Teacher Week- Where I teach Wednesday

I'm back! Did you see my big debut?!?

In case you missed it, I wrote yesterday's post- Techy Tip Tuesday! 

I am so super excited and I hope that you will follow Blog Hoppin' as well! Today is Where I Teach Wednesday and I thought this would be a perfect time for me to give  you all an update on the state of my classroom. Last Sunday, my family and I made a few changes to my classroom.  So here are a few more photos of my classroom....it's still a work in process but looking much better!

Now, you are probably wondering why my walls are so bare...

Last year, I started thinking about how precious my wall space is and how I could better use it to support student learning. The more I thought about it the more I knew that if I choose what goes on the walls, the students are less likely to use it when working independently.  It was really that simple. I decided that I would fill my walls with my students rather than for them. There will be a few more things that will go up before the first day of school (alphabet, word wall, schedule and job chart) but the rest will be placed on the walls as I teach it. Just like with anchor charts, the students understand and interact with everything that "decorates" our room. 

I hope that you enjoy the pics and there will be more to come as it gets closer to Meet the Teacher on Friday! I can't wait to meet my new babies!!

Need a few AWESOME ideas for our classroom? 

Check it out at 

Teacher Week- Must Have Monday

This is my first day back and our staff development week is in full swing!

I am also excited to announce, that this week is also Teacher Week at Blog Hoppin'!

As I make the transition back into early mornings and informative meetings, my mind drifts to some must have items to that make coming back to school so much fun!

Here are a few of my MUST HAVES for the upcoming school year:

Starbucks.

It is a most definite must have and at the top of this teacher's list! 

The Quietest Pencil Sharpener

I can not wait for my kiddos to be able to use this fabulous pencil sharpener! It will definitely cut down on the noise and won't interrupt my small group lessons. Not to mention it sharpens pencils (even the not so great ones) beautifully.

Inkjoy Pens by Papermate

I L.O.V.E office supplies. 

These pens are my latest obsession and they are amazing and super affordable!

They will make grading papers a little more exciting!

My Scotch Thermal Laminator

I am so happy that my mom gave this to me! I have gotten so much use out of it and lat night it one of my classroom projects! Sometimes when I laminate using the school laminator, it tends to come apart. I was so worried that my color copies for my alphabet would be ruined until I ran the pieces through my Scotch Thermal Laminator. I was so excited! It sealed the open ends and my alphabet looks awesome! {Not to mention, I didn't have to print all those color copies again!}

     

    

 

Blogging...and other Technology

I have been blogging for a couple of years now and am so happy that I discovered this amazing way to gather and share ideas and collaborate with other teachers from all over the world. It has brought a fresh of breathe air into the lessons that I teach, sparked a creativity to develop new engaging lessons and to share as much as possible with all of you! 

Now it's your turn!

Share your fabulous must haves for the new school year! 

You Know It's Back to School Time....

I can't believe that summer is coming to an end and that I will be back to school on Monday.

I am so excited about the new school year but I am going to miss my summer....

Jeannie at Kindergarten Lifestyle is having a linky and I thought I would join in! Here are a few ways that I know that a new school year is right around the corner.....

Throughout the summer, I collected TONS of great freebies and bought some AWESOME products from Teachers Pay Teachers.  Now it is time to magically transform my fabulous finds from digital files to decor for my classroom!  I have been to Office Depot to buy ink twice this week and I still have more to print. 

It all looks so cheerful and bright when printed in color!!

After using all the ink to print out my goodies I have to preserve them!  It's a very good thing that my school is generous and allows us to laminate to our hearts content. I can't imagine what type of bill I would rake up if I had to take it to a teacher supply store to get all my things laminated!!

Just the thought makes me tired! During the summer, I love to stay up late! I do some of my best work at 1 in the morning and what I love most about summer is that I can stay up late AND still get my 8 hours of sleep! Once the school year begins, my bedtime drastically changes from my usual 2 am to 9:30! Whoa!!

and last but not least...

This is a must! I will be making sure to add specific times into my schedule for reading and writing posts. Blogging has been such a wonderful way to share,  learning and grow as a teacher and I plan to continue on this fabulous journey! 

How do you know it's time to go back to school?

Join in on the fun by leaving me a comment (which I LOVE reading) or visit

to join the linky! 

Sneak a Peek....

Have I told you how much I love Teachers Pay Teachers?

Have I told you that I absolutely ADORE getting great products to use in my classroom created by real teachers that use what they have created?

This past weekend was the big sale and I STOCKED UP!!

I found some of the best ideas around and I wanted to share a couple with you! 

I teach ELA, Writing and Reading to my kiddos and these are going to be perfect!!

           

I also bought a few things to help with my implementation of Depth and Complexity with my students:

and who can forget the first day of school is right around the corner! These will be awesome the first couple of weeks of school:

I told you....I LOVE TPT! 

I have joined Blog Hoppin' in our latest and greatest linky party!!

I have a feeling that after I read the posts that are included in this

linky party, I will be filling my cart up again!! 

What did you snatch up during the sale? I am dying to know so make sure to link up and share!!

Back to School Sale at Teachers Pay Teachers!

The end of summer got you blue?

Trying to make your way back to reality after a dreamy summer vacation?

Nothing like a little retail therapy to get you excited about another FABULOUS SCHOOL YEAR!!

The wonderful ladies at Blog Hoppin' and yours truly

are putting our stores on sale for this back to school!

That is a huge savings on some of the best products on TpT! I already have 30 products in my basket and wishlist and can't wait to purchase them for my kiddos and classroom.

I am working on a new product for my store right now!
I love having quick notes ready to go as simple reminder to kiddos and parents about upcoming events,  homework or returning important papers.

Hopefully, you will love it as much as I do!!

State of the Classroom...

Well, I finally made it to school.

Tonight was New Student Orientation and Meet and Mingle with our new principal and I had such a great time seeing some of my babies and meeting new members of the Huggins family!

But I will confess...

I have been a trying to squeeze every last minute out of my summer (and I love being at home in my comfy clothes on the computer) but I am ready and very excited for a new school year!!

My room actually didn't look as bad as I thought!! 

I walked into my classroom and this is what I saw: 

These are all my book shelves waiting for me to move them to their new home in my classroom.

These are my large wooden shelves that will become my book nook benches. (I turn those babies on there sides and place a cushion on them and they become the most perfect kid friendly benches!)

My teacher desk, printer and computer...

my kiddos desks and my scalloped reading table....it took me a little while to fall in love with this table but after a while it grew on me.

Ok. Now that I see it, maybe it's not quite as far along has I would like but it is going to be so AMAZING! 

I definitely need to spend some time at school. It's official. Summer is over.

Bring on the new school year!!

(oh, and I'll make sure to keep you posted on the progress too....)

Cameo, Oh Cameo....

Where are thou Cameo?

I am in love! Although I do not have one yet....
The Cameo Silhouette  is amazing and I have to show you some of the awesome things that I have seen {and pinned} that have been made by this precise cutting tool!

The first thing that I love about this tool is that it cuts with perfection! I am a little obsessed with how my crafts look. I really want them to look like the picture and sometimes its just not that way...right? I mean, it is handmade...but I can't help myself! This machine does a beautiful job, with amazing clean lines!
The Cameo Silhouette \is also very versatile. It is amazing all the different craft projects it can do...from magnets to t-shirt transfers!

Here are a few projects I look forward to making:

I love the lettering and wouldn't this be ADORABLE for student work!

source: A Little This, A Little That

I think these clipboards would be great! They could be labeled with the name of the station, the teacher's name...the list could go on and on with ways to personalize these little cuties!

source: Snappydot on Etsy

and of course, then I will need to make a bucket for all my super cute clipboards!

y

Source: For the Love of Teaching

It's amazing how everything looks so neat and professional looking! Love it!

I am just dreaming of the day when I get mine!

Do you have something that you have made for your classroom?
Don't have one?
Check this out!?!


 Join the chance to win a Cameo Silhouette and join the linky!!

Pinterest in Education

Pinterest!

Oh how I {puffy heart} love you!

I think that this may be one of my favorite ways to collect ideas for EVERYTHING.

Home.

Vacations.

Style.

Fun things to do with the kiddo.

Yummy things to cook.

This list goes on...but my favorite thing to pin is school stuff! I more school boards than anything else and I follow some of the most awesome pinners! 

It's like having my own teacher supply store.....in my computer!!

Here are a few of the boards I currently have:

Daily 5

Classroom organization

Writing Ideas

Bulletin Boards

Parent Handouts

Gift for Teachers and Kiddos 

Literacy Activities 

Behavior Management 

First Day of School

If you would like to follow my boards click on my cute little Pinterest button to the left!

You can chose the boards you follow or you can follow all of my boards with one click! 

 I also have several collaborative boards where I pin with other awesome bloggers onto those boards gathering even more wonderful ideas for everyone to share.

These boards prove to be a great way for me to save ideas that I see while I am blogging and searching the web for me to use when I need them. It holds my finds like colored little post notes on a cork board and allows me to go back and take a deeper look when I am ready to use the idea. It is one of the first places I look for new and fresh ideas (along with my 400+ blogs and Teachers Pay Teachers). 

Not to mention that the visual learner in me loves that I can keep a picture of the awesome ideas that I find! I can search through my pin boards with ease, looking at the pictures as I search for that perfect activity to enrich my lessons. I am even considering how to use this with my students and parents in the upcoming school year.

My friend Debbie was inspired by a pin that she saw and created this AMAZING link up for all edupeople! 

I am giddy just thinking about all the FABULOUS pinners that I will find and be able to follow! Nothing like collaboration at its very best! 

I have included the link on this post. Have a Pinterest Account and want to share your boards? 

Want others to start following you on Pinterest? Join the fun and start pinning!!

Currently....

I am so excited about the new school year and all the potential that comes with a new and wonderful school year! I am preparing for the year with some great new ideas that I have gathered through my blog hopping this summer and am beginning to collect things for my classroom. I plan to make my way to school in the next few days and will be taking pictures along them way! It will be so much fun to document the process from empty room to  a loving learning environment!

In the meantime, I have linked up with my sweet bloggy friend Farley 

for this month's Currently. I love reading these posts each month! 

Farley's new design is so super cute and I am really digging the 'stache!

I have been noticing them everywhere!

So here are a few of my favorites:

My friend Missy Squirrels from Going Nutty in Miss Squirrel's First Grade Class

makes these super adorable coffee cozies! I love this pink one!

and

these would be cute to add a little funny to anything in the classroom..

and check out this stationary that my friend April made (you can even edit it!)

The kiddos would love the 'stache!!!

Well...I am off to do some school shopping!!

B2S begins.....now!!