Viva Las Vegas!

Home sweet home! My husband and I are back in Texas after being in Vegas for four days. Fun fact: We had never flown anywhere together! We took our honeymoon about two months after getting married and we drove! That's the only vacation we've ever taken just the two of us, until VEGAS. Y'all it was so fun!

I'm linking up with Elementary Entourage to tell you about my trip!

We had to be at the airport at 4:50am our time, OUCH! But check out this view!

Wednesday my husband and I landed and went to our hotel. We stayed at Mandalay Bay because we knew we wanted to enjoy a day at their "beach." We were able to check in at 9 am (bless them!) and relax a little before hitting the wave pool! We had a great dinner at The Border Grill. It was amazing, and this was our view:

For those of you thinking about going to Vegas next year, but worried about spending too much while there, check out travel zoo! Our dinner was 50% off because I bought a deal before we left! 

Wednesday night was the TpT hosted meet up. I believe in full transparency, I don't ever want my blog to misrepresent myself. So, to put it simply for now, I will say that 900+ people in one room, none of whom I've spoken to in actual face to face real life, not my thing! So after really stressing out for about 15 minutes, I left and went to gamble with my husband. I won $20! Then off we went to see Mystere, a Cirque Du Soleil show. 

The next day was a half day of conference sessions. I grabbed lunch with my husband and then it was off to the conference! 

(This place was so cute, and the Mac and Cheese was fantastic!) 

It was probably my favorite day because I got to sit in a class taught by Rachelle Smith (I adore her, and she inspired my husband and I to do Whole30!), Hope King (I've followed her since I was a junior in college and she was the first person I bought something from on TpT!) and Michelle Oakes (so sweet)! They covered how amazing powerpoint is and how much it can help your products. While I'm really comfortable with powerpoint, I learned a few new things and got to learn from three of my role models! What could be better?! 

Then on to a beginner seller panel with Cara Carrol. She, along with all the panel members, were so sweet, encouraging and full of great advice! 

I took the most awkward selfie with her, but obviously I love it anyway! I strive to engage my students the way she does. 

Then it was on to a marketing panel that was so overwhelming I didn't even think to take a single picture. Basically I learned that I should change how I do almost everything! HA! ;) So maybe it wasn't that bad, but it was a ton of information in a short amount of time. 

That night my husband and I went to see the Blue Man Group. It was so fun! We were front and center which meant that we had to wear ponchos. We didn't have any plans after the show, thank goodness because I left covered in banana goop and paint. (We got our tickets from travel zoo as well! It was a great deal!) 

Friday was a full day of learning! I got to meet Deanna Jump and Deedee Wills. It was so fun to be at their session. Their passion is so evident! 

Then Jennifer White from First Grade Blue Skies did a session on how to do it all. Spoiler alert (and what we all already know) you can't! But she had so great suggestions for time management and some very inspiring words. Her handouts would be helpful even for those who didn't attend her session! So find her on TpT and download those if you need some time management ideas, and don't we all?! :) 

My last conference session was with Lovin' Lit, Erin Cobb. Erin started her session by saying that she's a true introvert and that she had spent a lot of time building up to speaking in front of so many people. I instantly relaxed, a seller after my own heart. Her presentation was funny and inspiring. Sometimes I feel really strange saying I run a small business, but I shouldn't! She really got me thinking about my attitude regarding TpT and the differences between a hobby and a business. She also gave out a "Teacherpreneur Toolkit" to ever. single. person. Isn't that amazing?! I was so impressed by her generosity. 

The sessions I took were wonderful! They were worth it, and if you didn't go, you should! 

Saturday my husband and I explored! We did some touristy things and enjoyed some frozen hot chocolate! We were so ready to get back to Texas by Saturday afternoon, can you tell by my attire?! 

Did you go to Vegas? If not, are you planning on going next year?! 

Keep Folder Freebie

Hey sweet readers! I hope you're having a great summer! I've been spending some time on Instagram and reading that some teachers are starting back in a couple weeks! OUCH! While I'm sure most of us have at least another month of summer, I thought I would post this now in case you're going back sooner rather than later.

Our students bring folders in their school supplies, but for folders we access every day, I buy plastic folders.

Molly loves "helping" get folders ready. 

One folder we use every single day is our "Keep" folder. This folder came about my first year of teaching because I had no idea where to have my students put an assignment some hadn't finished. (What do you mean every student isn't finished at the same time?! HA! Bless my first year teacher heart!) So out of desperation, I quickly renamed a folder in their desk, "Keep Folder." I know I'm not alone in this. I have teammates who also use a "Keep" folder. Although sometimes I think it should be called the "Black Hole" folder. ;)

So, if you have a keep folder, or want to implement one this coming year, here are some free labels for you to use!

The "Keep Folder" Label goes on the front of the folder. (2x4 labels)

The "In Progress" label goes on the left inside pocket for unfinished work. (return address labels)

The "V.I.P." label goes on the right inside pocket. It's for papers you want your students to keep and reference. We put a list of character traits, informational book marks (I use one for context clues) and some students have their reference materials stored there as well.

Click HERE to download a copy of the labels. Enjoy!

The cute pencil clip art is from Krista over at Creative Clips Clipart!

You can click HERE to go to her TPT store! :)

Makeover Time!

I'm so excited to be joining up with some amazing teacher bloggers to complete the TPT Seller Challenge! Click here to get more information!

So the first challenge was a makeover challenge. I was so excited because product makeovers are on my forever to do list. You know, that list that NEVER ends!? Yeah, it was on that one. I recently changed up a bunch of my covers, but there are still several products that need a boost.

So I chose this gem:

Y'all, bless my sweet heart. I really thought this was precious not even a year ago! Whoa! Here is the new cover:

I'm really excited about this product's makeover because it wasn't just surface level! I added an activity and added more choices for differentiation! So if your kids are working on their hundreds or their hundred thousands, this has you covered! It's on sale through Wednesday-so grab it while it's on sale! (Click the picture below to go to my TPT store.) 

I'm so thankful for this challenge! I'm feeling really inspired for the first time in quite a while! :) 

It's Summer Time!

And the livin' is easy. Today was day one of my summer vacation and I am already feeling so relaxed. I'm thankful for summer, but I wasn't ready to give up the sweet group of kids I had this year! They were so stinkin' precious! And their families?! Y'all- the level of support I got this year is every teacher's dream. I have no words for how loved and supported I was this year.

I mean, look at this precious end of the year gift! My heart is just so full! 

I was so excited to put together end of the year gifts for my sweeties. I knew I wanted it to be something special! I bought pails at the Target Dollar Spot and then used my silhouette to add their names in vinyl. They turned out so cute! 

Then inside I added a dollar Scholastic book, a glow stick bracelet, two pieces of chalk (from a container of 60 pieces of chalk from Target) and a container of bubbles (three pack from the Dollar Spot). I also added my student's "First Day of Third Grade" picture and our class picture from the beginning of the year. 

For my team, I decided to monogram mason jar cups (also from the Dollar Spot-but not a dollar... which still does not make sense to me) and add in some yummy watermelon gum and water drops. Simple, easy and hopefully useful! 

Side note: If you don't have a silhouette, add that baby to your Christmas list NOW! It's one of the absolute best gifts I've ever picked out for myself received! Thanks Mr. H! It makes personalizing gifts so easy! Plus, who doesn't love a great monogram?! 

Do you have any great team or student gift ideas?! Let's hear them! 

Let's Celebrate!

Hi Friends! I hope your week is going well. I am excited to announce that it's my birthday! I love birthdays, so I want to celebrate with you! My store will be 20% off for March 4th and 5th, and I'm throwing a giveaway!

One lucky winner will get this collection of my favorite classroom essentials! Who doesn't love Flair pens?! Not only will you get the goodies in the picture below, you will also get a clear tumbler customized with your name and any item from my TPT store! 

To enter, use the Rafflecopter below :) 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Five for Friday

Linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! 

Yesterday something beautiful happened! (Any guesses?!) My blog redesign was installed! I am so happy with it! I've wanted to have my blog professionally designed for over a year now (with a pervious blog). But with Vegas in my future, I decided to make that dream a reality! 

Last Friday I stayed at school to organize some NEVER organized spots in my classroom. This was one of the results. We call this guy R2D2-and he's always a mess! So I organized all the cords and now each iPad has a spot! It's great to be able to lock them up and let them charge at the same time. :) 

I am redoing my library! Here's a picture of what I was doing: 

But then I came up with a better solution to label my books without a million stickers! I will do a full post on this when I finish! Basically I have all the information I want my kids to have about the book on ONE label. YES! ONE! Genius. I've been using three stickers, so this felt like a major win! I made these sweet buggy labels for the book bins. 

VEGAS! I know this is old news, but my house is a BUZZ with talk of Vegas. Even my husband rushed to check something off of my "Make Vegas Happen" checklist. I'm so excited to be going because last year I was dreaming of going "someday." Well sweet friends, someday is today! (Actually July 9th!) It's amazing how, in the last 6ish months my dreams have changed from being a true dream, to being a goal. Hard work y'all-it's worth it. :) 

We had a four day week with our kiddos. Our State test practice run is next Monday and Tuesday-say a prayer for us. 

What have you been up to this week?