Monday Made It #2 & a FREEBIE

I am so pumped to be a part of this Monday Made It Blog link. It is so much fun showing off what I made for my classroom and then going to all the other blogs to see what everyone else is making for theirs!  

The first thing I made to present this week is a door sign for my classroom. When you see this sign...you will immediately know that I got the idea from our favorite place to stalk.....Pinterest. The photo I pinned was from Nicole's blog Rowdy in Room 300. 

Here is mine.

I even used Nicole's idea about stuffing it with the plastic grocery bags. It works wonders. I never would have thought of that. Sometimes things just go....'swoosh'....right over my head.

I said in the title of my blog that I have a freebie...and I do.....if you want it. I'm pretty sure all of you are aware that Stephanie over at Teaching in Room 6 has posted the basics about her Reading Olympics. Well, I thought that sounded like something that I could do with my gifted/Talented students....since we do book studies...I thought this would be a little more fun! So I downloaded the brochures of Stephanie's and re-created them to work in my classroom. As I was writing the lesson plan, I had an idea about how I could have easy....instant verification as to where each student was in regards to the levels of the Reading Olympics. Yes...I know Stephanie provided us with a tracking sheet....and I will most likely use it....But, I need instant visualization. So....I created a wall hanging that I intend to have students put their clip on the level...this way...I can see where they are at an instant.

You can download this tracker for FREE here.

I made a couple other things...but haven't taken the photos...so I will post them next Monday!

Thanks for stopping by.

Until Next Time....Happy Blogging!!

I Went Shopping!!

Remember how I told you that I thought Dollar Tree is "da' bomb"? Well....I went shopping at my very small local Dollar Tree yesterday afternoon and made a haul. I could have spent much more money in there...but thought I would save a little to go to one of the larger Dollar Tree stores in one of our adjoining larger towns.

Here is just a sampling of what I purchased. Can you tell that I love yellow and green?

I know it may be hard to see...but my duct tape looks like paint splatters! I am really loving it! You can see the four bins that I captured in the photo....what you can't see are the numerous other ones that are sitting on my desk on the other side of the room.

I got a total of 10 of the bins....2 packages of the cubes (that means I have 100 of these puppies!). I am so sure they will come in very handy. I also decided to go on and get me a couple of those nice microfiber gloves to clean my boards....of course I got green! I also got 5 packages of the stencils so my students won't have to wait when needing them for their projects.

Now...we go back to school on August 1..and students come back on August 6...and I haven't even been in my room since I left it at the end of May. As a matter of fact, my principal sent an email and said we couldn't get into our rooms until July 30....yes...people, that is 2 days before we go back....and you know those 3 days before the students, are all professional development. I see some long days ahead of me to get my room ready.

I know I will get my room ready because it always happens this way....and I always finish at the last minute....just in time! I'm sure this year will be no different.

Until Next Time.....Happy Blogging!

Thank You!!!!

This morning I opened up my email and was so surprised to find that I had been given an award!  Many thanks to Ms. Burton at K is for Kinderrific as this is my very first blog award.   

For receiving this award I have to....

1.  Follow the person who gave me the award.  Check!

2.  Link back to the person that gave me the award.  Check!

3.  Pass to 15 new bloggers and let them know they have received the award. Check!

Now...I know that Ms. Burton has difficulty passing this award out to deserving blogs that haven't already received it....so let me see what I can do about passing this honor on to someone else.

Ms. Mindy's Kindergarten Kidlets 

Teach-Bake-Love

to the Square Inch

Kindergarten Smiles

Pocketful of Kinders

Ms. Shope's Class 

Herding Kats in Kindergarten  

Smedley's Smorgasbord of Kindergarten

Spotted in First Grade 

An Apple for the Teacher

The Wonderful World of Kindergarten

Fancy Free in Fourth

Coffee for the Teacher 

First Grade Fairytales

The Madness that is Kindergarten 

Until Next Time.....Happy Blogging!

Rockin' Resources & 5 Teacher Must Haves

I am so new to the teacher blog scene, that it is almost overwhelming the number of blogs that have so much information and ideas!

As a teacher, it really warms my heart to see all of the other teachers blogging and freely giving out their ideas for many items that can be used in the classroom. Some of the items may be obvious...and then some are so out there and it is amazing how anyone thought of the uses that can created.






 I decided that I needed to link up with some of these teacher blogs that I have been stalking following for a little while and give back to some of the newer teachers that are coming into the field. So...I am linking up with Teacher Idea Factory for the Rockin' Resources and also Life is Sweet in Kindergarten for her Top 5 Teacher Must Haves...since they are so similar...ok they are basically the same thing. Anyway....here are my 5 things:

1. My Hot Green Tea....some people have their coffee...mine happens to be green tea...ok...technically this isn't a classroom item....but I am not functional without my hot green tea in the morning. Whether I use my lovely Keurig or my cute little kettle....I use Bigelow Green tea to brew my life sustaining beverage every morning.
2. Expo Markers.....they are another of my "must haves" for my classroom. It is just so much fun to have the different colors....especially when trying to make a point.
3. My laptop....probably not int he way you think....I only have 3 computers in my classroom...and...well...with 10 - 12 Gifted/Talented students on any given day....that is not nearly enough! So...they also use my laptop.
4. The SmartBoard.....Oh the wonders of that thing....I don't think I could make it without one.
5. My trusty little CD player and classical music CDs. Got to have all that soul calming music when we are doing certain things...and then when it is time for the artists to come out....we put on some music that is a little more..shall we say....active.

Actually there are several more things that I can't live without....But one of the biggest is....and all of you teachers know exactly what I mean when I say.......Dollar Tree is da' bomb!!!!

Until Next Time......Happy Blogging!

Monday Made It! #1

OK...I know I'm jumping into this party way after it began...after all school will be starting back for me next week. However, I saw this little party over at 4th Grade Frolics and thought I just had to jump on the wagon!

What I made for this is something that I have been seeing all over Pinterest and just had to have a set for my classroom. Having Gifted/Talented students all day...everyday...I believe I can really get some fascinating end products with these....OH wait....I haven't told you what it is yet!

Of course it is the Story Sticks that are all over Pinterest. I got the idea from Life in the Green House...but hadn't quite figured out just exactly how I would be using them...since she was using them as "date night" sticks. Then I saw the post at Sarcasm 101 and I knew this was the perfect use for this little idea.

So here are my Story Sticks.....................................

I have 20 sticks of each color. Yellow is the main character, red is the conflict, green is for the setting, and blue signifies another object that is in the story.

Newbie Bloggers Blog Hop

Janis over at Grade Three is the Place for Me!  is holding a newbie bloggers blog hop.  Since I am new to having an education blog...I thought I would join in on the fun. I hope that you will go and check out some of the other newbie bloggers!  If you are a newbie blogger, link up and tell everyone:

    1.  what state you are in

    2.  your current teaching position

    3.  your teaching experience

    4.  when you started blogging

    5.  share a blogging tip / blogging resource

Here is my list:

    1.  I am in Mississippi..where I have lived most of my life.

    2.  I currently teach 2nd - 6th Gifted/Talented

    3.  I am beginning my 8th year of teaching this school term. I taught 3rd grade for 3 

         years and will begin my 5th year of teaching Gifted/Talented in August.

    4.  I have been blogging for several years....but I just started my education blog 

         yesterday.

    5.  Anything you want to know about blogging...really can be found by using Google...

         Google really is your friend!!

My New Little Education Blog

I have been thinking about starting an education blog for some time now. Today seemed like a great day to go ahead and just do it!

I will be posting activities, tips, etc on this blog that I use in my own classroom for others to use as well.