teach daily. I finished the 3rd grade Operations in Algebraic Thinking Standards and will post them as a freebie!! Once I finish the other strands I will also add them!! 

Get them here!!

Hope everyone has had a happy and productive Monday! Here's to hoping the rest of the week will be as productive!

Happy Summer, 

Ms. Winter