Free Brag Buttons

Earlier this week I promised I would share my brag buttons. Click HERE to see the post. The images are on the same page. These can be printed on white printer paper (save your cardstock). I was not pleased when I ran out of white cardstock this week. I was in the middle of a MAJOR printing job. BUMMER! 

Snag these Brag Buttons

Well, we started school on Thursday and I am already ridiculously busy! How'd that happen? Nonetheless, I'm so happy we only had 2 full days. It's much easier for the students AND teachers. 

Side note-slash-story: Our AC went out Thursday afternoon. Did I mention it's still 100 degrees over here?! Ick! I was glad I'd worn a dress. Unfortunately, it wasn't fixed on Friday either and I made the mistake of wearing pants! Pants! Dah! The kids seemed oblivious, but I felt like I was melting. It's supposed to be in good working order by Monday. Maybe I'll wear a skirt just to be on the safe side. 

Don't forget about the Back to School Sale at Teachers Pay Teachers! I'll be participating as a seller AND buyer. My wishlist is insanely long. I didn't think it would let you add so much, but my Wishlist is pages long. Don't forget to leave positive feedback on bigger purchases to earn TpT Credits. Then, you can use them towards other purchases. 

TpT: Super Sparkly in Second

You can find these Number Posters in my store.

Happy shopping!

Monday Made It- Brag Buttons!

I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics' Monday Made It because I want to share my new buttons!

Do you love celebrating your birthday? I do! Mostly because it means I get presents. Who doesn't like presents?! My students are always so excited when their birthday comes along. I love to make a big deal of it by having the birthday kid stand on a chair while the class sings happy birthday (signing in ASL). My students LOVE it. Last year, I found out that my Teacher Resource Center had a button maker! I was able to make a 3 inch button for 50 cents. That's super cheap!  I made this button and placed it on the student after the song. The kids got birthday wishes all day long. 

I decided this year to spiff up my birthday button and create some new ones as well. I used PowerPoint to create some circles between 2 and 3 inches in diameter. Then, I found some cute balloon clip art (courtesy of Sonya DeHart Design) for free on TpT. I failed to leave enough of a border so as you can see part of the designs are wrapped around the back. Not too big of a deal. That green also isn't as bright as I'd like it to be so I'll probably be trying that again. As soon as I make a few modifications I'll post this as a freebie. Hopefully, this happens before the end of the week. Tomorrow is my first contracted day so I'll be pretty busy this week.

2 in. buttons

In case you missed it... The Fabulous Life of an Elementary Teacher just launched her blog! She's a smart girl too because she launched it with a major giveaway! Check it out! You can even win something from my TpT store!

Click HERE to head to the Blog Launch Giveaway.

Well friends, I'm off to bed because it's time to start all that early rising nonsense.

Cutest classroom sharpener

Have you heard of the Quietest Classroom Pencil Sharpener? I pinned it on my Back To School Wishlist board on Pinterest a while back. It just looked super cool and so vintage! 

So, I finally got one and am ready to tell you all about it now that I tried it out. Now, I was ridiculously excited when it arrived in the mail in a small box. By the way, I love love love online shopping. It's so fun to be surprised by purchases that arrive suddenly in the mail. *Note: this only works when you don't check the tracking number daily

Firehouse Red

I giddily opened the package, grabbed a pencil, and... had no idea how to use the sharpener!! I was like "What? This is not working." So, I remember skimming a review and reading that there was a Youtube video with directions for using this thing. I immediately grabbed the laptop and searched for the video. I found a good one and was like "Okay! I can do that!"
Click HERE to watch the video.

First of all, I didn't even put the pencil in right! OOPS! Second, I was turning the handle in the wrong direction. Jeez, get it together!

I tried the pencil sharpener without mounting it because I'm super impatient. I pulled the tab and inserted the pencil. Turned that lever in the CORRECT direction and VOILA! A super sharp pencil! Like scary sharp! I can't wait to mount this baby in my classroom! 

Oh, and I will probably be the only person sharpening pencils or maybe I'll show a few students how to use it. Typically, I'm the only person who sharpens pencils in my class. I occasionally have students from previous years who offer to sharpen them during recess (of course I love older helpers). What are your pencil sharpening practices?

My old sharpener was an X-Acto School Pro Electric Sharpener. It lasted almost the entire school year. It was such a bummer that the blade dulled so quickly.I had to break out the school-issued pencil sharpener. It's sooooo loud. It's definitely not my fave, but it's gotten the job done.  I have recently found that the blades can be replaced on the X-acto sharpener for about $25. 

I'll see how the Quietest Classroom Sharpener works out and keep you posted on its endurance. Now I've got to go find a place to mount it in my classroom so I can hurry up and sharpen all those new pencils!! If you want one, you can head to Classroom Friendly Supplies {SHOP].

Totally in love!

Just in the nick of time...Five for Friday

Okay... Who flipped my calendar to August?!! I was hanging out, watching TV, making things on the computer and BAM! August. <insert crybaby face here>

Okay, I'll stop being over dramatic now. This means school starts in less than 2 weeks for me. It's definitely go time and I can't even write out my to do lists fast enough. I did make it to Doodle Bugs Teaching Five for Friday Linky party though. Yeay!

My week did start off pretty great because my pens went on sale at Office Depot. Yipee!! I love these pens, but love them even more whenever I can get a deal on them. They were 7 bucks for 12 pens! They do bleed, so they aren't for my calendar, but they are perfect for writing notes and grading papers. My favorite color of the bunch is PURPLE!

I broke out the mod podge again.... dun dun dun! It wasn't so bad this time. I wanted to take my mailboxes back to my room, but I hadn't fixed the labels like I planned. I'm not sure if I mentioned that we can't leave any "furniture" of our own in the classroom over summer at my school. My Crafty Teacher Room looks a mess during the summer! I just bring so much stuff back home over the summer. 

The good news was that I was pretty much forced to re-do my mailboxes. I knew I wanted to re-number them and really wanted to use my washi tape. I tried the washi tape over the labels, but my tape was much too transparent. So, with the advice of my instagram friends *wink* (thanks friends!) I put address labels over my mailbox labels [Photo 1]. 

Then, I placed a strip of washi tape over them [Photo 2]. They look beautimous! I numbered the labels with a black sharpie as well. Of course, I doubt that this would hold up once my second graders got their grubby little hands in there. So, I decided to cover the labels with clear packing tape. Seems pretty sturdy. I'll show you more photos once the entire thing is done. 

I did make it to my classroom for a few hours this week. I don't go very often because my commute is 45 minutes. I went with the intention of rearranging some of my furniture and setting up my desk. Unfortunately, I'm sure I spent 20% of my time unpacking and 80% talking to ....EVERYBODY. I can be such a Chatty Cathy! And hello! I like EVERYONE. Also, apparently, not everyone has a Facebook account at my school. Whaaaaaaat?? Yeah. Crazy. So... my class is still looking pretty sad. 

My niece and I had a lunch date with my hubby! We've been planning on going to lunch all summer. I think next week is going to be filled with all the things I said I was going to do all summer. This should be interesting because I'll also be getting all my back to school projects done as well. What a juggling act that is going to be. 

We stopped in at a local library, which is currently displaying some of Doug Hansen's illustrations and sketches. He published Mother Goose in California and Aesop in California. The first book is a beautiful ABC book (which we own). Of course my favorite little missy was more interested in checking out books. She was thrilled to find her favorite The Very Hungry Caterpillar! I managed to talk her into checking out some of his other books as well.

Remember how I mentioned I was reformatting my Common Core stuff! Probably not, and that's okay. I finished!!! O-M-G!! Feels like it took years! I'm pretty sure it was only days. Anyways, I finished it all and bundled it. That means all of the Common Core planning materials...all 42 pages...in a portrait format are being sold together! It'll be marked down to $3.00 for the first 48 hours! Check it out by clicking HERE.

Okay friends, it's been one fun-filled week. Enjoy your weekend!

CCSS Gradebook for 20 OR 25!

The winner's of my Common Core Gradebook are Ashley from Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd and Wendy from Peace Love & Little People! I'll be emailing you shortly, ladies. 

I've already modified the gradebook for next school year as well (can not seem to stay away from my computer). I currently have a class of 20, but that will likely change next year. My class size will most likely increase to 25 like other primary classes in my district. Not even going to cry about it yet. I am trying to figure out how to reconfigure my room and where to put more desks though. Yikes! Back to the gradebook... I try to keep to as few pages as I can to save on ink and paper. I HATE having to flip through a million pages when reviewing data. So, I revised the gradebook for 20 and squeezed in room for 5 more students. Of course, that means it's a little more squished. I hope someone finds it useful. I'll definitely be using it next year.

If you still would like either Gradebook they're up for $1.00 on TpT until tomorrow morning. 

Click HERE to see the Gradebook for 25 students.

That's all for tonight friends!

Wanna see my lesson plan book?

Hello friends! I'm back.... from a mini-vacay that is. So, normally I hate going out of town this close to school starting. It makes me super uncomfortable... I mean errrr excited... as I start to write out my to-do list. Unfortunately Luckily, we had purchased concert tickets months ago for a show near San Francisco, so that meant I HAD to take a trip outta town! Darn! I mean, if you're going drive 3 hours away, you might as well stay and do some fun stuff. Right?! Also, the weather in SF is about 30 degrees cooler than home (102 degrees is no fun).

Sausalito & Muir Woods Monument

If you ever visit SF, San Francisco Sightseeing Tours is a great company to tour with. We hopped on a bus to Muir Woods and Sausalito, then went on a 1 hour bay cruise. My husband and I love to visit SF and manage to find something different to do EVERY single time. We were running out of ideas and decided to venture out a bit. We are really REALLY good at getting lost, so it was nice to have someone else drive for a change. Sausalito is a cute Mediterranean-like community across the bay from SF.

My bff lives in SF! She took us to the Marriott Lounge, which has a ridiculous view.
Ikea anyone? I think yes.
The Postal Service concert in Berkeley. Awesome!

Moving on to my school related post... I'm excited to link up with The Teacher's Chair and share my lesson plan book with you! This has been quite a process for me. I recall buying a pre-made lesson plan book with the intention of filling those little boxes with my plans. However, I thought it would be difficult and the boxes weren't the right size, so I created and printed my own. I created an Excel file with 3 columns and labeled the subject areas. I typically filled out the details in pen or pencil. Each day took up an entire page. Later, I began typing lesson details into the cells and printing them off Sunday night. 

I do not mind changing my plan book at all. So, I was super excited last year when I found that Luckeyfrog's Lilypad had created a lesson planning template that could be customized FOR FREE. I love creating and customizing my schtuff! I especially loved this because the layout allowed me to view the entire week's plan. In the last column I chose to write in my center plans, focus students, and groups. My focus students were those that I chose for tutoring to ensure that they were making progress in reading comprehension. I met with these students weekly to work on a particular skill. My reading groups were constantly changing based on student growth, so I had to keep a list of each group. I'm SUPER forgetful and must write everything down (including assemblies, meetings, etc.). I wrote these notes down and sometimes highlighted them after printing. After completing my lesson plans for the week, I printed, hole-punched, and placed them in my binder. Of course, there are changes that happen. If it's a big change I would reprint, if not I'd write in the change on the printed copy. I plan to keep this plan book for next year as well. Of course there will be modifications and some schedule changes. But for the most part I'll be keeping this format.
*I typically keep the digital copy open on my computer and the binder on my desk (as requested by my admin).

I have to have some pretty stuff to look at, so I started adding clip art &color at the end of the year.

I also keep a birthday page in this binder, my pacing calendar, and district calendar. I created my own Lesson Plan Binder Cover as well. Click HERE to download them for free.

Now, last week I shared about my new CCSS checklist and gradebook. Well, I FINALLY finished my Gradebook. Yippee!! I created it in a portrait format. This will make report card time so much easier because I'll have a specific document to refer back to and record student progress. It'll be up for $1.00 until tomorrow!

Go to TpT for the NEW Portrait Gradebook 

Go to TpT for the Landscape Gradebook

Happy Monday!

The Celebration Continues!

Wow! So what are the odds of having a repeat winner?! This winner actually won my Bloglovin Giveaway last month. So crazy! Congratulations Tessa M. you've won even MORE prizes!!! I'll be contacting you shortly. I'm still trying to reach a previous winner: Leslie E. Please check your Gmail email/spam.

Thank you again for following! If you didn't win there's a consolation prize. Well, kind of. I'm going to throw a sale this week! Is there something you've had your eye on or something you'd like to have before school starts? Take 20% off at my TpT store! Enjoy!

I would love to win $100 to spend at School Outfitters! Wouldn't you?! I could buy so many classroom goodies! 
Cick HERE to head to Oh' Boy Fourth Grade for a chance to win