Back to School Shopping at Target

Last week, I entered a giveaway from Snazzy in Second and Notes from the Portable. And I won!!! Listen yall, I enter tons of blog giveaways. And never win. So this was very exciting stuff!!!

I got my digital gift card to TARGET last night and was really excited to get shopping. I knew I wanted to use it for teacher related things... I ended up spending a ton of time on the site last night and this morning trying to find just the right things to buy! I had to take a quick break from shopping to take a picture on the photobooth on my computer, because this was what my shopping trip looked like this morning:

Sorry the picture is dark, but how cute are they?! These are my youngest two babies (we have two cats and two dogs) and they follow us e.v.e.r.y.w.h.e.r.e. we go, especially the kitten! Chipper especially loves when we are working on a project... he has to sit right where we are!

I started off spending some time looking at teacher clothes, but I realized how weird I am about buying things online that I'm not sure of the fit. I am super picky about my clothes! So I ended up finding some good deals on a few school supplies I hadn't ordered yet:

These Expo markers were a steal! I love the skinny ones for my little friends to use... if they use the regular fat Expos, they write ENORMOUSLY on their whiteboards, and I find the skinny ones encourage their writing to be a bit more normal sized. I ended up ordering 4 packs of these so I will have plenty of them available for my kids to use during small groups or centers!
Teacher Tip: Newbie teachers, I have to warn you... DO NOT be tempted to buy other brands of white board markers! I know the Expos are not the cheapest, but they are worth it! I speak from experience on this one.

These file folders were something I completely forgot about ordering with my school's annual supply money. I knew there was something I was forgetting... there always is. And of course when I got to school on Monday it dawned on me right away that I was almost out of file folders! I use these for my personal files (duh) but also for putting their weekly graded papers into "Thursday Papers" each week.  This price was really good, especially because I didn't actually need 600, which is how many I feel like you usually get!

These Mr. Sketch markers were my special splurge!!! I love them for making anchor charts and what is better than a fresh pack of markers? (nothing!)

Even if you aren't looking to buy any school supplies from Target.com, you may want to check out their clearance clothes! There were tons of things marked down to ridiculously cheap prices, but selection in sizes was a bit picked over. You never know though, you may get lucky!

I had lots of fun spending my Target gift card today, and I know these things will really benefit my classroom. Thank you so much for the giftcard ladies!! If you are reading my blog today, be sure to visit their sites today and enter their latest giveaway... a Michael's gift card this time!!!

Preplanning and Room Set Up: First Things First

I'm about to enter my fifth year teaching, and each year I enter my room dumbfounded... like I've forgotten where to get started! This year, I wanted to write down what I do to get myself ready to start the year. I know it'll help me in years to come, and maybe will help you as you set up your room this year!

1. Buy your stuff: Before you even go back, buy the supplies you're going to need. Or at least make a list of what you need to order through school. At my school, we get $150 to spend at Office Max in the fall semester, and we have to order it by following a specific protocol. Other cutesy things we buy on our own. Teacher Tip: Save your receipts!!!!!! You're going to want these for your taxes, and if you're lucky, you may be able to get reimbursed for purchases you made on your own. You can read more about the stuff I bought on my own here.

2. Set up the tables/desks in your room: This is the most physically difficult part, haha. It helps to recruit an assistant, especially if you're moving big stuff! Please consider finding someone to help you (I know some of my coworkers team up!)... I know people that have gotten injured moving big furniture in their classrooms and it was bad news. If you're still figuring out how to make your room set up work for you, you're probably going to want to create a blueprint/map to at least start off with. Moving those tables is hard work and you don't want to move them over and over again if you don't have to.

3. Put your stuff up on the walls: This is the first year that I didn't take everything down so I didn't have to put it all back up! Hallelujah!!! That being said, please don't stress about getting every single thing put on the wall before the kids come. I promise it'll be okay. Just put up what you absolutely need for meet the teacher and the first week, and you're good. :)

4. Get yourself ready for Meet the Teacher: After I have my shell of the classroom set up, the next thing I focus on is Meet the Teacher. I always put together folders that have vital information for parents (I'll write a post about them ASAP!) and have my treats for the kids out at their table spots. I always make sure to have the kids names and numbers out on the tables. These are by no means their permanent seats, but it really comforts the kids and parents knowing where the children are going to sit and where their cubbies are! I put signs out with directions for parents and try to make the whole process as seamless as possible. If your school has specific things they like you to have out or talk about at meet the teacher, make sure you are ready for that!! I don't completely finish setting up every single thing in my room, because some of the meet the teacher stuff takes up space I use for other things! Just set up the essentials and you'll be good.



We don't get our *official* class lists until the day of sneak peek, and we aren't allowed to post any names in the hallways until noon of that day. I try to have everything set up the day before so that I can focus on personalization on the day I get my real list. I make a class list for the hallway, print out names for my bulletin board, write out name plates and laminate them, and start making labels for various folders/pencil boxes.

5. Get ready for the first day: When sneak peek is said and done, you can finish setting up your room for the first day of school. Always always always have a game plan for the whole week ready, and make sure you build in extra things. I'll have a post up in the coming week about what I do for the first few days of school...

Until then, breathe and know that it'll get done! Every year I stress about this and every year it turns out perfectly okay. Just remember to get the essentials done first, then worry about the extra details later. And don't think everything has to match exactly or look like some of the classrooms we see on Pinterest... some of the happiest and most productive classrooms don't have pompoms hanging from the ceiling or rainbows painted across the whole wall. Whatever you do will be perfect for you. :)

Klassy K Wednesday

I thought it would be really fun to devote one day a week to introducing myself to the internet. I know this is a teaching blog, but teachers are more than just classrooms! We are whole people, even if the kinder babies are SHOCKED to see us out and about in the world. Today's Klassy K Wednesday is devoted to a blog survey:

 Four Facts Survey

Four names that people call me other than my real name:

1. Linds
2. L
3. "Mrs. Kim" (this is not my name but I get called this by at least one person every single year!!!)
4. Bubbles (My dad has always called me this and I love it! )

Four jobs I’ve had:

1. Kindergarten Teacher (duh!!!)
2. Tennis Coach (my first job when I was in high school! I loved it! This is when I always tell people I knew I wanted to be a teacher)
3. Korean Summer School Teacher (These were some fun summers at KCPC!)
4. Store Associate (for a total of 7 weeks the summer after my freshman year. I don't think I missed my calling in retail.)

Four movies I’ve watched more than once:

1. What To Expect When You're Expecting -This is my favorite movie of all time and I have seen it at least 50 times. Probably more. I'm the annoying person who is saying the lines while they're being spoken throughout the movie. 
2. Christmas Vacation- a yearly tradition in our house
3. Sweet Home Alabama- Reese at her absolute best! I have this one on my DVR and I am never deleting it!!!
4. Just Friends- the awkward hug dance is my favorite.

Four books I’d recommend:

1. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
2. The Little Prince by Antoine de St. Exupery (if you can read French, you have to read this in French!!! Makes me cry every time) (Yes, I can still read French) (No I can't speak it or understand it orally!)
3. Looking For Alaska by John Green (and I'll throw in An Abundance of Katherines for free with that one)
4. Along for the Ride by Sarah Dessen

Four places I’ve lived

1. Marlborough/East Hampton, CT
2. Johns Creek, GA
3. Athens, GA

1. Acworth, GA

Four (recent) places I’ve visited:

1. Elijay, GA- this cabin rental was our Christmas present to each other last year!

2. Denver, CO - Loved visiting my bestie!!!

3. Chicago, IL - My first time in this city since I was a baby! We went for a gorgeous christening

  

Orlando, FL - Spring Training this year

Four places I’d rather be right now:

1. My classroom setting up (although when this goes live I will be there! haha)
2. My couch watching TV with my babies
3. My parents pool
4. On the lake with Britt!

Four things I prefer not to eat:

1. HOT DOGS- no one understands this but I think they are the GROSSEST things ever
2. Fish- I love sushi, but fish just grosses me out. I can't bring myself to eat it unless it's in something!
3. Soda- hate it! Always have and always will!
4. red sauce- it's just not my face. I love the fatty alfredo so much better

Four of my favorite foods:

1. MACARONI AND CHEESE- the blue box from Kraft! No fancy pants stuff for me...
2. Sushi from Izumi in Woodstock
3. Anything from Chickfila
4. Teriyaki burgers (made by D of course)

Four TV shows I watch:

1. The Bachelor/Bachelorette (and Bachelor in Paradise starting this weekend!)
2. New Girl
3. Teen Mom (I feel terrible for liking this show but I have been following these girls since I was in high school. I have to watch!)
4. Walking Dead (SO GOOD)

Four things I’m looking forward to this year:

1. Our trip to DC in a few weeks and other fall weddings!!
2. Meeting my new kiddos in 8 days!
3. Football season and playing fantasy football with friends!
4. Fall and fall weather! I need an excuse to wear my new booties and scarves!

Four things I’m always saying:

1. Love you (I say this to everyone when I say goodbye to them! I never want to regret not telling someone that!)
2. Why didn't I put on more sunscreen???? <- Me every time I was in the sun this summer
3. What's for dinner? (This one makes D laugh because he says I'm obsessed with knowing what's for dinner)
4. Where are you? (I get lost in stores a lot because I have a tendency to wander...)

I hope you enjoyed getting to know me a little better! Feel free to play along!

CHAMPS strategy and playing catch up!

Hello! I know my blog is still new and I didn't intend to leave for 5 days, but some things came up (insert big eyed emoji here):

We have spent my summer "vacation" (six weeks of tutoring and eight weeks of three grad school classes hardly left me with tons of free time) fixing up our house to get ready to sell it soon. D and I got the urge to rip the carpet off the stairs this weekend and have been working on the stairs ever since. This is after about 3 days of work... I can't wait to see the final project! Anyway, I went into my room yesterday and can't wait to show you my room at the end of the week! I've also been busy working on some projects here at home to get ready for pre-planning next week.

I put the finishing touches on my Meet the Teacher goldfish and books. I just made my labels in word, and they aren't anything fancy. I normally put a border or clipart on labels for things like this, but I had a lot to say and I wanted the font to be big. I used purple for girls and blue for boys.

I also got started on a BRAND NEW project today. In the spring, I completed some leadership trainings. Most of them were basic, survey type sessions, but during the behavior session I learned about the CHAMPS behavior strategy. The letters stand for conversation, help, activity, movement, participation, success. It's a behavior management strategy based around setting very clear expectations for students, and I'm really excited to give it a try. You can read more about it here. I know the hot trend is tossing out your clipchart, but I'm not ready to do that just yet! I'm planning on incorporating CHAMPS along with my clipchart for now, and hopefully ditching the chart one day. 

I'm putting together a board that is kinder-friendly. This means lots of colors and lots of pictures! I completed my board today, and I'm going to print/laminate some photographs and clipart for the help, activity, participation, and movement parts. For the conversation portion, I'm planning on printing out these visuals that are FREE on TPT. There are tons and tons of "voice level charts" on TPT and many are free! I like these and these too.

To make my chart, I started with a bright blue poster board I got at the grocery store. After making my letters, one poster board was not enough so I ended up taping a second one on too. I'm going to laminate the whole thing at the end, so the seam really won't be noticeable.

Don't you just love my home office? I actually have a big desk and work area in my guest room, but the guest room has become renovation/paint central. Now that we're done painting all the doors in our house, I'm excited to have my beautiful guest room back! Stay tuned, haha.

Next, I flipped the poster board over and put tape on my letters. Normally, I would've used a gluestick, but I didn't have one at my house today for some reason. I figured tape would be fine so I could adjust the letters if needed, and I'm going to laminate the whole thing anyway.

I just eyeballed it. Nothing perfectly perfect over here. ;)

After I had taped all the letters down, I cut off the extra poster board. I didn't want it to be too long or too wide so that it would take up a ton of space on my whiteboard at school.

The final product turned out exactly like I had visioned! I can't wait to add my visuals! I'm going to laminate this at school tomorrow and add velcro for the pictures.

I'm sure you could find some of these letters made on TPT, but I just made mine myself. I used these free fuzzy bump borders and some Hello fonts. If you emailed me, I'd be happy to send you these letters for free!
Let me know if you try this strategy as well!! What have you been working on for your classroom this summer? I'd love to know!

Back to School Project- Chalkboard Signs

Good morning! I have a fun project to share with yall today, and it's another one of those cute, back to school things that you can do from the comfort of your living room. :)

Every year we make scrapbooks for our kids. These turn into a HUGE project and end up taking a lot of time and a lot of money, but that's where the inspiration for this project came from. I always love having a first day of school and end of school (NOT last day, because we send the scrapbooks home a couple days early!) and these signs help commemorate that.

This project can be as simple or as difficult as you want it to be. The best part is that it's a chalk board... so if you mess up, you can do it again!

Here's what you'll need:

• chalkboard signs- I got mine at Walmart for about $5 each, and I have seen them there in the craft department very recently, but couldn't find them on Walmart's website! These are from Amazon and look really similar.
• Chalkboard markers- These are the ones I have, and they have really bad reviews on Michael's! I love them so I don't know why those people are so angry. They've lasted a while, too, since I use them on my kitchen chalkboard every week to write out our calendar.
• Mr. Clean Magic Eraser- This one is super important! This is the only thing I know of that will truly clean chalkboard marker (which is really more of a paint if we're being honest) off without leaving some kind of shadows or smudgies behind. Teacher Tip: These things are great for cleaning EVERYTHING! I like to buy the off brand ones at Rite Aid for a dollar and they work just as well. :) 

That's it! I made two signs: one that says "1st Day of Kindergarten" and one that says "End of Kindergarten".  Here's how they turned out! I promise to add more pictures when I get into my classroom next week and pull these out of the closet:

(Don't you just love that kinder outfit???) 

These were so popular this year that they got passed around the grade level for my friends to borrow! A few people were wondering how I learned to make lettering like that, and honestly, it's just lots of years of doodling and practice. And believe me, I used that Magic Eraser to re-do these signs about 5 times each! You could do block letters or bubble letters or letters with little dots on the corners, which are some of my favorites. :)

Even if you don't take pictures that need these signs, these are a really cheap way to decorate and I'm sure all the creative teachers out there could find tons more ways to use these. Let me know if you do!

It's O Fish ial!

Remember the other day when I shared this picture with you, and told you I had a plan for them??

I got started on my project today and had to share it! This is a project my team found on Pinterest last year, and it is honestly one of the cheapest and cutest things for meet the teacher, if you ask me. I put these goldfish packs out at Meet the Teacher night, along with a folder of information for the parents to take home and some forms for parents to fill out. Here's a peek at how the project turned out last year:

All you need for this is:

• Individual packs of goldfish crackers. I highly recommend buying these at Sams or Costco for about $8. Here are the ones that I bought.
• hole punch
• scissors
• cardstock or regular printer paper
• cheapo gift ribbon from Dollar Tree or the grocery store

If you spend any time on Pinterest, you'll come across tons of different labels for this project. Personally, I thought this one from First Grade Blue Skies was the cutest, and it's completely free! She has other grades available on there, too!

You just print out the labels onto your favorite cardstock or printer paper. I wanted these to be sturdy, so I highly recommend using cardstock rather than regular paper. If you do use regular paper, I would glue these onto construction paper, but that will be way more work!

After printing the labels, cut out the circles to the size that you want. I didn't feel like cutting out each little bumpy, so I left a small amount of white around each one. If you have a large circle punch, this would really cut down on the time for this project!

When you're done, punch a hole in the top of each circle and the very top corner of each snack bag. You don't want to make a hole where the actual crackers is, or they will get stale! I intend for mine to look just like the ones above from last year, but I'm using lime green ribbon to tie them all together this year. I thought the green would compliment the orange bag and border, while matching some things in my classroom as well!
The best part of this project (besides being cost effective, hello!) is that you can make these way ahead of time, put them back in the box, and stow away until the day your kids come to meet you. These would be really cute for the first day of school as well!

What do you do when your kids come to Meet the Teacher?!

A-Z Survey

Good morning! I saw this on Theodora's blog this morning, and even though it's not necessarily teaching related, it seemed so fun! So here we go:

A – Age: 26

B – Biggest Fear: Closed spaces. Super claustrophobic over here. I don't even like wearing tight clothes because I feel TRAPPED

C – Current Time: 7:26 AM

D – Drink You Had Last: Water to the max. I've always loved drinking water.

E – Easiest Person To Talk To: D$! Just ask him how much I love talking to him about every minute detail of my life each day.

F – Favorite Song: Anything by Taylor Swift, always and forever.

G – Grossest Memory: In recent memory — I found cat poop all over the laundry room floor yesterday and started screaming! Apparently *someone* spilled while they were emptying the litter box the other day.

H – Hometown: Johns Creek, Georgia.

I – In Love With: D, Murphy, Ripken, Cody, and Chipper.

J – Jealous Of: All the new construction houses we look through (this is our favorite hobby). We are redoing our whole house, just to get it ready to sell, and I'm kind of getting to the point in our projects where I want to be done and moved already.

K – Kindest Person You Know: Well... I'm a kindergarten teacher so I am surrounded by kind people every day! I could never decide on just one!

L – Longest Relationship: D (and Murphy before D ever came along!)

M – Middle Name: Michele

N – Number of Siblings: 2 biological... but as people get married, my family just keeps getting bigger and bigger.  I love it!

O – One Wish: For my sweet friend to kick cancer's butt.

P – Person You Spoke To On The Phone Last: My mom! I talk to her almost every day.

Q – Question You’re Always Asked: "How do you do it?" (re: teaching kindergarten, haha)

R – Reason To Smile: I have a wonderful life with my best friend, and I have FOUR pets that make me smile every day.

S – Song You Last Sang: Take Me Out to the Ballgame during the 7th inning stretch!

T – Time You Woke Up: 6 AM... I wish I could sleep when it's summer, but my body won't let me!

U – Underwear Color: Purple Ikat pattern (yeah, I'm pretty snazzy)

V – Vacation Destination: Anywhere a cruise will take me! D and I are dying to go on a cruise, but if we want a new house, I don't think it's going to happen for a while :(

W – Worst Habit: chewing... anything. Gum really loudly, ice (again, loudly), pens, my cuticles...

X – X-Rays You’ve Had: My foot (when I broke it after being in college for three days. Yes, really), my teeth, and my lungs after having two asthma attacks this spring

Y – Your Favorite Food: MACARONI AND CHEESE. But not even the fancy kind. Either my homemade (and only mine) or Kraft forever and ever.

Z – Zodiac Sign: Aquarius 

If you take this survey too, leave a link in the comments! I LOVE reading surveys!

Back to School Shopping

Hello and happy Thursday!
I know it's summer vacation, but I spent the entire day at my school for a training, and I am officially in BTS mode. My guest room is begging for school to start:

When I was first starting out in kindergarten, I had no idea what to do to get ready for the upcoming school year. Now that I have a few years under my belt, I wanted to share some of my purchases from this summer! I typically will buy things slowly so as not to break the bank, but this year I went all out in about a week. Here's what I found:

The School Box

Every summer, I spent about $30 at The School Box. It's the best teacher store in the metro Atlanta area, and the only place I know of around here where you can buy individual packs of construction paper! Be still my heart. Anyway, here's a peak at some of my finds

Name plates, birthday crowns, special stationary for my "About Me" letter to parents, and person die-cuts for our special beginning of the year project!

Walmart/Target

This is where I pick up the folders I use for my take-home folders in my classroom. You MUST get the vinyl folders, people! Most of these make it through the year, and I always have a few extra on hand for new students and the occasional broken/torn folder. I buy the non-name brand versions of these, because I don't want logos and a lot of stuff on the cover. I actually bought out all the ones they had at my Target, then went to Walmart for the rest! They're typically 50 cents each.

Staples

This was a new spot for me, and I went specifically for these folders. Every year, I try to find these at the cheapest place possible, and I knew 15 cents each was a great deal! Just a note- there is a 30 count max on the fifteen cent price, so bring someone along to buy the others you're definitely going to need. I use these for meet the teacher night and curriculum night, and I send them home for the families to keep both times. That's why cheap is essential.
Teacher Tip: I purposely use colors for these folders that I don't use in my classroom. For instance, we have purple take home folders, and red art folders. I wanted to make sure these stood out as being just for meet the teacher and curriculum night.

Target Dollar Spot

Like so many other teachers on summer vacation, I went a little crazy at the Target Dollar Spot... I may or may not have gone four times in one week. It was mayhem! And every day I found different things.
Teacher Tip: If you don't see something out in the dollar spot that you have seen other teacher buying recently, ask someone from the store to look in the back! We found a whole slew of Dr. Seuss stuff back there.

I bought out all they had in these bins! I wish I had gotten there sooner!

EVERY SUMMER my teammates and I clear out the dollar section's Dr. Seuss supplies. They always come out first thing in July. We use them as presents for Dr. Seuss's birthday in March!

My kids LOVE these pointers, and they're much cheaper from the dollar section than from teacher supply stores!

Okay, this cost more than a dollar, but I love it! I can't wait to hang it by my desk.

Sam's Club

Random spot, but there are some great finds here! I am lucky enough that most of my students bring in the requested school supplies, so my go-to here is individual packs of Goldfish crackers. I'll share my favorite meet the teacher project that uses these ASAP! It was about $8 for the box of 24 packs.
Teacher Tip: Pick up a box if you want to have extra snacks on hand for kids who forget.

Scholastic

This one is extra special. My sweet boyfriend bought me 24 of these books when they were a dollar each. Sadly, I don't think they are available anymore, but keep them in mind next May/June when you have lots of bonus points built up! I am giving them as another meet the teacher gift in August.
Teacher Tip: If you don't have a scholastic club account, you must make one this August! I'll do a post about setting up your account when the club reopens in August.