Back to School SALE!

Who doesn't love a good sale?!

TPT is having their Back to School sale the next two days and I will be participating- both as a seller AND a buyer! I'll be spending much of today adding some essential products to my wish list so that I am all set to save 25% beginning TOMORROW, August 1st!

Here are just some of my favorite back to school products that will be on sale in my store:

Direct Links:

Hooway for Wodney Wat

Leadership Binder Cover & Dividers

Henry and Mudge (The First Book)

Handwriting Boot Camp

Student of the Week Printables

Back to School Writing

Back to School Reading

Getting to Know You

Back to School Science

HAPPY SHOPPING!!

First Day FREEBIES!

With less than two weeks to go, my brain has been on Back to School Overdrive lately! And not just during the day... those lovely dreams/nightmares/premonitions have also started, too.

I've come to accept that no matter how many years I have under my belt, I'm always going to have some anxiety before the first day of school. This year it's definitely understandable- not only did I take last year off from teaching, but this year I am teaching kindergarten for the FIRST TIME EVER (cue scary music).

To help calm my nerves, I've been working on a lot of back to school printables. My daughter's kindergarten teacher sent home the most adorable portfolios at the end of the year and it's definitely a goal of mine to do the same! I have made my (near) future students a fun first day of school printable for them to complete. I'll keep these for their portfolio and have them complete a similar sheet at the end of the school year. It will be fun to compare how their self-portraits and handwriting have (hopefully) improved! Not sure if you'll be able to hang on to something for a full school year? Then just send them home the first week of school- I'm sure the parents in your class will LOVE them!

{Click here for this FREEBIE!!}

And, because I've taught first grade, I had to make a printable for all of you firstie teachers out there, too! :)

{First Grade Printable can be found HERE!}

When do you go back to school? Do you still find yourself getting nervous? I'd love to hear your thoughts!!

Employed Again!

What a journey! After many applications, a handful of interviews, several rollercoaster ups and downs, it's official: I will be back in the classroom in August! 

I am so excited about my new adventure... after only teaching 1st and 2nd grades, I will be teaching KINDERGARTEN this school year! Both half-day and full-day kinder are offered where I live and I will be teaching afternoon kinder at a nearby school. I'll be sharing a classroom with the morning kinder class so at least I'm not too stressed about making my classroom too "old"!

The last few years I've really started becoming interested in teaching kinder and after helping out with my daughter's class this year, I knew I could do it. However, my confidence is waning some... ha! Several times a day, I'm struck with panic, realizing that I may not have a clue what I'm doing. How have I taught for 15 years and still feel like this?! But I'm not dumb... I know kinder is a whole new ballgame! So I'm spending a lot of my downtime nowadays searching Pinterest and reading blogs and learning that it's a BAD idea to have your kinder kids attempt to use scissors any time in the first week of school (something us non-kinder teachers have probably never even thought about!).

Are you a kinder teacher or have you ever been one? I would LOVE to hear any advice you have for me!

Leadership Fun!

I taught for several years at my previous school. During my second year there, our school received a grant to become a Leader in Me school. You've probably heard of this program... it's based on Stephen Covey's popular The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. The Leader in Me program brings those habits into the school setting, teaching that ALL students can be leaders in their own way.

So what did I think of this program? Like everything else, it definitely has its pros and cons. I did love how the language of the 7 Habits was everywhere in our school- it really helped put everyone on the same page, as far as expectations. I loved that every single child in my class had a classroom leadership job. I loved our student-led conferences, where parents came to hear their children explain data and goals and my only job was to literally smile and say, "Thanks for coming!"

What didn't I like? It was a lot of work, especially upfront. A ton of training, followed by a lot of trial and error to figure out what worked best. Each student had to keep leadership binders, filled with weekly data keeping, goal-setting and other logistical nightmares (I taught 1st and then 2nd grade, but even my daughter, who was in pre-k, had a binder and goals to keep up with). Each year our school hosted a Leadership Day, which was fantastic from an outsider's point of view but, again, a lot of work on the part of the teachers. I imagine it may have been a bit more self-sufficient in the upper grades, but it took a lot of practice with the younger kids.

After a couple years of Leader in Me, I ended up creating several products to help myself, my team and everyone else out there who is new to this program!

This page was one of the very first items I ever created. My students each had a classroom leadership job. The jobs changed only after Christmas. Part of the process of choosing a new job was having my students reflect on the job they had just completed. This reflection went into their Leadership Binder.

{This item is a FREEBIE in my TPT store! CLICK HERE!}

In my classroom, we would brainstorm all the possible jobs we needed (board eraser, floor sweeper, class library organizer, line leader, pencil sharpener, etc.). The jobs are basically the normal classroom jobs that you've always had, just with the twist that the students help you determine which ones are needed AND you have enough for every single student to have a job (however, some of these jobs- like returning library books our class had checked out- were only performed on a weekly basis). Once we brainstormed the jobs, my class would "apply" for the job of their choice. It was a great real world connection.

CLICK HERE for this product!

Probably the biggest lifesaver I created were my Leadership Binder covers and dividers. Some classes called these Leadership Notebooks or Leadership Folders. I always found binders were most helpful as far as storage and keeping everything "together." Every Friday afternoon, we would have "Binder Time", where we pulled our binders out and kept up with our data- graphing math pre-test or post-test scores, marked any sight words students were still working on, updated goals, etc. I really tried hard to schedule time into our Fridays for this- some of my teammates would get behind and have to spend days catching up on their binders before sharing them at our student-led conferences. Having "Binder Time" each week was more meaningful for my students and less frustrating for me!

This product has turned into a bestseller and I LOVE it!! 

It has grown into more than 50 pages of covers and dividers and I'm constantly adding new ones as teachers request more. Just email me if you need specific wording!

So, final thoughts on Leader in Me... was it a lot of work? Absolutely, but the first year was the hardest. Was it wonderful to watch students become empowered and able to vocalize goals they wanted to achieve? Completely!

Do you teach at a Leader in Me school? I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments!

My Top Ten...

I have been so very fortunate to spend this current school year at home. I have a fourth grade son and a kindergarten daughter, so it's been fun to be a stay at home mom for the FIRST TIME EVER. With both of my kiddos, I was back at school within eight weeks of their births, sleep deprived and all... those days are a blur and I have no idea what those poor students of mine could have learned, but I tried my best! With that being said, I am very grateful for this year. My daughter is in kindergarten only part-time, so I like to consider myself a part-time SAHM :)

However, as I begin to think about entering the classroom again, I'm filled with excitement and also trepidation. When I began staying at home, it felt so weird... not to have to be anywhere, no papers to grade, yada yada yada. But now, THAT world seems so far from what I'm used to! So I present to you... my TOP TEN of what I'll miss most when I'm back in the classroom next year...

#10: Lunch dates with the husband (and sometimes with the daughter)... what a luxury to be able to have a random lunch at Chili's in the middle of the week!
#9: Doctor and dentist scheduling... it has been mind boggling to call up to schedule an appointment... receptionist: "any day or time preference?"... me: (stunned) "no... whatever you have will work for me..."
#8: Grocery shopping in the middle of the day... I started doing this with my daughter on the days she was home, but quickly switched to grocery shopping BY MYSELF instead. Wandering the aisles... going at my own pace... not having to look at the toys...
#7: TPT time... I just counted- partly out of curiosity and partly because I am nitpicky about details- and I have had the time to create and upload SEVENTY products since my last day in the classroom. 7. 0. That's half my store!
#6: Gym time... I've become reacquainted with exercise, ladies and gentlemen! I used to exercise in spurts. You know how it is... packing up your teacher bag on Sunday night and deciding to throw in those gym clothes, too. I would have a good week or two of solid exercise and then nothing because school would kick in overtime and instead of running to the gym after school, I'd be running home to grade papers and finish that bottle of wine! But this year, I've had the wonderful experience of morning exercise classes. I love me some BodyCombat and also some running on the treadmill. I've enjoyed a LOT of morning walks, too. It's been wonderful to get to know the sound of my own thoughts in my head again!
#5: Volunteering... I was afraid I would get rusty, so I volunteer 1-2 times in my daughter's kinder classroom and it's been so much fun! But I'm not crazy... I still can't bring myself to sign up as a field trip chaperone.
#4: Sleep... no, I don't sleep in. I still have lunches to pack and children to get out the door. But I do certainly get MORE sleep than I ever did when I was a teacher. And the best part? If I can't sleep at night, I can always curl up for a nice afternoon nap!
#3: Sick kids... I'm fortunate that my children have always had fairly good immune systems. But still, they've had their share of bugs this year and I've been so grateful to not have to worry about having to write SUB PLANS!
#2: Couch time... okay, confession time. I am a TV addict. But with teaching, it's hard to fit in my shows! The last few years I taught we didn't even have cable because no one had time to ever watch anything. Let's just say... we have cable now... and Netflix... and a full DVR... We also have a wonderfully comfy sectional couch that my cat and I "live on" during most of the day (those quotations are because those words actually came out of my daughter's mouth). I don't just watch TV though. I've also managed to read more than 70 books since last summer. If you haven't caught on yet, I like to make lists :)
And #1: DUH. Bathroom breaks. I'm the most hydrated I've been in my life and why? Because the dang bathroom is available, less than ten feet from the couch that I "live on."

This list is not to make you sad. I recognize not everyone out there can afford to take a year off. Ten years ago it wouldn't have been a financial possibility for my family. But, if you have ever considered it, I urge you to try it, just for a year. I had anxiety about the idea, afraid it wouldn't be the right fit. But it's been wonderful to get to know myself again. And to my husband's delight, I've decided to not seek early retirement... yet.

Welcome to my blog!

Hello, world! I am so excited to be writing my very first blog post!!

Let's get to know each other, shall we? I have been a teacher for 15 years... but it's almost been a year since I've been a teacher! At the end of the 2015-16 school year, my family and I up and moved 900 miles away. To ease the pain of this transition, I took the year off to help everyone settle in. It's been amazing, but I've started the job hunt for next school year and I have to honestly say I'm very excited at the idea of little ones calling me "Miss" again all day long! There will definitely be things I miss, but that's for another post!

I began my store on Teachers Pay Teachers in October 2015. That month I made 90 cents. That's right. No dollar sign needed, folks. But I worked hard to grow my store and not only do I now make more than a dollar each month, I hopefully help a lot of YOU out in the classroom! I love creating and posting products and I've enjoyed having some extra time to do those things this school year.

Blogging is something that has been on my "to do" list for a long time (and to say that I can actually cross something off on that list is a major accomplishment for me- ha!). In the coming months I hope to document my job hunt, re-entry into the classroom and activities with my new group of students! Thanks for joining me on this journey :)