Five for Fraturday - Back to School

It's time to link up again, and as promised I have a few things that have to do with school since I had my first two workdays back. Without further ado, here goes! (And as always, feel free to steal my cute numbers if you want)

Keagan went back to the sitter on Monday, which was hard for both of us (probably Steven, too). Actually, Monday was fine for him. But by Tuesday, he understood that this wasn't just a play date with his friends. When I pulled up to get him, he was standing at the window and went into hysterics! Broke my heart...fortunately his papaw had something to cheer him up!

He LOVES this activity board, and now we don't have to deal with him wanting to turn all the other light switches on and off.

We started attending a new small group Monday night (we recently switched churches). It was weird because we're still close to the members of our old life group, but we didn't want to be split between two churches. This group is about twice the size, so it was a little overwhelming at first (especially since we really didn't know anybody), but everyone was really nice. It will just take some time to adjust.

I just finished two books this week (figured I needed to end my summer reading with a bang since I won't have as much time now). The first book was Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Not my absolute favorite, but it wasn't a bad read. Now I can cross it off my list and sell it at the next yard sale. Immediately after, I started the Divergent series.

Oh. My. Word. If you haven't read this yet (especially if you teach upper grades and/or liked The Hunger Games), you need to! I finished it in two days only because I was working and had to go to sleep earlier (and I try not to read while Keagan's awake). It's similar to Hunger Games, but they don't throw kids into an arena to fight to the death. There are 5 factions of people, and you choose your faction at 16. Of course, their version of the perfect world is starting to crumble, and the main character, Tris, has to learn how to survive! I finished Book 1 last night and can't wait to start Insurgent. Good thing it's the weekend!

On Thursday, we officially went back to work, and I'm starting to make a lot of progress. Everything now has a home (although I had to make stacks of books so I could take my two furniture pieces home and finally paint them), and I have begun the decorating process...barely. I made my school purchase order, and now I'm checking my emails constantly to see when they ship!

Finally, I want to give you a sneak peak of what I'm working on for my next TPT product. I'm SO excited! Instead of coming right out and telling you, I'll just let you know it has to do with these guys that I purchased during the TPT sale at the beginning of the week! Hopefully I will finish it by the end of next week, and I'm thinking of doing a quick flash sale right after they post.

Now it's time to get to work painting that furniture, which means I may actually be linking up for Monday Made-it for the first time this summer!

More glimpses of my classroom + Who doesn't want a Silhouette?

Today was my first official day back to school, and I feel like I got a lot accomplished. Everything now has a home, and I'm to the decorating point. I even got a few of my things on the wall already. Maybe a Walmart trip later today (or at least tomorrow) to buy the tablecloth and duct-tape for my CAFE board, and I will look even more accomplished!

Anyway, I decided to play with the panorama feature of my camera today so I could show more over my very tiny room. It's crazy how big it looks like that, but I made a full circle. The only thing your missing is the wall with the Promethean board actually on it (which is pretty boring).

I also wanted to make sure you knew about this amazing chance to win a Silhouette Portrait although secretly I hope I do and not you because I'm such a nice person! It's kind of similar to the Cricut but WAY better, and I've been drooling over them for over a year now. The price is high for one, but it seems totally worth it! Click on the picture or don't to head over to Megan's blog for a chance to win!

Now I'm off to read more of Divergent. SOOOO good! I will blog about it later though.

Tried-it Tuesday: Duct-Tape Borders

I feel like it's been FOREVER since I last linked up with the amazing Holly for her Tried-it Tuesday, and honestly this link-up today was something I tried last year. I really still haven't done much in my room other than move furniture, but we officially go back on Thursday and have all day Thursday and Friday in our rooms (at least, that was my understanding and I hope it's true because I have a LOT to do).

This post is something new I tried last year for my new room, and I'm going to be trying it in a slightly different way this year. Hoping for some suggestions and feedback!

Since my room now is super small, I don't have any bulletin boards (or a way to hang one where I need it). My walls are magnetic, so I put the little magnet circles on the back of everything. Still, I like having something behind my CAFE board to make it stand out (and add a break from the boring cream walls). I first taped up paper and a regular border, but it was falling and messy. Then I decided to try duct-tape. Some of my coworkers had done it, and they have all these cute patterns now. So I did it!

CAFE headers from Ladybug's Teacher Files

I've found a few other patterns that I may use this year:

This one's pretty pricey, but I LOVE it and may just suck it up!

I can get this pattern at Walmart, which is more convenient, but it's actually only a little cheaper.

Anyway, that's not my dilemma. I wanted to use a tablecloth or fabric so it wouldn't fade and could stay up longer. Ideally, I'd like to go with a tablecloth because it's cheaper. I can get some cute colors at Walmart for under $1. The issue is that if I have to take it down over the summer, it will probably rip from the duct-tape and need replacing.

The fabric would be sturdier, but I'm not sure my magnets would be strong enough to hold from the other side of it AND it's more expensive up front.

I'm leaning toward the tablecloth, but I wanted your opinions. And what color tablecloth would you recommend (with which duct-tape). I saw a cute turquoise that I almost bought, but that may be too much with the first duct tape. Maybe yellow? Thoughts?

Snowmen and a penguin!

Okay, I said this would be up and ready to go, and it is! I uploaded it to my TpT store yesterday morning and even took a picture of some of the completed snowmen! I wanted to take pictures of the kids actually doing the activity, but I forgot. Oh well. Baby steps. This packet is in my store for $2. It includes 5 main ideas, and each has 3 supporting details. All are snow-related. They are geared for upper elementary grades and are meant to be a little tricky (not too hard, but they aren't all obvious choices). I did this with 4th and 5th graders yesterday. The 4th grade class got them all right eventually after reading VERY carefully and debating over the BEST choice. 5th grade pretty much breezed through it (both classes were the lowest in their grade level). 

When I prepared the activity, I cut all of the pieces into squares (there's only 5 sheets, so I did them all at once) and put them in ziploc bags. Then I gave the bags to small groups and had them work together to match the cards. They had to match EVERYTHING first to make sure it was correct. Then they cut out all of the pieces and glued them together. You could have students color them and hang them up if you wanted! Mine really wanted to write their names on the brim and decorate them, but I only have 30 minutes. Without coloring, this activity fits PERFECTLY into a 30 minute block, at least for 4th and 5th grade.

I also wanted to update my door for the rest of winter, so I went to Pinterest and looked around. Then I stumbled upon this from Mrs. Ussery's Third Grade Class:

How flippin' adorable, right? I HAD to make my own. Unfortunately our walls have not been painted ANY nice colors, so mine doesn't look quite as cute in its surroundings. It was funny, however, as we were working on putting up the pieces to hear what people thought it would be. When we added the belly, they thought snowman. Then we added the whites of the eyes and the red strip for the scarf. That made it look a LOT like a ballgown. I think our cute little penguin is going to stay with us up to Spring Break. I'm thinking of adding hearts next month and then changing out the hat and scarf for green (maybe a top hat?) during March.

I do need opinions though. What do you think I should do about the top? I tried to make a pouf, but it just didn't look good. So I pulled it off. Does it even need anything?

Classroom pics

Alright, I feel like my classroom is finally getting to a point where I'm really excited about it! If you're following me over from The Dalton Gang, you may remember my last classroom pics from about a month ago here. I was waiting on a rug that I got last weekend and added to the decor. Then I also made a few other changes. This doesn't quite show everything, but I wanted to share anyway. I'm so proud of how it looks so far! Sorry some of the pictures are poor quality. The lighting in our building is kind of pitiful.

 My rug (Walmart) and CAFE board (Ladybug's Teacher Files). I want to add some of those adorable poms that Schoolgirl Style has, but I haven't made them yet. I had to wait for the fire marshal to come through first.

My door isn't finished, but I needed something there. The letters were free on TpT. Sorry I don't remember where exactly, but I'll search for them again and post. Any ideas for what to put on the right side? I wanted something related to reading. Someone recommended an acrostic with the letters, also. I'm open to any and all suggestions.

This board came from an idea I found on Pinterest from Miss Kindergarten here:

I kept planning on getting the ribbon, modge podge, and scrapbook paper, but it didn't happen. Then I realized I had a small corkboard to do something with, so I figured it would be easier to just use it. Now I have enough space to show where myself AND my parapro are. This was at the end of the day Friday. I snapped the pictures as I was walking out of the building.

Alright, I have a niece ready to see me, so I need to get Keagan and myself ready for the day! Have a great weekend!