Tuesday, August 26, 2014

Organization, One Year Anniversary Giveaway and Sale!

I am linking up with Blog Hoppin's Teacher Week...Why I like my organization tip.



Two Things That I Love:
1. Don't you love cute, decorative file folders? I don't like the thought of putting them in a file drawer so they are not in view to be admired. 

2. Also, I love translucent file boxes with different colored latch tops. 

The Mashup:
Why not put them together for a snazzy look? Then I can organize my files by topic or "genre," if you will, and not get them lost in the massive amounts of papers that I have accumulated as a teacher and now as a Teachers Pay Teachers buyer/seller.




Honestly, I am not naturally an organized person, so I have to really try. I am a stacker and can stack with the best of them. I just don't think in an organized way. When I organize files, I cannot remember my thought process of where I was filing things and why. So... my solution is to have multiple file boxes that have cute tops that look adorable with added decoration and are also portable to and from school or to and from one area of my home office. 

Here are some more examples of my file boxes.





{Follow the link at the end of this post to read about other teacher bloggers and their organizational methods.} 



In other news...
Great news!

I have officially been a seller on TeachersPay Teachers for one year now! 


It has been a very fun adventure! 
To celebrate, I am having a
 sale in my store on Tuesday and Wednesday. Everything will be 20% off! 
Stop by to see if there are any new products that you could use in your classroom.

Thank you for celebrating with me!
Carrie
                       BTW,       

Click HERE to go to the Blog Hoppin' post 
for lots of great organizing ideas.

Sunday, August 24, 2014

Back to School Bonanza!!, Blog Hop and Freebie

Today I am linking up with the Blog Hoppin bloggers for What I like to teach. Actually, it doesn't really matter which subject I am teaching as long as I have a song, rhyme and/or a craft.

Since I started out as a kindergarten teacher, I was introduced to Dr. Jean's songs and lots of her wonderful ideas. Because I changed schools at one point, I ended up in second grade and now I love that age! The ONLY thing that I was concerned about was that the kids wouldn't want to sing all of those songs with me. After all, I had invested in ALMOST every CD that Dr. Jean had put on the market. (Not to mention...that I cannot make it through the day without singing.) Newsflash...The students still love singing in second grade! 


So...I decided to add writing activities to respond to some of her songs. It worked like a charm! The kids love to have the "experience"of dancing and singing with the music and then completing the literacy activity. 



However, sometimes I need to make up my own songs and rhymes if I can't find one that fits my needs. My plan is to grab (and keep) the attention of my buddies. One of them is The Plural Noun Song, sung to the tune of Jingle Bells. Each year, my kids love to belt out that one!

Another thing that I like to do is connect my lessons to a craft. Here are my latest craftivities:

I FINALLY posted this bundle yesterday. Yay! 
The start of school is a smidgen hectic. Wouldn't you agree? Even though school started 3 weeks ago in my state, someone may be interested in these activities for friendship building or for Open House projects. However, there are some teachers who have not started school yet. Bless you all. 

Or...I can just be glad that it is ready to go for the "Back to School Season" next year! 

Or...I can just be glad that I have a creative outlet that also comes in handy in my classroom. 

Nevertheless, my students enjoyed all of these activities! They even have their name desk tents on their desks still! 



As a matter of fact, some of my students continue to add color to their desk tents here and there. They are actually looking better with time!  :-) 

More importantly, name tents have helped me learn the students' names more quickly, since I have put off the task of taping flat name plates to the students desks. 

Because... I INSIST on cutting clear contact paper so that there is one big strip holding down the name tags. Not that I am particular...


Here is the camera craftivity that we made. 



I love when the students gasp as I pull out an example of the next craft that we will complete as a class. It cheers me up! 

Then, lo and behold, the students don't seem to mind doing whatever writing activity goes with it. Win, win!!


One of my favs... Post a Selfie! 

Selfies are all the rage. My first clue, well not really my FIRST clue, was the Belk ad with a girl taking a selfie. I guess it IS a big thing! 
Maybe it is a new form of art as some suggest. All kinds of people take part including my daughter's band director. He took lots of selfies with the students when they went on a band trip to Washington, DC. His slide show as a result was quite entertaining!

Here are some examples of the Post a Selfie! craftivity as well as a preview of what is in the pack.



The fourth activity that is included in the bundle is  a"How To" writing activity about How to Make a Friend and How to Keep a Friend. The lesson includes singing and acting out the motions to "Hello Neighbor," a cute song by Dr. Jean. (Also....that song is a FREE download in Dr. Jean's store.) What could be better than that? Here is a link to that section in her store. She has some other awesome free things as well. 



And last, but not least, I have a FREEBIE for your new school year.

Desk Fairy Awards. My students are super motivated to earn those awards. Click HERE to download the awards. 

(Pretend like you can see a picture of that here.)


There you have it. "What" I like to teach boils down to anything that has a song connected with it or a craft. Of course, I love Scoot games for any subject, but I will save that for a different post. 

Hop over to the Blog Hoppin blog to see WHAT other teachers like to teach. 

I have already found out some neat things about bloggers and I can't wait to try some of their ideas in my own classroom! 

Have a great day!
Carrie

Saturday, August 9, 2014

You Oughta Know About These Fabulous Folders

Well, well...it's back to school time again?! 

It reminds me of the Dunkin Donuts commercial where the baker mutters each morning, "Time to make the donuts. " The camera shows him going to work and coming from work each day and he eventually passes himself in the night. Don't we feel like that as teachers sometimes? As a result, we are continually searching for better and more efficient ways of doing _________. (Fill in the blank.)

Today I am linking up with Jasmine McClain from Buzzing with Mrs. McClain. She is hosting a Blog Hop called You Oughta Know. Follow the link at the bottom of this post so that you can add some new ideas to your repertoire. 

This link up is perfect timing for me because I have been assigned as a mentor to the new teacher on our team. I have tips on my mind that she would be so happy to know about. 

The first tip is about these fabulous folders. I discovered these  folders by Nicky's Folders a few years ago. Many teachers in my school use them for sending home papers and notes. 

They come in lots of colors. The metallics are beautiful!!


There is a clear sleeve on the front so that you can customize the folder. 

There is a clear sleeve on the back as well so that you can add a homework helper page or a weekly spelling list. 

And...they are supposed to last for a YEAR! That is a proven fact in my classroom.

There are also handy dandy CLEAR pockets inside the folder, which are perfect for small notes that might need to be delivered. 

As a matter of fact, I have a set of small notes that are ready to go. Click here to check them out in my store.


I usually copy several sheets of each page on different colors of paper, so that I have some ready at a moment's notice. I keep them in a drawer of a smaller plastic organizer.

This next set is a FREEBIE that includes a set of small notes that are actual rewards for the students. Nothing fancy...just Simple Rewards. The students love them! Check them out here.

So that is my tip for the day! Hop on over to the Blog Hop to find some great back-to-school tips and ideas. 




Have a great day!
Carrie


Monday, August 4, 2014

The Big Bad Back-to-School Sale is Here!

It's a great time to get some of those things that have been on your wish list for some time now. 

Thank you to Krista Wallden for the cute button!

I am offering 20% off of my entire store and TPT is offering an Extra 10% on top of that. That is a total of 28% of your entire purchase when you use the special code, BTS14. How exciting! 

It is the first day of school in our district also. Let's do this thing!!!

We will do this craftivity so that we can get to know each other better.








I posted a new item on Sunday that should help with getting to know your students' names more quickly. 

Desk Tents: Introduce Yourself ~ Craftivity {Back-to-School}



Have an awesome week!
Carrie