Five for Friday!

Hello friends! It's been quite a week...and its ending with a day off work taking care of my sick little girl. We will share more on that later!

  I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday. Make sure you click the link to add to the fun!!!

This weekend we went and looked at model homes in a beautiful neighborhood with trails and weekend farmer's markets! I would LOVE to move there but we have a lot of thinking to do. I took this adorable picture of my oldest because she was OBSESSED with the "big girl room". I can't wait to have "Santa" update her room! She is growing up so fast!!!

We also got our family pictures taken this weekend. I adore this photo and I'm not even sure how she captured this beautiful moment because this photo session was ROUGH! My oldest (Kylee) decided she didn't want to take pictures and literally threw a massive fit! Kenzi was a happy girl until mommy walked away and she screamed her little lungs out. We had to call the session a wrap and are going to try another mini-session in the backyard. Fingers crossed!!

As far as the classroom goes we are getting into the groove of collaborative work. We introduced our bear share technique and the kids are discussing beautifully! It's so simple. All you need is a bear manipulative (which we all have) and a group of students. The rules are very simple. Whoever has the bear does the talking and everyone else listens! We love to use this technique to share our sticky notes, writing and our ideas. 

For this activity we read the book "I have a Pet" by Shari Halpern- you can grab a copy here:

After reading the story we split into groups to answer "What pet do you want and why?" They used the bears to share ideas first and then got to work. After the posters were complete the students got to share with everyone else! Loved it!

I also had a proud moment when my intern used my Bubble Gum Comparing Numbers Packet to organize our math stations. She was perfectly organized and didn't miss a beat. The students had so much fun and their test scores were AMAZING! I'm excited that I can continue to work with her next semester for her final internship!! She is going to be an AMAZING teacher!!

You can grab a copy of the packet by clicking the picture below. Best Part?!?! It's on sale until Sunday Night!!!

And now...the most pathetic picture ever. This little girl has a 103.4 fever! We took her to the doctor today and they aren't sure what's going on. We are on an antibiotic for "just in case" purposes. Since it's the weekend we won't have our test results until Monday. Fingers are double crossed that its NOT strep throat...please please please!

The good news is that she wants to cuddle. I love having her cuddle with me! 

Have a great weekend everyone!! We will be working hard to keep our family AWAY from germs...impossible I know.

The Chart Fairy & a FREEBIE!

Hi Friends,
   Can I actually say that I'm getting in the groove??? I had time tonight to blog AND upload to TPT. Is this real life? I don't believe so. Slow down Kristen. Let's not get ahead of ourselves...Monday morning I will be feeling the to-do list stress once again!!

But for now I don't feel it at all and I decided to do a real QUICK blog post discussing my classroom "Chart Fairy". Do you have a "Chart Fairy" in your classroom? If not...you will soon. Very soon!

We all make a bazillion anchor charts each day. Right? Some are great for posting around the room, especially if the students wrote on them as well! However some most in my class are a hot mess of sloppy letters, interesting illustrations and faded markers. TRUTH. For the perfectionist side of me this poses BIG problems. Until the chart fairy comes in over night (or over the weekend) and changes those charts into masterpieces!

So now I share with my wonderful teacher friends...the fancy Daily Five Anchor Charts! Just click the image to snag your free copy!

Happy {early} Friday!!

Five for Friday!!!

Whoa?!? Where have I been?!? Sorry friends this working mom thing is rough! How do you guys keep up? I'm thinking a blogging calendar is a must! 

Anyways I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for this weeks Five for Friday. Wait until you see how crazy busy & fun my week has been!

First up we spent the entire weekend at the beach. My girls got to spend quality time with their grandad who was visiting from Texas! It was a great time BUT somehow all four of us ended up with a cold...not cool!

I finally got to work on my focus wall at school! My kinders are doing a fabulous job at discuss out essential question at the end of every lesson! We are still working on how to respond to a friend. I know they can do it!!!

My best friend is getting married and her bridal shower is this weekend! Every night after the kiddos go to bed I have been crafting away. It's going to be soooo cute! I've made some cute printables as well. Absolutely can't wait for the "he said she said" game!!!

 

 

My kinders were obsessed with their sticky note today. We've been building our read to self stamina and have made it 6 minutes. Impressive! I can't wait to give them their very own readers toolbox to keep inside their book boxes. I have a feeling it will be a BIG hit!

 

And this is how I ended my week! I miss her so much while she is at school but She is learning so much!!! She told me the letter c says /k/ today! Whoa girl slow down!! Haha!!

I hope everyone has a great weekend and I'm going to try my best to post more often! Please tell me I'm not the only one feeling overwhelmed?

Monday Made-It (August 18th 2014)

Well let's start with I'M EXHAUSTED! I haven't been in the classroom since February (Maternity Leave) and man have I forgotten the never ending to-do list that we teachers have. Not to mention my now family of 4, new blogging adventure and TPT products! I literally have no time to even breathe! 

But it's all good because I secretly love everything about it...except the middle of the night wake-ups! Those are definitely not loved!

I can't believe I haven't blogged in almost 2 weeks. I'm sorry. Don't worry though because this post will MORE than make up for it!!

I'm linking up for my last Monday Made-It of the summer! A HUGE thank you goes out to Tara at 4th grade frolics for keeping me accountable all summer! Haha!

I must first admit that this idea is not mine. I learned this from my new Kindergarten team and asked them if I could share it. They agreed and I snapped a few pictures to share with all of you!

I don't know about you but every year I spend a good chunk of time repairing broken lunch tags. Our Kindergartners are required to enter their lunch numbers into the cafeteria in order to purchase lunch. I've always made laminated tags and attached them to a lanyard and it never fails that after only one day I have a few that need to be "reinforced" or even replaced. 

Not anymore! Solo cups. Seriously my team uses solo cups to make name tags. AMAZING!

Step 1: Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet along with 4 solo cups.

Step 2: Set the oven to 250 degrees. Place them inside the oven for 3-5 minutes. You will want to keep an eye on them!

Step 3: Transfer them onto foil. Sometimes they want come out flat and you will need to flatten them with a spatula. They harden up QUICK so be fast!

Step 4: Drill a hole in the the top and attach a lanyard!

Such a cheap and easy way to make cute colorful tags! I hope this helps all of you!! Now it's time for me to go to bed...BIG DAY tomorrow! 1st day for 16 adorable Kindergartners!!! Stay tuned for a post about my Meet the Teacher with my packet I made below!

Happy Teaching!

Monday Made-It (August 4th 2014)

Hi friends!! I'm just dropping by quickly to share my Monday Made-It's from last week and this week! I was pretty sad that I couldn't link up last Monday because of horrible internet connection. However, the fact that I was spending time with my family at the beach made me happy pretty quickly! Plus this view...

Amazing. Seriously can I live here?!? Before we get this linky started let's congratulate Gina P. for winning my Bright Chevron Classroom Decor Bundle!! Yay! If you didn't win and still want to purchase this bundle I'm having a 20 % off sale in addition to the TPT 10 % just use the promo code BTS14. Click here for the link!

I had a friend message me with a special request. She wanted a "Where are we?" poster. Her classroom colors are brights (just like mine) so I was excited to be able to use this product myself! I made her's all on one sheet. She can use a clothespin to show what place her class is at.

I'm still debating on whether or not I want my as a poster...tough decision! I'm debating between the poster or individual cards attached to ribbon?!?! What do you think? I've bundled two different posters as well as the individual cards in my TPT store. The best part is I made them editable!!! Clearly all schools have different locations. If you'd like to check it out (also on sale) you can click on the picture below!!

Now this next project has been on my list all summer and I constantly move it further and further down. I'm talking about those fabulously organized 3-drawer sterile containers all over Pinterest!! Why am I procrastinating this project?!? Well mostly because I wanted the perfect labels and was to lazy to actually measure the drawers. Honest. I would have probably messed it up anyways...measuring is not my best skill! 

However I was browsing through my sweet blogging friend Ashley's (One Sharp Bunch) Monday Made-It posts and  saw her super cute labels! She didn't make them but she showed me where to find them. So that then brings us all to The Tattooed Teacher!! She was also having trouble finding labels and unlike my lazy self...she made them! I love them!!! 

I used her pre-made labels for my teal container. Then I used the same KG Font to make my Monday-Friday labels. I plan on using these to organize my materials needed. I was previously using the stack-able paper sorting trays but now I can't wait to move these to my writing table for my students!! 

I decided to spice up my whisper phones with some funky duck tape this week too. This was such an easy task since the phones were already made and I just needed to wrap the duck tape. Perfect.

I'm finally finished my BRIGHT binder pack and I love it! This binder is such a life saver! It keeps the students, parents and myself very organized. My favorite part is that it offers black and white dividers to save our precious ink. Just print it on those brights Astrobrights paper packs! Click the picture to snag your very own during the TPT sale! That's 30% off!!!

That's all for this week!! Teachers go back next Monday....AGHHH! So much to do and so little time...

A Few of my FAVORITE Things Linky Party

Oh Em Gee. The day is FINALLY here and I'm so excited you stopped by for our back 2 school linky! I hope you have enjoyed browsing around all of our blogs learning about our favorite back to school items. Make sure you stay tuned at the end of this post for an AMAZING giveaway!

I really love the beginning of the year. A fresh start with new supplies a clean classroom and the smell of Crayola crayons. Sign me up! I have to admit shopping for my classroom is adiciting! I'm sure we can all relate on that though.

Now for "A Few of my Favorite Things!" This list could go on forever BUT I will try to control myself. Maybe. I'm not making any promises!!!

Kettle Corn

Have you had this popcorn?! If not you should get some immediately! I found these huge bags (yes I bought 3...don't judge) at Coscto. You can also buy them at Target. I'm constantly snacking at school and these are my go to item. WARNING: Very addicting!

Teacher Bag

 Oh how I love thirty-one! This bag is the perfect teacher bag. I love all the outside pockets to help organize the small items to and from my classroom. This bag holds a special place in my heart since one of my students bought it for me at the end of the year! #bestgiftever

Comfy Shoes

 Clearly as women we all love shoes...right?!? Well I was the newbie teachers fresh out of college teaching kindergarten in heals. No joke. The crazy part is at that age they were actually comfortable to me?!? Not anymore. Once I was pregnant I traded in those heals for flats. Best decision ever. These are my three go to shoes for the classroom. So comfy!

Dollar Store Baskets

 Baskets, baskets and more baskets. A classroom can never have to many baskets. I'm literally obsessed. I can't leave the dollar store without picking these up. They are so bright and colorful! Plus the organization... Oh the possibilities!

I-phone <3

  Do you use your phone in your classroom? If not, you should! I use my timer the most. It keeps me and the students on time and that's a necessity! I also love taking pictures of my students during the day and using it as positive encouragement "I caught you" My kids LOVE THIS!

CISS Printing System

 Have you seen this little trick from Amy at Learning Lessons with Mrs. Labrasciano??? It's amazing! I think it is my very favorite back to school item because of all the printing we do for the beginning of the year. I was going to spend over 50 dollars to replace my ink but instead bought this unit on Ebay for 42 dollars. Best part?!?! It will last WAY longer!!!

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