Calling all shopaholics...

As I'm sure many of you already know, TpT and numerous teachers are having a HUGE Back to School Sale this weekend! 

I am so excited to stock up on so many goodies for this year! If you're going to be taking advantage of the savings, hop on over to my little store! I have plenty of NEW owl and pirate (yes, I said pirate) themed items, Back to School centers, plus some common core posters that are sure to come in handy! Make sure you enter code BTS12 at checkout to receive the additional 10% off!!

In celebration of this awesome event, I've linked up with Blog Hoppin. For those of you who REALLY love shopping, set aside some time NOW and check out all these wonderful store who are also participating in the sale!

Also, thank you so much to all of my new followers! I've almost hit 100 and have managed to round up some good freebies for my upcoming giveaway! Be on the look out!

That's all for now. Short, sweet, and to the point!

Best wishes,

Giveaways, donations, and a sale... oh my!

T - 14 days!! I honestly cannot believe how fast this summer has gone by! Although I really have been enjoying this expensive creative summer, I'm definitely looking forward to getting back into the class! I miss the friendly faces, juvenile jokes, and brilliant breakthroughs! Plus, now that summer's almost over, it means TpT is having a SALE!! If you're anything like me, your wishlist is overflowing with purchases ready to be swipped up at a discounted price! I somehow managed to week my list down to 17 items. We'll see how many Hubbs will actually allow me to get away with. So mark your calendars for August 12 and 13!

I will be marking everything in my store 20% off! I know a lot of other teachers are doing the same, too. So put that Starbucks down and save your change for a few more days!

Here are some of the fabulous products you can find in my store...

Owl and Polka Dot Calendar and Classroom Super Pack

Owl and Polka Dot Reading Strategies and Skills posters

"Whooo" has a writers eye? Writing Posters

"Whooo's" Ready for First Grade Back to School Math and Literacy Centers

Leaping into Learning Back to School Math and Literacy Centers

Applelicious Apples

Spooky October Centers

Veterans Day Math and Literacy Activities and Centers

And announcing my newest creation...

ELA and Math Common core I Can Statements for First Grade

It includes a poster for each standard, written in kid friendly language, and corresponding graphic. I made them with a simple border to they could be the perfect match to any classroom theme. I hope you like 'em!

Believe it or not, I didn't show you all of my products. So head on over to my TpT store and check 'em all out! There's even a few freebies you may want to get your hands on!

I know you think you're on picture and link overload now, but you're not!! Bare with me! My sweet bloggy friend Mrs. G. at Teach on a Limb reached 100 followers and is having a giveaway! My Owl and Polka Dot Calendar and Classroom Super Pack is one of the fabulous prizes up for grabs. So hurry on over and enter! You have until Friday.

And finally, speaking of 100 followers... I'm sooo close! And in true teacher blog tradition, I'm planning a giveaway! I'm looking for a few lovely ladies to generously donate some of their goodies and be a part of this historic event (LOL, I'm a big deal in my mind...  not really)! If you're interested in teaming up, please email me at rjohnson@agminassianschool.org.

Okay, I honestly can't think of anything else to include. Aren't you glad?!?

Best wishes,

Back to School linky...

Back to school is always my favorite time of the year! Everyone comes back re-energized, goal oriented and looking sharp in their new threads and tans! Plus classrooms are bursting with sparkling, new decor (that surely won't stay that way for long)! Well, for the second year in a row, Jodi at Fun in First Grade has just created an awesome linky just for this time of the year! It's all about your favorite back to school activities. So, here's a little about what going on in my neck of the woods....

Of course I read The Kissing Hand. I usually do this as one of the first activities in the morning. Since I'm at a VERY small private school, most of us already know each other. However, it's still reassuring for those who are a little timid about having a new teacher. Then we trace our hands and form them into the sign language "I love you." We draw a heart and glue it in the middle. Sorry for the poor quality photo!

This is a picture I took of the memory books I make each year. I save this hand and glue it to the cover so they can remember their first day of school.


One of my other favorite back to school activity is making this...

The kids and I get together and talk about what we want to learn this year. This is one of my first opportunities to see what they're interested in, which is always useful information!! As they participate in our discussion, I pass out some paper and a cloud template. I try to keep this conversation very informal. I REALLY want everyone to be honest and not just repeat what their friends have said. Once everyone has had a chance to share (remember, my class size is teeny) I ask the students to trace the cloud. I did try having the kids draw their own clouds one year, but I found they would tend to draw too small. Then they would have a difficult time fitting everything inside. After they trace, they are asked to finish the sentence frame "This year I want to..." and draw a picture. There's absolutely nothing fancy about this activity. All you need to do is make some cloud templates on cardstock and cut some construction paper. I love it because I'm learning about each student in so many ways: how they write, draw, color, trace and cut; what things they're interested in; if they're able to stay on task; who is sharing and who isn't; and if they're comfortable participating in class conversations. And in case you're interested, I use this as a segway into talking about rules and why they're important... We need them so we can accomplish the things we want to do. Otherwise, there would be chaos!


This year, I'm going to be trying something NEW! I've spent the summer creating center after center to use in my class. Again, being in a private school presents a unique set of challenges. Our students tend to be VERY DEPENDENT. One way I try to promote independence is by integrating centers into our routine. Believe it or not, last year was the first year I did this. The result was well worth the time and effort it took me to put them together. Now that I have a small clue as to what I'm doing and how I want it to help, I'm really working on creating! So, if you're interested in a few back to school centers, you should check these out.

Leaping into Learning

"Whooo's Ready for First Grade?"

As I mentioned in a previous post, these centers are almost identical. The main difference is, of course, the graphics. Other than that, the owl pack includes one additional math center. As a reward for you patient readers who stuck with me and made all the way to the bottom, I'll (again) be emailing the first 5 commenters a free copy of their choice. Please don't forget to leave me your email and tell me which pack you prefer.


So, what are some of your favorite back to school activities? Link up and share!


Best wishes,

Made it Monday and more...

Let's begin with a picture...

This is what my desk looks like. No, not my desk at school. My desk in my bedroom. Can you guess how thrilled my husband is?! This may not look like much, but I can assure you, it is! Plus there's another pile beside my dresser and somehow my baking station (yes, I have a baking station! You don't??) has somehow become my crafting station. I have never bought/made so many things in one summer before!! I'm counting down the days until I get to go back to school and unload all of this crap these goodies!


So today I put the finishing touches on a pinterest inspired (shock) mailbox for myself. My students are ALWAYS writing notes to me or drawing me pictures. And I truly love them all!! The problem is that they put them on my desk.... everywhere.... all the time! I'm hoping this box will become a collecting place for my student made treasures.

I'm not too happy with how my name turned out, but hey. Whose perfect? And I know pink isn't in my polka dot/red/owl theme this year, but it is my favorite color so I had to sneak it in!


All this crafting has even started to rub off on my hubby. He actually wanted to go to Michael's with my this week! I know!! I could hardly believe it either ;) He decided while I was making my mailbox, he would make a bed for our cat. Our cat is strange. Really strange! But in a cute way! He's ADDICTED to cardboard boxes!!!!!! If we bring one home, the second it goes on the floor, his 6th sense kicks in immediately and he comes running into the room. He'll hop inside and play there, scratch at the corners and eventually fall asleep. See, I told you he was strange! Anyways, my dogs usually comes around sooner or later and rips it to shreds (which is so fun to pick up, let me tell you). So my hubbs decided to buy a wooden box. Genius!! And since he was a Marine, he had to paint it camouflage. I think it turned out pretty darn awesome...

I tried to bribe my cat to get into the box, but he wasn't going for it.


When I wasn't busy painting, I was working on my Back to School centers this week. I originally decided to go with a frog theme and call it Leaping into Learning. So that's what I did. BUT, I've had such a great response (thank you) to the owls that I just had to do that, too!

Leaping into Learning

"Whooo's" Ready for First Grade?

These centers are almost identical. Obviously the graphics are different. There is also one more math center in "Whooo's Ready for First Grade." As always, you can pick these up at my TpT store. Or, the first 5 followers to comment will get the packet of their choice for FREE! PLEASE DON'T FORGET TO LEAVE ME YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!!! I'm a lot of things, but a mind reader is not one (although that would be cool)! 


Happy Monday friends! What did you make today? Link up and share!

Best wishes, 

The home stretch...

I can't believe July is almost over!! It's hard to believe i've already been out of school for a month. The good thing is I've already accomplished so much! Last night I put the finishing touches on my new calendar and classroom labels. I can't wait to get back into my room and set it all up! If you're going with an owl or polka dot theme, check out what I created. May I introduce the Owl and Polka Dot Calendar and Classroom Super Pack (what a mouth full)...

These are just a couple of items! This packet is 125 pages of goodies to use in any classroom. It includes a calendar with all the trimming, alphabet, number line 0-20, daily schedule bulletin, birthday mini bulletin headers, lost tooth poster, reward/incentive chart, color chart with weekly tracker for students, word wall (letters) headers, classroom helpers mini bulletin, OWL student binder cover, and a "Welcome to 1st grade!" pennant banner. There are also blank labels for each in case you need to add something. I hope you'll enjoy these just as much as I am. It's the perfect finishing touch! I've listed it for 5 bucks, but you can grab it until Friday for only 3!


On a TOTALLY unrelated note, I was nominated for another award!! EEEEEEEEE!!!! Thanks to Tina at Laugh Live Love Learn for this beauty...

The 5 blogs I'm nominating for this award are...

A Series of First Grade Events

The First Grade Scoop (she has super cute freebies you should check out) 

Laughing with Lane

Scrappy Teaching in Fl

And my absolute new favorite blog... Classroom Couture

Lastly, I just want to say how amazing it feels to have so much collaboration going on. It truly pushed me to keep creating and reinventing new ways to teach old things. I don't know if I would love teaching as much if I hadn't found you all! So thanks! BTW, for those of you who made it all the way to the bottom, the first 5 to leave a comment guess my favorite animal (gee, that's a hard one) will get a free copy of my calendar super pack!

Best wishes,