"You Oughta Know"

I am so excited for this Link Up with Jasmine over at Buzzing with Mrs. Mcclain!
Along with other teachers I am sharing something with you that I think
"You Oughta Know"
 and will make your year a bit easier!

When I came across this link up I had a few things come to mind that I knew I had to share.
When I was trying to decide which one to use first it was hard not to let them all out at once.
So, I decided on one that I knew you all might need as you are getting your
classrooms ready for your little readers.

Before I share this with you I have to tell you I tried to take pictures of the process
without being in them and it just wasn't the same so I had to have Josh take them while I acted it all out with lots of smiling and dramatic flair, of course.
So here you have it, me being super happy about creating some book bags!

4 years ago I wanted to do away with book boxes. 

For one thing I was tired of buying them every year
and for another I just did not want to give up the space to store them. 

I desperately wanted to buy book bags to put on the backs of the chairs, 

but like usual at around $6 each I desperately didn't want to pay the steep price for them, 

especially with almost 40 little darlings in my class that year. Yikes! 

So I set out on a mission and I would have to say it has been one of my best yet!

I went to walmart and bought 20 sets of pillowcases for a total of 40. 

They were $3.97 for two so I spent almost $80 for my whole set.
I was at the Dollar Tree a couple of weeks ago though and they had pillow cases too. I couldn't believe it. You could make them for $1 each... there's no beating that!!

Here's what you'll need to do. Take a regular sized pillow case.

I don't sew, but my Auntie has a sewing machine and sewed them all up for me. LOVE HER!

From a sewers standpoint she said it was the easiest things she's ever done. 

It took less than an hour to do all of them.

Here they are in my classroom. I have had them for four years and this year I had to replace two due to someone cutting a giant hole in the bottom with some Fiskars. Stinkers! Other than that they have tons of room for storing books and journals, plus I can take them home and wash them over winter and summer break to keep them looking new! 

I hope you found this helpful. Let me know if you try it out. 

I would love to see how they are working out in your classroom. 

Make sure to head over the "You Oughta Know" blog hop 

and check out some other amazing ideas!

Monday Made it: Sit Spots for $5

Linking up for Monday Made it this morning... 

I am sure you have seen this Pinteresting product floating around!

From what I gather these things are absolutely amazing. Truly they are not priced terribly either so if you have 35 kids and can spare $70 you should definitely stop reading this post and go buy some! Haha. Just click here to visit their site. You can also click the pin below to read a great post by Teacher to the Core.

Now I have wayyyy too many kids each year and move ins and outs like nobody's biz so I created my own. At the dollar tree they have all sorts of placemats. You could even use those little foam colored pieces that come like 20 in a pack and make them for less than 5 bucks. And if they are ruined at the end of the year no big woop, am I right!? I had to buy 8 placemats to be safe. 

To get started I used a pen, scissors,  placemats, 

and the lid to an oatmeal container. 

 Step 1: Use the round object to draw circles on the backside of each placemat. 

Sit Spots has all sorts of different shapes and colors. 

If you want to make your own unique shapes you could trace anything. 

So if your classroom theme is ocean you could find a cutesy whale shape to trace. 

 Step 2: Cut them out. 

 Step 3: I created these sticky labels with numbers. 

You can download the template here. I used Avery labels 5160. 

Click here for the editable Word version and here for the PDF

Step 4:

I had some velcro too so I put a little piece on the back of each. 

Now I can stick them to the carpet or linoleum floor. 

Once each is placed where I want it I can move each circle as frequently as I want. 

So if student #24 won't stop talking to student #25 no worries.

 I will just swap student #15 and #24. Problema solved!

 Here is my little model. 

These are set up on my living room floor since it is mid-July 

and I am so not ready to start going back yet!

I also made these cutesy little pencil cans. 

Target has these little chalkboard cans in the dollar spot. 

If you don't have chalkboard markers you MUST pick some up! 

There are some crazy amazing Monday Made It's this week. I already added 5 gazzilion to my to do list! Go check em' out. 

TPT dress up and update! + a giveaway

I get just as excited about updating my TPT store as I do my classroom. 

It's a little sadsies that I don't get as excited about working around the house, but what can ya do? Teachers are who they are, right?! 

I seriously feel like I am doing all of this in slow mo- 

Baby is a mamas girl ALL. THE. WAY. 

She doesn't want me doing anything if it is not for her. 

Brother wants a PBJ? Too bad!

Dogs need fresh water? She don't care. 

Love her like crazy though. 

We are enjoying every second of summer time. 

You know you're a parent when you turn your hot tub into a kiddie pool. 

I have managed to get some things done in the TPT world though. 

I love how the updates turned out!

I am going to give away one of each to two lucky followers. 

All you have to do is comment below and tell me how you are spending your summer. 

Simple as that! Don't forget to leave your email though!!

Check out the original post for the Classroom Jobs HERE

Feeling like the world's most organized teacher right about now!

Have you ever drooled longingly over an Erin Condren planner? If you’ve seen one I’m sure your answer is “duh”! They are just so beautiful, and wonderful and organized... ahhhh bliss. I can not bring myself to buy one though. I just can’t. 

If you are the same I have just what you’re looking for. This is my all in one teacher spiral. It cost me a total of $9.98! Yup, thats right, less than 10 bucks!

I purchased Haley O’Connor’s of My Silly Firsties Editable Teacher Binder. Folks, this thing is beyond amazing!! 

I am not a huge fan of binders though. I want to pack around as little as possible and I want every single thing I need at my fingertips so this is the solution. I used Haley’s teacher binder and edited all the pieces so that they are exactly what I need. I printed out every part I wanted and put it all in order. Then I took it to Kinko’s and had them spiral bind it for me. They charged me $3.98 and Haley’s Editable Teacher Binder is only $6.00. This is by far the best purchase I have ever made. And, I can use it year after year too!

The proof is in the pictures. 

Haley has several colored cover options. I made my own, printed it on cardstock and laminated for durability. This is the only piece that I laminated. 

There are always loose papers and because I don't like binders I needed to find a way to add pockets. Kinkos cut a folder in half for me and I placed them where I wanted before they added the spiral. I chose to put one in the front and the back. You can add more pockets too. I will have to decide if I need more later. :) 

I printed all of the covers/sections on cardstock to make it easy to flip 

through and find the section I need. 

In the planning section I have monthly calendars in color, a year long plan (my own, and yes I have a copy for you :)  Just click HERE for the editable year long plan. I also have my planning pages but Haley has editable versions that are wonderful too. I already had mine done and that's the only reason I used it. 

I use an online gradebook, but I like to have rosters and checklists

 to keep track of other things so I have a section for this too. 

You could easily add you entire grade book to this spiral and create sections too!

Oh and one of my favorite things, Haley includes a cutesy-pie typed version of the CCSS for all grades. I added these to my planning section for easy access while planning. 

I have to have a section for To-Do Lists and Notes!

This is my last section but a must!

So that's it. I might have even skipped a few parts. This thing is pretty big, but the spiral keeps it nice and condensed. In LOVE! It's times like these that I am especially thankful for everyone out there creating products for teachers. Sorry for all of the dark pictures, Haley's preview shows so much more. 

Your Fall Friday FREEBIE: Editable Sub. Plans! It's a blog hop!!

It's 6 a.m. here and baby was up several times last night. An extra cup of coffee or two is callin' my name like nobody's biz. So I'll make this short and yes, sweet:

This Freebie is editable! I use it each time I write sub plans. It has everything you could possibly need at a glance. I leave mot parts the same and just change my plans each time. Hopefully you find it as helpful as I have. Click either picture to head to my TPT store and snag your copy. 

And don't forget to head over to All Things Apple in 2nd to continue the hop!

And continue to hop at All Things Apple!

Plus every Friday you can find more freebies here

Friday Fall FREEBIE! Every Friday in October... it's a Blog Hop!

Fall is in full effect around here! I drove past the post office yesterday and suddenly realized the leaves are turning red and orange and the rain has given the air that fresh smell of autumn... I love it! 

Every Friday in the month of October make sure to come by and snag

all sorts of freebies from me and some of my bloggy friends!

Here is your freebie for this Friday! I just implemented this in my classroom this year and I hear that it is going perfectly. The freebie is a much cuter version than the one pictured. I am going to put up a new one in my room. It was one of those times where I created it, printed, laminated and didn't love it but with a new baby at home I was not about to redo it. 

All you need to do is print, glue onto a poster board and laminate. My students answer a check in question in the morning and exit slips throughout the day. They use a sticky note for their answer and post it over their number. I also included the blank template so that you can place a sticky label over or write student's names in the space instead of the numbers, if you prefer. It makes attendance so easy! Plus, they clean up and answer the exit slip question before recess faster than ever :P

Click HERE to get your's and make sure to scroll down and visit the next stop on the blog hop!

Happy Friday, Friends!

Make sure to visit All Things Apple in 2nd for your next stop on the blog hop and grab your next freebie! 

Short, Sweet, and a Freebie

I was gettin' sassy and made myself a little plan that after I put baby girl down to sleep for the night I would hit the ground a' runnin' and head into school. Well, that didn't happen. That sweet girl wanted nothin' but to snuggle her mama so snuggle we did. 

I worked on these tonight. I am doing a number system this year instead of putting names on everything. I will still have names on things that count the most like displaying their work and of course on their desks but if there is anything I can save from year to year and not have to recreate I am down like a clown. 

If you click the picture you can grab the FREEBIE for yourself. Hopefully these will cutesify your labels and you can even edit them to add to whatever you need. I love this label size and the fact that there are 80 labels per sheet so they go a long way. 

This version is the PDF version. I printed them on 3M sticky labels 3200-R. 

If you click this picture you can download the editable version. I created them in pages so if you have Word or something else they may be a little different in the editable version. 

I love the cutesy background. Hoping you can use them or edit them the way you like :) 

Somebody, please help!!!!

Alrighty people, I went to both Walmart and Target today. 

That might not seem like a big ol' trip but with an hour and a half to spare before 

Averie needed to be fed again it was quite the trip for me. 

Regardless the problem was I came out with just about nothing. 

I literally left walmart with som 15 cent folders and some turkey jerky. 

Target wasn't much better leaving with a few pocket charts, mascara and an outfit for Averie. 

As you can see my goal of getting these almost 40 third graders headed my way organized is nowhere in sight. This is where I REALLY need your help!!!

Last year we had a unique situation. With around 36 kids all year I only had 25 ish of them all day. In the afternoon I would have all 36. This made the organization of materials a teensy bit easier, not much but a lil. 

I have tables in my classroom because desks just take up too much dang space and I despise the messes even when I can't see em.

Last year students stored all of their papers and journals in what we called a crate file.

 Each had a large box bottom file with their name on it. It worked okay I suppose but I went all sortsa crazy with kids putting their things in others student's files, the metal parts on the files broke or the kids just didn't understand how a filing system was supposed to work and most of their junk ended up on the bottom of the crate anyways. Let's just say that there was a lot of "I can't find it" and "I swear you never gave it to me. Maybe I was absent." (Even though that kid was never freakin' absent!!!)

This year I have..... (dun dun dun) nearly 40 kids ALL DAY!!! I am panicking a little and I am not even going to be the one there with them until December rolls around. Still I want everything up and running perfectly... well... because I am a control freak, okay! :P

So any who- I went to Walmart today because I was planning to fulfill this idea: 

(of course without telling the hubs how much I was spending on these drawers)

Well I literally buy 10 sets of these drawers. On my way out of the store I put one of the folders in... not even sure why but it doesn't quite fit unless you bend it. Crap, crap, crappity, crap. 

So on my way out of Wal-mart I get in the customer service line to return them. Meanwhile I talk through whether or not these are going to work to help keep 40 third graders organized with a nice old couple. They agree that kids are just too dang messy. 

So... what do all of you out there recommend?? I am going crazy thinking about it. 

Here are a few other ideas I was going to give a go. I just don't want to try anything that any of you out there have already tried and threw out. Or that you might recommend or not recommend for any particular reason. I see no reason to spend money on a system that I am going to hate. 

I already have all the plastic crates and quite a few paper sorters. I am sure (maybe) hubs could build the shelf??? 

Could possibly have 1 set of these drawers for each table. Not sure about the binders fitting just right though. Maybe in a container on top?

I have two sets of mailboxes like this. I am just not sure how it would go with only two central locations for things. 

Can you tell I need some feedback!!!