Five for Friday~ July 8

Kacey is hosting Five for Friday on her blog Doodle Bugs Teaching. Grab a sweet iced tea, pull up a chair, and prepare to read what all of your blogging buddies have been doing this week.

                      

Okay, I must confess....this is not me!  However, it is a picture of the two bathing suits I order from Land's End on sale with an additional 40% off.  The two suits cost less than 1 at regular price! #score

They are just in time for this......

Photo from Wake and Wonder

My family will be heading for our yearly summer vacation on the Isle of Palms this month.  I.Can't.Wait!  The beaches are fantastic and the proximity to Charleston means you can eat at restaurants that specialize in seafood....a family favorite! You can also go on lots of different history tours (which my boys and husband love) and of course there's some shopping for mom. :) #winwin #everyoneshappy

Those swimsuits are also just in time for lounging by the pool at our new house!  We don't move in until August, but this is an actual picture of the pool....I.Can't.Even!  It looks like a resort, and my family is beyond excited as we all love the water!

I have two new products in my store:

You can read all about Hold It! HERE. I am super excited about implementing this system in my media center next year! I love procedures that make our super busy teacher lives easier!! And speaking of making your life easier, take a look at my Teacher Calendar.

You can take a look at the inside pages HERE. At only a $1, this is just a wise use of your money since you receive a new updated calendar every year at no additional cost! Click on either of the pictures to head over to my TpT store to check these out.

Last, but not least, I have been working diligently to finish my first Library Decor and Signage pack. I am in the flattening stages, so hopefully it will be uploaded to my TpT store by Monday.  Here's a sneak peak....

It is chock full of bright happy colors! You really have a variety of choices on size and design in several of the items offered in the pack. I've included the table of contents to give you an idea of what you'll be getting.

I'm going to refill my coffee cup with decaf this time :( and head over to read all the posts at Doodle Bugs Teaching.  Have a fantastic weekend!

Monday Made It~ July 4th

Another week has flown by! It's unbelievable that it's already the 4th of July!! I'm taking a minute out of today's festivities to link up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for her Monday Made It linky party. I thought I'd have more accomplished, but swimming with the boys got in the way this last week! #summerproblems  :)

     I often find myself in the situation of teaching with no paraproprofessional (aka teacher's assistant) or volunteer in sight.  This system for reserving popular books will help cut down on interruptions from your older students once you teach them the procedure.

     Basically, you create a station and set up the materials. When the book a student wants is checked out, he completes a “reservation” form. There are several options that include different lingo (homeroom teacher vs. teacher) and require varying levels of information from the student. Once the form is completed, the student places it in the completed stack.  When you have a chance, you gather the slips and enter the holds into Destiny (or whatever system you use). Keep the slips.

The containers came from the Dollar Spot at Target and the frame came from the Dollar Tree.

Here is one of the book request forms. Another form says title and author, and another one says teacher's name instead of homeroom teacher's name. Essentially, I gave you multiple options; use the one that works best for your kiddos!

     When the book comes in, you use the student slip to email the teacher, place the reservation slip in the book, and then place the book in the “Pick Up” box. The student then picks up the book and proceeds to check it out through your regular check out process. This puts the responsibility on the student and removes the “I need help right now!!” factor.  I hope you find this a beneficial tool in helping your media center run smoothly!

You can use the frames or you can just attach the directions to the basket. You have lots of flexibility in how to use this product.

Hold It! A System for Reserving Library Books can be found in my TpT shop. Be sure to swing back over to 4th Grade Frolics to see what everyone else has been creating this past week. You won't be disappointed!

Five for Friday ~ July 1st

Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching is hosting Five for Friday. It's a great time to see what all of our teaching "web" friends have been up to this week!

I finally completed by Teacher Calendar for the upcoming school year! It has a 2 page spread with large boxes with lines inside each box for all of my type A friends. Each month has 2 pages for taking notes at meetings, brainstorming ideas, list making, etc. You have a choice of 8 covers. If you're like me, you like to match the clip art to your own hair/eye color! The calendar is available now for $1 and will be updated each year at no additional cost.

I love Dorothea Benton Frank's books! I am from South Carolina, vacation on Isle of Palms, and love the history of the Charleston area. This book is set on Sullivan's Island which is the island next to the Isle of Palms. Anyway, I love to read about places that I've actually been before. The plot involves 3 generations of women and the complexity that is family. I'm about halfway through it and I highly recommend it; it's an easy beach or pool read!

Speaking of the pool, the boys and I got invited over to a friend's neighborhood pool yesterday. I was enjoying adult conversation so much that I forgot to take any pictures of the boys! (Insert stock pool photo here.... these are random children.....not mine....)

Another benefit of the pool (other than the life saving infusion of adult conversation) was that the boys wore themselves out!! Three hours of swimming, laughing, splashing, and playing with other children did them a world of good. They were all upstairs by 8 p.m. and my husband and I actually got to watch grown-up t.v.  #thatsawin

I am working at a furious pace to finish several TpT projects. Hopefully this one will be ready for Monday Made It over at 4th Grade Frolics.

Essentially, Hold It! provides a way for students to request a book be held for them. They fill out the form, turn it in, and the media specialist can place the hold in Destiny when she has a few minutes in between classes. When the book becomes available, you simply email the homeroom teacher which the student has listed on the form, stick the Hold It! request into the book and place it in the pick up area for the student to retrieve.  All of the signs and forms will be included to make this painless. All you have to do is teach the procedure to your students! :)

My family is in the process of selling our house and moving into a larger one. Our house sold the day after it was listed (woo hoo!!) but finding another has presented a challenge. The first house we found we thought was ours and we told our sons. The sellers backed out at the last second (they hadn't initialed one box on the contract, but had signed on the dotted line).  The second house was waaaay over priced, and after haggling back and forth for a bit it was obvious we would not be coming to an agreement. We are now on house number three. Fingers crossed....we have a binding agreement so hopefully this one will work out. Unfortunately, the closing on our current house is the end of July and we have 8 days before the closing on our new house. Y'all please say a prayer for us. While we have somewhere to stay, we don't have a place for the contents of our house to stay. Aaaand....I go back to work Aug. 1st.  In the end this will be a great blessing for our family if I can just see my way through the stressful situation that will end in a fabulous large enough house for my family!

Refill your cup of coffee and see what everyone else is up to over at Doodle Bugs Teaching.  Happy Friday (just in case you forgot what day it was again)!

Monday Made It- June 27th

This past week flew by at my house! We are on the hunt for a new house since ours sold the first day it was on the market. I did manage to create a few things for this week's Monday Made It.  Thanks Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for hosting my favorite linky every week!

My first project this week is a baby gift for a sweet friend's daughter.  I made letters like this last summer that spelled out "BOOKS" for a display in my media center. You can read all about how to make these letters HERE. The directions are in the Made It #2.

Please excuse the wax paper...the letters were still drying and Mod Podge peels off of wax paper so easily! :)

My next project has been in the works for way too long! I started this project when we were still in school, but because I had to pack up the entire media center (read every book in the place touched at least 3 times as it was saran wrapped in a group, replaced on the shelf, and then moved to a cafeteria table after school ended) this project got pushed to the back burner. Without further ado, here is my calendar for 2016-2017. It is modeled after the ones I normally purchase at Target or Wal-Mart with the exception of the price. Mine only costs $1 and you can get an updated calendar next year at no additional cost to you! Take a look and let me know what you think.

There are 8 covers to choose from: 4 girls and 4 boys. It starts with an "All About Me" page that includes a section for passwords. The calendar has a 2 page spread with lines for you to write on. This is for all of my Type A friends out there who can't stand those empty boxes and slanted writing. I have also included 2 pages after each month for you to brainstorm, take notes at faculty or grade level meetings, create lists, etc.

There are inspirational quotes scattered throughout the calendar and plenty of space for To Do's and Material Lists needed for lessons. If you record all of your parent conferences in here, you'll have them all in one place for reference when working on TKES (or whatever teacher observation tool your state uses).

I love these pages because they allow you to keep all of your faculty meeting and grade level notes for each month in one handy dandy place. Sometimes you need to refer back to this information when people's recollections become hazy. ;)

You can check out my Teacher Calendar in my TpT store. Remember, it only costs $1 and you never need to buy another calendar!

It's time for me to head back over to Monday Made It and see what fabulous things I need to add to my to do list. Thanks for stopping by!

Monday Made It- June 20

Monday Made It is hands down my favorite summer linky party! I absolutely love being inspired by other teachers, and this linky does not disappoint. When you finish here, head on over to Tara's blog 4th Grade Frolics to see what everyone else has been creating this week.

My school is undergoing major renovations this summer. I have been brainstorming ways to re-energize the media center for students and teachers alike. After surfing the web (including many of your blogs) and visiting other elementary schools in my area, I decided to go with this outside of the media center.

I printed out the letter cards on card stock and took the photos outside against the brick of the building. I didn't print in black and white; rather, I used the "Color" option under "Format Picture" in PowerPoint to soften the colors of the t-shirts. I really like the way it turned out!

This was an easy project and very cost effective. The canvases came from Michael's. I got a 10 pack of 8x10 canvases 50% off which equaled $10. The photo paper was $1 for 8 sheets at The Dollar Tree. I also used black paint ($.79), a foam brush ($.59), and Mod Podge. I already had the Mod Podge (matte finish); I would suggest you use a coupon at one of the craft stores for this as it is a little on the expensive side.

Start by painting your edge and onto the canvas about an inch with the black paint (or any color of your choice). You will need to do 2-3 coats of paint.

While your canvases are drying, print out your pictures. I cropped mine first so that there wasn't a lot of extraneous brick on the edge. Apply an even layer of Mod Podge to the canvas and position your picture on top. Do not press it down as you go; it is very difficult to adjust the fit if you do that. Let the picture dry so it adheres to the canvas. Come back and add 1-2 layers of Mod Podge to the top of the picture to protect it. Let the Mod Podge dry completely between layers. You can also paint the black edges if you'd like. I opted not to.

Here is the YouTube video I used for the directions:

If you don't include the Mod Podge which I already had, the 9 canvases cost me $1.28 each for a total of $11.52. Add the Mod Podge and it was around $15 although I have a ton of Mod Podge left for other projects. I couldn't have even printed the pictures at Walgreen's for that amount! #winning #frugalteachersunite

As you are planning for next year, I hope you'll run over to my shop and check out some of my back to school must haves.

Click on any of the pictures to head to my TpT store to check out the products.  Grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and prepare to find great projects over at 4th Grade Frolics Monday Made It!

Markdown Monday: May 31

Kelly and Kim's Kindergarten Kreations is hosting their weekly Markdown Monday linky party. I'm a day late to the party, but we spent Memorial Day as a family with no work allowed! :)

I am joining the party with my most viewed item for the month of May....

You can read all about what this packet has to offer HERE.  Keep going past the "Lucky Teacher" bit and you'll see samples of the packet.

It is regularly $3.50 but will be on sale for $2.50 through Friday evening.  Happy shopping friends!  I hope you find something useful through the Markdown Monday linky party!!