Monday Made It- 7/29

School starts in three weeks! Eeek! I do not feel ready! My classroom is getting there, but I still feel so disorganized!  And, I'm not ready to say goodbye to summer vacation and playing with my girls.  My girls go to a great daycare- they are in great care and learn a lot!  Last year, Isabella was introduced to Jolly Phonics, the same phonics program I use in kindergarten. (She is only three!) She can identify capital and lowercase letters as well as the sounds they make!  Although she will be in the same classroom as last year (the rooms are divided by age), this will count as her first year of preschool! 

I have pinned lots of cute first day of school picture ideas. I settled on making a chalkboard to document the important first day of school for my girls.

I spray painted an old picture frame I found at Goodwill years ago. I used Martha Stewart chalkboard paint from Michael's to paint the backing of the frame. (I gave it four coats.) Fortunately, it was nice and smooth!

 I might be addicted to chalkboard paint!  I have seen lots of cute ways to use it on Pinterest and Monday Made It linkys! 

Visit 4th Grade Frolics for the Monday Made It Linky Party!

Planner Linky Party and a GIVEAWAY!!!

I was excited to get an invite to The Teacher's Chair's School Week Linky about Lesson Planners!

I recently made a year planner for my sister. I am so happy with how it turned out!

My 2014 planner cost a fraction of what the more expensive life planners cost! It is for sale in my TPT store. Click on the image below.

I haven't printed it yet, but I also created a plan book to match my 2014 calendar.  It is also available at my TPT store!  Click on the image below to get your copy!

I am so excited to pass the 100 follower mark on Bloglovin'. To celebrate my followers, I'm having my first giveaway!  Enter to win a digital copy of my Chevron lesson plan book and my 2014 planner.Thank you to all my followers. I appreciate all of you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Indiana Goes Back To School Blog Hop

I'm really excited to participate in my first blog hop! I'm teaming up with other Indiana bloggers for this great back to school blog hop with a raffle to win a $75 gift card at the end!

Ever since WalMart and Target put out their back to school displays, I have been thinking about my incoming class of kinders.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE summer vacation, but I also love teaching and planning!  I am looking forward to using my Cupcake Ten Frame Match in my classroom as a station during math.  It will help me assess my students' math abilities- counting and matching a number to a group of objects.

I can also use this activity for my first quarter assessment-- our report card tests the kids on counting to tell the number of objects to ten for the first quarter. Click on the image above for your FREE copy!


I love cupcakes!  My classroom currently has a cupcakes and chevron theme going on. I am really excited to get my chevron alphabet cards up on my walls! Visit my TPT store for D'Nealian and print alphabet cards!  Click on the images below!

Your next stop on this blog hop is with Jenny at Ignite Learning with Conscious Discipline.

Don't forget to enter to win the giftcard giveaway at the end of this blog hop!  Thanks for visiting!

First Day of School Journal Freebie

I started writing lesson plans today. Looking back at my plan book from last year, I remembered I had made this First Day of School Journal last year: 

Click on the image above for your copy! I use it in kindergarten, but it could be used in any primary grade! 



In addition to this journal, I plan on using Kindergarten Smiles' Monsters Activities during the first week of school.

Monday Made It- 7/22/13

I am so excited about this planner I made for a gift for my sister. (Hopefully she misses this blog post so it can be a surprise!) She loves the look of the more expensive life planners but wasn't willing to spend $50+ dollars to own one, so I made her one!

    I am so pleased with how it turned out, and I love that it cost way less than the more expensive planners!  I had the front and back covers laminated at a local school supply store ($1.00) and had the black spiral binding done at Staples (about $4.00). I used card stock ($5.00 for a ream) and ink, which I already had.) 

 It features twelve monthly calendars.

 And weekly calendars, too.

It's available now in my TPT store!  Click here to get your copy!

Also available-  is a matching lesson plan book!  I haven't printed it yet, but I will share pictures once it is done!

Visit 4th Grade Frolics for more Monday Made It inspiration!

Chevrons and Polka Dots!

I am so excited to get into my classroom and update the decor with chevrons and polka dots. I made some chevron and polka dot name plates for the tables and some pennants to hang in my window.  I'm backed up on printing, or otherwise I would have pictures of them for you! (I had to wait a week for ink and have lots of things in queue. I go through a lot of ink and found a great website to buy ink.  I ordered two packs of color ink for my Epson 8 cartridges inkjet printer and a toner for my Brother laser printer for $60. They are recycled cartridges, but I have had really good luck with them in the past!) Okay, back to my new products!

Click on the images to visit my TPT store!

Color Sight Word Cupcakes Freebie

Thank goodness for a sleeping baby and play date with Mimi. Olivia had a rough night last night = I had a sleepless night last night! She has been napping for 2 hours! It started in the car and she made the transfer to her bed. That NEVER happens! Isabella is at a play date with Mimi (my mom.) The house should be getting clean, but instead I'm eating a delicious pink champagne cupcake and making cupcake themed centers.

I created this Cupcake Color Sight Word Match to use as a literacy center. The kinders will read the color word and match it to the cupcake with that color frosting.  I plan to print it on cardstock and laminate. Then I will cut each cupcake apart between the frosting and the wrapper.  I usually have three to four sets of an activity in a center. (Have I mentioned I usually have 28 kids in my class? I like to have 10 centers a week- students visit 2 per day- and need enough materials for 3 to 4 students at each center.) I color code the materials by using a Sharpie to draw a shape or dot on the back and put that color on the baggie that stores the materials. The kids can easily determine which pieces are theirs in the event that pieces get mixed up.

Click on the picture above to grab your freebie at my TPT store!

Monday Made It- 7/15/13 and a Freebie!

I love this behavior chart I read about on Kindergarten Smiles back in April. I had a stoplight last year and didn't want to change anything mid-year, but knew that I wanted to use the clip system for behavior management in my classroom in the future. I finally laminated the cardstock and assembled my new behavior chart.

 

I punched holes in the cardstock before laminating and used a small knife to poke a small hole through the lamination film to thread ribbon through each card.   If you're wondering why I made two charts, it is because my class maxes out at 28 kids.  As of kindergarten round up, I was very close to that number! There is no way I could fit 28 clothespins to the green starting section. The boys will use the chart with the blue ribbon and the girls get the pink one.  I like Caitlin's idea of giving crystals for moving past purple. I found some small crystals with sticker backs at Michael's that I will be using when the children get to "Outstanding." 

At the end of the day, I will have students color a calendar the color that their clip is on.  I will end the calendar home on Friday for parents to sign and return.  Click here for free calendar pages for the 2013-14 school year. 

I'm excited to see how this new behavior management system works in my classroom. I really like the idea of moving up past green and being rewarded for good choices! 

Visit 4th Grade Frolics for more inspiration at the Monday Made It Linky party. 

Favorite Pins Friday Linky

I have to admit, I am addicted to Pinterest.  I love finding classroom inspiration, hair styles, recipes, ideas for the home, and much, much more!  It is fun to go back to my pins and see what I thought was important during the week. So, here they are:

This would be a great math center to have the kids work on 2D shapes!

How awesome is this?! I remember getting cards with glitter inside them and being so excited and thrilled. I would love to bite into a cupcake only to find sprinkles!

My class last year got so excited about wiggly and lost teeth.  This tooth subtraction is perfect to practice subtraction with numbers to 10.

Everything is Disney at my house. Isabella, my three year old, loves anything Disney Princess. We talk daily about going to Disney World. My husband and I can't wait to take our girls there, but we think it would be better to wait until Olivia is older. (She's only 10 months old as of tomorrow.) Cinderella is my favorite princess and I just love the castle back-lit with the fireworks. I had to pin this when I saw it!

I found this amazing math board inspiration through a math linky party. I think this would be a great way to teach number sense during the calendar time.  If only I had more space to add to my calendar area...

Link up with The First Grade Parade for this fun Favorite Pins Friday Party!

Chevron Alphabet Cards

I fell in love with Schoolgirl Style's Lilly Pulitzer inspired design when I saw it on Facebook last week. I have tried to link back to her website, but her Facebook says her website was hacked and is currently down. 

My walls are the green of the flowers in this picture.  I hope that incorporating some of these other colors into my classroom will tone down the green-ness of my walls!  I'm retiring my black and white alphabet this year to use my latest TPT creation! These alphabet cards are my first step to my Lilly Pulitzer inspired classroom. Don't worry, I am still keeping the cupcakes! :)

Get it now in my TPT store.

I also made a print version for those of you who don't mess with the monkey tails of D'Nealian like I do!

New Blog Design!

I am thrilled with my new blog design!  With all the Linky Parties I have been visiting lately, I have been looking at other blogs' banners, templates, and buttons. I kept finding myself falling in love with the designs by Dreamlike Magic. After visiting her website, I knew I had to have one of her designs!  My mom and I both got bloggy makeovers this week courtesy of Dreamlike Magic. Visit my mom, Linda, at Kinder Doodles to see her super cute blog!

Monday Made It

I painted this picture at a painting class with my husband's family. Each month, all the aunts and female cousins get together for a Girls' Night.  The painting class was our last Girls' Night. I love anything artistic, so I had a blast!  This is in my older daughter's room. I bought a canvas at Michaels when everything was on sale so I can make another for my younger daughter.

Hop on over to 4th Grade Frolics for the Monday Made It Linky party!

Liebster Award

I am so excited to be nominated for the Liebster Award!  Thank you to Sandy at Kinder-Gardening  and Liz at 2 Preschool Pals for the nominations. To accept the nomination I must:

1. Link back to the blog that nominated me
2. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 200 followers
3. Answer the questions posted for me by my nominator
4. Share 11 random facts about myself
5. Create 11 questions for my nominees
6. Contact my nominees and let them know I nominated them

I am nominating the following blogs I discovered through Linky parties and follow on Bloglovin':

Teacher Inspired
Glitter and Gradebooks
Teaching in Organized Chaos
Kreative in Kindergarten
Dare to be Different... Teach!!

Questions from Kinder-Gardening:
1. Name your 3 favorite movies
Cinderella, Legally Blonde, Sweet Home Alabama
2. What's you favorite Ben and Jerry's ice cream?
I don't have a favorite- I've never had Ben and Jerry's!  I'm not a big ice cream eater, but when I do eat it, I go for vanilla.
3. Did you have a childhood nickname?
My younger sisters called me Rahrey (pronounced: rah-ree)  because they couldn't say Sarah. To embarrass me while I was dating my husband in high school, they called me Rahrey in front of him.  He still calls me that every once in a while now! 
4. First car you ever owned
I bought a Grand Am when I was 19.
5. What's your favorite flower?
I love Stargazer Lilies!
6. Best present you've ever given?
I love giving presents and making people happy. The present I was very excited to give was the first publication of a novel my sister wrote.  She wanted me to read a Word document of hundreds of pages and I used Blurb to make it into a hard copy.
7. Happiest moment of your life?
Getting married to my best friend and high school sweetheart, John.
8. Vacation spot furthest from your home?
Disneyland
9. Most you've ever payed for a meal?
I didn't pay, but the biggest bill I have seen at my table was $216 for three people! 
10. Worst class in college?
Physics. Online.
11. Wine. White or red?
Red

Questions from 2 Preschool Pals
1.  How long have you been teaching?
I have been teaching for 1 1/2 years-- one year in my own classroom, and a semester as a long term maternity leave sub.
2.  Where did you go to college?
I went to college at Purdue North Central, part of Purdue University that is closer to home.
3.  Is there anything in your life you would do over or change?
I am really happy with my life, but if I could change anything, it would be getting into running earlier.  I enjoy it so much! I don't know why I never gave it a chance sooner!
4.  What is your favorite book?
I love to read, so this is very hard. My favorite book to read aloud has to be Skippy Jon Jones!
5.  Who are your favorite children's authors?
I really like Lester Laminack, and I met him too! He is a great author and public speaker! 
6.  Where is your favorite spot in the house?
My favorite spot in my house is the family room. I spend a lot of time in that room with my husband and two daughters playing and reading.
7.  When did you first know you wanted to teach?
I always wanted to teach. I spent countless hours in the basement playing school with my younger sisters.  I was always the teacher and even made assignments for them!  In high school I wanted to be a home economics teacher until I student taught in 6th grade cooking. I changed my mind (maybe 6th graders at the end of the day and cooking weren't the best first experience of teaching for someone who didn't know how to cook!) and went to beauty school. I worked in a salon and even became an Aveda In-Salon Coach, teaching my coworkers Aveda's latest trends in cutting. After I was married, I decided to go back to school for elementary education. I am so happy in the classroom! (But I still do hair and work at the salon the first Saturday of each month!)
8.  How did you first hear of blogging?
Pinterest opened my eyes to the world of teacher blogs. My mom and sisters (both of them!)  have blogs, too.  I love being a part of the blogging community!
9.  What is your best classroom management trick?
With 28 five and six year olds, I have a lot of classroom management tricks up my sleeve.  The one they liked the best was playing Simon Says. I would play that with them for transitions. It gave them a chance to have fun while doing what I needed them to do! 
10.  How do you organize your library in your classroom?
I have bins with books on shelves and the counter.  I would go crazy trying to have some sort of organizational system other than putting the books away with the covers facing forward.  I'm happy if the books are put away neatly.
11.  Do you like teaching in small groups or whole group learning best?  
My school maxes out at 28 students per class. As of kindergarten roundup in May, I was up to 26 kids. I really like small groups the best because I can differentiate and meet the needs of individual students. With 28 in the class, whole group instruction is difficult because so much of my attention is on behavior issues!

11 Random Facts About Me:
1. I showed a llama in 4-H.
2. In addition to teaching, I also work at a salon as a hair stylist.
3. Pink is my favorite color.
4. I like to crochet.
5. I am going a year without soda and fried food.
6. I have been a vegetarian for over five years.
7. I went to the same elementary school that my mom did, and our girls will go to the same elementary school. (Three generations at the same school!)
8. I love cupcakes- that is the theme of my classroom, but I don't like frosting!
9. I volunteer with 4-H. I am an adult leader and project superintendent.
10. I LOVE cotton candy!
11. I play the violin and the viola.

11 Questions for my Nominees:
1. What is your favorite dessert?
2. If you could be a Disney Princess, who would you be?
3. What is your dream car?
4. What is your favorite TV show?
5. What is the last song you listened to?
6. What is your favorite animal?
7. Which holiday is your favorite?
8. What is your favorite fruit?
9. What was the last thing you ate?
10. If you could meet a character from a picture book, who would it be?
11. Where would you vacation if money was no object?


Thank you to all my followers!  Thank you to Sandy for the nomination! :)

Five for Friday

Once again, I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the Five for Friday Linky Party. It is the last Five for Friday Linky party until August, but I think I will keep the Friday Linky spirit alive with The First Grade Parade Five Pins Friday Linky.

First, my five things:

1. Lime Cupcakes

I made these cupcakes for my mother-in-law's birthday in May. She requested that I make them again for her sister's 4th of July cookout. The Swiss Buttercream frosting is a lot of work, but it is worth it because they are delicious! I made them using my Babycakes cupcake maker  for bite sized treats.

2. Playing at the park with my girls

 

With two little ones, my day starts very early. This week baby Olivia has been up at 5 am.   Needless to say, we are ready to go bright and early. We went to the park at 8:00 this morning. It was nice because we had it to ourselves and it wasn't unbearably hot and humid yet.  It was fun watching Isabella discover the tunnels and tiny hiding places in the park I grew up visiting.  

3. Coconut macaroons

Isabella and I made coconut macaroons for the 4th. My aunt mentioned making them with her grandsons, and ever since I have had a craving for them. Find the recipe here.

4. Crazy hair day

I have several wigs and every once in a while I bring them out. Isabella and I had fun trying on a long brunette wig and long strawberry blonde wig today during Olivia's nap. I don't wear them too often, but it is fun to see others' reactions when I wear the dark wig. It is the same style as my real hair, just REALLY dark. I look forward to Crazy Hair Day during spirit week at school to wear a wig!

5. "Ask Santa"

We visit the princess aisle at Target almost weekly.  Isabella has started compiling her Christmas list as well as a list for Olivia.  Of course she wants Santa to bring Olivia this princess toy- she wants Olivia to share it with her! 

Now for my favorite Pins from the week!

 I was so excited to see this on Food Babe because I was just talking with a fellow runner about nutrition and replenishing electrolytes.  I am excited to make these!  I just picked up a bag of chia seeds today! 

 Isabella loves the Nightmare Before Christmas. We were talking about Halloween and how we need to do Jack, Sally, and Zero decorations. I found this Zero on Pinterest and we already picked up the white fabric to make it!  Now if only we could find a giant orange pom-pom...

 We were recently at a  birthday party with these really cute pom poms. I want to make these for my little girls' rooms and for my classroom. The directions look pretty simple!

 When I opened Pinterest for this Linky post, I saw these pepperjack cups with creamy pesto swirl. I want to try these next time I need to make an appetizer!

I want to introduce my class to these different cheers next year.