Teacher Week: Monday Must- haves/ Monday Made It!

WHEW! What a busy week I just had. My husband's high school class finally decided to have a reunion this year ,but discovered they had no money to rent a place to get together. Enter my house and our huge yard and my sweet hubby who offered up that we host the event. So I spent all of last week cleaning, cleaning, and more cleaning...with a little painting thrown in because I am crazy like that! I hardly had anytime to get online to check my Pinterest account, let alone check out blogs and post anything myself.

Today I am able to re-enter the world of technology and have enjoyed almost 2 hours of mindless internet browsing, while my little one entertains herself with The Fresh Beat Band and her endless supply of toys. While purusing my facebook account I saw that Amy Lemons had posted about a Teacher Week Linky Party. Score! Just the thing to get me back into the blogging world. So I followed her link over to Blog Hoppin' and here I am sharing my teacher must-haves.

I've actually shared some resources before in this post HERE. So I am going to try to share some different one's with you. If you want to join in the fun you can!



Number 1 on my list of must haves is a supportive hubby and I have that in SPADES! ( If your not married it's still important to have family support!) He understands the crazy life of being married to a teacher. There are those days when he texts me when dinner is done so I can run home and eat with him and Fin and then head back to school for another couple of hours, or when I need him to come hang something in my room, or lug something heavy up the stairs. He does it all without complaint.



<3 him!!!

Number 2 on my list of must haves is a school support system. You need those people you can go to when your day has been horrible and you just need to vent and eat a peice of chocolate. These are the people that keep you from going crazy. I'm lucky to work with some of my very best friends ( Mrs. V in the library and Mrs. Zocco for you CCA folks). Those two coo-coo birds make life super fun!

Number 3 is my morning coffee drink. I alternate between these 4 coffee drink options.

My fave is the Rockstar Light Vanilla but it doesn't seem to be readily stocked at the gas station by my daughters day care. When I do see it I buy all the ones they have. :) The top box is little packets that you can add to milk. Thats been my go-to this summer.

The Number 4 must have for me is being hyper organized. Teacher toolbox, plastic tubs with labels, file folders organized by subject area or monthly theme, I have them all. I am constantly organizing and reorganizing my space and I love it. I allow myself one area for chucking things, but everything else must be a place for everything and everything in it's place. I think it's important that if we expect our students to be organized and neat that we model that as well.

I hope to add a Number 5 must have someday as a personal laminator. :) Sara over at Smiling in 2nd Grade is giving one away and I hope, hope, hope I win it. If not, it's going on the Christmas list! :) You can head over to her blog HERE and enter.

One more thing. I am updating this post so that I don't do 2 in one day...oh the horror! :) I am linking up with Tara for another Monday Made It to share with you my lunch choice "board" for lack of a better term, for the year.



I saw this super cute idea on Pinterest last year and knew I wanted to do something similar this year.

I was a little unsure of how to go about it. I am not a very good artist and I couldn't find any sharks on any websites big enough to use. Then I remembered these great Shark Acrostic poems the kiddo's had made courtesty of the FAB Amy Lemmons. You can find it HERE.

This is the sample on her site.

So I took the template from the shark acrostic poem and this is what I made:

I think it turned out super cute. I tried to make the sign look like it had a bite taken out of it. :) The space between the sharks and the sign will be for our lunch menu. I have this right in the doorway when you enter my room.

When my kiddo's come in in the morning the first thing they do is make their lunch choice. I have a clothespin with their name on it that they put on their lunch choice. This also serves as my attendance chart as well. I have a lunch helper who tell's me who is having what for lunch and then I enter it into my computer. I love it, I love it! 

Monday Made It: Numero Uno! :)

I am so pysched to have something done on time ( and that I took pics of) for Monday Made It.


Last weekened my adorable nephew turned 1. So my husband, my sister, one of my brothers, and my daughter all schlepped it down to Ann Arbor to celebrate. We had to drive SOOOOOOOOOOO SLOW because we took a U-HAUL of stuff that my sister- in- law's mother had been storing for them. I'm a big fan of driving and everyone was a little nervous about me driving the huge suburban with the U-HAUL attached.But, I did it and I did a good job! So there! :)

Anyways, when we were unloading everything I brought in a rattan chair and asked my S.I.L. where she wanted it. She didn't and offered it to me. I jumped at that ,BECAAAAUSE there is just something SO teacher-y about having a wicker type chair in your room. I have been looking for one for awhile and I really wanted more of a kid size one but ,beggars can't be choosers!

I am a self professed spray paint QUEEN! I've done chairs, bookshelves, tables, dresser drawer pulls, the list goes on and on. So I knew that in order to change this chair from Drab to Fab all it would take was just a little paint. :)

The chair and cushion BEFORE ( and a little boring)

The Chair and Cushion After and Fabulous Option #1

The Chair and Cushion After and Fabulous Option #2

A Side View of the Chair


I spray painted the chair with a turquoise blue spray paint. Originally, I was going for a brighter look but I ran out of paint! And I kind of like the beachy shabby chic vibe it has going on right now so I think I am going to leave it. I used acrylic paints from Walmart, 97 cents a bottle!, for the buttons.

My first plan was to just cover the buttons with the paint, but after I was done and had a boatload of paint left ,I thought maybe some polka dots would be fun. So I'm not sure which one I will go with. Since it's for the kiddo's maybe they can choose. Thoughts?

Heading in to school later and will post some pics of things I have gotten done there. Fingers crossed we have a new lamination roll!

Now go forth and link up! :)

UPDATE

Just got home from school were I am kind of at a standstill for a little while. The laminator is out of film ( which is why I am asking for a personal one for Christmas!!!!!) and I am waiting on my new bulletin board borders to come in. :( But I did add some fun duct tape to my rolling white board. :)

This FUN duct tape

PLUS!

This boring white board

=

This SUPER fun white board. I really kind of love it. :)

And my chair is looking good in my room too.

" I'd hate to think it was all just fashion."

Anyone catch my movie reference there? If not, stop reading, run to your local video store ( or your netflix account!) and rent The Big Chill ASAP. Then come back, we can be friends again. :)

Found a few new blogs to follow today. One of them has the weirdest title, until you actually go to the site and see the subtitle. Its called From Blood to Books! ( I know what you're thinking "thats a smidge odd".) But the subtitle is My Journey From Healthcare to Education. Oh, lightbulb moment. It all makes sense now...hey,what a cool name for a blog. ( In case you were wondering, yes, this was my thought process while clicking on the link.) Anywho! Jess, who runs that blog, is having a linky party about one of my favorite things: Fashion!

I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE clothes. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE shopping for clothes. I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE spending hours on pinterest looking for new ways to pair my clothes. Now, that is not to say that shopping doesn't ever leave me in a horrible mood, feeling like absolute crap about myself, OR that I can necessarily always afford to go. BUT! I love it none the less. So I knew I just HAD to link up. If you want to, and you should, you can too. You can join here:

http://mrsjwalk.blogspot.com/2012/08/whats-your-style-teachers-fashion-linky.html

Here's the guidelines:
1. Tell me your favorite store(s) that you like to get your "teacher's fashion".
2. What are some of your favorite accessories?
3. What type of shoes do you teach in? (i.e. heels, flats, wedges, etc.)
4. Do you have a "go-to" item in your closet? (i.e. sweater you wear weekly, shoes you wear daily, etc.)
5. Have you ever had a fashion "uh-oh" at school? (i.e. heel broke, button popped off of blouse)

Please feel free to post any cute items, sales, outfits that you have grabbed for this upcoming school year!

1. My favorite stores to shop at are:

TJ Maxx ( If it was possible to live in a store I totally would live here.)
Old Navy
Target
Kohls
Lands End ( on sale stuff only)
and JC Penny ( mostly because it's the only real clothing store we have in town)

 
                    

( Don't try clicking on the pictures. For some reason my blog is not wanting to do picture links today. GRRR!)

2. I really LOVE purses. I get a new one for my birthday every year. This year the purse I wanted, a Marc Jacobs tote, sold out before I got it. So in the interim ,while I am deciding what I want instead, I am using this cute Betsey Johnson tote that I picked up at TJ MAXX for only $30!

I LOVE jewelry and I really love the look of bracelets but I am just not a bracelet wearer. I do usually wear a necklace. One of my fave's is my name necklace that my Best Friend got me for my birthday. I also love my fingerprint necklace. My husband and daughter got it for me for Christmas this past year. It has my daughters fingerprint engraved on a heart. Super cool!

I know I just said I am not a bracelet wearer but, I am super hardcore wanting this watch by Fossil. So if any of you have an extra $150 laying around and want to get this for me that would be great. :)

3. I am ALL about comfort on my feet. Usually I wear flip flops as much as possible. What typically happens is I wear dress shoes to work and shove a pair of sandals in my bag. Then I change once I get to my room. If we are going out of our room I put the dress shoes back on. That way I can look professional " in public".  In the winter I have several pairs of boots that I go through. I have kind of become obsessed with the look of ballet flats and I think I will be purchasing several pairs for this year. But NOTHING I wear has more than an inch heel and even then its a thick heel...no stiletto's for this girl!

4. You know those t- shirt/ jersey material " sweaters". They're basically like a long sleeve t-shirt cut down the middle. Yeah, I pretty much LIVE in those. They go with everything and they are SO comfy. I have one in black, one in tan, and two in different shades of blue. I want one in white, one in grey, and one in a fun color like purple or pink. Then my life will be complete. :)

5. After I had had my daughter I was in that in between stage of having some regular clothes fit but having to still wear some maternity wear. I was wearing a button down plaid shirt that apparently I wasn't quite as ready to wear as I thought, because during our reading time one of the little girls made the comment that she could see my belly through my shirt. ( It was gappy between the buttons. Ouch!) So needless to say it was a while before I wore that again and then I wore a tank top underneath it for a while after that. :)

I will leave you with a few things I am wanting to purchase for myself/ pinterest outfits I am re-creating come fall. :)

Really want both of these little numbers ( but with a black top for the skirt) from Old Navy.

I have most of the peices to recreate similar looks to these come fall.

HAPPY SHOPPING!!!

And the Winners Are....

Well, the day has arrived for me to announce the winners of my first ever giveaway. I first want to say THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who entered and everyone who is following my blog. I'm at 59 followers now, which I think is incredible!

Now, a little explanation, just so there is no confusion. :) Here is how I picked my winners. First, in order to even be entered you had to be a follower of this here blog AND leave a comment on the giveaway post. Then before I did the random number generator I went in and deleted the comments that I had made in response to people's posts. This left me with the number 28. So in the random number generator I had a range from 1- 28.( Sidenote, for some reason when I copied it on to this page it keeps saying my max was 100, but on the random number generator site it says 28. Not sure what is up with that.) So anyway, I plugged those numbers into the generator and got.....

Drum roll please..................

True Random Number Generator
Min:Max:
Result:4

So, then I went to my comments section, counted down to the 4th spot AND, this is who was comment 4 and ultimately the winner.....

Sam KellyJuly 30, 2012 8:10 AM

just followed your sweet blog!!!! I think you resolution #4 is so important! I had great mentors but some of my friends, unfortunately did not! I'm sure you'll be wonderful!

SamMrs. Kelly's Klass

BUT WAIT! There's more! Remember when I said if I could get to 50 followers I would giveaway 2 gift certs! Well, lo and behold, something I thought would not happen, DID!  So, I did the same thing as above and got....

True Random Number Generator
Min:Max:
Result:14

Went back to the comments section, counted down 14 and found...

K. MoAugust 1, 2012 11:09 AM

Reading this gave me a flash-back to me this time last summer!

❤ Karen
flamingofab@gmail.com
Flamingo Fabulous in Second Grade

Congratulations to the winners. I will be contacting you this morning about your gift certificates! Thanks all for following and entering. I still can't believe I have 59 followers. I know it's not the hundreds and thousands that other people have, but it sure feels that way when I look back to a month ago and my 2 followers. ( One of which was ME! Haha)

* Still shaking head in disbelief*

50 is the new 25

YAY! WOO-HOO! * Does a happy dance of joy* I am at 50 followers. Thanks all for stopping by, checking out my always under construction blog, and joining me on this lovely journey called being a teacher. :) Please make sure to comment under the original post as that is what I am going to be drawing from.

Also, head over to Brigid's Daily Lesson Log and join her classroom photo's linky party. I linked up my awful looking before pictures and I will update that once my room comes together. But ,unlike so many of my bloggy friends, I don't head back until September so I still have time to get my 2nd home back to normal.

http://brigidsdailylessonlog.blogspot.com/

Again,thanks for following and there is still time to join in. I am not drawing until Tuesday morning! ( Remember to comment on the original post!) I think you all may have some idea of the elation I feel when I see a new follower, as you were all once new bloggers or are new bloggers yourselves. But, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you for the immense thrill that it is. :)

Heigh Ho! Heigh Ho! I've lots of work to go!

Exciting! I'm up to 34 followers and its only Tuesday night! Share, Share, the giveaway so I can make it to 50 and pony up 2 gift certificates! Last night I spent a good 4 hours in my room organizing and re-arranging. This is the 3rd time I've worked in my room in the past two weeks. I am certainly not ready to start posting any after pics but, I thought I would share the EEK! before pictures. This way in a couple of weeks when I post the finished product you will all die of shock and declare me a genius! :)

Ok, so this is the view when you first walk in the door.

And this is the view of the back of my room if you are standing in the doorway. I know, my room is SMALL!! 

My room is in upheaval! First off, I took a bunch of stuff down because I wanted to re-arrange and I just love a fresh start. Hence so much blank wall space. I can assure you that it does not look that way during the school year! 

Second off, I also have the best husband in the entire world and he brought me a rolling white board home from his work. They were just giving it away! So he claimed it for me and had it waiting in the garage as a surprise when I got home back at the end of last school year! This is why the one white board is off the wall. Its being removed and my rolling one is going to go where that weird patch of tannish yellow is on the walls. Now you all know what color the room was before I inherited it and covered it in blue. :)

It doesn't look quite this bad anymore. I have cleaned it up quite a bit. But I still have alot of time left too, unlike some of my blogging friends, because in Michigan we can't start back to school until after Labor Day.

So there is a peak into my room. Now! Go forth and share my giveaway! :)

My First Ever Giveaway AND Another Link Up!

When I started updating my blog and really getting into the blogging scene this summer I had one follower, the former art teacher at my school who had followed all the teacher blogs at school. Nothing special. When I figured out how to add Google friends follower I added myself as a follower of my blog because the one picture looked so lonely. :( I did my first linky party for the newbie blog hop and bam! I suddenly had a follower and then another one. My husband came home from the movies that night and I came pounding up the stairs from our basement as fast as I could to proudly announce that I had 4 people following my blog and I had figured out the steps to create a hyperlink for when I commented on other people's blogs. Then I promptly turned back around and ran back downstairs.

I told myself then that if I ever reached 25 followers ( really 26 since I didn't want to count myself!) that I would do my first giveaway to thank those people who had thrilled me by following me. :) Well, yesterday when I logged on I had hit that magic number! If you go to Teachers Pay Teachers you will see on my profile that I am signed up for a store but there is nothing in it. Since I obviously don't have something cute from my store to giveaway to you all, I thought I would do a $10 gift certificate to Teachers Pay Teachers.



However!!!! To sweeten the pot. If I can get up to 50 followers by the end of this giveaway I will up the ante and award 2 $10 gift certificates. So SHARE, SHARE, SHARE! I know it's not the most exciting giveaway but I'm new to this AND who among us can't use $10 of free TPT product?!

SO, here's the deal. I have been trying to get on to rafflecopter to use that for my giveaway, but unfortunately it is not letting me on. So the way to enter the giveaway is simple, follow my blog and leave me a comment in the comments section of this post. I will use a random number generator when it's all said and done to figure out who my lucky winner ( or two?) is. This giveaway will go for 1 week. That means it will end next Monday, August ( already!) 6th. I will do my winner post on Tuesday, August 7th. :)

NOW, on to the linky party.

  I am linking up with the wonderful Amanda Madden at Teaching Maddeness to share my New (School) Year Resolutions with you all.  My very first post on this blog last August was about my resolution to keep my blog updated throughout the year. I failed on that one. But all the same, I am going to add my 4 New School Year Resolutions for this year and hopefully, I actually keep these this year!

  RESOLUTION #1. KEEP UP ON MY BLOG! I made this resolution last year and didn't do it. I am hoping that now that I have gotten the hang of it a bit more, have people following me, and have put it out there for more people to see, that I will actually follow through with this one.

RESOLUTION #2. KEEP UP ON WRITING BINDERS
I keep all of my kiddo's writing throughout the year and then I send it home in a 3 ring binder at the end of school. Last year I had every intention of using the binder at all 3 of our Parent Teacher Conferences. I didn't have them ready until the last one. Not the most effective use of them. This year I hope to have all the papers in the binders for EACH conference and not keep them in a stack in the back of the tub after I grade them.

RESOLUTION #3: DO NOT HAVE A STASH BOX UNDER MY DESK!
I LOOOOOOOOVE to be hyper organized. I HATE clutter on my desk. BUT there are times when I print a bunch of things out, swap out station activities, have a bajillion things going on etc and I need somewhere to put those items so they aren't cluttering up my desk top. Enter a scholastic book box that I started putting things in a year and half ago and JUST completely emptied last week. Don't get me wrong,I didn't have year old papers stashed in there. It's just that for every item I took care of it seemed like 2 more would take their place. BUT! No more! :)

RESOLUTION #4: BE AN AWESOME MENTOR
I'm pretty psyched to have my first pre-student teacher observing/ learning/ helping out in my classroom this fall. They will be doing 80 hours of observation as part of their method's classes. This is the last step before they will start student teaching. I had great mentor teachers for all of my field placements and I hope that this person will get some good idea's that they will take into their student teaching and beyond.

So there we are. My resolutions for this school year. Maybe I should add a number 5 which is to keep numbers 1-4! Ha-ha!

Link up and share your resolutions with the rest of us and enter and share my giveaway! I would love to be spending $20 instead of $10! :)