Getting Organized with a New & Improved Classroom Newsletter!

Last year was the first year EVER in my teaching career that I did not send home classroom newsletters.  I don't know why I didn't send them.  I wanted to!  I even started to at the beginning of the year but, after the first two, none ever went home again!  One of my goals this year is to send them home regularly.  In the past, I've done bi-weekly newsletters... the front had classroom news and the back had classroom pictures.  I'll be honest... they were pretty labor intensive and I always had to make sure to take new pics so every edition had new faces on the back.

But, this year, I've got a new newsletter template that is quick and easy!

It looks like this...

I love it!  It took me about 5 minutes to type all my info in at school this week and I already sent it home at Open House night on Wednesday!

I put together a set with 2 different "monthly themed" templates and plan to send them home each week since it seriously took me less than 10 minutes to type and print them all.  I know I can easily get it done during my lunch or planning time on Mondays!

The pack, which as 20 different newsletters that are editable in Powerpoint, is available on TpT for $5 and, even better... I'll give one away too!  Just leave a comment and I'll have hubby pick a winner tomorrow!

Find it on TpT!

Ready for the First Day- Pics and Football!!!!!

Last night was Open House and it was so hot wonderful to meet my new students and to see my old ones too!

Today was another full day of working at school.  How can I still have full days of getting my room ready when I've been working it in for over a month?!  How?!  I don't mind.  I like being at school.  I get a lot of socializing done, that's for sure!

So... everything is ready for the first day on Tuesday.  I do have to go in on Monday just to make super duper uper sure that everything is ready and where I left it today!

Here's what my kiddos will see when they come in on Monday...

And *hopefully* they will read my note on the board and quietly find their seats where they will see this waiting...

They've all got a letter written by one of my last year's students waiting for them at their seats along with a picture of themself that they drew when we had a "step up" day in May!

While they read the letters and do some other morning type stuff, I'll be collecting supplies.  It's super simple... we do community supplies so they'll be dropping off their stuff in these bins...

You can find the small supply labels free at my TpT store!

I also added a few extra football fan fanatic things to my room.  When I say I'm a super fan, I'm not kidding folks.  I love me some Lions football!!!!!

So, I've got my Lions border up in my teacher area along with my Lions pin and Stephen Tulloch autograph!

And I've got my flag...

And... since I am Bunting, Books, and Bainbridge, there HAD to be a Lions bunting in my room!

I got the bulletin board border and the bunting from Eureka School's website.  They've got lots of teams!

Tomorrow I'll be spending my morning at the Secretary of State renewing my license.  Joy oh joy!  Saturday is C25K and then shopping with my sister... Sunday laundry, Monday stressing about Tuesday, and then... it's the first day!!!  Yahoo!!!

I'm Ready for Open House! {And Updated Product Info!}

Tomorrow is my Open House and I am ready!  We start the day with a district wide breakfast, followed by a day of staff meetings, followed by a night of student and family fun!

Here is my table, full of sign-up sheets for parents...

I wrote brief instructions/info about each sheet on my dry erase clings that are on my table!  I blogged about those HERE.

All of those forms {plus lots more!} are available in my Editable Open House pack.  It opens in Powerpoint so you can customize all of the forms for your classroom.  If you have the pack, pop in to your dashboard because I just added three new pages so you can organize how your students go home!  I have a dismissal page out for tomorrow.  I pre-programmed my students' names and have asked parents to make an X in a box to show how their child goes home.  Then I'll use that info to make a quick chart {also in the pack!} for my room.  Click the pic for more info!

Last... look what I got at Meijer... they're magnets!  They were $2 each and they had all letters in many styles... I love 'em!

Finally Figured Out How to Use My Washi Tape!

So, I'll admit it.  I totally jumped on the Washi Tape bandwagon this summer with ZERO ideas or plans in place for how I'd use my tape.  I searched every craft store and bought every variety I could find.  Currently, they are sitting in a basket looking quite cute, but today I figured out a few ways to use it!

First- I decorated the binder clips I am using at my mailbox station!

Here's a close up.  I put the little name sticker on each clip and then a piece of Washi Tape to cuten it up!

I also marked off "boundaries" of sorts on my tables... I bought the name holders from Really Good Stuff and I'm super excited about having them... but I also know they are going to be shuffled around all day because I don't want to stick them down with the foam adhesive they came with.  So, I'm not sticking them down at all.  Instead, each end should rest on one piece of the tape!  See...

And here it is, gently resting on its place... creating peace, order, and personal space for all!

How do you use Washi Tape?  I need more ideas!!!!!

Who's That Blogger Reveal!

Thanks again- Michelle- for organizing this!  It was so much fun!

Who's that Blogger Reveal & Winners!!!

I have labeled the childhood photos with the matching blogs for you all to peek at!! Because of the volume of entries, winners will be notified throughout the weekend. I appreciate your patience as we send out emails and prizes.

Click on each image to see the photo

Winner of the $125 Amazon Gift Card!!!

CONGRATULATIONS to

MEAGAN RAVEY

You will receive an email notification and once your email has been confirmed, I will send you the Amazong gift card!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so very much for playing!!

I created a fun FREEBIE for everyone to grab!! 

Please feel free to share the freebie through pins & I always appreciate your feedback!!

Have a WONDERFUL SATURDAY!!

Click the image to visit my TpT shop and download the new decorated owl FREEBIE!!

Good Morning, Winner, and Other Stuff!

Happy Saturday!  Why am I awake at 7:33am on a Saturday you ask?  It's a Couch to 5K day!  I'm meeting my friend at 8:00 to do week 2, day 3.  So far, so good... but I hear week 3 is a killer... so think happy thoughts for me next week!

Winner...

On Thursday, hubby and I went somewhere and I gave a few clues and the Polished Teacher figured out where we were going...

We were in Detroit at the Lions game!  I have to say I am pretty dang proud of my team... I was nervous heading into a game against the Patriots, but (sorry Pats fans!) we really smoked 'em!  The final score was 40-9!

We'll be attending two more games in October and I'm trying to talk hubby into going on Thanksgiving too!  Here's to hoping for a winning season!

And finally... other stuff.

We were adopted by a stray cat earlier in the summer.  She was staying outside, sleeping on the porch, etc... then she was hitting our windows at night when she could see us in the house!  Then she was dashing inside when we had the door open!  Hubby is allergic, but this cat is so stinkin' friendly!  So, he said we could try having her inside.  It's been about three weeks now and he's fine!  He holds her and pets her with nary a sniffle!  So, she's going to the vet this morning to get shots and checked out and officially become our pet!  Yay!

Here she is...  Her name is Kiki and she's so cute!!!!!

Welcome Bulletin Board {and... guess where I'm going contest!}

I just put the finishing touches on our 3rd grade bulletin board and, I must say, it's pretty cute!

I made the ice cream 3-D by stapling scrunched up paper down behind it!  {Looking at that picture, I think I'll add quotes around the word SCOOP- what do you think?}

And... are you feeling lucky?  Hubby and I are going somewhere today.  I can't give too much away just because I want to see how observant you are... so...

Clue #1- We are going to see something.
Clue #2- 6 + 1 = 7... and I'm hoping for lots!
Clue #3- We are staying in Michigan but going east.

Can you guess where we are going today?  I'm pretty geeked about it!

I'll send the first comment with the correct answer winner's choice from my TpT store!  Happy guessing!

Pizza Pie... Me Oh My! {A YUMMY Excuse for a Field Trip!}

When I taught preschool (my 1st group of preschoolers are in 7th grade now!  Yikes!) we took a field trip to a local pizza restaurant and it was SO fun!  This was in the pre-digital camera days, so I don't have any pics to share with you, but trust me when I say that there is no better way to spend a day with little people than to have them make their very own pizzas!

It was so fun for the kiddos to tour the restaurant, learn about how pizzas are made, and then create their own!  Are you drooling over this fun, real-world field trip yet...

Well...if you have a CiCi's Pizza near you, they do these very same field trips!!!!  Click the picture of the tasty pizza below to head over to read more about it... it sounds so fun and is definitely something I'll be checking out!

Who's That Blogger Linky... a MUST do!

I am SO excited to be a part of this fun guessing game... where you can win prizes and $$$!  A HUGE thank you goes out to the extremely talented Michelle, better known as The 3am Teacher, for organizing this amazing linky!!!!  Read on and find out how you can win!  Can you find me when I was in Kindergarten???

Welcome Everyone!!

         Are you ready to have some fun??
                                                      ....Play a game?                                                                     .....Win  prizes and cash?

I have teamed up with 65 AMAZING blogger buddies to put together the ultimate Back to School Linky/Giveaway!!!

Each one of my blogger buddies submitted a cute childhood photo & generously donated something special from their online TpT shops for this occasion!! We have included a fun game for you to play for a chance to win over $300.00 in prizes and a BONUS  CASH-PRIZE raffle you can enter at the end of this post!! 

CHA-CHING!!

The game is easy to play....

 Your job will be to try and match each blogger with their childhood photo!!! With over 60 childhood photos and bloggers to match up, this might get tricky!! As I mentioned above, each blogger has generously donated one awesome prize from their TpT store. Successfully match a blogger and childhood photo, and you win the prize offered from that blogger!!! The more you matches you make, the more prizes you win!!! 

Check out some of the prizes you could win!!!

but Wait....

That's not all....

ONE lucky follower will win a $125 Amazon Gift Card!! Scroll to the bottom & follow the directions in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win $$$

The link below will open a form that will allow you to submit your answers for the match up. 

Use the blogger links and numbered images to help you along the way!! Each childhood photo has been assigned a specific number. 

Once you open the form, use the drop-down menu beneath each blog button and select a number that corresponds to a childhood photo. 

The form results will be collected throughout the week. At the end of the week, each submission will be "graded" and you will receive a prize for each blogger and photo you successfully matched up!!

The game closes on Friday, August 23rd at midnight (Arizona Mountain Time). Answers will be announced on Saturday, August 24th. Winners will be notified through email throughout the week. 

Use the blog links below the photos to search for clues!!

Click HERE to Play the Matching Game!!
AWE!!! PuFfy HeArT SWEETNESS!!!

An InLinkz Link-up

Click HERE to Play the Matching Game!!

Follow the directions in the Rafflecopter for a chance to win a $125 Amazon gift card!! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you so much for participating!!! Good Luck!!!

If you would like to post about this linky/giveaway, grab the special image below to display in your post and link up below!!! Make sure to use the link to the actual post...

An InLinkz Link-up

Death of a Class Pet

I'm not in school right now; we don't go back until September 3rd.  But, I will have sad news for my last year's class when we go back... our gerbil, Gerbie, died last night.  She's been vacationing at my house this summer and when I cleaned her cage last night, she wasn't acting right.  I told hubby that I didn't think she was going to make it... and, when I went to check on her an hour or so later, she was no longer with us.  She was about 1 year and 8 months old, which I think is good for a gerbil.

I'm a big ol' sap when it comes to animals anyway... but I feel slightly silly feeling so sad about a rodent, but we loved Gerbie!  I won't have those kiddos in my class since they're moving up to 4th grade, but I have no doubt they'll be popping in to say hello and check on Gerbie... so I'm sure they'll be bummed to hear the news!

So, that's my news for today.

On a brighter note, I have been shopping at TpT off and on all day today and taking advantage of the BTS sale!  :)  Gerbie would want me to spend money, right?  You can still get an extra 10% off using the code BTS13 until midnight... and I think it's midnight west coast time.  Gerbie would want you to shop too!  Just tell your significant other that when he/she wonders why you're splurging later!

Exclusive Freebie Just Went Out!

Do you subscribe to my blog newsletter?  If so, check your e-mail!  I just sent out an e-mail with a reminder about the sale (as if you didn't know!), tidbits about homework, and an exclusive freebie that is only available to newsletter subscribers as this time!

Also... don't forget to check out the "Best and Most" products linky going on at my blog right now.  It has been so fun reading the posts!  Click the pic to read all about it!

PS- TpT sale!!!!!  20% off PLUS an extra 10% when you enter the code BTS13 at the checkout!!!  {Thanks Michelle for the cute button!!!}