Monday, June 23, 2014


KA-POW!
Y’all. My brain is so full after a day of ELAR training. I am so eager to get back into the classroom and invoke some of the passion I have for reading in the hearts of my kids. I want passionate students!

We got so many resources!  
I just need to sort through these resources and thoughts and turn these plans into actions for next year.
Can you tell that I love new beginnings?! :)

Speaking of new beginnings... My notebook and planner came in from Erin Cordren, with my (soon to be) new last name! 
The quote is something that my first and second grade teacher said A LOT. It was actually a classroom chant. 
Let me tell you, it's inspired me for all these years! When I saw this cover, I knew it had to be mine. That teacher was a HUGE inspiration to me, she invested in me and went above and beyond! (And even beyond that!) She was such a huge part of why I wanted to be a teacher and what kind of teacher I want to be, so this is just a daily reminder of that. 
I have such a love for Erin Condren products, they are cute and so functional! They are sturdy and made in the USA! My love for her company grew after this last order. While these products are beautiful, they are not perfect. I emailed her CS team about the gaps between the coil and cover design, and they are reprinting my notebook and planner cover, and rushing the shipping. It was handled in less than 48 hours with so much grace. Customer for life right here! 
If you've never ordered Erin Condren products I urge you to check out her website! AND if you use this link HERE you can get $10 off! 

Friday, June 13, 2014

Five For Friday

Today I am joining up with Kacey from Doodle Bugs Teaching for five for Friday! 



It is loud, and I mean L-O-U-D in my house these last few days. We are having our cabinets and counter tops replaced in half of our kitchen and I don’t think these men could make any more noise. Goodness!

(“Half your kitchen?” I’m sure you’re asking. Yes, half of our kitchen was finished in April, and the company we are using has finally made time to finish. Luckily this headache is almost over and then our whole kitchen will be pretty.)

I am just a *little* obsessed with my blog. It’s new and full of so much potential. I am so proud of it so far.


I’m loving this welcome poster I made. You can get it as a part of my Welcome Backto School Bundle. I think it would be cute to hand out to students on the first day of school, as a poster, or in a cute frame. (I plan on really talking about these traits/skills all year!)  


This banner is also included in the bundle. There are pencils for each grade level (1-6).

(Let’s take a moment to absorb that it’s my first week of summer and I have tangible things for the beginning of school! I really want to be organized and prepared this year!!)


Erin Condren! (Need I say more?)
Her 2015 life planner launched Thursday and I can shamelessly say that I was one of the nuts up at one am buying a planner.

When I bought my teacher planner I spent DAYS trying to decide what cover to get. If you’ve shopped EC then you’ve probably felt the same anxiety. The covers are so cute, and there are so many choices, “Do I get a picture, should I change the color…?”
The possibilities were endless-almost.
This year she’s added interchangeable covers! Y’all, I think I heard angels singing when I heard that announcement. You can order new covers for around $10 each! So, for those like me, planning a name change soon, or for those who like to update photos or just change it up, you can order different covers!
I know. It’s glorious.

Since I was doing middle of the night shopping already…I decided to add a journal to my order too! I want to keep all my school notes in one journal this year. And while I could have just picked up a spiral at back to school time, this is better!
If you haven’t purchased anything EC yet, click here to create an account and EC will email you a $10 off code!

My brain is so full of all things classroom, blog and TPT store that I’ve almost forgotten that I’m planning a wedding. We get married in October! It’s coming up SO soon. That’s both exciting (I cannot wait to be a wife!) and terrifying (see my wedding to-do list…YIKES)!
This is our chapel. We are getting married on Texas Tech’s campus. It’s where we met and where he proposed, so there’s nowhere else I’d rather say, “I do.” Wreck ‘Em Tech!




Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Workin' On It Wednesday!

I'm joining KinderGals to show you what I've been working on! 


(Drum roll please...)

Back to School Welcome Bundle
I am feeling so proud of this bundle I put together today. It’s perfect to add some cute to your back to school time. 

I absolutely love how this turned out! My original plan was to have this sitting on each student's desk, but after seeing how it turned out, I'm turning it into a poster. LOVE! 

These pages are to help you make a class, "All About Me" book. How cool would it be to fill these out the first day and have the class book in your library by the end of the week?! The bundle comes with three cover choices, but I love these Krista Wallden kids! 

So that, along with this sweet new blog, is what I have been busy with! Hopefully next week I'll be sharing a post from my Adventures in DIY blog! (Hopefully that blog will exist next week. HA!) 







New Products!
Creating new things for my classroom is so exciting! My team is moving into new classrooms next year (new as in, they’re not built yet!) and so I spent the last days of school packing. I noticed as I packed my math games, that I don’t have ANY centers or games for place value. That was our first math unit, so I’m guessing that anything I did use I was too flustered to save? Surely we played games? THAT is how much of a blur the first few months of my first year were! I am now a wiser and more prepared (HA!) second year teacher, so I’m getting some place value games/activities ready for my new students. 
I’ve made four activities so far and I have them in a Place Value Bundle in my TPT store.

The bundle includes two puzzles, two matching worksheets, and my favorite, a “PlaceValue Roll” page. 

For Place Value Roll, students use dice to create their numbers. Do you know what that means?! It means that you can laminate these or put them in a sleeve to use over and over as extra practice. It also means that during review/reteach, or tutoring, you can have students use it to continue practice. What I’m saying is, it’s not a one time use worksheet! And there’s just something about dice…my students always have so much fun when there are dice involved.