1,000 Instagram Follower Giveaway…WINNER ANNOUNCED!

Hey there! I know I have abandoned the last few days of Teacher Week '14, but goodness gracious this week was crazy and something had to give! However, I am here with GREAT NEWS! WOOHOO

In the past week many of you have participated in my 1,000 Instagram Follower Giveaway for your chance to win an ERIN CONDREN gift card!! *SQUEAL*

Well, we have a lucky winner! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

WOOHOO! Congratulations, Julie! Your gift card is on it's way! 

Thank you to everyone who participated in this giveaway! I hope I can do another giveaway soon! 

Have a wonderful Saturday! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Why-Organization {Teacher Week '14}

Hey there! Today I'm here to talk about how I organize things on a daily basis and how it works for me! Now, I am totally guilty of stacking, piling and losing things but I am going to share with you one of the greatest things that has changed my life this school year. 

Here we go…

 This year I took the leap and bought my very first Erin Condren planner. If you haven't experience the joy of an Erin Condren planner, then you need to do ASAP!  I was really nervous about using it because it comes to your door looking so beautiful and clean, but it has changed my life!  I refer to my planner as "my life"because that is exactly what it is! It has everything…literally! 

Let me show you some of my favorite things about my planner! 

Here is one of my favorite things! I absolutely love these notes pages in front of my calendar sections.  As you can see, these pages come in SUPER handy and all of my notes are organized (as long as I can remember when I took the notes). The calendar pages are so helpful when it comes to scheduling and keeping track of everything!  

Here is a quick snapshot of my planning pages. Now, I know my handwriting is not adorable in anyway, but it works! I love how each day of the week is color coded and the awesome stickers make it super easy to keep track of meetings, IEP's and so much more! 

Now for a shameless plug…

If you have been dreaming about an Erin Condren planner..I have an awesome opportunity for you!

I recently reached 1,000 followers on Instagram and I'm giving away a $25 gift card to Erin Condren!!

Enter below for your chance to win!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Okay…shameless plug is over! 

Now, I hope you enjoyed my little post about my Erin Condren planner!  Happy Hump day! 

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Where I Teach!…short and sweet {Teacher Week '14}

Hey there! I'm back again for a short and sweet post about Where I Teach for Teacher Week '14.  

Since today has been a little crazy I may be doing more of a "Throwback Tuesday" to my Teacher week post from last year.  I am still in the same classroom, but there have just been some minor changes :) 

To start things off, I realized that I have done a terrible job of taking pictures of my room this year…so I plan to post more picture tomorrow on Instagram. In the meantime, here is what I have to share :)

This is my very busy desk area. I am lucky enough to have quite a bit of space for my L-shaped desk and I am so happy that I do!  This year I bought that bright pink chair to replace my old black one that was having issues keeping itself together. I am so very happy that I bought this chair…it is extremely comfy and who doesn't love the color?!

I use my marker board as a rotating bulletin board for our reading materials and Daily 5 choices. The small table in front of my desk is our Work on Writing Center :). 

I use my desk to keep all of my Teacher manuals, worksheets and lessons for the day in order and ready to go. I got this awesome idea from Katie Knight over at Teacher to the Core.  I watched her youtube video and immediately tried her desk trick out...it has worked wonders! 

Here is my classroom meeting area! It looks a lot like it did last year…the only change I made was moving a large bookshelf out of our meeting area and instead using it to hold all of our book boxes. 

Now…for the most awesome addition I have made to my classroom EVER! 

TA-DA!

Say hello to our listen to reading TENT! I found this nifty lil' thing on sale at target and I am so glad that I grabbed it! It is BY FAR my firsties favorite place to read! 

So,,,I know this may not give you a GREAT idea of what my room looks like, but I will make you two promises:

1) I will be posting more pictures tomorrow on my Instagram (you may even get lucky with a video)

2) Not many things have changed about my classroom set-up from last year. 

Click here if you want to check out my Classroom set-up from Teacher Week '13 and stay tuned for more photos tomorrow! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

Teacher Week- Blog Hoppin' {Meet the Teacher}

Hey there! This week I am linking up with Blog Hoppin' for their Teacher week! I participated last year and got to see so many amazing teacher's, so I'm very excited to be linking up with them again! Now, I know you may have read my "Meet the Teacher" post from a few weeks ago when I linked up with Falling into First, so this post may be similar, but I'm going to try my best to include some fun facts about myself! YAY…for fun, useless information about Megan! 

Let's get started! 

My name is Megan and I am a 25 year old, First grade Teacher from Eastern Nebraska! I am a creator, teacher, blogger and fiancé!  I have been teaching for 4 glorious years and I couldn't be happier!  My very first teaching job took me away from the city and to a lovely farming community straight north of my home town. My first year I taught First Grade, but missed being close to home. At the end of my first year I received the opportunity to move back to my home and district that I grew up in to teach 4th grade.  Needless to say, 4th was a HUGE change that I loved, but I missed my adorable firsties. Now, I have been teaching First grade for 2 years in my hometown and I'm lovin' every minute of it! 

In June, I will be marrying the man of my dreams! My fiancé is a wonderful man who supports all of my crazy ideas…most of the time. We have been together for almost 3 years (bless his soul) and we can't wait to spend the rest of our lives together!   On August 30th (the first Husker game!), we will have been engaged for one year! Yes, we have had a LONG engagement, but I think it has made planning easier and much more enjoyable. With that being said, this year is going to be crazy and I can't wait! I'm sure you will see many photos and blog posts about this crazy, hectic year, so be sure to follow along for the ride! 

My fiancé and I are the parents to this crazy, bearded schnauzer. Say hello to Kyle, our miniature schnauzer and spoiled rotten fur baby. Yes, you read that right, his name is KYLE…we know it is a human name and we find it to be hilarious especially when you see us running down the street shouting after him and having our neighbors think that we are yelling at  a human child. Trust me…seeing people's faces when we tell them the name of our dog never gets old!  If you follow me on Instagram you know that I am completely obsessed with this fur ball! Yes, I am a crazy dog lady that is absolutely in love with my furry child, but  how can you not?! He is do darn cute and his has his own hashtag on Instagram…he is pretty cool, folks!

Now, for some fun (useless) facts about Megan: 

1. I am obsessed with temporary tattoos. I am terrified of needles (along with pain), plus I have SUPER sensitive skin, so I don't know if I will ever get a real one, but I love them!  The one pictured above is my favorite and I'm hoping one day that I will get enough courage to get it stuck on permanently (sorry mom!).  I am also very indecisive so I never know where exactly to put it…wrist…foot…wrist…foot?! I just can't decide! What do you think…should I make is permanent or stick to the temporary one's for fun?

2. I LOVE THE HUSKERS! If you don't know anything about Nebraska, here is one thing you need to know….WE LIVE FOR HUSKER ATHLETICS! We aren't known to be the Greatest fans in college football for nothin'! We live and die for Husker game days and have a blast while doing it! If you have never been to Lincoln, Nebraska on game day, I strongly suggest you do (and let me know if you do)! It is once in a lifetime experience and I promise you will have a blast!  Now, in this photo I promise I am smiling about my awesome Husker gear, I had just had my wisdom teeth out and was having trouble smiling without popping my stitches (yuck)…but I promise I was super stoked for my husker gear! GO BIG RED! Click here for some relatable facts about Nebraska

3. I have met BRANTLEY GILBERT!  Please excuse the ridiculous laughing smiles, but we were extremely giddy to meet him (and there may have been an inappropriate joke made by someone right before the photo was taken). I'm 5'3" and he wasn't a whole lot taller than I was, but my goodness I love his music!  

4. I have naturally curly/wavy hair!  Honestly, it can kind of be a pain sometimes, but on the days that it works it is awesome! Most of the time you will see my hair straight, but on a rare occasion you will see the natural waves come out.  Having curly hair can be awesome except for when you want it to be straight and it rains or is extremely humid…then it's not so awesome.  I sometimes feel like I look like Medusa when I wear my hair curly so I usually only save it for rainy days or days where I just don't want to mess with my hair. 

So, there ya have it, that is me in a nutshell folks! For some of you, you have now "met me" twice. I hope you enjoyed getting to know me and laughed at least once while you were reading.  Feel free to stick around and browse my "Blog party" or check out the other amazing teachers linking up on Blog Hoppin'! Check back tomorrow for my post about my classroom! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

1,000 Instagram Follower Giveaway!

WOOHOO! I am so excited! I just reached 1,000 followers on Instagram! This is only something I dreamed of when I first started and now it is time to celebrate!  To thank all of you for helping me reach this amazing goal, I am holding a GIVEAWAY!! YAY! 

Enter below for you chance to win a $25 Gift card to ...

YIPEE!! This Giveaway will run from August 16th to August 23rd! That's a whole week! 

What are you waiting for?!

Don't forget you can enter each day by sharing this giveaway on Facebook! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

My new box of crayons!--My Original post from 8/3/10

Hey there! Tonight I went back through some of my older blog posts and made it back to my very first post. This originally started as a reflection during my Student Teaching in College and has turned into something amazing! So, have some fun and read my very first post EVER! 

Remember going back to school shopping and you always got new pens, pencils, folders, notebooks and of course crayons?  Those were always the most important thing to have in elementary school, all the different colors and the awesome sharpener on the back of the box so your masterpieces were always perfect! You would walk into your classroom on that first day and flip open your brand new desk and begin to put all your new supplies carefully placing them in your desk, but always making sure you had the perfect spot for your crayons so that they could quickly be accessed in case of a coloring emergency. There was no better feeling than opening a brand new box of crayons...it was like opening yourself to a whole new world, a fresh start! You couldn't wait to break out the Pink Grapefruit for brightly colored pictures and Mac and Cheese yellow to draw the perfect sun.

I, at the age of 21, still enjoy opening that new box of crayons to find brightly colored soldiers standing in their strict rows. However, this upcoming fall I will be opening a whole new box of crayons. I will be entering the colorful world of Student Teaching! This moment of walking into a classroom and not having to leave them for a class of my own is what I have often imagined while writing multiple lesson plans, completing portfolios and many cups of coffee.  This is my new box of crayons, my fresh start, my first true step into " the real world".  So join me, as I begin my journey with a brand new box of crayons.

Meet the Teacher {Linky}

I hope you are having an amazing Monday! I have decided to join in on the fun with Falling into First for her "Meet the Teacher" Linky! Yes, I have an awesome new tab at the top where you can read about me as well, but I love doing linky parties SO…why not! 

Hey there! My name is Megan and I am a first grade teacher from Nebraska. I am a 25 year old creator, teacher, blogger and fiancé!  I have been teaching for 4 glorious years and I couldn't be happier!  My very first teaching job took me away from the city and to a lovely farming community straight north of my home town. My first year I taught First Grade, but missed being close to home. At the end of my first year I received the opportunity to move back to my home and district that I grew up in to teach 4th grade.  Needless to say, 4th was a HUGE change that I loved, but I missed my adorable firsties. Now, I have been teaching First grade for 2 years in my hometown and I'm lovin' every minute of it! 

This coming June I will be marrying the man of my dreams!  So far, this year has been a little crazy between planning a wedding and planning for school, but it has been so much fun…and a bit exhausting.  My fiancé is one of my greatest supporters when it comes to teaching.  I can always count on him to lend a helping hand when it comes to a crazy DIY project, grading papers, cutting lamination or simply making me laugh after a rough day. I am so very blessed to be able to spend the rest of my life with this man and I can't wait! 

My fiancé and I have this furry child and we love him to death! This is our one-year old ,miniature schnauzer, Kyle. Yes, his name is Kyle…we named him this because we find it humorous to chase our dog down the street shouting his name and having our neighbors think we are shouting at a "real" child.  We may have an odd sense of humor, but it makes it a little easier to laugh with this fur ball decides to take off.  If you follow me on Instagram you have probably seen my MANY posts of this furry face (mainly on the weekends or on breaks).  He is a pretty cool schnauz with an awesome beard/mustache combo and I love him very much! 

Now for the…...

These are a few of my favorite things…

My furry child, the color blue, Chinese food, yoga, Starbucks, sleeping in, new picture books, the new car smell, being spontaneous, Pinterest, blogging, creating, teaching, laughing, Eeyore, cows, dogs, zebras, reading, dark chocolate, The Hunger Games….I could probably go on and on, but we can stop there for now! 

If you weren't a teacher, what would you want to be?

IF I weren't a Teacher, I would probably work at the Humane Society and spend all day long with dogs! I would probably end up bringing most of them home with me and becoming a crazy dog lady :) 

Three little words that describe you.

Honest. Fun. Spontaneous    I like to call it how I see it.

Finish the sentence, "______, said no teacher EVER!"

"Oh, I'm so glad that you brought all of your other children to Parent Teacher Conferences to let them destroy my classroom while we try and talk about the child you didn't bring."

It's your Birthday and you get to invite one person {Dead or Alive} to the party. Who are you inviting? 

I would definitely be inviting Jennifer Lawrence! Who wouldn't want to hang with her?!

If someone wrote a book about your life, what would be the title?

"The Life Story of a People McNugget…and other stuff"…haha…I really have no clue! 

You get to pick one superpower. What is it?

hmmm…this is a hard one.  All I can think of is Harry Potter and those aren't superpowers….soooooo….I would have to pick invisibility. 

What's your favorite quote or saying?

I have quite a few that I love, but here is one of my favorite education quotes:

“I’ve come to a frightening conclusion that I am the decisive element in the classroom. It’s my personal approach that creates the climate. It’s my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess a tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humiliate or heal. In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated and a child humanized or dehumanized.”- Dr. Hiam Ginott

If you had to sing one song on American Idol, what would it be?

I would probably have to sing Norah Jones "Don't know why"….love that song! 

Are you a Morning Person or a Nigh Owl?

I am a TOTAL Night Owl! I can only function in the mornings if I have had a decent amount of coffee and if it is after 10 a.m. 

What's your favorite resource that YOU'VE created in your TPT shop?

I absolutely love my "That's a Fact Jack" Math Centers and my Guided Reading Essentials pack. These two products make my life so much easier when it comes to my classroom! 

Share something that we may not know about you!

Well, I'm pretty much an open book, but…

I guess that some of you may not know that I DID NOT grow up on a farm. I am from Eastern Nebraska (very close to Omaha) and I grew up in a city, with electricity and more than one stop light. Honestly, you would be amazed by the questions I get asked about being from Nebraska! Also, you can go into almost any local establishment in Lincoln, Nebraska on game day and scream "Gooo Biiiig Reeeed" and be answered by a loud "Go Big Red" from almost all surrounding Husker fans. 

Well folks, that's me in a nutshell. I hope you enjoyed this post and come back for more! 

Thanks for stoppin' by! 

A Bird in Hand Designs…Beautiful Blog Face Lift!

Hey there! I'm sure you have noticed that my itty bitty blog got an amazing face lift! I am absolutely in LOVE with this design! It's covered in color, crayons and brilliance all over.  Let me tell you about my experience with Megan over at A Bird in Hand Designs. First, she is so incredibly talented, you will not believe the amazing designs she comes up with! Second, she is great to work with! Seriously, while I was waiting for her to work her magic with my blog I emailed her with questions or decisions (I'm sure I got to be a bit annoying…sorry Megan) and she was sooooooo patient and sweet!  

This is also my public apology to Megan for any grief or stress I may have caused her during this whole process…I  may have gotten a little OVER excited about things. 

And finally, she captures your deepest, blog design, desires…she really gets it! So, if you are thinking about getting a new blog design that truly fits YOU…GO TO MEGAN! 

I promise you will not regret it! 

Now, GO! Click the button and see for yourself! 

Megan, thank you so much for creating this amazing design and putting up with me through this process! You are truly talented, humble and absolutely brilliant!



Thanks for stoppin' by! 

August Currently Link up….better late than never!

Hey there!  I am so happy to have found some time to get back to my lovely little blog! I realized today that I had totally missed the August currently with Farley, so I am doing it now! Yes, I know I'm a little late, but I think it's better late that never! 

Let's get this rollin'!  

Listening- I am currently cuddled up on the couch at my Fiancé's house listening to the beautiful sounds of Batman in the background. I love Batman, but there are only so many times I can watch the movie. 

Loving- I am so happy to finally have made it back to my little blog! I teach year round, so I started school in the middle of July (crazy, I know). Needless to say, I think things are finally getting back into a routine which means more blogging! YAY! 

Thinking- I have a MILLION things I would like to get done before school on Monday, with very little motivation to do it right now. I'm hoping that my motivation shows up a little later tonight…that would be wonderful. 

Wanting- A Massage sounds lovely right now. I don't know about you, but I carry all of my stress between my shoulders.  It is not uncommon to have tension headaches starting on Wednesday and continuing to the beginning of yoga on Saturdays. I have a goal to keep my stress under control this year, because it turns into mean, ugly, red, swollen hives if I let it go too long! Here's to keeping stress under control this year! 

Needing- An "Adult Beverage" might do the trick in finding my motivation tonight…or maybe not, who knows.  I think I should at least give it a shot, right?!

1st day you and kids- I teach year round, so I went back to school mid-July. This next week we will actually have completed our first month of school! WOOHOO! My firsties are finally getting into the swing of things and it is super exciting to see! 

OHHH!! One more thing! I HAVE SOME VERY EXCITING NEWS COMING TO MY ITTY BITTY BLOG VERY SOON! Be sure to follow me in Instagram to see sneak peeks! 

I hope you have a great weekend! 

Thanks for stoppin' by!