Fall Break and an Update!!

Well hey there!  Last time I was here I created by very first Freebie EVER! I hope you guys got the chance to download and use it in your rooms! If you missed that post you can either scroll down or just simply click here to grab your freebie.  Since my last post  A LOT has happened and has caused a serious whirlwind in the past few weeks. To start things off...

         I AM ENGAGED!!! 

I was completely surprised and I must say that my boy did a great job of planning the entire thing with family and friends! He even kept it a secret for 6 WEEKS!!!!! I am very lucky to get to spend the rest of my life with such a wonderful man! Let the wedding planning begin! 

Fall is here which means I have been living off of pumpkin spice lattes! With fall comes my FALL BREAK! Yup, I get a whole 2 weeks off to enjoy this wonderful Nebraska fall weather... and enter grades...and complete running records...and clean my house...okay so it's been a little crazy but I am two days into my break and I am lovin' it! 

I also have recently started playing with the idea of a different hairstyle. One of my friends told me that curling wands are amazing. Now, being someone who is terrified of regular curling irons, I was not looking forward to wearing a "Michael Jackson" heat protective glove and wrapping my hair around a hot stick. However, after an hour of carefully attempting to not burn my hands or face, I had this result. As you can tell by my face I am a little shocked I came out without any scars or burns, but it is definitely something I will continue to work on. 

Also, I don't know if you have heard about The Mint Julep Boutique, but I am completely obsessed! My first order just arrived today (it's like Christmas in a box!)! Be sure to check out their AH-MAZ-ING clothes and deals. Things go fast so be sure to order when  you can! 

Well folks, I am off to create a wedding guest list and enjoy my fall break....and maybe spend part of my paycheck at The Mint Julep Boutique! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

My first FREEBIE!!! WOOT WOOT!!

Well, hey there!  Happy Hump Day! I hope you have had a wonderful beginning to your school year and that you are lovin' getting back into the swing of things! I know that I am finally feelin' like my life is getting back to being crazy normal.  We are integrating iPad minis into our classroom and I am finding that it can be a little overwhelming when looking for apps to help your kiddos, especially in reading. If you have any apps that you use please feel free to share! 

 In the past few weeks I have spent a lot of time trying to think of something to create and share with all of you, which clip arts to choose and download, yadda yadda. However, I am super excited because I will make an attempt tonight to share with you my...wait for it......very first freebie! EVER! Which means there could be a few hiccups along the way, but hey, I am learning here folks.  

Anyways.....

This worksheet came to me while I was looking at our vocabulary skill of this week, which is alphabetical order, and I started searching for ideas of a 'flexible' worksheet that I could use in my future Word Work area so my kiddos could work on it all year long. Well, after lots of brainstorm I have come up with my very first freebie. I was so excited after creating it that I just felt like I needed to share it with the rest of you! Here I give you....my

"Write, Cut, Glue...Look what we can do! (An Alphabetical Order Worksheet)" ....long title I know, but it rhymes. Alright....I hope I did this right. So, please ATTEMPT to click the picture below to grab your freebie! (and let me know if I did it wrong and how I could fix it...please!)

The idea is that you and your kiddos can use any words, sight words, classmate's names, spelling words and much more! Basically...you can do anything your heart desires! 

Again, please let me know if the freebie works and what I need to do to fix it so it can be available for you. I would love to see how you use it in your classroom as well. I hope you enjoy the freebie and are willing to share any "constructive criticism" on how I can improve future items.  

Well...I will continue to brainstorm this weekend while I am enjoying the first Husker Football game! WOOT WOOT! Have a great rest of your week!

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Teacher Talk Tuesday: Holy buckets...I need some advice!

Alirghty  folks,... this week has been crazy with training's, meetings and sorting through intervention boxes. -WOOF! In the meantime, I have been researching different clip-art websites and I am having trouble with which website(s) would be good to start out with for someone who is just beginning to create items.  I would really LOVE to to start creating items to share with the rest of the education world, but I am a little overwhelmed with where to even begin! Please post a comment below with any advice, links to great posts or just  some good ole' pointers on how to get the ball rollin'. 

That's all for tonight...I am going to go organize more intervention boxes. Have a great night! 


Thanks for stoppin' by!

Teacher Week '13- Tips and Tricks

WOO HOO.... TGIF! What a week and honestly ,I must say, this week has been amazing! I have loved linking up with Blog Hoppin' and all of these amazing teacher bloggers.  This week has really built up my confidence as I step out into the blogging world. So, thank you to all of you that have left sweet comments, followed my blog or have even just stopped by! Now let's get this Friday rollin'...


Since I have only been teaching for 3 years I am not sure how many "Tips and Tricks" I really have to share (or have left to share because they may be in a previous post). However, I can try to give you an idea of what I have learned in my first 3 years of teaching. To make sure that I do not blab on and on and on, I have created a list of the top 10 things I have learned, so far.  Here it is...

The Top 10 things I have learned my first 3 years of Teaching

#1- In moments of chaos remember to find the good. I have quickly learned that Teachers 'to-do' lists are never-ending. Many times I have found myself overwhelmed, frustrated and on the brink of tears wondering why I chose such a crazy profession.  Just before I throw in the towel, I remember a small smile from the school day. A small smile that came from one of my students who just learned to tie their shoe, recognized a number as even or odd or was just simply happy to see me. These are the little moments that keep me sane and make the chaos seem worth it. So, when you are in that moment of losing it all remember to take a step back and look at all the good. 

Sorry...didn't mean to get so deep...now on a lighter note!

#2- Hand Sanitizer is AMAZING! I honestly don't know what I would do without hand sanitizer.  With the amount of sneezing, coughing, picking, licking, and flicking that goes on in my room I am thankful I have a dispenser mounted to my classroom wall. If you don't have one mounted to your wall...get some and place it in stations in your room. It has eliminated the opportunity for my kiddos to find an excuse to go to the bathroom, yet again, because they sneezed or have marker on their hands. 

#3- Caffeine, Caffeine, Caffeine....  Ahhhhh....without it how would we ever pull off the daily miracles of children walking down a hall quietly or spelling their first and last name! I will never forget my very first day in First Grade and seeing all of the veteran teachers strategically placing their Diet Cokes, Dr. Peppers and Mountain Dews on their desks and thinking 'Hmm...I wonder why they are so worried about where their pop is located?'. Well, let's just say that by lunch time that day I was running for the nearest pop machine to get my daily boost of energy! I love these little ones, but holy cow can they wear you out! 

#4- It's okay for your students to know you are human.   For me, when I thought back to my grade school days I always seemed to remember my teachers never being sick, having all the answers and always knowing when you weren't doing what you were supposed to be doing (no matter how sneaky you were trying to be). They honestly seemed like superheros! Now, teaching does take a special person, but we are definitely not superheros. I realized my students were thinking the same thing when they first noticed me making a mistake in math ( I have dyscalculia where I flip numbers and math processes around). After hearing the gasps and quiet whispers, and feeling slightly embarrassed, I realized I had 2 choices: 
1) I could get mad at them because they had made me feel insecure or 
2) I could explain to them that I struggle with math, like some people will, and that instead of making a big deal about mistakes you need to be kind and help that person out.  

Clearly, I went with option number 2 and found that my students had an easier time asking me for help when they needed it. So, it's okay to not have it together all of the time, your students will still love you! 

#5- Sing silly songs- I LOVE singing with my kids! They think I am insane (which I may be), but it is so much fun! I sing songs for brain breaks, during indoor recess or even when we are waiting for the dismissal bell to ring. It's okay to be silly no matter how old you are! 

#6- Tell your students how smart they are. This is one of the biggest things I have learned so far. Many times when my students make mistakes they immediately begin to think less of themselves and they stop taking chances. To keep my class growing and trying I constantly tell them how smart they are! Making kids feel like  rock-stars in front of their peers or as a whole group can change the energy in your classroom immediately.  

#7- Go with the flow- We all know that things have a tendency to not always as planned , especially when you are working with kids. When things don't go as planned, DO NOT PANIC, go with it! Some of my best lessons have come from "going with the flow". Whether its construction outside your classroom window, a power outage or a loud thunderstorm rolling through town...go with it!  If you are calm your students will be calm. I promise, sometimes when you wander off the "plan" you discover more than you could have ever imagined. 

#8 Embrace your inner child- Use your imagination! Remember the days where you would be a princess trapped high in a tower (or at the top of the highest slide on the playground) screaming for your prince charming to come save you ( or the boy eating dirt at the bottom of the slide to come play). This is where the fun happens. Get on your kiddos level and color with them! This is what makes teaching little one's fun, they are able to build their creativity when they have someone to share it with. 

#9- You will always be learning.  I will be the first to admit that I an nowhere near being perfect, and I am okay with that.  I find joy in knowing that no matter how long I stay in education I will never be able to say that "I am the perfect teacher". There is always going to be room to grow and get better and I love that! Knowing that I will always have to push myself, set new goals or learn something new is exhilarating.  I know that I will never be bored with my job because it has become too easy, and I can't wait to see where it takes me. 

#10- HAVE FUN!!- Too often teachers are pushed to their limits with the expectations in the world of education. Sometimes, in this crazy world of molding young minds, it is easy to forget that we are working with little one's and learning can be fun! I know that I have been told to use "research based games" and "test prep booklets" to make sure my students are prepared, but that can become tedious for both the teacher and students. This is where you can get those creative juices flowing and come up with a fun song, dance, video or game to spice these things up a little. It is okay to have fun while you learn! You will enjoy it and your students will still learn and remember the material! 


Well folks, there ya have it! My top 10 things I have learned so far in my 3 years of teaching. I hope you enjoyed my list and that you find something you can take with you! Have a STUPENDOUS Friday and weekend. Be sure to get outside and enjoy the world around you! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Teacher Week '13-Taming the Wild

Alrighty folks...this may be one of my shorter posts simply due to the fact that I still have a large mountain of papers to grade, but I figured this would be the perfect break! 
I am very happy to share how I tame my wild firsties on a daily basis. 

Let's get started! 

First off, you will notice that in this photos you see yellow or white punch-cards hanging above my students lockers. These punch-cards go along with our district wide PBiS (Positive Behavioral Supports and Interventions). The idea is that you catch students "doing the right thing" and encouraging the behavior to continue. After they have successfully filled (up to 3) punch-cards their names are placed in a drawing and, if drawn, they get to go on a limo ride with the principal and the other grade level recipients for a yummy lunch! 

Well, how do we figure out if they get a punch or not?! This is where my classroom behavior comes into play. I use a Zebra-tastic clip chart (from First Grade Fever). My students have the opportunity to clip up  and clip down based on the choices made throughout the day. 




If  a student reaches the very top of our chart they get to go home with a 'Good News" note(shown in the photo above) to their parents (found on Pinterest) and they get to choose a color of puffy paint for me to paint a dot on their clothespin.  In my classroom my kiddos can clip off THE TOP of our chart! If this happens I wear their  clip proudly on my teacher lanyard and there sometimes is even a special treat! 

Oh, but wait...that isn't all! If all of our student clips are on or above green (ready to go!) we earn a classroom fish for our fish tank!

I used these fish last year for my 4th graders personal fish tanks and then at the end of each quarter I would hold a Fish Auction where I would auction off dollar store items, Gatorade and sports posters....THEY LOVED IT!! 

However, I don't think my kiddos are quite yet ready to keep track of their own fish tanks so we all work toward a goal together! 

 

Our current goal is to reach 10 fish so we can get an extra recess! We are getting VERY close to our goal and we are very excited!!! 

At the end of each day we have D.O.T time. This is where we fill our V.I.P (very important papers) folders and we fill in our behavior  calendars! I found these editable behavior calendars from one of my FAVORITE bloggers/TpT sellers...A Cupcake for the Teacher! I love these because I can edit them to keep parents updated on what's going on in the month and they can check what color of our clip chart their child ended on for that day! Teri is amazing! I have followed her blog from my very first day of teaching, so be sure to go check her out!

Well, I think my break from grading is about over. I hope you enjoyed this short little post on how I manage my crazy little one's everyday. I'm sure I will lay down in bed tonight and think of 10 other little management things I use, but for now, I think you have got the idea! Off to conquer my mountain of papers....woof. 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Teacher Week '13- Now Teach! Organizing for Instruction

First I would like to start by telling you how grateful I am to have so many great supporters! I cannot tell you how wonderful it feels to have great feedback from all of you, especially when i feel like I have NO CLUE what I am doing! So, THANK YOU...a million times, you have made this adventure amazing so far! Now, let's keep it going!

Okay...so I have to admit that my 'style' of organization may cause anyone with a Type A personality to have an extreme heart attack. Nonetheless, I will graciously share my magnificent organization style of "Organized Piles".  


Alright...let's start with my Weekly Organization. For the first couple years of teaching I used colored pocket folders labeled with each day of the week, 'papers to pass out' and  a 'to be graded' file folder (which I still use).  My folders worked well as long as I didn't have to put any craftivities, large amounts of paper, or construction paper into them.  Being in First Grade, you know you have a lot of paper involved daily, sooooooooo.....here is where my "organized pile' method began. Let me tell ya'....I am PRETTY good at this method of organization.  This method worked through my jump up to 4th grade and this year when I came back down to First I realized I needed to step up my game....so now.......I use........


THESE AWESOME RAINBOW DRAWERS!! I even got them on sale at Shopko for $30.00!  I love my rainbow drawers for two reasons:

1) I can still use my "organized pile" method and it is hidden. 

2) They are so colorful! 

My weekly labels were a purchase from TPT and were also used in another project that is coming up. The labels are from Kristen Doyle ( I love her shop!) click here to go checkout her awesome creations!


Now that I had my paper piles hidden in my nifty rainbow drawers I needed to turn my focus to my desk and utensils that had been shoved  nicely placed in my drawers. Since my new desk only has one very small drawer I decided to start searching on Pinterest and other teaching blogs for a solution.  

Behold.....my TEACHERS TOOLBOX!! This is one of the best ideas I have ever come across. Everything I could possibly need is all conveniently located in these lovely labeled drawers! The best part is that if I am gone my sub will have no problem finding supplies. This is much better considering my sub's will no longer have to pray that some small animal doesn't come flying out of the drawer at them. 


To keep my kiddos organized I made them D.O.T Binders, and let me tell you, they are amazing! Now, I created my own binder covers and all of the images used were free downloads. YAY for free stuff! 

I love my binder covers! I was worried that my little boys would think they were too 'girly', but they actually love them more than my girls do! Now, for the credits....

Background image and circle image can be found at Sweet Shoppe Designs.

Bunting Banners can be found at Cat Lady Graphics.

The font ' Girls are Weird' can be found at Dafont.com.

Last, but not least, we have my plan book. No, sadly I do not have an amazing Erin Condren plan book (but I am keeping my fingers crossed just in case). Instead I have this nifty, plain-jane  plan book. 

I do try to add a little bit of color by color coding my plans by each subject, but I guess when it comes down to it, this plan book was free and it gets the job done.  Don't worry though, I will keep my fingers crossed for the day that I finally get an Erin Condren Teacher planner! Ohhh...to dream! 

That is all I have for today! I hope enjoyed my ideas and "organized pile" method of organization. I'm tellin' ya....it's a true art form, people! I just want to thank all of you that have left such positive comments. I cannot tell you how exciting it is to get such positive feedback from some of you seasoned bloggers. I am very blessed and humbled. 

 I can't wait to share with you how I tame my WILD firsties! See you tomorrow!

Teacher Week: Classroom Digs...my classroom tour!

Hey there! I am glad you are here! 

I have to tell you, I am lovin' this link up for Teacher Week '13! I am very nervous excited to share some photos of my classroom with you. Just a couple warnings to get started:

1) It is messy...I have a VERY bad habit of making organized piles EVERYWHERE!  

2) I do not yet know how to make pretty photos to put on my blog posts so they are pretty plain, but I hope you enjoy my little slice of heaven. 

Here we go!....

Here a couple shots from the hallway outside my classroom door! 

Here is some hallway art that is hanging outside of my classroom. I found the camera activity  from The Bubbly Blonde on TPT! Gotta support my Nebraska Teachers! She has activities for other grade levels as well, be sure to stop by and pick up your First week of school activities! 

I found this noun activity on Teachers Pay Teachers. The kiddos loved using their highlighters to find the nouns and we even got a  little crafty!

Here is my Zebra Lock Smock. I found it on Etsy for $8! I absolutely love it and it makes locking my door a breeze! Click here to visit The Price of Teaching on Etsy and grab your very own Lock smock! 

This poster is on the backside of my classroom door. We use this to tell visitors and students that have stepped out of the classroom where we are! I made this last year for 4th grade and would love to make a more first grade friendly version, but for now this will do. 

Here is the view of my desk area as you come into my room. Please excuse the organized piles everywhere! 

 
 Here is my awesome reading table. It has a marker board overlay so my kiddos can build words and actually write on my table! 




 Now, here we have one of the newest additions to my classroom. "My helper" was gracious enough to buy it for me for my birthday this past summer! I love my ball chair! It is comfy, easy on the backside and  a lot of fun to bounce on when no one is looking. If you have never thought about having a unique chair like this, you should definitely think about it. I believe they can be found on Amazon. 

This is the view of my classroom from the front of my room. It is an older building and I love that. I put my kiddos in a brand new seating arrangement today and I feel like it really opens up the room. Yes, I do have an "island" in the middle of my room. This "island" kiddo is still working on being able to stay focused on their own work so this was the best place for them to be successful. 

Now moving off to the right, straight in front of my desk area we have....

My small work table with my animal print pillows. This is where my little one's work in small math groups, write during writing workshop, build words and much more! I love this little area. There is something that I love about being able to sit on the floor with my kiddos and work on a new game or introduce a new word building skill.

  

The colorful buckets along my window are actually spray painted. The idea of these turn- in buckets came from The Clutter-Free Classroom and they are fantastic. However, I should probably take part in more of the activities to eliminate all of my paper piles...phew! 

Moving to the back wall, behind the long bookshelf...

This is our Meeting Corner. I use this area for Calendar Math, Writing Mini-lessons, I-chart creating for Daily 5, classroom library and book box storage. This little corner is so cozy and is the best area to get lots of natural sunlight into our room. 

Here are my brightly colored book boxes. I found these baskets at Dollar Tree and they have held up very well! Each one of my students is assigned a number at the beginning of the year. This is how I assign book boxes and classroom jobs.  

Moving across the back wall of my classroom

we have my reading nook, word wall and Authors chair. My firsties love using the pillows and bean bags to cozy up with a good book and build stamina for Daily 5.  To the right >>>> we have my lovely authors chair. When a Student takes a piece of writing through the writing process they have an opportunity to read their story from the authors chair! This chair was hand painted to match some of the borders on my bulletin boards. Isn't it amazing!

 Here is my beautiful Word Wall from Erica Bohrer! The colors are so fun, but I am still in the process of cutting out ALL of the words to stick up on my wall (only 5 pages left!). It is definitely worth all of the cutting, plus I can add my own words! 

Next to my Word Wall, we have.......

...my writing area! This week we are in the process of launching Work on Writing. This area will be used for my small groups to brainstorm great writing ideas, use fun materials and become brilliant writers! 

< Here we have a Writing Poster a past teacher made and left for me to use! How cute! 

Here is my nifty ZEBRA basket that houses all of my fun Writing Tools! I think I may need to go back through my elementary pencil boxes and put all of my gel pens in this goodie basket! 

To the lockers! 

Well, above the lockers, I guess. This past summer I did some research on Whole Brain Teaching. I fell in love with the method and this year I am attempting to use it for the very first time. So far, it has been a great success. I also have my letter day posters posted along the wall to keep me organized and moving through my day. 

Just below my whole brain posters I have my Students 'Good News" notes posted with their punch cards. I will be going into more detail in an upcoming post that will discuss classroom management. These notes were found on Pinterest. I apologize I have not yet figured out 1) How to link you to my Pinterest Boards and 2) Who created these notes. Please, if you know who is the creator of these notes please post a comment so I can add a link to this post. 

Well folks, I don't want to give too much away or I won't have any other fun pictures to share of my classroom! Be sure to check back in tomorrow to find out how I organize my classroom for instruction! I promise I do more than just create piles of paper all over my classroom! In the meantime, enjoy the quote that my students see as they leave my classroom everyday! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Teacher Week '13-Let's talk about me Monday!

I am so excited to link up with all of these amazing teachers for Teacher Week '13! Now, I know I am totally new to this world of blogging but I'm going to give it a try...so here goes nothin'.
I have already done a bit of a "get to know me" post, you can see here, but another one can never hurt, right?
Here we go!...

My name is Megan and I am a 20-something First grade teacher in Nebraska (Go Big Red). This is my third year in the world of education. My first year I taught First grade in a small town setting straight North of my hometown. Last year, I was lucky enough to get into my hometown district where I taught fourth grade, which was a fun adventure, but when I had the opportunity to return to First grade I jumped on it! I LOVE first grade!

My blog, that you are currently on, was originally started as group of  reflections from when I Student-Taught, so if you go back you will find some very long posts on my thoughts about teaching before I had my own classroom. Recently, I decided to have a go in this world of educational blogging. Currently,  I am in the process of learning how to create and keep up with other Teacher blogs. My ultimate goal is to be able to create, share, inspire and sell on Teachers Pay Teachers. However, getting started is a little tricky and overwhelming at times! Slowly, but surely I am learning about this crazy world of blogging and hope that someday I can share ideas with the rest of you!

This summer I fulfilled a long-time dream of mine, with my boyfriend, and got a puppy! Our puppy's name is Kyle and he is cuddly Miniature Schnauzer. Here is a photo of him the day we picked him up!

He is just too darn cute!! Yes, he has big bushy eyebrows and a black mustache!  You will most likely see lots of photos of Kyle on my Instagram or in my blog posts. He already made it into one of my very first posts on here, be sure to check it out!

Next, I would like to introduce you to my wonderfully supportive boyfriend. He is a little embarrassed to be on my blog, so you probably won't see a lot of him and most likely will be referred to as "my helper" or "my boy".  I am very blessed to have him in my life because he is very patient and willing to help in any crazy classroom projects I am completing.  

Here he is folks! Again, this is the only time you will be seeing him. 

His skills include spray painting, cutting lamination, hanging posters, covering bulletin boards, making copies and putting up with my outrageous ideas. :) Sorry ladies, he is taken! 

Well, that is probably enough about me. Feel free to visit my very first blog post from Student-Teaching, follow me on Instagram or follow my blog to keep up with me as I work towards my goal of creating and inspiring! Be sure to check out the other amazing teachers linking up!

Thanks for stopping by! 

Parent Teacher Conferences, fab finds and share time!

Okay, so I'm sure some of you looked at the title of this post and probably did a double take. But, yes, you did read it correctly...this week I have Parent Teacher Conferences. I know it's probably very early for most of you to be thinking about this, but I am curious. How do you share information with your parents on conference night?

I have found that using a Conference folder that the students help create is a great tool. While browsing through TPT I found some adorable conference ideas. I will share with you my top two favorite conference folder ideas.

The first favorite comes from Rachelle and Natalie at What the Teacher Wants. Their lion themed conference folder cover is just too cute! I used these covers my very first year of teaching and not only did my kids love decorating them, but their parents LOVED them. 

Photo is from What the Teacher Wants blog.

My second favorite idea came from Carolyn McCleary, from Nurturing Noggins, who was inspired by Rachelle and Natalie from What the Teacher Wants. This conference packet has a personal report card, a reminder note, a teacher form and a conference folder cover (that is adorable!). Click here to hop on over to TPT and snag this freebie from Carolyn! I thought the "Dog-gone" folder cover was brilliant and my students loved decorating their own conference folders. 

So feel free to share! How do you share information with your Parents at conferences? Post a comment below with any links or ideas you have! (sorry I don't know how to do all those cool linky doo-dad things yet, I'm still learning). So, in the mean time we will do it the simple way! I can't wait to see what wonderful ideas we find! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Blog makeover and my first Made it Monday!

Hello there,  I hope everyone had a wonderful Monday. My Monday sure was magical when I got the email from Dreamlike Magic Designs that my blog makeover was finally complete! I absolutely LOVE my new look!!!  Be sure to stop by, if you haven't already, and look at all of her amazing blog templates. They are updated and changed regularly so watch close so you can find your perfect blog design!  Thank you, Alicia for my gorgeous blog makeover!

Okay, so I have been blog hopping for the past three years and have loved Monday's because that meant it was "Made it Monday"! I love seeing all of the amazing creations people have made over the past week, so here I am about to attempt my very first "Made it Monday. 

Here goes nothin'.....

.

This summer, one of my projects was creating a classroom D.O.T Binder (daily organizational tool), much like the one's found on TPT. However, I wanted to have pencil pouches in the front of my students binders to house notes from parents and lunch money. Well, when I went to go buy pencil pouches I found that they were WAY more expensive than I had first expected. While sitting at a Math workshop, our presenter brought up a photo of a teacher that had used Ziploc baggies covered with decorative duct tape to house students math tools! BRILLIANT!!! I borrowed the idea immediately went to Target to get my baggies and duct tape and ...............TA DA!!!!!!

What I love about the Ziploc pencil pouch is:

1. I can 3-hole punch them and they will survive in a binder thanks to the duct tape.

2. They are fun to decorate 

and most of all

3. They are easy on my pocketbook! I can replace these babies in a matter of minutes without having to run to the store to buy them! 

Now, I got a little fancy and alternated 3 different colors on my Ziploc pencil pouches, but given the amount of decorative duct tape out there your options are endless! 

Well folks, I need to get some grades entered and my outfit picked out for Conferences tomorrow and that may take a while. I hope you enjoyed my very first "Made it Monday" and my brand new blog design. Be sure to follow my blog so you can keep up with me as I (hopefully) grow as I learn more about the world of blogging!  

Thanks for stopping by! 

A little about me and some awesome finds at Target...

Okay...so since it has been awhile since I have posted anything I thought I would give you a little background on where I am currently in my life.  I am a first grade teacher in Nebraska and I love it. This is my second year teaching first grade, but my third year in the world of education. Last year, I took a jump into Fourth Grade and had a lot of fun, but I definitely missed my little ones! The school I teach at is on a "continuous calendar" which is similar to year round. I love it so far! I mean, only having 6 weeks off for my summer really isn't much different from everyone else nowadays. 

Just this summer I was able to fulfill a dream of mine. I got my very own puppy (well, with my lovely boyfriend of course). Everyone say hello to Kyle the Miniature Schnauzer. He loves to cuddle with me while I scroll through Pinterest or eat...I mean, help pick up the scraps of paper or lamination that I am cutting out at the time. 

 As you can see, Kyle also has great fashion sense. We were very lucky to be able to go out and spend a great day on the lake. You better believe that Kyle was the most ridiculous looking stylish dog out on the lake that day! For future reference, I do not always dress Kyle in clothes...only when I find it to be necessary...which isn't often.

When it comes to my classroom style I am a total color nut! I love animal print (my favorite being zebra), pretty polka dots and bright colors.  Let's be honest though, who doesn't love color in their classrooms.   I hope to post a classroom tour soon..so stay tuned! 

Enough about me....now let's talk about Target.....

I absolutely LOVE Target! I think we all know that their Dollar spot is simply to die for, there are so many hidden treasures in there! Well, I ran by Target for a "quick trip" which turned into me wandering aimlessly and finding magnificent items for my classroom. When I get into my wandering mode you can almost always find me in the school supply aisles. My boyfriend no longer worries when I wander off simply because he knows there is only once place I can be found.

 I LOVE school supplies! So, of course I ended up back in the school supply area where I found some awesome Scentos markers! My kiddos love when I get these out to grade papers or I let them use them for Word Work. The best thing is that they are only $1, plus they have so many fun scents. The item I am most excited about is the little note cards! ...

I mean, look at these! The opportunities are endless and they are only $1(ish) I will most likely be making mine into sight word flashcards, but I am tempted to go back and buy more simply because I can make them into anything! 

Well, I'm sure I will have more Target purchases to share sooner or later, but that's all I have for now! I hope you enjoyed my little update. I am glad you stopped by! Check back soon for my blog make-over and more classroom updates!

See you soon!