Back to School Sale!

Talk about time flying when you are having fun! Where did the summer go?? I am enjoying the last hurrah of summer this holiday weekend and then it is back to school for a fresh new start with my new group of cutie pies! 

To celebrate the official back to school season for all of us just getting back into the groove, I'm throwing a sale at both of my shops!

Wishing everyone a fantastically fun holiday weekend! :)

Classroom Labels Made Easy!

My printer has been running non-stop these days. I've spent a small fortune printing all of the classroom items I have made or purchased for my room! To save time and a little cash, I usually create classroom labels using name tags.

I purchased these from Lakeshore Learning and Creative Teaching Press in a variety of themes to match my room! I use them for:

name tags for field trips
supply boxes
bus tags
cupboard labels
my Monday-Friday drawers
classroom jobs
center rotation cards
book baskets

I purchase Avery address labels #8860 or 5160. I always print several sheets of just student names because I use those for other things like folders and binders.

There is a template online so you can type in what you like and the only ink you need to use is what you need for the small address labels! Click on the picture above to download a template!

You can also write on these with sharpies and laminate them! I found this photo from A Cupcake for the Teacher! Cute and colorful! Check out her post! :)

I also purchased coordinating desk plates to use to label larger items like storage boxes and my my monthly bins.

Hopefully this little tip will help you out with getting organized in a cheap and easy way! 

New Frames and Borders and a Pinterest Blog Hop

K.I.S.S. Keep it Simple Seller!That's been my motto lately. I have been trying to use simple, easy to read fonts and borders and frames especially when I want to draw attention to the text or cute clip art on the page. This is especially true for items created for the little ones because too much on a page can be overwhelming for them to look at. 

Often, I am searching for a cute frame or some borders that I can use to highlight my items but without distracting from the content on the page. I could not find exactly what I needed for my latest project, so I made my own! 

I call them Simply Sweet!

If you like them and think they might be just the thing you need for your creations, you can get them at my store on sale today! Click on the picture to take you to this item.

I'm pretty sure by now you've heard that the big TPT sale starts today!

Throughout the year, I have collected Pins of items that I have on my wishlist! I'm heading back to Pinterest today to see what I might have missed!

Come join in the fun with a Pinterest for Teachers Blog Hop! Enter your link and copy and paste the code into your blog to keep it going! :)

Reading Comprehension for Cuties and a Back to School Blowout!

I've been busy over the last few weeks working on a BFF for my best-selling Reading Comprehension Companion. This one is redesigned with the little ones in mind! If you love cute clip art, you are sure to love this one! I think my class will! Here is the reveal!

If your looking to improve your student's comprehension skills and at the same time, work on items from the CAFE menu during Daily 5, you might be interested in the Reading Comprehension Companion for Cuties. I call it a companion, because these activities can be used with any book in the context of your whole group, guided reading or Daily 5 Cafe mini-lessons. It was written to address both the CAFE menu and Common Core Standards. You can call it a combo! Here are just a few of the pages:

 This big bundle contains printables created in both color and black and white! If you'd like to see more of what is inside, click on one of the pictures to see it in my shop! 

It's finished just in time for the BIG SALE!!!!

It's finally here! The big Teachers Pay Teachers Back to School Sale is set to begin tomorrow! I'll be busy going through my wishlisted items and browsing for some treasures to add to my cart!

Thanks Krista for the cute sales promo!

Everything in my store will be on sale! 

What's on your list you'd like to grab during the sale? 

Remember to enter the promo code BTS13 at checkout for more savings!

 Happy shopping! :)

Back to School Freebies

The first day of school is exciting, but can be a little chaotic to say the least. My kiddos come in with mountains of school supplies and the first thing they want to know is what to do with their stuff! It is always a challenge to get them organized and donations like Kleenex boxes put away quickly so we can get on with our learning activities. It's always helpful to have something fun for them to work on while you take care of that sort of business. I made a first day of school coloring page for my students to work on.

It's a freebie at my TPT store and Teachers Notebook shop. Click on the picture to download a copy! Hope you can use it! 

The end of the day can be equally as chaotic especially for kiddos who take the bus. Remembering their bus number and finding their bus at dismissal takes some practice. Here are some editable bus tags. I always tape one label in the folder and be sure there is a bus number on their backpack in case another adult has to help them get to the right bus! 

The picture can take you to this free download!

I'll be on vacation for the next week! Yay! I can't wait to tell you all about my trip to Chicago!

Head over to TBA and see what other great freebies are out there! 

Daily 5~Keeping It Simple! Daily 5 Freebies!

 Wow!It's Wednesday already and time to do a little reflecting as we get ready to make improvements and start planning for our new year with new kiddos!

Why didn't I think of that sooner? We've all said it! 

Sometimes the best ideas are the simplest ones! Over the years I have had a  literacy center-based classroom, a hands-on science classroom, a  Debbie Diller workstation classroom and a Daily 5 classroom. In order to successfully manage kids up and moving about and all trying to get to their favorite of the choices without squabbling, it takes some creative planning. 

What Didn't Work? 

Too much to do! When the responsibility falls on the teacher to assign, track and manage rotations of any kind, it takes away from time better spent on something else like finding or making engaging materials for my word work and writing rotations. Sometimes the organization required was mind-boggling especially with nine daily workstation rotations.  I have happily passed that job off to my students!

What Works?

Meet Turn-Taking Teddy!

source

This is how Teddy helps. Before beginning Daily 5 rotations, my students have to have all the things they need on top of their desk, so there is no rattling of pencil boxes, or digging in desks to get supplies out when the groups are called back. 

I call out "READY TEDDY?" and hand him off to one student all organized, still and quiet. (I try to choose a different student every day). With Teddy in hand, that student looks for someone near them who is also 'ready' and passes him off. We talk about being fair, so they don't always pass him on to a friend.

After handing off Teddy, the student gets to go to the rotation of their choice. My students know that on most days, we will get through all of them. If we don't, we work on dealing with disappointments in an appropriate way. 

Once Teddy is up and moving, I am free to go to the reading table and get ready for the students that I will be working with.

The Rule of FIVE during Daily 5

Because Teddy takes his time (usually about 3 minutes) making his way through the room, this eliminates the rush of children trying to be first to get to a rotation. The class knows the rule of five. When there are five at a rotation, the station is full so they need to make another choice. It works. They do it without complaint. This is how the real world works too. If I can't get close to see a display, I wait or go somewhere else for a while. If a line at the store is too long, we do the same, right?

Try it and you may never go back to any other way! Thanks Teddy for helping us learn to take turns!

Will you Join us?

This kind of reflection and sharing of ideas can help another teacher to find the solution they have been searching for. It can also help to make our demanding work a little easier too!I'd love to know what works and what didn't for you. Link up with me on Wednesdays! Just save the image and use it in your post! Leave a comment below if you like letting us know where to find you and we will visit you too! :)

 In case you missed them in my last post, here is a link to some freebie Daily 5 items:

Cafe Poster Set

Daily Five Poster Set

Choice Chart

Have a wonderful Wednesday! 

Daily 5 Posters and CAFE Set~ Freebie Friday

At my school, we watch a live broadcast for the morning announcements. My favorite part is what we call the "Friday Song". The whole school joins in singing and waving their hands to celebrate the end of a great week!

You may want to adopt this in your classroom. There is no particular tune so you can make up your own. This is how it goes:

Its...Friday, it's Friday, it's Friday, Friday, Friday!

It's Friday, it's Friday!

It's Friday all day long! Woo!

It's...Friday, it's Friday, it's Friday, Friday, Friday!

It's Friday, it's Friday!

The week is almost done! Woo!

I have no idea who made this up, but it's just our silly way to get pumped up for the weekend!

Freebie Fridays at TBA is really something to celebrate! I have found so many fantastic downloads by searching through previous Friday posts. Someday, when you have a little free time, you might want to do the same. There are seriously hundreds or even thousands of freebies to browse! It's a great way to find new blogs you may want to follow too!

I'm linking up again to share some Daily 5 poster sets. I have gotten many requests to make a set that matches the black and bright CAFE poster set. Both are freebies at my TPT store and Teachers Notebook shop.

This one has been downloaded over 4000 times!

 It's CRAZY to imagine that many classrooms may have this on their bulletin board! :)

If you're implementing Daily 5 in your room and love bright colors, this is the poster set for you! :)

Enjoy it friends!

I love receiving feedback on freebies! It just makes you feel good to know that you have helped someone out and that they appreciate it. 

Here is what one sweet teacher (Kelly) said:

I LOVE this poster set. I was looking for a CAFE set that is thorough, kid friendly, and bright and cheery, and you completely nailed it! Thanks for making it a freebie!!

Remember to get your posts ready for the linky on Wednesday! I would LOVE to have you join me for What Worked? What Didn't?
You can save this image for your post! :)

My post will be related to managing 
Daily 5 rotations!

See what other great freebie finds are out there! Click on the picture to visit TBA!

Have a super weekend! Woo!

August Currently

Can it be already? When I think about August, I think about a month of getting psyched up and ready for all things back to school. Today I updated and printed parent night brochures and have to be sure to do a little something like that every day to make the first weeks back easier! Still, there is a lot I want to do with my summer vacation time! Summer-please slow down!

I'm linking up with Farley for the August Currently!

Listening~ I live in The Motor City. Well, that is, in the suburbs about an hour from Detroit. Just about everyone in this town is into classic cars and every other house has a restored car of some kind. You may have heard of our famous Woodward Dream Cruise. The neighbor works on his car all day. It's in showroom condition, but we have a lot of rumbling around here!

 If I won the lotto or something and could get a car for the cruise, this is what I would pick:

                                         

I'll get this one too for the following year! :)

They ought to make a rumble and turn some heads for sure!

Loving~I've been wanting a drawing tablet and finally decided to splurge and get it! There is a lot to learn but it's so much fun! I'm working on some easy things to start. There were five creations scrapped already today that had some funny paper texture thing going on, so it's back to the drawing board tomorrow! I guess I know where the saying comes from! My boy is a talented budding artist so he is having a good time with it too! He made some abstract thing that looked like my roof shingles in a tornado! :)

Thinking~ It was the perfect day for a trip to the lake. We rented kayaks and then stopped at the beach. That was on the bucket list to do this summer. We try to make every day a "field trip" day.

Wanting~ I am so in love with the beautiful paisley designs from Erin Condren.

This one is my favorite:

What accessories are must-haves for the planner? If you have one, please let me know what you recommend!

Needing~ I can't wait for my upcoming trip to Chicago. I am taking my son there for his birthday. He went on a class trip a few years ago and has been asking to go again.  I haven't been there for years. I need to start looking into ways to get around, yummy places to eat and things to do for the one day that is still unplanned. We are taking the train round-trip! I do remember there is a Starbucks at every corner so I will be very happy indeed! We are staying right in the center of all of the action and shopping. It should be a wonderful, jam-packed few days! 

What is something that is a must-see other than the Shedd Aquarium and The Museum of Science and Industry? How about Restaurants? I remember going to a place called the Red Head Piano Bar. Is that still around?

Back to School Must-Haves~ If all stores were closing tomorrow and I could not purchase another thing for school, the show would go on as long as the teacher was present and looking ready for the first day of school. Everything else could be whipped up on the spot. We could probably find ways to teach without any "stuff".

I think the biggest must-have thing would be a comfortable, black maxi skirt. They look great on just about any figure! You can dress it up or down and it always looks professional and stylish. It's like having a little black dress in your closet for a party occasion, right?

No great teaching happens when my feet are killing me, so a must-have is a pair of comfy shoes. We are encouraged to wear closed-toe shoes at work, so ballet slippers are perfect with slacks or a dress. I found a super-duper comfy and cheap pair at Payless! 

I got them in nude too! It's hard to find a nude that's just the right shade. They'll go with anything!

But what I really want are these:

Tieks! But they're a little out of my price range right now! Aren't they beautiful?

  I want one of each, please!

I have my eye on this bag from Fossil! I'm not sure if it is big enough. Even with a beautiful bag, I'll probably still be dragging in bags of stuff from Target, Michaels and Office Max as usual!

What do you think of this lunch tote from Vera Bradley? The pattern is called Canyon.

I can live without any of it for sure and make do with the bags I have. To look put-together, confident and professional is a great way to mask the anxiety that the first day back can bring! That's why I pick these items as must-haves! 

I hope you've linked up too or stopped over to read more August Currently's! I'll be joining in the fun for Freebie Friday tomorrow. Hope to see you then!