Linky Time

Hi everyone!  I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs for Five for Friday.

Well it is Friday.  The last Friday in July...but I'm not even thinking about that fact yet.  I'm in vacation mode, people and nothings going to rain on that parade right now!

Ok, so my number 1 this week is getting ready for our VACATION, of course!  We are heading to Florida to get some beach time in before...well, we are heading to Florida {tomorrow} to get some beach time in!  :-)

Love that last picture.  Plain. Simple.  True.  I have no idea why I don't live somewhere coastal.  I know everyone says they love the beach, but I REALLY LOVE THE BEACH!!!  I'm sure I am going to go through a mini depression when we have to leave, but for now--all is swell.  Except packing.  Oh, how I hate packing...not so much packing but the fear that I'm forgetting something, despite my checking and double checking my lists.  Yes, I have problems.

Made my Word Wall..I've gotten many questions about what I used for the pink polka dot border, it is not fabric.  Are you ready for this?  Napkins.  Yep, bought them on sale.  They matched my decor, so I knew I'd use them for something.  So here is how it all went down...

Open up the napkin, it will be folder in fours, cut out the 4 squares.

Fold like a fan, and staple.  OH MY GOODNESS though, be prepared for this stapling to drive you nutty.  But, these bulletin boards are staying this way for a yr, maybe 2.  (i say that now...)  Here is my final product:

Mini anchor charts done.  The picture is terrible, so I'm going to move on... 

Went to Six Flags again with the family.  I live right by St.Louis, MO (for those who don't know) and they have a Six Flags so the fam and I go often!  The kids LOVE it!  So this is 3 of the 5 of us.  My husband has taken the kids on some weeknights just for a few hrs and raved about it being so empty--they got right on the rides-yada yada yada, so this week, I was like, "well I want to come with you guys".  So we did, get there and the parking lot is PACKED.  I'm talking "open-the-extra-parking-garages-that-are-usually-closed-packed."  Turns out it was Bring a Friend for Free week.  OF COURSE.  My luck.  So this log flume pic took us about an hour to get b/c thats how long we waited in line.  ARGGG! figures.  

It's that time.  You know it is.  So, while I was watching some stupid summer tv I cut.  and cut.  and cut, cut cut.  This is all stuff from my Beach Decor product in my TPT store, if interested.  Just sayin'.

Well, that's all I got guys.  I'm off to pack some more.  Have a fun week!!

Alphabet Interactive Notebook

Hi everyone! I have to tell you that I have been crazy busy this week getting outside with my kids, enjoying this beautiful weather, and in the evenings I have been putting my heart into a project that has been on my list for awhile...Alphabet Interactive Notebooks. This bad boy took me quite sometime to complete, and I've got to say it is one of my favorite products I have made. I'm not even trying to be all "salespersony", I swear I'm not. I'm just proud of this project being done, and it is a Monday Made It, and I made it gosh darn it!! lol :) Oh yeah, so before I get too ahead of myself, I am linking with 4th Grade Frolics for another

I LOVE this link up b/c I am constantly making stuff, and I show my hubby all proud..."look what I made, babe", and when its school related I get the ol "yeah, that's great" (insert monotone voice). They just don't get it! Very few people who are not teachers share the excitement of say, making a poster for your classroom! ha ha ha. So, I love being able to share my "makes" with other teachers who get it. :) Back to my new "made it"... There are all sorts of interactive notebooks out there, all great!-But those who know me, know I like to tweek things to fit it into my classroom just right, so off I went creating. I wanted a one-stop, everything alphabet kind of book. Letter recognition, handprinting, and beginning sounds-all in one. I don't know about you all, but sometimes I feel like I have a student book for this, a student book for that, and before you know it I've got 10 diff books...and I teach K!!! So my goal was everything alphabet in this one book. Each letter was designed to get a page for letter identification and printing, and then another page for letter sounds.

Here are the materials you will need.

I had my daughter test this out. She will be going into 2nd grade but she wanted to color the pictures, so I let her. :) As I'm sure you all know, students get bored with doing the same thing over and over, so I have created 3 diff types of the letter recognition pages. There is this one you see above, where they color, highlight, circle, X out, or always a class fav in my room: paint daubers, the letter you are working on. The 2 other pages involve spinners. Spinning and tallying how many times you spin the letter ___, or spinning and highlighting the letter ___. Here are some examples of those.

The second page focuses on the letter sound. There are 2 possible pages here. One with a hollow letter to glue the pictures that start with that sound and one with a picture of something that starts with that letter--to also glue other things that start with that letter's sound. Here are some examples:

You will see that there is a "r is for.."--this can be tweeked any way to fit your room and students. I plan to sometimes have them simply color a picture of something that starts with that sound. Other times, they can create something out of construction paper that starts with that letter, and other times, they can glue an object that starts with that sound. If you look at our finished project there was plenty of space to glue a "ribbon" to our page. So when your pages are all finished they should look like this:

The beauty of this product is that 1) The kids are doing/creating/moving/learning, all at the same time. 2) It is so flexible, there are many different ways you can use it.--if you don't want to print on color, you don't have to. etc. So that was my week in a nutshell. This baby consumed my evenings when the kids were in bed! I am so excited to use it in my classroom though! I promised I wasn't plugging, so I won't mention that my TPT link is up on my blog in case you want this product. LOL! Shameless, I tell you!! Seriously though, thanks for stopping by. I love looking at everyone's posts for "made it monday". If you want to add a made it monday, click here to go to 4th grade frolics page! Have a great week!

Five for Friday Fun!

I love this linky!! Once again I am linking with Doodle Bugs for

I'll just get right to it.

So, my number one (as i think it is every week), is increased family time! I cherish this time off to do all these fun things b/c I know how schedules pick up once school is in full swing! And the WEATHER!?! This is def my kind of summer! So this week to thoroughly enjoy the weather, I took the kids to the zoo and to Six Flags. Here are some of the pics:

I went to the classroom to set up! I am making over my classroom this year and not revealing yet, but I will give you some pics as hints:

Got a new blog design from Designs by Kassie. I already blogged about it, but I'm super happy with it! She does amazing work!

I revamped my mantle decor. I saw that if you add an empty frame, tie ribbon around it, you can then change out what you hang from the ribbon to match the season/holiday. I LIKE that idea!! So, right now I just have the initial of our last name hanging.

Lastly, I have been working so hard on this baby! I finally finished an Alphabet interactive notebook I've been wanting to make for my class. I am blogging about it in a couple days, so I'll just show you some pics now, and visit my blog Mon if you want more info on it. :)

I have put some heart into this project of mine! I am excited to use it this year in the classroom. Well, that's all I got for this week. I hope you all enjoy your weekend!

A fresh new look for a fresh new year

First things first, I have to thank Kassie from Designs by Kassie for my new blog look!  She. was. awesome!  I told her what I wanted, and it's like she read my mind on the designs!!  The girl is talented, let me tell ya.  Aside from being talented, she is also very professional and despite her number of work orders, was very timely in communicating and designing everything for my blog.  So, thank you Kassie!

I wanted a new blog design for a new school year.  My blog design before did not look "primary" at all.  I teach Kinders, this is "Kinder Korner" and I wanted my blog design to reflect as much.  I look forward to the year ahead with my new Kinders.  My family and I will be going on vacation in a week, and when we get back from that, I can't believe it will pretty much be go-time!

Anyway, I wanted to share this post with you so you could see my new design.  So you guys that are on your phones, get off and come take a peek!  :-)

Binder Organization

Hi all!  I 'm writing today pretty thrilled that at LONG LAST, I have finally completed my binder project for planning/organization.  I started this project in about January.-- Got a wild hair to reconfigure how I store my files for themes, centers, writing, etc.  I wanted a one-stop shop, that was organized, could be stored away, but would not take up half of my basement storage space as it had before.  So, I decided to try this.  Previously, I had my files, centers, writing, crafts, and books for that theme all stored in tubs.  This was a great system....if your husband doesn't mind the 25 tubs in your basement, or if you don't mind hauling tubs back and forth constantly to the classroom.   My husband is wonderfully supportive of my teacher-things, but this was getting out of hand.  I wish I would have taken a pic of our basement and all the tubs.  So, I decided to make a binder for each theme.  Now, many of you don't do themes as much anymore, and we are in the same boat here really.  We DO them, but they are not the primary mode for our writing, math, etc.  We do not always base our centers, or math activities on our themes.  Sometimes they relate, sometimes they do not, but our centers, and writing are now always based on where we are in the progression of the year, it's just that i stick them in the weekly or sometimes bi weekly theme files.  I thought about a monthly binder system, but I plan by weeks, and the monthly would just mess me up.  My brain is a little weird like that.  :-)  So, I started in January and did each week after that into a binder.  That left from Aug-Dec to do over the summer and I just finished TODAY!!!  Here is what I did:  

First, I put all my themed books into categories in my classroom to get rid of some of the bulk.  They are sitting nicely and neatly in organized bins.  

Then, I put all my files for the week into a binder with several page protectors to divide the different areas.  For example, I have a page protector for our crafts for the week, writing, centers, and misc papers.

The larger art projects that dont fit in the page protectors go in the front or back pocket.  If there were cards from a center, etc, I put those in ziploc bags and poked a hole to go into the binder as well.  Take a look:

I love how it turned out, and especially love that they don't take up my whole basement!.  It still takes up space, but I'm thinking of storing Semester 2 at home while I am in Semester 1.  These will easily fit in a tub or 2.  Anyway, I had to share my excitement about this project being done!!!  FINALLY!  Have a great weekend, everyone!

Oooooh July

Hi Guys! Guess what? It's July. Yep, no joke. So I swear thee minute after those fireworks were finished I felt a little tug. A "it's July" tug..you know what that means: School. Let me clarify:  I love my job so it's not "school" as much as feeling overwhelmed by getting a classroom ready, adding new things, deleting old things that didn't work as planned.  Tweeking, planning, prepping--that's what I'm talking about. Now admittedly, I'm a little OCD, I'm a planner--that's my downfall. Not a downfall really...unless its JULY. July brings mixed feelings: On one hand I love July, you are settled into summer-mode. You are enjoying the pool, outdoors, BBQ's, amusement parks, the whole bit. But July is also when the dreams/nightmares start. The "it's the first day of school and your room isn't even ready yet" nightmares! Aaahhhh! The "but I haven't even done 1/4 of my Summer to do list!" the "I'm late to school on the first day" nightmares: and so on and so on. So I found myself in a little bit of a frenzy this week thinking I better do this, and this, and this...My thinking being..because now it's JULY! And in my defense, we are going on a family vacation the end of July into early August, so once we are back from that...it's pretty much game on. In sharing my to do's with my husband, he just burst out laughing. REALLY??!!?? I was having a freak out moment, and he's laughing? I was appalled. I couldn't think of anything to do but stare at the man, to which he finally responds "Becky, it's Juuuuuuuuly!!!" Sigh. My "it's JULY" and his "it's Juuuuuuuly!" carried 2 totally different connotations! So I ask you, teacher friends, which are you?? Are you Becky July or Hubby July? I really did try to reign in the OCD after he drilled it in me that there is still much summer to be had, much time to set up, do paperwork, etc. So, in honor of trying to be like "hubby July", I refrained from anything classroom related for a solid couple of days. :-) Now, when I say I refrained from classroom work, don't you all go getting this vision of me at my home workstation all day, everyday do all things classroom related--that's NOT what it looks like. With 3 little kids, I have learned the art of multitasking.  I've really become quite good at it.   So, when the 2 yr old naps, and I am confined to the house, I watch my previously recorded "Bachelorette"-while cutting out lamination, or whatever. And YES, you heard me..the Bachelorette--I'm desperate people. Summer TV is killing me! I actually started watching the last season of Scandal over again bc I missed it so much! Gladiators? Anyone? Anyhoosy, I took some time off of even those nap filled tasks.--HARD TO DO! Seriously! What did I do? Well, I organized the mudroom. I took pics of the before/after, but I'm too embarrassed of the before's to even post, so you will just have to trust that it was a MESS and I am proud of my feat there. I also started reading "One Thousand Gifts" and got the devotional that relates. Oh my gosh, what a good, spiritually uplifting book. I love it!!

Also took the kids to Grant's Farm, the pool, and have been working a lot with my blog designer for a cute, CUTE new look for this blog.    Do be sure to tune in for the new design.  I've seen the basic design, minus a few tweeks:  Soooo adorable!

Anyway, I have also rewatched said episodes of my all time favorite show:  Scandal.  I found this and laughed out loud.--

-

What have you been doing with your summer?  I hope you are all relaxing and in "hubby July" mode.  :-)

Becky

From Drab to Fab..

Hi there, everyone!  I hope your summer is going well and you are relaxing, making memories, & all that good stuff!  ;)  I am linking up again today with Fourth Grade Frolics for another:

This year I am so excited to be moving to tables in my classroom!!  I have had desks since teaching K 7 yrs ago, and have been wanting tables for about the last 2 yrs or so.  I just think that the majority of our day is spent at centers anyway,  so I wanted to free up some space in my room by moving to tables:  wish granted this year!  Yay!!  Sooooo, I have been searching for ways to store the students folders, and different supplies.  They have chair pockets, so I knew they could store some things in there, but I came across these cardboard magazine holders at IKEA.   5 for $1.50!!!!  Yes, 5 for $1.50!  As someone who LOVES a bargain, I was sold on these.  Obviously needed some "spicing up", but I was confident, I could do something with these.  

Next, I got out the some Washi tape that I picked up...for no reason other than it was my classroom themed colors this year and I thought they were super cute, and started there...

You can see there is a hole there, so I thought I could add some ribbon that I also had in my craft box.  This ribbon was a Wal-Mart purchase.  I had yellow in my box, but went back to get more of my themed colors:  $1.49 a roll, people!  -So far I was scoring big!  

After the ribbon, it definitely looked more like something I could display, but I'm a labeler, so I still was not finished.  Fortunately, for this as well, I had already made my own "beachy/bright" classroom decor set (plug:  available in my TPT store) :), so I pulled up the table label part of the file and went to town customizing it to fit my needs for these magazine holders.

I added these with velcro (so I could re-use from year to year) and rings.  Take a look at the finished product!  I'm so excited to put these in my room, and think they'll add to my color/beach theme quite nicely!

So, this project cost me about 
-$3 for the magazine holders
-$3 for the ribbon
-approx $3 for velcro
GRAND TOTAL means I spent about $9 for 10 bright magazine holders.  Not bad, I say!
Well, there is my "drab to fab" project.  Hope you liked the transformation.  The beauty of this project is that you could make it to any color scheme you may have in your classroom, or house.  
Thanks for stopping by today!  ~Becky