Teacher Fashion Linky Party

I have to admit, I may be a little of a shop-a-holic. When I can't go out and shop, I shop online. When I can't find a new top I like, I buy jewelry instead. Hence this is probably why my husband gave me a budget to stick to this year...which has been, yes, hard to say the least!

This is by far my favorite linky party yet. Thanks to Jessica over at From Blood to Books for setting up this fabulous party for all of us teacher fashionista's out there!

 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)

Here is a peak into my teacher fashion!

1. I love stores that offer a discount to teacher's and The Limited is by far my all time favorite! 15% off...can't beat that!

If you buy there stuff at the normal price, yes it is pretty pricey.  They always have sales on different apparel categories but most of all, there 40% off everything sale is the time to buy!  Oh and there pants are nothing less than amazing. I love that they have short sizes for height challenged people like me : )  

I also like The Loft and Banana Republic for cutesy tops. 

 

We are lucky to have an outlet mall close by that has these stores!

2. I am the person who always has to be matchy-matchy...whether it be my purse, shoes, earrings...they all must correlate! I have a few "go to" pieces that pretty much go with everything.

Disclaimer: I am a MK junkie. I am in love with my Michael Kors watch. I adore how it has both silver and gold and a little touch of bling with the diamond accents and mother of pearl center...perfections!  Let's face it, I carry ALOT of stuff in my purse and my MK Gansevoort can hold it all.  It seems to have unending pockets, which I love because even my purse has to be organized!  And last, my new MK studs.  They are the perfect size and add the perfect touch to any outfit!

3. I would rather my back, arm, hand, or any other body part other than my feet be in pain.  With that said, I like for my feet to feel happy. Here are a few pairs of shoes that bring me joy : )

4.  I absolutely feel most comfortable when I am in a dress.  So any morning when I am just not feeling it, I slip on one of my cotton dresses and head out the door.

5. Last year was my first year of teaching, and I was VERY thankful to not have any fashion mishaps.  Let's hope I can keep that trend going this coming year!

Talking about clothes, shoes, and accessories make me feel the need to go shopping!

What's your fashion? Grab the button and link up!

DIY Lesson Plan Book

I'm sure most of you would agree with me on this: Pinterest has made this summer SO much "craftier" than last! I just love some of the home projects as well as school projects I accomplished and I wanted to share one of my favorite items I made with you.

I don't know about ya'll, but since last year was my first year teaching, I wasn't exactly sure how to tackle lesson planning.  I decided the easiest way for me was to type up and print out my plan for each day and stick it in a binder.  Yes, it was easy to follow and kept me on schedule each day...{but} this year I really don't feel like wasting the paper AND the ink (oh, the ink---that I have to purchase).  So, I headed over to where else...no other than Pinterest and found what I thought was a FaBuLoUs idea from The Wise and Witty Teacher.

She came up with the idea of creating her own lesson plan book from a spiral and post-it notes. Here's what my final product looks like!

 

I have it broken up into 3 subjects: pink is for language arts/grammar, blue is for math, and green is for other (mainly science/social studies). The small post-its at the top are special reminders that I may need to quickly refer to: hot pink is our reading story for the week, blue is for our math topic for the week, orange is for our weekly spelling pattern, and yellow is for any important events I need to remember (assembly, parent reader, party, etc.). I haven't exactly decided what to do with the small purple strips yet...maybe denote the skills covered in those topics that week?? Suggestions?

Oh. my. word! I am SO excited to start writing down my plans.  I can't wait to see how much this helps me out this year and next year.  I LOVE the fact that there are no dates on the plans so that the post-its can easily be moved from one space to the next! No more re-writing/typing plans for me!

In case you didn't catch it earlier, here are the step by step instructions that I followed from The Wise and Witty Teacher. Props to her for coming up with this brilliant idea!

How do you organize your lesson plans? I would love to hear all about it : )

Goodbye Summer Linky Party

It's that time of the year...saying goodbye to summer and hello to reality. Although I am sad to see the last 4 days of summertime slip away, I am excited to get back into my classroom this Friday and prepare for a new group of first graders!  To help me say goodbye to summer, I am linking up with Peterson's Pad.

Here's the rules:
*Share 4 things about your summer!

1. A place you visited

2. A book you read (either for fun or for school)

3. Something you did or made for your school class

4. A fun thing you did

*Grab the picture above and share it on your blog.
*Write your post then come back here and link up.
*PLEASE comment on the 2 links before you and the 1 after you.

Here's my summer in review!

1. My husband and I usually go on a cruise for vacation every summer and this year we followed suit but with a few friends.  We left from Galveston and sailed to Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel.  We did some fun shore excursions: snorkeling, buggy ride, and zip lining.  We were quite adventuresome!The weather could have cooperated a little better, but needless to say it was a nice way to get away for a week!!

 2. I ended up reading both for fun and for school this summer.
I know this is crazy but it took me ALL summer to read all 3 of these books.

I have been looking forward to reading this book since I first heard about it last year. I am so excited to start the Daily Five in my classroom this year! 

3. I absolutely LOVE making new things for my classroom, and this summer I was just as crafty as can be.  My ~sweet~ hubby helped me with 2 of my favorite projects.  We made a book bin holder for all my kiddos new book bins for the Daily 5.

And then, I could not pass up making crate seats for my writing center!

4. To kick off the summer, my mom, myself, grandma, aunt, and cousin took a girls trip to Kemah where we stayed on the boardwalk. 

Here's to making the best of my last 4 days of summer!

One Excited Newbie

Hi Ya'll!  I have been a teacher blog follower for the past year now.  Through this journey I have gained some amazing new teaching ideas (as last year was my first year teaching) and have become inspired by all the teaching blogs I have been following to create my own blog to share my ideas and insights into the world of teaching first grade! 

Like all of ya'll out there, I have been working hard this summer getting my classroom ready for the new school year.  Our firsties arrive 3 weeks from this coming Monday! I'm sad summer is over but glad to get back into my normal routine and start off my second year of teaching : )

Enough about me...here is something you can look forward to.  I have been creating lots of new things for my room this summer and am excited to share those FREEBIES with you in the coming weeks!  I also am thrilled to take you on a tour of my classroom.

Speaking of freebies...here's the first!  Enjoy this set of chevron print alphabet cards.

Click here to download the file.

Here's to a new blogging journey! I hope to lavish you with new ideas and inspiration from one teacher to another : )