Five for FRIDAY!! :)

Today, I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! Next Friday I will officially be back in school for Professional Development. I am excited to start but anxious about all I have to do!

This week has been especially exciting because I, like Doodle Bugs, got to debut my new blog design. 

Designs by Tennille did such an amazing job! I love it so so so so much! Big Improvement don't you think! 

I also added a new donors choose project to get my Technology Lovin' Third Graders an iPAD. If you have the opportunity to donate this week with the code INSPIRE, your donation will be matched :)! My kids and I would truly appreciate it.

I also got the chance to work a little in my classroom-- until we were kicked out. Apparently it is a construction zone… whoops! I got started on one bulletin board and put some of my new labels up :). 

I am lovingggggg these mustaches!

On a sad note, my absolute, #1, favorite coffee shop is closing today. What's a girl to do?! I almost had a meltdown today when I saw them painting over the sign. Not only does this place have Ahhh--mazing coffee, the baristas are so awesome as well! I have spent countless Saturdays here planning and creating units! They are looking for a new location and I can NOT wait until then!! 

Perhaps the most exciting of all, I am super excited for this girl's wedding tonight! 

I was fortunate enough to be with her when she met her fiancé… shortly after we had a girl power chat!  I wish them a world of happiness in their new life together!! 

{The girls on Amber's Bachelorette Bash.}

Happy Friday!! 

Tried It Tuesday

Well. after being inspired by Pinkadots Elementary's Made It Monday, I decided to glam up my own paper sorter! I did not spray paint it, however I did add in the inserts so you can't see the paper in the door. I am linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper for Tried It Tuesday.

In order to make the inserts, I measured the drawers and cut my scrapbook paper to the correct length. Then I used KG Wake me up to make white letters with a grey outline. After printing the letters, I cut them out and colored the middle with a black sharpie. Then I glued the letter to the scrapbook paper and laminated. Pinkadots used card stock instead so they didn't laminate, but my paper was kind of flimsy! I then hot glued each of the inserts in the drawer. It is now much cuter than before! Thanks Pinkadots!!! Here is my final product:

I also got word that I will soon be able to get into my classroom! (*huge sigh of relyef*) So I printed, laminated and cut my labels for all my bins. Can't wait to show you the final product!!

Well, hopefully I'll have some classroom pics for 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 to School Business

Hello!! 

Well as much as I had hope to pound out a Made It Monday the only thing I made it was home. After a wonderful, relaxing, and somewhat overcast beach weekend I had no time to finish up my math homework packet. It will be up before the start of school-- HOPEFULLY!

 But in my blog browsing, I found a linky party today that I am most definitely ready for. 

I LOVE to shop, and when I can include that as school prep I feel way less guilty about it. I have been searching the Target Dollar Spot and Dollar Tree religiously since I have extra time these days :). Did I mention I love summer?

I found these awesome buckets two summers ago at Target, I wished I had bought more at the time and so I have finally added these to my collection! I put labels on them for things such as pencils, markers, crayons, etc. That way it is each for the kids to pick up the whole set bring it to their desk or center area and clean up is quick and easy too!The Target dollar spot also had some adorable name tags. Most of my students know each other already since I am at a very small school, but I use them to level the playing field for new students and to make myself remember the name and face of anyone I don't know yet. 

And for my last Target purchase, I got this planner that I will be using to help me stay super organized. My main goal this year is to become more of an efficient teacher/ TpT seller/ blogger. I hope this will make my task easier. The best part about this planner is it was about $10 and we all know how expensive a good planner can be! It is also super cute. I love chevron!! 

I also hit up my local school supplies store, School Aids to get some adorable borders, desk name plate holders, and name tags. I also ordered some magnetic border. I guess I am behind the times, but I didn't know that existed! I will show all of these when I reveal my new classroom… hopefully BEFORE school starts. We are currently LOCKED out due to construction. 

Finally I stopped at Office Depot, who is having a teacher appreciation sale through tomorrow 20% for star teachers!! If you aren't a star teacher you can sign up and get the rewards!! I got 10 Notebooks, 20 folders, a huge binder, page protectors, and page protectors with dividers all for around $40. What a steal!! :) 

I hope you are having shopping success!!

Have a wonderful day! 

Ms. Winter

Superbowl Sunday!

Superbowl Sunday is here and this girl has not watched an ounce of football! I did, however get to watch my younger cousin's soccer game today. It was awesome to have a chance to hang out with family! Although I did have the worst hair day ever due to the crazy amounts of humidity!

And this week one of my students won the school spelling bee! Before the bee, he was very nervous and didn't even want to participate, but he really did an AMAZING job! First, he volleyed with another student in our class to win the fourth grade title. Then he even beat a fifth grader to win the school title.

And last but not least, I finally got around to organizing my old centers! I want to have everything sorted and ready to go for next year, but the problem is some of my students keep losing pieces! I am not going to lie-- NOTHING makes me crazier. So I have developed a new method, I am not going to put a sticker with the number of pieces in each center bag and as they clean up they are required to count the pieces to make sure it matches. This way hopefully no one looses any more pieces, making my life much easier! You can download the AVERY template for these labels here! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful week!

Happy Teaching!

Ms. Winter