Positively Pinspiring

I'm on a linky spree!  I'm having a great time connecting with educators from all over the world!  

Today I'm linking up with Jessica from Mrs. Plemon's Kindergarten to tell you about some fantastic pins I found this week!

The tags say, "I'm so lucky to have you in my class!"  I wish I had these ready for Open House tomorrow.  Maybe we can have Lucky Charms for our first day snack?!

I think this jar is so cute!  Kids put their name in the jar when they are "caught" being good, and then the teacher draws  a kid's name daily, weekly, monthly, or whenever to win a prize/reward.  I'm not sure how to incorporate this with Class Dojo, but I'm thinking!



These bands are designed to help students who have trouble sitting still.  Rather than standing up, walking around the room, etc., they can push on this band with their feet.  I had a kiddo who would have benefited from this last year.   I wish I'd learned about this tool sooner!



This is one of the best pins I've found in a looong time!  There are so many great ideas on this list.  I highly suggest the eggplant pizzas and spaghetti squash with meatballs.  Delicious!!

These people are tubing down a canal at a sugar plantation in Hawaii.  How cool is that?!  Hawaii is definitely at the top of my "I want to go there, now!" list.


What pins did you find this week?  I hope you link up with Mrs. Plemons and share! 

Show us what you bought!

Did you enjoy TPT's Back to School Sale?  I know I did!!  I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' to share what I bought.

First I bought Erica Bohrer's Student Scrapbooks packet.  Last year I made portfolios for my kids, and they loved them.  I'm excited to add new elements like handprint pictures and holiday themed writings!

I also purchased Deanna Jump's Literacy and Math Fun with Names.  It has great activities for the beginning of the year!

Next I made two BIG purchases.  I figured the more expensive the items, the more I'd save, right?!

I bought Tara West's Guided Reading Bundle.  My new school seems to be lacking a bit in the leveled library department, so this'll be an important resource.  I can't wait to start browsing!!

Finally, I bought Caitlin Clabby's Word Work Bundle.  I'm so excited to have Word Work covered for the year!  That's a big chunk off of my to-do list!

What did you buy?

It's August!

I know I'm a few days late, but I'm linking up with Farley for August's Currently. 

Listening

The boyfriend suggested Wayne's World as good movie to watch while we worked.  Luckily, I'm busy enough that I'm not paying too much attention.  It seems like a pretty silly movie!

Loving

As I've mentioned, in July we moved to Southwest Missouri from St. Louis.  I'm happy to report that our new home has greatly exceeded my expectations.  We've gone to county fairs, tried new restaurants, and perused loads of garage sales.  

I really wanted this car!

There is much to do and everyone is so friendly.  I've never considered myself a country girl, but it might happen!

Thinking

School starts next Tuesday, and I need to get back to my normal routine.  I've been staying up until midnight or 1 and waking up around 8.  That's not going to work once school starts!

Wanting

I've been cooking a lot since the move.  Look at this delicious spaghetti squash and meatballs I made last week!  

I feel like my recipe range would increase if I purchased a food processor.  There's nothing worse than reading half of a fantastic recipe and then realizing you need a tool you don't have.  There's a Cuisinart food processor on Groupon for only $35.  Do you think it's worth it?!

Needing

I've been so busy working on my classroom (and it looks pretty great!) that I haven't spent anytime on lessons.  Guess I better start on those this week!

Hope everyone enjoys their last week or two of summer!

My Cutest Classroom Yet!

I'm linking up with Mrs. D's Corner and Miss V's Busy Bees to share my classroom with you!  

I absolutely love looking at other teachers' classrooms (in person and online!) because they give me ideas for my own.  

When I first saw my classroom in June it looked like this:

I moved in sooo many boxes!

It was a lot of work, but I unpacked and got some organizing done.

And now it's 99% complete.

Here is a close up of my front wall. 

The ABC and number posters were created by yours truly, and I have to admit I'm pretty proud of them.  Click here for the ABC posters and here for the numbers.  A few other color schemes are also included, so if yellow doesn't suit your needs look anyway!  I love the bright colors and clear pictures.

I got these super cute schedule cards from Cara at The First Grade Parade.

I think this is my favorite wall in the room.  I love how clean and simple it is!  Aren't the flower vases cute?  The color and shape posters are available on TPT.  Find the colors here and the shapes here.

This is my library.  I bought the bean bags for only $15 at Wal-Mart.  I love how they loook with the purple baskets.  I'm still looking for ways to make the library a little cozier, but it'll do for now!

I'm very happy with my classroom this year!  Hope you're feeling the same way about yours!

High and Low

I'm linking up with Julie from A First for Everything to tell you about my highs and lows for the week. 

My sister visited this week to help me get my classroom ready.  She was so helpful!  She helped me laminate, cut, hang things, label binders, and everything else I asked of her.

On Tuesday we decided to take a little break from the classroom and headed to a nearby casino.  She just turned 18, so it was her first gamblin' experience.  I'm happy to report she left $1.65 richer!

We also visited a pretty garden in Kansas City.

  

I'm working on a Couch Potato to 5K program through the Y, and it's starting to get difficult.  The class is on Wednesdays, and this week it was raining, so I skipped.  On top of that my sister was here, so I fell out of my routine.  Today the assignment was run for 3 minutes, walk for 3 minutes and repeat 5 times.  Running for 3 minutes is a lot harder than running for 1!  By the end, I was beat!

I hope it gets easier!!

Technology Thursday

I'm linking up with Teaching Trio to tell you about one of my favorite new websites.

One of my colleagues recently told me about an amazing site called Go Noodle.  It's a whole website dedicated to brain breaks.  The site tailors brain breaks to the number of children in your class as well as the grade level.  You can choose brain breaks meant to energize, calm, stretch, etc.  In addition, some breaks are aligned to standards, so your students can continue learning while getting rid of some pent up energy.

Give it a try, I promise you'll love it!

It's July!

When we were younger I always irritated my brother by reminding him of the impending school year as soon as the firework show ended. "You know now that the 4th of July is over, school's about to start, right?"  I'd tease.  That feeling is long gone for him but for me it still applies.  It's hard to believe there's only a month until the first day of school!

I know I'm a little late, but I'm linking up with Oh Boy Fourth Grade to share with you what I've been up to.

Listening:  We're finally all moved in to our new apartment, and it has a dishwasher!  Alleluia!  After spending the last year or so without a dishwasher, I'm thrilled to let a machine do all the hard work.

Loving:  With the move came a new school.  I have had one day of new teacher meetings, and so far I love it!  The whole district seems so, so, so organized.  We have a faculty handbook that outlines what to do in every situation from retaining a child to throwing a baby shower for a colleague.  I'm serious, they've thought of everything!  On top of the organization, they are also very technology friendly.  For example, one of new teacher trainings was flipped.  Instead of spending a day in boring meetings, we watched videos at home that pertained to our particular interests and grade level.  I couldn't be more excited!

Thinking:  Thanks to dishwasher mentioned above, I've been cooking much more frequently.  For lunch today I made cinnamon-butter spaghetti squash.  It was delicious.  I'm thinking Caprese salad and shrimp for dinner.

Wanting:  I'm anxiously awaiting for the maintenance crew to finish in our classrooms.  I want to start unpacking my boxes.

Needing:  There's a spinning class at the Y starting in a half an hour.  I know I should go, but I just want to keep blogging!

4th Plans:  John and I were in San Antonio for the 4th.  We went to the Alamo and strolled the Riverwalk.  Later in the day we saw fireworks over the downtown skyline.  Very fun!