A Desperate Plea & Some Vistaprint Tips and Tricks

Happy weekend friends!  For those of you who just had your first week back, enjoy your two days off!  I'm not bragging here... just sayin'... but we don't go back until September 4th in Michigan!

I'm going to start off my post today with a desperate plea.

Last year I received two Nooks from Donor's Choose and had to leave them behind when I changed schools... I had put up another proposal to get two more Nooks after I saw how much my kiddos loved them, but it didn't get funded before the year ended.

Now that proposal is about to expire and it isn't fully funded!

I know sometimes teachers get gift codes from Donor's Choose or can apply the monies from an unfunded project to another project... so... if you happen to have any gift codes laying around and are looking for a project to fund, please consider mine!

It expires on August 20th!

You can click the Nook pic below to check it out!

Ok.  On to Vistaprint...


I had a lot of people asking how to do custom items on Vistaprint and it is just a matter of designing them yourself, saving as a PDF, uploading, and then cropping the item.

So... here's how I did my custom "Thank You" postcards...

I designed them in Publisher:

Then went to Vistaprint and selected standard postcards and that I wanted to upload my own design:

I uploaded the file:

And then chose to crop it:

When I went to crop it, the selection box wouldn't fit right- I had to rotate it- there are two little arrows in the box that you click to rotate your image.  You can see them better in a picture below...

 

See the little dashed rectangle around my circled image?  That's the cropping box- you just pull on the corners of it to resize it and place it on the image you want uploaded.

So, now the front of my card is ready.  I would approve it and get ready to make the back by clicking to go to the back design of my card...

I put TWO images on the page I uploaded... this way I only have to pay for ONE upload, but I can crop what I need for the front of the card and the back of the card.  So, when I'm ready to do my back, I need to use a previously uploaded image...

So, I used the previously uploaded image and cropped it. but again, the image had to be rotated.  You can see the arrows better in this picture:

After that, you'd just accept the proof and go do more uploading!

This was a lot of trial and error for me at first, but now I'm pretty quick at it.  I have a file saved on my computer with some of the Vistaprint things I've made so, when I make new items, I just open the file and tweak what I had already.

Sometimes the products come and I haven't got it *quite* right... I just got a banner on which I made two banners, but they were pretty small... however, when I hung them up in my room, they actually worked quiet well!  :)

It's so fun doing Vistaprint... I hope this was a little helpful to you and your creative side!

PS- just a reminder... Back to School sale at TpT begins tomorrow!  Be sure you enter the code BTS12 at checkout to get an additional 10% off everything in my shop which will already be 20% off... for a grand total of 30% off!  I hear you can fill your cart now and check out during the sale for the discounts!

Teacher's Notebook is having huge BTS sales too... but they start TODAY over there for lots of sales... including one at my shop where everything is 20% off until the 13th!

The Best of Back to School Products Preimere

Some outstanding teachers have joined together to toot our own horns a little bit!  We are each going to share with you our favorite of our own products for Back to School in this "Back to School Product Premiere"- thanks Lori from Teaching with Love and Laughter for designing the cute button!

As you have probably seen in Blogland, tomorrow kicks off a HUGE Back to School sale at TpT.  It does not begin until tomorrow, August 12th and it ends on the 13th... so you have two days to save!!!!

... most teachers will be offering 20% off in their shops and... if you enter the code BTS12 at checkout, TpT is offering an additional 10% off!  You can load up your cart now and check out during the sale to get your discounts!

So... on with my "must have" from my shop for Back to School!

I love, love, love my "Monthly Diary and Calendar" set.

I have these organized, in order, inside all of my students' writing folders before the year begins.  On the first school day of October, we finally get to use them!  We turn to the September calendar and fill it out together, noting any important events from the month (birthdays, school days off, holidays, memorable school events, etc...).  After we all have the calendar filled in (and it takes some kiddos longer than others, so those kiddos finish later!) then we talk about what we might write as a "diary entry" for that month.  Students pick one event- either from the calendar or their own lives- and write about it on the corresponding diary page.  They draw a little picture too!

We do this on the first school day of each month, for the previous month, and then at the end of the year, they have 1.) an automatic keepsake that they have made themselves but, more importantly, 2.) a ready portfolio that showcases the amazing growth that takes place in writing over the course of a school year!

Here is the diary routine in action at the end of the year:

I have pulled up the calendar on my document camera- we write each number first then go back through and add events.  After I add each event, my students know to hold up their pencil when they have finished writing.  When most pencils are up, I know I can move on to the next event.

 
This kiddo is working on filling in his calendar for May...   

 
May diary!  Look at that writer go!

I love this so much.  My kiddos love watching their writing, spelling, and skills improve as the year goes on and I love that this gives us an excuse every month to critically examine ourselves as writers!

The $5.00 file at TpT includes the diary/calendar set for every month in both a primary lined set and an intermediate.

My first graders all used primary lines all year- yes, first graders can absolutely copy the calendar!  It's tough in the beginning, but by the second time, they're fine!  :)  My second graders got primary lines until January and then had the intermediate for the rest of the year... which was a huge "milestone" for them!

I am excited about using this in my 3rd grade class this year and watching my homeroom kids' skills grow and change as the year goes one!

You can find the item at my TpT and Teacher's Notebook shops... remember... tomorrow you can get it for 30% off at TpT!

Some of my other top sellers include...

One WonderFUL Night Prefix and Suffix Center Set

Marshmallow Adjectives *tiny* Activity Pack

Super fun Fractions are SCOOPer Center Set

And my Flippy Books!

Check out the other featured products by clicking through the blog hop below!

Braggin' About Brag Tags... want to win some?

Earlier this year, I was lucky enough to receive a box of brag Tags from Kim at imagestuff.com.

If you aren't familiar with them, Brag Tags are like military "dog tags" that kids can earn for making certain achievements in the classroom.

imagestuff.com has a huge variety of colorful, completely personalizable, kid friendly tags!

I received the fully personalized MOTIVATION Teacher pack and LOOOOOVE it:

I also ordered these:

I have set up a BRAG TAG bulletin board in my classroom.

Each of my kiddos has a bunting that will have their name on it and each one will begin the year with an empty chain necklace hanging down.  I had to "double up" the chain so it looks short, but it's 24 inches long.  Look at this dedicated kiddo... three brag tags and two pony beads (see below for more info on that!) a month before the school year has even begun!

 
I give out awards every Friday and will just be adding BRAG TAGS as one of my weekly awards.  My kiddos will be able to add tags to their chains and wear them at school if they want, but will need to hang up back up at the end of the day.  At the end of the year, they can take them home!

Here are a few of my favorites from their site:

My school does a "Bucket Filler of the Month" from each classroom, so I just ordered some Bucket Filler tags to my shopping cart for whoever my "BFotM" is!

LOVE the "No Bullying" tag SO much!

And check out this one...  *LOVE*!  I love this brag tag, brag tag... I love this brag tag, brag tag... How many of you just sang that last part in true Pete style?

You have GOT to check out their website and all of the awesome tags they have.  There is truly something for everyone.  They are inexpensive but totally durable and such a small way to impact a kid's day in a BIG way!

I also bought a bunch of pony beads and will be having my kiddos choose a bead to add to their chain each time they reach the top of the clip chart!  I have plain, stars, shiny, and footballs so far!!!!

I had an extra container laying around (can you believe it... me?  An unused container?  See THIS picture if you're confused!) and this is how I'm storing my tags:
   

Here's the best part... you can win some BRAG TAGS too!!!!!!  Three lucky winners will each win 35 tags of the design of their choosing and 35 chains too!  So, go scope out their website, start thinking about which tag you would choose, and get back here and enter the giveaway!

I'm just going "old school" with this giveaway... you can enter three times... just leave me a comment for each of the following...

1.)  Be sure you follow my blog!
2.)  Follow imagestuff.com's blog so you can keep up with new designs and any announcements!  Click their name in step 2 or go to http://imagestuff.wordpress.com.
and
3.)  Follow imagestuff.com on Twitter!  https://twitter.com/imagestuffcom

That's it!  The giveaway will end on August 16... so you have lots of time!  Spread the word on your blogs and FB pages too... this is an amazing giveaway!  I know Brag Tags are going to be a huge point of pride and motivation for my 3rd graders!

Keeping Yourself Organized!

Before you read on... I got a lot of requests to do a Vistaprint tutorial and I will work on it!  I am blog post scheduled up through this weekend, but I'll try and get it up early next week!

Ok.  On with today's post...

I just wanted to give a shout out today to an awesome product (or three!) that I think you'll love!

Earlier this summer, I received some really cool calendars in the mail and I gotta say... I love them!

I actually received two of each and took them to our last Michigan blogger meet-up so I could spread the wealth and share the love with some of my mitten friends.

So... here's what I got:

This pretty pink and orange Day Runner personal agenda... I always think I'm going to use one of these to keep organized, and I always fail... but this one is just the right size for a purse and has organizing tabs and all... and I *love* the color scheme!

I also received a mini desk pad calendar... like the huge ones we teachers so *love*, only littler... and three hole punched!  Mine went right inside of my lesson plan book so I can keep track of dates, maybe schedule some one-on-one conferences (I think YES!), and just have it all there... and all pretty too!

But, my favorite item is this... a hanging wall calendar that has a dry erase section on the bottom for writing notes and reminders for the week!  This is available in the store at Office Depot only at this time... here's a pic of mine in my room:

I was thinking that this would be PERFECT for upper elementary rooms where "calendar" isn't a big deal, but this could keep those kiddos informed while still putting a calendar in front of their faces every day... and totally puts the responsibility on them to check it!  I have mine hung in my teacher area for now.  Patty at 2nd in Line won this item at our Michigan meet up... I hope you're enjoying it BBFF!

How do you keep your dates and things organized?  I used to be able to do it all in my head... but I'm not so good at that anymore!  I'm excited to use these calendars to keep my personal life and school things better tracked!

Sale! Sale! Sale!

Happy Tuesday!

Today's the re-do Flash Sale at my TN shop!  Just a reminder this goes until midnight!

Yesterday was a slow blog day for me (or maybe you're all just sick of me talking about Vistaprint!)... if you didn't see what I made at Vistaprint (for my 3rd order!), I hope you'll go take a peek at yesterday's post!

Today I'm off to school and then going to work on a new CCSS 3rd grade pack that I'm super psyched about!  ;)  Check back tomorrow for a product review and then Thursday for a great giveaway!!!!!!!

Vistaprint... AGAIN!

Can I join my own Vistaprint linky party?  How about a support group for Vistaprint addicts?

Yesterday I made my third order... it was half off uploads and 10 free items!  I had to pay shipping... which is a bummer... but look what I made!

A few of these items are ones I forgot to share last time and, for some reason, two of the items wouldn't let me copy the preview picture, so you can't see those!

Ok- tote bag with my new school's name on it!  :)

Small poster which I'll cut apart to display directions...

Our 3rd grade team is going to call our take home folders FALCON folders since that is our school mascot.  I made these reminder postcards for kids who forget their folders at home!  I love how they turned out!

Small magnets- I'll cut these in half and do *something* with them... I hear dry erase markers will wipe off of them, so maybe something with that.  I don't know yet.

Prediction sticky notes...

Small banner... I'll cut it in half and have two banners!

LOVE this- I saw this idea originally at Queen of the Click's blog when she linked up for my Vistaprint linky party.  I used the large poster (which wasn't free, but only $9.99) and designed this template which... I hope... will be the right size!  I will write a question about our reading and students will respond by placing a sticky note with their answer on the square with their student number! 

Free t-shirt!  I paid extra to get it in gray... but this is my first official piece of apparel for my new school!  :)

I can't take credit for this idea, but I can't find who originally did it- this stamp was a freebie and a quick way to let parents know that I'm not ignoring their note or request, but just didn't have time to give it a thorough reply!

Thank you post cards!

Another banner- I already have this one at home in my possession from my first VP order... just forgot to show it to ya!

And this is probably what I'm most excited about.  I designed this game for my word work center.  It's a banner that I'll cut into three separate game boards.   Students will lay the board out and throw a bean bag, Koosh ball... don't have that part worked out quite yet... but whatever number it lands on, they will have to write that number spelling word... OR if I'm feeling particularly nice... I might let them spell it out loud to a partner and then switch and let the partner toss and spell!  I'll be keeping my eye out for other VP deals so I can *hopefully* order 4 more of these!

And there you have it!  If you haven't linked up to my linky party yet, please do!  I'd love to see what you made!

Click the pic below to head over and share your obsession creativity too!

LOADS of people have asked where I got the buntings and backgrounds I used on almost all of these files...   They all come from Lilly Bimble's Etsy shop.  Don't you *love* them?!

One last thing... last week I had an impromptu flash sale at my Teacher's Notebook shop and got a lot of sad e-mails from people who didn't know about the sale because they got their e-mail update the next morning after the sale had ended!  So... I'm going to set up another one to start tomorrow- TUESDAY- and end at midnight!  Everything will be 30% off tomorrow at Teacher's Notebook only!

Barker Creek Winner & Freebies Reminder!

Hooray!  Christine, #272, has won the set of high frequency word magnets and cookie sheet from Barker Creek Publications!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thank you to all who entered on my blog and on Facebook!

Just a reminder to pop over to my TpT shop to grab your free copies of my CAFE menu headers (not endorsed or affiliated with the Two Sisters!) and free collaborative "First Day Tips and Tricks" e-book!  Click either picture to head to the blog post where you can get more info! 

Bunting CAFE Headers Freebie!

I am SHOCKED that so many of you were interested in my bunting CAFE headers!  "Buntings" seemed like a very general classroom theme/scheme/decorating/whatever you call it... but I'm glad you like what I made!  :)

I have added the download for free in my TpT shop.

Click the pic to head over!

It's Here- Collaborative First Day Tips Handbook freebie!

Thanks for those crossed fingers... they worked!  Hubby and I went to PF Chang's on our mini-Detroit vacay!  We had a BUSY two days (we aren't the relaxing type of vacationers)... we went to the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village on Wednesday (so fun!) then to the Detroit Zoo yesterday... we saw polar bears, penguins, seals that swam RIGHT over our heads, prairie dogs (my fav!), rhinos, a baby kangaroo, etc...  What a GREAT zoo!  It was a lot of fun, but I almost need a relaxing vacation to recuperate from our busy one!  I'm sure we'll be running and ripping again today though... that's just what we like to do!

Anyway...

Remember a few weeks ago when I did my first ever "Doc-y Party" {you know, instead of a "linky party?}???  I had a Google Doc that I opened for anyone to add first day tips and advice to and had some GREAT response!

I have organized the different responses into a 14-page FREE "First Day Tips and Tricks" handbook!

It is available for download at my TpT store!  For those who contributed, thank you for helping create this document... it's full of GREAT ways to start the year off on the right foot!

ENJOY- just click the picture to head over and download it... if you can't get to it now, pin it!  It's full of great ideas!  If there is an interest, I would be willing to open the document back up for a few days and add the other ideas to the handbook.  Let me know what you think!
 
Marygrove College, my awesome Master's Degree alma mater,  has shared a beginning of the year classroom management guide too!  Head over to snag your free copy... {and read the nice things Colleen wrote about me}! Just click the link above to head over there!

And... find other BTS freebies here at Primary Grafatti's BTS Basics freebie linky party!

Straightforward Grammar- CCSS connections and a GIVEAWAY!

I am so excited to do this post today.  A few weeks ago, Barker Creek (you know them- the company that created the Draw-Write-Now books?!) contacted me to offer me some great products that I could use in my classroom.

Emily sent me some AMAZING grammar posters and high frequency word magnets.  Both of them are fully compatible and connected to the Common Core- you can check out the connections on THIS PAGE of their website.

Anywho... I LOVE the grammar posters so much.  They are straight forward, not overly loaded with graphics, and just have such a clean, understandable look and feel to them.  I can't WAIT to display them on my grammar door and my focus wall.  Here's a peek at how they'll appear there.  I just LOVE LOVE LOVE how simple, yet gorgeous these posters are! 

Emily also included these magnetic high-frequency words and a cookie sheet for kids to use them on.  I LOVE how the parts of speech are color coded and my mind is spinning with how I will be able to use these for word work activities and put them up on my focus wall when we are covering each part of speech!

You actually have a chance to win your own set of the high-frequency word magnets!  You can enter using Rafflecopter below- you just need to be sure you're following my blog and that you LIKE Barker Creek on Facebook!  You can earn an extra entry if you leave a comment letting me know what you'd use the magnets for.  I'll announce the winner on Sunday!

a Rafflecopter giveaway