Monday, July 29, 2013

Monday Made It & A Giveaway!

I'm anxious to link up with Monday Made It because I've got alot to show you! I've also got some freebies and a giveaway for you!



Made It #1

So excited to show off this bench I made for my reading area! Books will go in the bins below! 


I was inspired to make this from Amy Marshall's pin on Pinterest! Amy blogs at "The Resource(ful) Room."
check out the storage bin sitting area!

I've admired this crate bench since last summer! 
Here's how I made it. 

I bought these 2 inch thick foam cushions at JoAnn's. Sorry I forgot to save the packet, but they come one to the package and you need one for each crate. I got them for 50% off and paid $3.50 for them. I had to cut about 3 1/2 inches off, as you can see. 


 This is the piece of plywood that was left over from my crate seats and the length fit perfectly with no cutting. My son had to trim a little off of the width. 


For three crates, you'll need 2 yards of fabric. Yay, they had chevron this time!! I couldn't find any when I made my crate seats, so I had to go with dots....oh well!

Layer all three, your material, your cushion, then your plywood. Then, using a staple gun, pull your material super tight to stop any wrinkling and staple all the way around. 



 And there's the finished product! I forgot to mention, my son also screwed the cushion onto the crates, so it is one piece now. 




Made It #2
I am overjoyed over my new laminator. I finally bought myself one when I saw it on sale at Walmart for $25 and I love it. 




It's very first job was Miss Nelson's "Behavior Beads." These are so cool. Students earn them and wear them on a chain around their neck. If you haven't heard about them yet, you can check them out at her TpT store. She has many sets to choose from. 




I found this container at JoAnn's on the clearance aisle and it holds everything perfectly!! Tara is the one who gave me this idea from one of her previous MMI's.  




Made It #3
My Math It Up Board! 
You can get these all over TpT for free, but I didn't like how large the circles were, so I made this set to match my classroom colors and made them in 3 inch. 

Lisa from "Live, Laugh, Love to Learn" is the awesome creator of this game. 


I used my 3 inch circle cutter from JoAnn's to cut them out perfectly and quickly! This thing has saved me so much time cutting.


***Update*** Another blogger just asked me what kind of circle cutter I used because hers doesn't cut through 5m lamination. This is a picture of mine and yes it cuts through cardstock and 3m lamination with no problem. I don't know about 5m as I haven't tried it. This one is by Fiskars and it was pretty expensive, but I got it on sale for around $9.00 I think.

Made It #4
I finished up my classroom decor set....finally! When it finally dawned on me this week that I only have 3 more weeks left of summer vacay....I figured I better get hoppin'. 


It's on sale at my store {here} if you're still looking. Or you can try to win it at my Back to School giveaway below!

I'm also giving away a game of "SPEED" from Highhill Education. 

Highhill Homeschool

I was honored when I was contacted by Highhill Education offering to give me two sets of "Speed." One for me, and one for one of my followers! Speed is a card game and comes with 8 decks of cards; a deck for each fact 2-9, so you can only focus on the facts that your child or students need to learn. 

This game is so awesome for learning multiplication facts. I got the app last year on my class ipads and my students didn't want to stop playing it! My son still needs to learn some of his facts, so he and I have been playing away!



Here is a video from Highhill Education showing the game in action! 


Enter the giveaway for a chance to win a set of "Speed." The winner will also receive my new classroom decor set or if you don't need a decor set, $15 to spend in my store. 


Good Luck and for your freebies.....
Do you have a "time out" or "chill out" area in your classroom? Inspired by another pin on Pinterest, I decided that this year I would call mine "The Safe Spot." I made this poster to hang in my "Safe Spot." Feel free to download it if you can use it in your classroom. Just click the picture!



Here is the pin that inspired this and it is from Pre-Kpages.com. She has a great post there about how she uses "The Safe Spot" in her classroom. 

 I also want to offer you my "Math It Up" set for free too, even though they're for sale in my store. You can get it {here} from Google Docs.  


Classroom Freebies Manic Monday


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Monday, July 22, 2013

Let's Get Aquainted!


This week's topic is "Advice for new teachers" and I love that Latoya has provided a template to use! I wish I could make it larger for you, but if I go any larger, it cuts the right side off!

So, going into my sixth year of teaching, here is my advice to you newbies out there!




Buy only what you need and wait for sales! Don't forget about second hand stores and Ebay too! It's so easy to spend a fortune on your class before you know it and buy things that you'll never end up using!

Be prepared! It may mean spending your own time at home, but the more prepared you are, the smoother your day will go!

NEVER sidewalk talk! It will surely bite you in the butt and make you enemies quick! Be honest, but careful! I always keep my dad's rule of thumb.....if you wouldn't say it to their face, don't say it all!

Everyone needs a mentor or a teacher buddy! Many districts provide mentors to their first year teachers! Be sure to ask if they don't offer the info!

Make the most of your time! I know this is easier said than done for a first year teacher, but it's never to early to start thinking about it. Make a plan for yourself!

Last....just be YOU! 

And if I could add a "Don't" on this template.....don't be afraid to ask questions and don't make enemies with your custodian or office staff! They will be of more help to you than you could ever imagine at this point!!! Trust me!

On to other things.....I've been busy working on my class decor for my room and still have almost 4 weeks left of summer vaca! Yesterday I finished my rule posters! After playing around a bit, this is what I came up with. While some of you may think these are a bit out of the ordinary.....that is exactly what I was looking for! I wanted something that matched my new theme, but yet something that wasn't so "uniform" like everything else! I decided to think out of the box a little and this is the ending result! 



While piddling around with this pattern, I also made a teacher binder cover and a stationary page. As random as they are, I really love how they turned out! I know everyone has their own class rules, but if you can use them, feel free to snag them up{here} for free! Even if the rules don't work for you, you may be able to use the binder cover or stationary! 

I also made a set of money posters that you may be able to use and you can get these {here}





Classroom Freebies Manic Monday

Happy Monday!


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Friday, July 19, 2013

Friday Pins & Freebies



Here are some of my favorite pins this week!

Have you heard about Miss Nelson's awesome behavior beads???
Check 'em out {here}.
Can't wait to use this in my class this year!
 
Love this poster!
Source: www.nerdynerdynerdy.com

This teacher uses this shoe rack to hold student's water bottles! Great idea!
Source: www.nerdynerdynerdy.com

Use a shoe hanger to hold student water bottles!!

fun for my daughter's room! DIY washi tape decor!
Source: livelaughrowe.blogspot.com

One of my summer projects was to paint wooden Alphabet letters to hang in my room, but I have yet to find a complete set. They're always out of a few letters......and I don't want to chance not being able to get them all. But I think I like this idea better than painting them.
The Autism Tank: All About Me Book... Want to do these. So important for our kiddos to know if there ever were an emergency!
Love this phone number idea from "Autism Tank." My students already trace and/or write their address and phone number daily until it's mastered, but I love the idea of doing it this way rather than writing it. 

Picture
http://interactivesites.weebly.com

All of the best K-5 interactive websites all in one place!!!!

I was so thrilled to find this fabulous resource! This is going to be
such easy access for my students during technology time and eliminate me writing down sites for them and helping them type it in. You MUST check it  out!

From the Graphics Fairy
Source: graphicfairy-crafts.com

Thought this pin might come in handy for this linky party!

And what better pin to close with, other than..........
This pin was pinned as an image, so it has no source. I don't think you can use the pin above this one to locate the original source when it's an image. I'll try and let ya know.

And what's a FRIDAY without a Freebie, right?


Money Posters
A version with touchpoints is also included for those of you
that use "Touch Money."



Download them {here}

Giveaway also on my FB page at:

Have a great evening! My hubby and I are going to a Beetlemania Dinner Show! 

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Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Do You EBAY?

Hi Everyone,

You should know by now that I'm a big bargain shopper! You know I love to shop at dollar stores, and I l-o-v-e second hand stores, but one place I LOVE to shop that I've never mentioned to you is Ebay! I always check Ebay before making any purchase to make sure they're not offering it for cheaper.....and they usually are! Many people may think of Ebay as "used" stuff, but most of the things I buy through Ebay are brand new items. I also search for "Buy it Now" items, so I don't have to "bid." Many sellers offer free shipping and the items arrive at your door usually within 3-4 days. 

Here are the deals I got there yesterday!













The cheapest pocket chart I could find like the one above was $9.99 and that was without shipping! As you can see, I got this one for a total of $7.91. And I just love the sky blue color that matches my color theme....which I haven't been able to find that color anywhere, another thing I love about ebay! You can find things you can't find anywhere else!

What makes these dice so special is that they are double dice.....a dice inside of a dice! When I saw these on pinterest, I just had to have them! The cheapest I found them were at EAI. With the shipping, they would have costed me almost $10.00, and I got them on Ebay for $5.86 with shipping!

Here's another pocket chart that I purchased from Ebay a couple of weeks ago for only $4.24. 


Another favorite is Dollar Tree! You can't beat these games for only a buck!!! I got these a couple of days ago and will use them in my math centers!



 More Dollar Tree deals! Pencil pouches and 1" binders. I know you can buy pencil pouches for a buck about anywhere, but where can you find these colors?! They match my color theme perfectly and I'll be using these to create my "Rise and Shine Binders" that I purchased from Regan Tunstall. Her "Rise and Shine Binders" are amazing! You should check it out {here}



I must also show off these cutesy number charts I just made with From the Ponds cute ten frame graphics! 



Aren't they just adorable??! I made them in two sizes. While I prefer the 6.5 x 6.5, I know most of you prefer the full page. They're available at my store

I also have a giveaway going on--on my Facebook page. I'm giving away 6 "Make a Ten" math center games. If you can use them, head here to enter, and click on the blue helicopter where it says "Giveaways." 

And since I'm loving Ebay AND my cute little number posters, I'm linking up with "Covered in Glitter and Glue." 


She's also taking sign ups for a blogger exchange! How fun!!! 
I'm so excited that I got signed up!!!


Have a great Wednesday and don't forget to get your Ebay on!!

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