My Fabulous Finds and To-Do List!!

I had one of the best days ever today!  I didn't think being in a conference all day could possibly be fun, but meeting some of the other teachers at my school and getting to know my administration better made it a blast!  As of right now I could NOT ask for a better fit for me.  I learned a great deal about CSCOPE as well.  I still have tons of questions but I am sure training with my district will help answer those.  If not, I have veteran teachers and my admin to go to.  I could not ask for a more supportive staff.  And I feel better that I'm not the only first year teacher starting this year, so I have that support system too.  I'm not nearly as nervous about new teacher training now since I met a good deal of new teachers to the district today....

Anyways, enough about that.  I promised pictures on Wednesday about my shopping that I have done recently.  I'm not done shopping as JoAnns and Office Max have 25% off purchase coupons for teachers this weekend.

 These are the supplies I bought at Wal-Mart.  Some are for me and some are preparing for my students.  I learned from student teaching that red pens disappear through some black hole, so I am stocking up now.  I got some from Wal-Mart and more from dollar tree.  I am planning on decorating those spirals for my interactive notebooks that I do with my students.  I will have a color for each block so I can stay organized with where each class is at.

 Here are my Dollar Tree purchases.  I absolutely love the buckets I found!  They match my bright color theme I have going so far.  There were deeper ones of the square style I may go back and get.  I also stocked up on pencil erasers, red pens, push pins, rubber bands and index cards.

 Here was my splurge at Hobby Lobby.  I didn't get everything in the picture but I bought a case for my Cricut cartridges that will be more portable than my plastic containers I have for my scrapbook retreats.  I also got 12"x24" mats for my Cricut to make my calendar headers.  Pictures of those will be posted for Monday Made It so be sure to come check it all out!

Be sure to link up over at Fun in Room 4B with your Fabulous Finds.  It's the last one of the summer! :'(

Now for the To-Do List!  Mine is absolutely crazy with getting ready to move into my classroom.  I am kind of on overload at the moment...which is why I like love to-do lists!  These things have saved me all throughout high school and college, and will probably continue to do so until I die.

  

Go on over to Ms. Shoppe's Class and link up your back to school to-do list!  Good luck to everyone on getting their lists completed!

Well I've got to get started on this list.  Thankfully I don't have anything going on this weekend, so as long as I stay focused I should be able to most of it done!  Take advantage of the teacher sales taking place this weekend, I know I will be.

I promise pictures of my room, before and work in progress, on Monday or Tuesday.  I get to move in on Monday but there are still some things I think belong to the teacher moving out so I don't know what all I can get done.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Fashion Linky Party

Have I ever told you how much I LOVE to go shopping?  And it's not just for clothes, it's for crafting supplies (scrapbooking, sewing, yarn) and of course, a teacher addition: school supplies!  The past two days I have gone to Dollar Tree, Hobby Lobby (twice), Wal-Mart, Northern Tools, and Michaels.  Today I dragged the Mr. with me and he was very impressed I actually cut myself off and went to the register.  I will post detailed pictures of my purchases tomorrow. 

Today's post is about linking up over at From Blood to Books! regarding teacher fashion!

 

Here are the guidelines...

1. Tell me your favorite store(s) that you like to get your "teacher's fashion".

2. What are some of your favorite accessories?

3. What type of shoes do you teach in? (i.e. heels, flats, wedges, etc.)

4. Do you have a "go-to" item in your closet? (i.e. sweater you wear weekly, shoes you wear daily, etc.)

5. Have you ever had a fashion "uh-oh" at school? (i.e. heel broke, button popped off of blouse)

Please feel free to post any cute items, sales, outfits that you have grabbed for this upcoming school year!

My responses:
1.  My favorite stores are Kohl's, New York & Company, Express, and Target.  I get my slacks from NY&C and Express because they are really only ones  that fit me as I am petite.  I buy them when they are Buy 1, get one for at least 50% off.  NY&C has some super cute light sweaters and tops right now so go check them out!!!
2.  I am not a very big accessory person, however I like necklaces.  I try not to do bracelets because they tend to get in my way when I am modeling notes or writing on the board. (I'm still learning tricks as I am a first year teacher, but that was my experience during student teaching)
3.  Wearing heels occasionally is fine, but I much prefer cute flats.   I love wearing my Coach shoes and my knock off Sperrys, they are comfy AND cute. :)
4.  My go-to items are my light sweaters!  I am almost ALWAYS cold, so I try to plan my outfits with these so I'm warm and still professional looking.  It's not very professional to wear a hoodie, just sayin'.
5.  The only "uh-oh" I have had so far was a hole in my skirt.  Thankfully it was small and barely noticeable.  Just had to make sure it didn't get any larger.

Well, that's all I really have.  I get to go view my classroom tomorrow!  And since I'm no longer working summer camp, I have a long list of crafts to do tomorrow and this weekend, hence my recent shopping!  Look for the post tomorrow!

A little bit of everything

First things first, Tonya over at Tonya's Treats for Teachers is trying to reach 500 followers!!  When she does, she is going to have a giveaway event.  She has writing and listening center task cards as freebies for those who follow her blog and leave a comment saying they are a new follower.  Check her out!  But make sure you keep reading my post!

 Also, over at Rulin' the Roost is have a VistaPrint voucher giveaway for $80!  If you haven't ordered from VistaPrint you are definitely missing out.  They have some really cute things and you can customize it for your own needs!


AND, Stephanie over at Starring in First Grade has a $10 TPT certificate for having 30 followers!  Go check it out!

Now for some really awesome stuff.  I finally got my orientation and staff development itinerary!  Talk about having a bunch of meetings and things being thrown at you!  Definitely going to be taking lots of notes, highlighting tons of papers, and probably asking a lot of questions...I kind of feel like I'm taking a college class all over again.

Anywho, I am loving how my email keeps showing that I'm getting comments on my posts!!!  My boyfriend (aka Mr.) thinks I'm a complete dork, which I am, and laughs at me when I come hopping into the living room to tell him I have new followers.  I think I am a source of entertainment for him.  It's all good though.  So since I am so excited about having a whopping 15 followers, I'm doing a mini-giveaway myself.  I figure it's a milestone...a small one, but it's still one to me!  So the first two people to comment tonight are getting my lovely owl binder covers for free.  Just comment on my post, leave your email address and a preferred color choice and you will get the prize!  Be looking in your emails some time tomorrow evening when I get home from work.

(They are available in aqua {shown}, brown, green, light blue, purple, orange, pink, and yellow).  You can see the previews here at my TPT store.

I am also posting some more designs I've come up with for blogs.  Please tell me your thoughts on how they are coming along so far....I'm very OCD about how things look and I haven't quiet figured out what I think about this as of yet.

I think numbers 1 and 4 are my favorites so far....I like the simplicity of #2, however I'm not so sure about #3.  I don't think the background cuts it for me....I would love to have some input on these!

Have a wonderful night!
 

Monday Made It

WARNING!! Semi-long post ahead of you... :-D

I have been a very busy girl lately!  I've been playing with blog designing....

 I've been spray painting supervising the Mr. spray painting my pails for my classroom.  I taped the wooden handles so they wouldn't get painted and painted each one a different color.  Now I just need to make some labels, once I figure out what I want in each bucket.  Yay for a bright, pretty colors!

 Before they were painted.  I had three blue and three white.  I kept one each of the original colors, then painted the others. 

I know one set is for sharpened and need sharpening pencils, checking pens, and markers.  Other than that, I don't know.  I bought them in the event I might have a younger class and could use them for markers and crayons and have them stowed away until they needed them.

My last project was inspired Babbling Abby over at The Inspired Apple.  I saw hers and just had to make my own.  So on a last minute trip to JoAnns I went and got cork board, tape and the color paint I wanted.  And guess what?  It matches my pails!!

 Original cork board...

 Taped cork board.  I used the width of my rule to keep it even so that I wouldn't have to measure and retape five thousand times.

 Starting to paint...

Finished product!  I love how it turned out.  Absolutely adorable in my opinion.  :)  Now I just have to wait and see what my classroom looks like and find a good place to hang it up.  Woohoo!!

Link up and share your projects over at 4th Grade Frolics!

August Currently!

 Found another Linky that I am pleased to be a part of!  Here is my August Currently. :)

 Go over and be a part of it too!

Can you tell I'm in the middle of redoing my blog decor?  I'm not sure I'm 100% pleased with it yet but I'm still playing around with it. What do you think about it thus far?

Now I am waiting for it to cool down outside so that I can work on my projects that will be a part of the Monday Made it Linky tomorrow.  Come back and check it out!

Working out the kinks

This whole week has felt like a blur and a dream.  Even though I have told myself throughout my whole student teaching experience that I would find a job after graduation, I still had my doubts.  But I DID get a job, and the dream-like feelings finally became reality when I started receiving e-mails from my principal regarding upcoming dates.  I finally somewhat have a timeline as to what is going to take place these next few weeks before the start of school.  I don't know exact details, those will come, but I at least know an idea.

I am getting to see my room next week.  Wednesday is my last day with my summer campers, so Thursday I will go take a peep at my room...my first one EVER!  Today I found out that Friday I will be going to a conference about CSCOPE, which will be very beneficial for me.  I will get to start working on my room on Monday the 13th.  New teacher orientation/training starts that Wednesday.  Then I have that next week for staff development. 

 My brain is definitely running a mile a minute trying to think of ideas regarding what to implement in my classroom and how to make it all work together...But in the mean time I am busy creating and crafting!  I will have those fun projects posted on Monday for the linky party!

Time to rest up for tomorrow's soccer games!

Are you serious!?!?!?

 Do you remember what was supposed to take place this morning?  Yes, my interview.  But I wouldn't really call it an interview.  It was more of a "Oh hi Stephanie!  I remember you now." (some chatter about my work history)  The Principal calls and interrupts our talk...next thing you know, I'm filling out some preliminary paperwork.

Yes, I said paperwork!  I am going to be teaching 6th grade math this fall!!!!  I am beyond stoked to be teaching, muchless be teaching a subject I enjoy and feel confident in.  Now I just need to start getting details on training, my classroom, teaching materials and lesson planning.  I have one huge weight off my shoulders, but new ones being added on.  I will take the new weights thankfully. :)