Saleabration!

Ok fine, I made that word up... but isn't it a great combination of sale/celebration!?!?

I am having a Back to School Sale at my Teachers Notebook store! The sale starts today and will run until Aug. 2 (Tuesday). Everything in my shop is 15% off! Remember, you earn points when you shop at Teachers Notebook.

Tpt is also having a sale of their own this week! You can use the code B1T1S for 10% off your Tpt purchases from Aug. 1 - 4. You can view my Tpt store by clicking here.

I've already done a little shopping for myself.  Now, I'm off to search the sale ads for the best deal on Sharpie markers!  Happy Shopping!

Giveaway Winners!

I would like to thank everyone who took the time to enter my giveaway! 

It was so fun to have so many visitors stopping by in the past few days! 

Thanks again for entering the giveaway!

Don't forget... all items in my Teachers Notebook shop are on sale for 15% off for the next few days.

(July 31 - Aug. 2)

Last Day to Enter Giveaway/Sale Announcement!

Today is the last day to enter my giveaway! There will be 4 winners! The first three winners will win a copy of my favorite back to school book. The 4th winner will win a target gift card! You can enter by clicking here.

I am also excited to announce that I will be having a Back to School sale at my Teachers Notebook shop!  All items in my Teachers Notebook shop will be 15% off from July 31 - August 2.   You can look around by clicking on the icon below.  Be sure to mark my shop as one of your favorites if you see something you like... that will make it easier to come back during the sale.  Remember you earn points when you shop at Teachers Notebook!

Redecorating/Classroom Theme

Seeing all the pictures of so many wonderful classrooms on the blogs I follow inspired me to do some redecorating in my room this year. I've been sewing, creating and shopping...which is exciting and can be expensive.

I don't really have a theme in my classroom. My students will be choosing a "name/theme" for our class and then they think of a name for each table group. We will do this during the first week of school as a team building activity. The idea came from my teaching partner last year and it worked really well. Our class chose an ice cream parlor theme and they chose their favorite local ice cream shops to name each table group. Each table group designed their own sign to be displayed above their table group. I use the names of the table groups to call tables to line up, clean up, etc. The control freak in me was a little nervous about letting the kids pick a theme, but it really helped them develop a sense of a team (the whole class) and a group (their table group). It's a win-win for me... the kids have an opportunity to give input, make choices and decorate their table sign and the rest of the room is decorated to satisfy my preferences (which my husband calls freakish tendencies - but I still love him).

One of the things I do to save money in my room is use card stock from a scrapbook stack for locker name tags. JoAnn Fabrics had scrapbook stacks (like the ones below) on sale for 50% off a few weeks ago. I used my 50% off coupon and scored quite a deal on this super cute paper for my locker tags. I cut each sheet in 1/2 too, so I have lots of extra sheets to use for other projects.

Here are the finished tags...

I will post pictures of my room in the next few weeks as soon as it is "picture ready".  Don't forget to enter my giveaway!  I will be giving away 3 copies of my favorite back to school book and a Target gift card.  The giveaway ends on Saturday (7/30).  You can read about it and enter here!

Back to School Giveaway!

I actually don't go back to school until after Labor Day... but many of my bloggin' buddies are heading back to school in early August. So, I thought I would do my giveaway this week.

A few weeks ago, I posted about one of my favorite back to school books. The book is called Hands as Warm as Toast.  The author, Lisa Himle, is a colleague and a friend of mine.  Lisa generously donated 3 copies of her book for me to giveaway.  I will also be giving away a $10 gift card to Target.
*You can click on the image below to read a description of the book, but I would purchase the book at Amazon (if I didn't already own a few copies).  It is really a perfect story to read during the first few weeks of school or any time that a child may be feeling nervous or unsure about trying something new.

 

Yep, 4 prizes means 4 winners!  The winners will be chosen randomly and you have until the end of the day on Saturday, July 30 to enter.  The first 3 winners chosen will win a copy of the book.  The 4th winner chosen will win a $10 Target gift card.  You must have a US Postal address to enter this giveaway. There are 4 easy ways to enter.

Followers may enter by leaving a comment for me below. (1 entry)

Visit my Teachers Notebook store and come back to leave a comment.  Add it to your "favorite" shops if you see something you like.  I will be having a sale soon! :) (1 entry)

Follow my Tpt store and come back to leave a comment.  (1 entry)

If you would like to blog about this giveaway, leave a comment below and the link. (1 entry)

The last day to enter this giveaway is Saturday, July 30.  Winners will be chosen/announced on Sunday, July 31.  Good luck! 

*A special thanks to Kristen from Ladybug's Teacher Files for the video tutorial for numbering comments.  She also did my blog design - which I still LOVE!  Thank you, Kristen!

Writing Center Poster Pack

Avoiding a paper that I needed to write for a grad class inspired me to create a few things this week. I just posted two different versions of a Writing Center Poster Pack at my Teachers Notebook shop. The pack includes a writing center sign, signs for different punctuation marks and 2 versions of an "I Can" list. You can purchase this pack for $1.00.

The first version is the one that I'll be using in my classroom this year. I LOVE polka dots (especially dots in chocolate).

I also added a "go with any theme" writing center poster pack to my Teachers Notebook shop.

You can check out the poster packs and my other products by clicking on the link below.  I will also be adding them to my Tpt store later this week... I'm just hoping my new little Teachers Notebook shop will have some visitors this week first.  Remember, you can earn points as a shopper at Teachers Notebook.  When you have enough points, you can exchange the points for a gift card.

Better get workin' on that paper...

Pinterest Linky Party

With a little encouragement from many of you... I did it! I'm pinning away on Pinterest and I'm lovin' it. It is so exciting to see so many of my favorite things all in one place!

Michelle at Math in the Middle is having a Pinterest linky party! Head on over to link up with Michelle.

Ahh... vacation!

All good things must come to an end. Luckily, I have about 350 pictures to help the whole family remember our trip to Petoskey, Michigan. For the past 15 days, my family has been on a camping trip.  We visit Petoskey each year and always wish we could stay a little bit longer.  Our kids even cried while we watched the "last" sunset on the beach.

The day before we left on our trip, my amazing husband surprised me by magically turning my phone into a hotspot so I could be fully connected in the woods. Pathetic (I know)... and oh so nice!

Deep in the woods and bloggin away... Do you like my tent (ok fine it's a camper)? 

 

I'll spare you the 350 photo album of family fun... but here are a few pictures that highlight a few of the things we did on our trip.

My kids on the shore of Lake Michigan (Marissa and Donavon)

The Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island

This is what happens when we wait in line together too long.  Ha!

church on Mackinac Island (view from Governor's summer residence) 

We toured the Kilwin's Chocolate Factory!  They gave us yummy samples and the cute little hat.

My family (minus the photographer) - campfire near the beach.

The happy campers with another year of memories that will last a lifetime!

In between campfires, playing in the sand, swimming, bike rides, long walks, sunsets and lots of smores... I have been working on some new products for my Teachers Notebook and Tpt stores and several freebies to post in the next few months.

Big Chicken

All the recent posts about how much everyone loves Pinterest made me curious enough to check it out. I was super excited when I received my "invitation" to join. So, I registered...and then the big chicken in me started freakin out (but just a little bit this time). Do I really have permission to just "pin" something on my board? Or is that technically using a photo that belongs to someone else without their permission? I love the idea of Pinterest... maybe I'm the only big chicken or maybe I'm not understanding how it works. Any words of encouragement or clarification would be super helpful? Anyone?
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Get Paid to Shop! It's true...

 I just can't believe it, but it's true! I can shop, earn points and choose a gift card to one of my favorite stores. You can too... at Teachers Notebook!

I recently opened a shop at Teachers Notebook. As I was working with the folks at Teachers Notebook (who are super nice), I learned that anyone who shops at Teachers Notebook earns points that can be traded in for gift cards to stores like Amazon, Lakeshore, Barnes and Noble, Target, Walmart, Michaels, Staples and Learning Resources! The benefits for buying things and selling things at Teachers Notebook are incredible.

You can click on the image below to view my Teachers Notebook shop.





You can click on the image below to open your own Teachers Notebook shop. If you use this link on my blog, I earn referral points. If I earn referral points from one of my followers opening up a store, I'd be happy to blog about it.





Several TBA authors have new shops on Teachers Notebook. I also found several new shops that connected me to new teacher blogs. Just love all the talented teachers out there who share their hard work!

My Favorite Back to School Book

Are you looking for a fabulous book to read to your students as you head back to school? I highly recommend Hands As Warm As Toast by Lisa Himle.  I read it to my class at the beginning of the year and at the end of the year.  I also read it to individual students when they are feeling "nervous" about trying something new.

The author, Lisa Himle, is my friend and a well respected colleague in the building where I work.   When I told I her I would like to blog about her book, she generously donated 3 copies of the book for me to giveaway.   I will be hosting a giveaway with her book and a gift card soon!

You can read a bit about it on the Mitten Press website.  You can click the image below to purchase the book on Amazon and read more reviews.

I also want to thank everyone who made a purchase from my store during the Christmas in July sale. If you missed my holiday hop freebie,  you can find it here.  Stay tuned for more details about the giveaway!

Christmas in July Sale

Don't forget... it's Christmas in July! 

The sale at my Tpt store is going on now.

Christmas in July Freebie

In honor of TBA's Christmas in July celebration... I have a freebie for my followers!  It's a +1 game for you to download if you'd like to use it with your students.  If you click on the image below, you can download the game.

Don't forget that all items in my Tpt store will be 20% off from July 15th - July 18th.  

You can click on the image below to check out my sale!

Ho! Ho! Ho!

Just a reminder... at TBA we are celebrating Christmas in July!

Some of the items I have posted recently include...

Activity Pack for Back to School

Daily Classroom Schedule Words

Fall Math Journal Prompts

Lots of  the other TBA authors will also be having sales during this time. Oh, how I love a good sale!

Christmas (well acutally a sale) in July

At TBA, we are celebrating Christmas for a few days this month. In honor of our celebration, I am having a sale at my Tpt store. Everything in my Tpt store will be 20% off from July 15 - 18!  Click on the image below if you'd like to look at the products in my Tpt store.

Coming soon...

Coming soon...

More details coming soon...