Freebie Friday

Hi everyone! Today is the last day of Blog Hoppin's Teacher Week!

Today I wanted to share my classroom rules. I saw the design on Pinterest a while ago but changed to pictures and words to match Whole Brain Teaching. I've never tried WBT before but I hear only good things and I wanted to give it a shot this year!

Click on the picture to check it out at my TpT store!

On another note, I spent a LONG day in my classroom yesterday and I'm feeling much better about the setup. I'll post more pictures maybe this weekend after I finish putting some more things away! 

Does anyone out there use Handwriting Without Tears? I really want a class set of double lined chalkboards but our district only provided ONE board for each 1st grade class. I'm trying to think creatively about how I can make a class set but it comes out kind of expensive any way I think about it... Anyone out there have tips or suggestions? Here are the boards I'm trying to recreate: 

I might have to give up and have them only practice in their workbooks... but I would love for them to have chalkboards to practice even more!

EDIT:: I talked with my principal today about these boards and we might be able to get a set! So no more stress for me, phew! I'd still love to hear any feedback from people who use HWT. This year will be the first year grades 1 and 2 will be doing it (used to be just K). I've heard lots of good things so far!!

It's the last day to link up! 

Therapeutic Thursday

Hi everyone! Today is Therapeutic Thursday!

I am sort of an anxious person and I easily get stressed out and worry about the littlest things! I know it probably isn't the healthiest, but I'm very concerned about the way things are and how things go.

When I'm feeling stressed or overwhelmed I love going to Starbucks. I feel like it's a little treat that I deserve and it makes me feel better! Chai tea lattes and black tea lemonades are my favorite :)

(not my pictures)

This is really weird but I also de-stress by listening to really loud (rap) music in the car on the way to school... while drinking Red Bull.

And of course, I relax when I come home by getting into my pajamas right away and vegging out in front of the computer or the TV!

How do you relax after a stressful day? Link up with Blog Hoppin!

Where I Teach Wednesday

Today for Teacher Week it's Where I Teach Wednesday!

I already posted a few pictures of my classroom here, but here they are again (a bit more organized):

I teach at a really small school in Seattle. We are grades K-6 and I think we have about 11 teachers/classrooms! I love having a small staff--you really get to know everyone! You also get to know the kids really well (some teachers have kids two-three years in a row because of splits!). My building has a pod design with four classrooms opening up to a small centrum area. We use this for small group work or testing. It's great! Also, two adjacent rooms in a pod open up into one big classroom. Our pod hasn't done this, but I know this year our 2 half-day K's are sharing one huge room. Should be interesting! The only downside to this is that we have this HUGE wall made of carpet... I have to use velcro to stick everything to the wall!

Here are a few more pictures. I should probably take more recent ones, but not that much has changed!

I'm proud of my new room and I'm excited to see my new students! Last year I didn't really get a chance to set up this room the way I wanted, so I'm feeling really refreshed!

Head over to Blog Hoppin' to link up!

Technology Tip Tuesday

Hi there! Today is Technology Tuesday!!

My technology tip for today actually came from Ladybug's Teacher Files:

Make your printables in PowerPoint.

This tech tip has saved me so much time and frustration! I make everything in PowerPoint now, from worksheets to classroom decor! It is so much easier to move pictures, boxes, and text around! I also love how PP tells you when things are aligned in the center or in relation to other objects on the page. Amazing! If you haven't switched from Word to PP, you really should!!

I wish I had more tech tips for teachers (I think of myself as pretty tech savvy!) but I can't think of anything that I do technology-wise that other people don't! We don't have SmartBoards at our school (I WISH!!!) but I'm sure if I had one I could do amazing things with it :)

Head over to Blog Hoppin'! to link up!!

Teacher Week - Must-Haves Monday

Hi everyone! I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' for their Teacher Week link party!

1. Mr. Sketch Scent Markers AND Sharpie Flip Chart Markers !

Our principal buys all teachers a set of Mr. Sketch each year! Amazing, right? I had heard about the Sharpie markers from a coworker and just HAD to try them since I love everything Sharpie. I must say... they rival the Mr. Sketch (except for the smellies!). Love the bullet tip and the bright colors!

2. IKEA EXPEDIT Shelf

Here's a picture of the shelf in my room!

I love my shelf/bench! I saw this idea a LONG time ago and I just love it. I keep my student whiteboards, binders, and lesson materials up in the bins. The shelf is study enough to sit on and the kids love coming up to join me to share. 

3. Scotch Thermal Laminator

I bought this on Amazon's Deal of the Day last year and I am SO thankful! It has saved me when I need to laminate in a pinch, plus I love being able to laminate at home! The laminate is actually a lot nicer (it's thicker) and you can buy the pouches at Sam's Club. I also buy mine at Joann & Michaels with my 40% off coupons (+teacher discount).

Fortunate

I've been working on some crafts for the beginning of school. The first day of school for us isn't until August 30th, so I still have some time! Here's one of the projects I'm currently working on!

Gift boxes for students on Meet the Teacher night! The idea is from Pinterest (of course).

I ordered the fortune cookie boxes from Oriental Trading and I made the labels with a simple Avery label template. I bought some 2x4" address labels from Target (Avery 18163), printed them out, and punched them with a 2" scalloped circle punch (found mine at Michaels).
Here is my inspiration from Pinterest. I know my labels aren't as fancy as hers, but my boxes are smaller and the address labels made them easy to punch and stick on :)

You can download my labels here! Enjoy!
The actual Avery template I downloaded didn't even fit the labels!! So I had to manually resize, move, and convert to pdf. For some reason my background colors weren't printing (even though I have the box to print backgrounds checked), but the pdf version works fine since it's flattened.

I'm on the lookout for an other great "Back to School" crafts and activities for those first few weeks of school!