Ok...please bear with me again. I'm sick. I always get sick at the beginning of the school year but not normally this bad. A full on head cold has made me use a sub day already....on only the 9th day of school! I didn't know the sub I got so I'm a little nervous on how everything went. I have to call my team teachers to get the low down.

In addition to getting sick, I found out my boyfriend is getting a TDY assignment to Greenland. You'll understand this if you're military but if not...a TDY is like a temporary assignment. I teach on an Army post so all of my kiddos and my kiddos' parents understand this. My boyfriend is in the Air Force...and this is the 3rd TDY in 4 months! I'm counting my lucky stars that he's not deployed but seriously, being away for 2-3 weeks at a time is a little rough. So this TDY is for 2 weeks. At least I'll be working to keep me busy!

Anyway I'll let everyone know tomorrow and I'll be back to posting my normal posts ASAP!

Sooo on my weekend outings between lesson planning and classwork for my master's program I found some neat little things!

As most of you know, Target is a great place to find teacher items in the $1 section. I found a foam clock that I'm going to use in my calendar area. I got it in green but they also had some in an orange/pink color. My other find at Target were scratch and sniff stickers!!! I haven't seen these in ages! My kiddos this year are easily bribed with stickers, especially novelty ones like ones that smell like fruit. They are a buck each...and I found a 450 count pack of random stickers. With the tiny stickers, I use them to get the kids to line up quietly, working hard, use the bathroom quietly....anything goes for sticker bribes! :)

My other find that made my weekend was the big tote bag! I found it at TJMax...they had several in kid drawings. Super cute! And the best part....drum roll please.....it was only 99 CENTS!

Oh and here is my rant for the weekend, lol! I had to drop by Costco to get some things and forgot why I had decided to never go there on weekends again. Why? The little old ladies who hand out free food. Don't get me wrong I love the cute little old ladies...but people mob them and then you can't get around with your gigantic Costco cart. You'd think people had never had a sample of yogurt or cheerios before in their life. Ha!

FOR TOMORROW: Since I found the clock this weekend, tomorrows post will be pictures of my calendar area and what I do with the kids every morning. The pics will show my setup and how everything works. I will also post a picture of something I think every teacher should have!!! (I found it this summer and don't know how I taught before it) Until tomorrow....

Yep...that's me! #1 fan all the way! If you haven't signed up for Scholastic's Book Clubs, go right away to their site and sign up! I started last year and had good luck with parents ordering, I guess it could be hit or miss depending on where you teach. I would normally have 3 parents that would order for their kiddos every month. With every order, you earn points, which you can redeem for items and books! Each month they feature a book for only a buck or 25 points! Each month I stock up on several of the $1 books so that by Christmas I have a book that I can give each child. I always put a cute personal message in for each child too! Also, every time a parent orders online, you get a free coupon for a $3 book. I have built up my library this way...as a new teacher, most of my books I have gotten for either free from Scholastic or really cheap!

Ok so I have three days of the new school year under my belt! It's been crazy...but for the most part in a good way. Just opened a brand new school and we were supposed to have only 2 teachers for our grade level....enrollment was so large that we had to add on 2 more additional classes! We hired one teacher so far and have a sub in the classroom that we are waiting to hire for. Oh and our brand new copier is already out of commission due to lack of toner...haha!

I'm also insanely sunburned due to my weekend at the Mile High Music Festival in Denver Colorado. Highlight of my weekend: Seeing Train and getting to touch Pat Monahan...lol!


Ok my posts will be back to education stuff tomorrow....it'll be all about why I love Scholastic Book Clubs. :)

I must apologize for being absent the last few days! Everything has been super hectic, finishing my classroom and interviewing like crazy for a 4th teammate for our grade level. That in combination of my semester coming to an end for my master's while having to write a research paper = stressed out of my mind! We had meet the teacher night too...I'm excited for this year! Anyway, I'll post again in the next few days (probably Sunday or Monday)! Sorry...be patient with me and I'll get back to posting some good stuff!

As a teacher, we are always looking for ways to save money and the answer is: Ebay! I'm addicted to finding books on Amazon but teacher books can be pricey and it adds up quickly! I decided to find my books on Amazon...check out the reviews to make sure I wasn't going to waste my money...then write down the title and author...and find them for cheaper on Ebay! I don't mind if the book is lightly used...totally worth the savings to find it with a slight crease on the cover, what's it matter when the inside pages are the same?! Here are some examples:

Title: Partner Reading
Amazon Price: $18.99
Bought on Ebay for: $7.49 (including s & h!!!!)

Title: Guided Reading: Making it Work
Amazon Price: $18.47
Bought on Ebay for: $10.28 (including s & h)

Title: Easy Lessons for Teaching Word Families
Amazon Price: $11.45
Bought on Ebay for: $7.12 (including s & h)

Now by no means am I knocking Amazon...I still love it and there are still some great deals...just not on teacher books. :)

As for your classroom library...Ebay is the way to go! You can find big lots of children's books for super cheap. I just added a ton of books to my classroom library for super cheap. Get this: 147 books for $29 including shipping and handling! Amazing. All of the books were in good condition too!


Happy Ebaying! :)

Just thought I'd share my classroom bathroom procedures with everyone who teaches lower elementary grades. The past two years it's been super simple...if a child needed to go to the bathroom other than classroom breaks, they would have to ask me and I'd pair them with another kiddo. The catch is a boy has to go with a girl and a girl has to go with a boy. Why? Well this way they can't play around in the bathroom together! This has worked great for me. This year I'm modifying it a little. I bought plastic bathroom passes from the teacher store. I had seen other teachers do this at my school but it kinda grossed me out when the kiddos would take them into the stalls with them and they'd get dropped on the floor, left in the bathroom, and so on...picking up tons of icky germs! But here is my take on it: once I've okayed the kids to go, they leave the passes on their desks so it reminds me of who went. No germs on the passes and no getting left in the bathrooms.