700 Follower Giveaway! 18 Goodies to WIN!

I can't believe this little ole blog has made it to 700 followers.  I feel excited, honored, amazed, and so much more!  Thank you so much to anyone who has taken the time to read a post, comment, and especially follow my blog.  I started blogging in January of this year, and I can't wait to see where this blog takes me! :)  Some generous bloggers have donated any one item from their TpT store to the lucky person who wins!  Here are the amazing friends that are sharing their products for this giveaway:

Anything from my TpT Store:

Kaci from:

Hadar from: Jeannie from: Maggie from:

Nancy from:

Donna from:

Sarah from:

Marsha from: Jennifer from:

Kerri from:

Mary from:

Tiffany from:

Penny from: Cheryl from:

Greg from: is donating his Doggone Numbers: Decomposing Numbers Pack Erin from: is donating her Gingerbread Man Lose in the School Back to School Pack and Mandy from:

But that's not all folks...  The lucky winner will also win a brand new "Hello, my name is ___." Sign!  (I will mail it to you!)

To enter to win this EPIC giveaway, please participate in the rafflecopter blow! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Handprint Art Templates

I decided I wanted to make a monthly handprint art craft.  Each month, we will make a craft using the child's hand and I will keep all of the pages for a portfolio for the end of the year.  The template is easy, it has a boarder and clip art for each month.  The student's hand can be placed in the middle of the page to make any themed handprint craft!  Here are my examples:

An American flag for July.

Christmas lights using the fingertips for December.

The palm of the hand to make a pumpkin for October.

Four hand prints to make a clover for March.

The templates come in black and white and the kids can color in the boarders and clip art, you can pick one up at my TpT Store. 

Here is a sample...

I am excited to keep a collection of all of the monthly handprint crafts for the year, and then compile them into a book for Open House!  Head to my TpT Store if you would like one. :)

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Labeling the Cubbies

It is day three on setting up my classroom, most of the boxes are cleared, and now it is time to label!  I am starting with my cubbies.  I normally use name tag stickers to label the cubbies, but at the end of the year, I have to scrape the stickers off...and this is normally a tedious task.  I decided to try a different technique.  I still purchased the name tag stickers, but I am going to leave the sticker part on, and just seal them down with clear contact paper.  Here is what I mean...

To make each name tag stick, I cut out a square size that was bigger than the name tag.  I pealed off the contact paper sticker, and laid it over the name tag (please excuse my Hello Kitty band-aide on my pinkie from me wrestling with the bulletin board paper).

 

The name tag is secured onto the cubby, and at the end of the year, I will be able to peel it off, with little effort!

 

At the very bottom, I also give myself a cubby.  This is for those sweet notes or pictures that students make me throughout the day.  Instead of saying, "I love it, please put it on my desk so I can save it forever!" I can say, "Thank you! Please place it in my cubby so I can find it later!"

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Labels for DAYYYYYS: Made it Monday!

I am officially back to work today!  I don't have kids until next week, so this week is full of meetings, bulletin boards, name tags and .....LABELS!  For this "Made It Monday" I want to share some labels that I made for my classroom and some other goodies that I made for friends!

 

Here are some labels that I am going to place all over my bins and drawers to stay organized.  That is one of my main goals for the year.  Instead of having things in random baskets all over the room, I want to keep things where they belong according to my labeled drawers.  :)  I placed them with velcro on the drawers below...

 

Two of my dear friends are having babies in the Fall, so I made them labels to use in their girl's rooms!

 

I also made a little banner for Layla to wish her a happy first day of school.  The letters are velcroed and interchangeable so she can hang the sign however she wants in the class! :)

 

Hop over to 4th Grade Frolics to see what everyone made this week! :)

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Animal Print Daily Schedule Cards

I am excited to share two new additions to my daily schedule cards.  The first set I made was teal polka dot or chevron print.  These are two different sets: one is zebra print, and the other is hot pink polka dot.  The zebra print was inspired by my bestie at work, who has a jungle themed classroom!  If you want one of your own, click on the link to visit my TpT store.  :)

It is so interesting how once you display a daily schedule, the kids really do appreciate knowing what to expect through out the day.  The pack includes 42 different cards:  

Daily Schedule

Recess

Lunch

Snack

Math

Language Arts

Math Centers

Language Arts Centers

Writer’s Workshop

Reader’s Workshop

Daily 5

Spanish

Silent Reading

Field Trip

Free Time

Reading Groups

Science

Social Studies

P.E.

Music

Art

Choir

Library

Class Party

Assembly

Mind Music

Mind Math

Dismissal

Morning Meeting

Circle Time

Read Aloud

Centers

Rest Time

Computers

Mass

Bible

Chapel

Intervention

Grammar

Star Student

Math Stations

Language Arts Stations

Work Stations

I hope you like them, Cherie! :)

Here are the Pink Polka Dot Daily Schedule Cards:

(TpT Store)

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Therapeutic Thursday: Blog Hoppin Linky

I am linking up this lovely Thursday with Blog Hoppin to share what helps me relax, ESPECIALLY as school is starting up again!

The first thing I do after work to help me relax, is watch an episode or 4 of Friends.  Something about knowing every line by memory puts me in such a good mood, no matter what craziness has happened that day.  

Part of watching Friends, includes watching it with my sister Cyndi...  These are pictures of us on our vacation this summer.  It was a long train ride from DC to NYC.  :)

I am blessed and so thankful to live in Southern California, I seriously wouldn't want to live anywhere else.  Last night, some friends and I went paddle boarding during sunset.  It was breathtaking! 

One thing I NEED in my life is quality time with good friends.  These are some pictures of a dinner date and some good catching up.

The most therapeutic thing for me is blogging.  This year had a lot of twists and turns for me.  Among all of the changes, I was able to start a blog and find: creativity, new friends, escape, and a new passion for teaching that I only expect to grow.  This is my name tag from the I Teach K convention in Vegas this summer.

I have to craft.  It is so fun, I don't know what is better though...shopping for hours in Michael's to find the supplies or looking at the finished product.  :)

Link up with Blog Hoppin to share how you find rest! ;)

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