NEON Class Decor

I haven't been doing much creating these last few days. I've been ridiculously kind of addicted to watching the Olympics. I love Love LOVE the summer Olympics! Mainly gymnastics, diving, and volleyball! It also makes me kind of feel like I need to REALLY get in shape! haha

Anyway, today it's been raining all day and I felt like I needed to get my booty in gear and make some new NEON decor for my room! So coming soon...

I plan on including a welcome banner with an editable version for you as well.

I will also be including the following:

* Word Wall Word alphabet headers with editable word templates

* Desk Plates

* Name Tags

* Supply Signs

* Schedule Cards

* Multipurpose Labels

* Bulletin Board idea

* Binder Covers for teachers and students

I've only just started, but what do you all think? Is there anything else you all think should be included in the set? 

I need your advice my bloggy friends!

Glow Stick Gifts

As you all know, my room theme this year is NEON! Holla!

So, with the help of some bloggy besties, we were able to brainstorm some cute quips to accompany these cool  glowsticks I bought from the Target dollar bin.

Here are the printables you can adhere to the glowsticks!

There is another page of leaf cut outs in the actual file.

If you wish to download this items for FREE, please click HERE!

My friend Kathy, from Kathy's Coordinate Class, is giving away a $20 TPT gift card! Head over to her blog to enter! 

Fabulous Find Friday Take 2

I have been shopping like a MADWOMAN this week. No joke. I can't even think about the obscene amount I've spent! AH! But, it will be worth it!

I finally bought myself a circle cutter!!

Woot Woot!

And I saw these cute NEON letters so of course I had to snag those as well!

And look what is supposed to arrive Tuesday!!

I CAN-NOT WAIT! Seriously. 

What did you find this week? 

Go link up with Elizabeth from Fun in Room 4B!

Neon MP3 Players Clip Art

Hey guys! I haven't posted about my clip art in forever because...well, I haven't been making any! haha 

Anyway, I made these cute MP3 players in NEON colors! You know how I feel about neon!

I am also in the process of uploading all of my clip art to my new TPT clip art shop! I would love for you to head over there and follow my shop and my clip art blog!

Christmas in July Sale!

Hey friends! I am participating in the Christmas in July sale!

These items are 25% off til midnight!

Head to either of my shops below!

Room Theme Reveal!!

Hello again bloggy friends! 

I have finally decided on a room theme for this year. It isn't really a theme so much. More like a color scheme. 

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!!!!!

ALL things NEON with a splash of black and white!

I was inspired by a number of things including some target dollar bin items (They just spoke to me...)

These adorable signs from Second Grade Shenanigans

Might just have to use those puppies on the very first day! 

And pretty much everything that Kristen from Ladybug's Teacher Files makes...

And my mom and I made these adorable zebra print crate seats to surround my kidney table!

I just posted about making these this morning! (I know I'm a bad girl for posting twice today, but I just got so excited!) If you would like to visit the tutorial link, click HERE!

I also purchased some glow sticks from the dollar bin at the end of the last school year! I'm trying to figure out how I can incorporate those...

Anyway, in "light" of my new theme (haha get it!?), I made a N.E.O.N. Binder and I wanted to share it with you!! (Navigating Everyday with Organization and Neatness) FO FREE!

You can download your own copy of the binder covers, directions, and inserts HERE if you wish to use them! This set is an editable powerpoint 2010 file. The images have been flattened to the background. To customize, just add text boxes to wherever you wish the text to appear. 

If you would like the printable labels for the binder, click HERE! They are saved as a PDF to protect the graphics.

Some other fun NEON stuff I found on Pinterest!

I already purchased all my neon book bins from Really Good Stuff! And how stinking cute are those "Neon" name signs!? 

 I have those neon cut outs in my etsy cart already!

I just think this banner/hanging thing is cool looking!

 Neon toilet paper!? What!? So cute...

These tissue paper balls will be my next DIY project.

What is your room theme this year?

How to Make a Crate Seat

I finally made my own crate seats after much Pinspiration!! I have had many requests to share the process with you and I just couldn't wait for Monday Made It!

Things to consider:

* The crates I purchased were from Walmart. They are not the standard sized square crates. These measure 12 by 9 inches whereas the typical square crates are 15 by 15 inches. You can choose whichever works best for you. If you have older students, you will probably want to go with the regular sized crates.

* I chose plywood from Lowe's that measured a half inch in thickness. You can go smaller, but I wanted to make sure these were durable and last me a LONG time! 

* Choose a fabric that will match your room decor! Duh!

* I used a TWIN XL mattress pad from Bed Bath and Beyond, but if you make these using the regular sized square crates, you will want to buy a larger size depending on how many crates you are making. 

I made a total of 8 crates to go around my kidney table. 

Here is what I purchased:

* 8 crates from Walmart for $4.97 a piece (You can probably find them cheaper, but I got tired of going to different places to find the ones I wanted.)

* 1 large piece of half inch thick plywood from Lowe's for $17.47. 

* 3 yards of fabric for $5.33 per yard. (Determine how many yards you need based on the size of your crates and how many you plan on making.)

* 1 foam mattress pad from Bed Bath and Beyond for $19.99. (You can get them from Walmart too, but I wanted a higher quality so that they would last longer)

* Staple Gun (FREE because I already had one!)

What I spent: $93.21

Here's how I did it:

1) Measure the length and width of your crates so you know how your plywood needs to be cut. Or, do what I did and just take your crate into Lowe's with  you and have them measure it for you! =) They're super nice! We had to cut the plywood a bit smaller than the exact dimensions so that it would be easily pulled out for the storage space underneath. The people at Lowe's or Home Depot will cut the plywood for you for FREE!

2) Lay your plywood on top of the mattress pad and trace as many as you need. I wanted to have two pieces of foam per seat, so I cut out 16 pieces of foam total. 

 3) Cut out your fabric making sure to leave enough around the edges to fold over the seat. We placed the plywood on the fabric and cut that way. My mom even taught me a little trick! If you just make a small snip in the side of the fabric, you can just rip it the rest of the way and it makes a clean line! See as my mom demonstrates! haha

4) Place your foam pieces down on the plywood.

5) Flip your plywood over face down on the fabric.

6) Pull the fabric around and staple it to the plywood! We did it like we were wrapping a present!

7) Staple your ribbon to the plywood where you stapled the fabric so that you have a handle to pull your seat up and access the storage!

That's it folks!

It took us a little over an hour to make all 8!! They came out super cute and I love them! 

Stay tuned for my room theme 2012-2012 reveal! I'm excited!

SUPER Back to School Unit and Activities

This last week has literally been a whirlwind of excitement and nonstop activity! I am sooooo POOPED! I flew back from St. Louis Thursday and then left Friday morning to go to Wilmington (which is like 5 hours away from me) to go to a baby shower! But, over the weekend, I had a smidgeon of time to put the finishing touches on my new back to school unit! Whooo hooo! <----Insert chair dancing here!

It has 61 pages of printable activities including:

* Four Writing Graphic Organizers and Publishing Pages:

- How to Have a Super Year

- How to Be a SUPER Student

- Knocking Out a New Year

- My Super Summer Vacation

* My Super Traits (All About Me)

* Writing SUPER Goals:

- What are goals?

- Writing realistic and unrealistic goals

- My Super Goals

* SUPER Synonyms About Me

* Create your own superhero (You have students draw a superhero and envision the kind of the student they wish to be)

* ________ to the Rescue (Class Rules)

* Super Survey

* My Super Brain is full of Math Facts:

- Basic addition and subtraction facts

- Two digit addition and subtraction with regrouping

- Two digit addition and subtraction without regrouping

* Teacher To Student Gift Idea

* Compare and Contrast Venn Diagram of your favorite real life and superhero

* What is Onomatopoeia?

- SUPER OnomatoMEa (Students write five sentences about them using onomatopoeia words)

I took some of your ideas and just went with it!

It is available in both shops!

In keeping with my promise of sharing ideas while posting products, I want to share some ideas and activities of things I have done during the first week of school that worked well for me.

1) Have a paper ball fight! WHAT?! I know what you are thinking, but don't worry, it's all organized chaos! HAHA Have the students write one fact and one false thing about themselves on a piece of paper and then ball it up like you're going to throw it in the trash! Or you can even have them write one fact and one opinion about themselves and do the same thing. Then, you have a paper ball fight! Give them some guidelines, like don't throw the paper in anyone's face. Duh! And let em' go at it for two minutes! When you call time, have them pick up the nearest paper ball, read it, and have them try to guess who wrote it! It was so much fun last year!

2) Consensogram Gallery Walk - I have posted about this before, but I didn't think it would hurt to share it again! I take large sheets of chart paper and write questions on each one. For example, "What is your favorite subject?" Give each student 5-6 sticky dots and a couple of sticky notes. Have them go around the room and answer each question, placing their sticky dot under their choice. The sticky notes are for the open ended questions. Set a timer for each question, and rotate around the room until all the questions are complete! Here is an example: 

3) About ME Bag - On the first day each year, I have an artifact placed at each student group that is related to me. Students have to observe each item and discuss what they think it is and why they think it is important to me. This is a great Social Studies discussion about what are artifacts! Anyway, after each group shares and discusses their thoughts, I share how it's related to me and it's importance to me. They love getting a little glimpse into who I am! Last year I used a bull magnet that I got during my trip to Spain, a very old picture of my grandfather, my old YMCA daycamp bag, a piece of artwork I made, and my childhood Precious Moments bible. Then, the kids go home and fill their own brown bags with things that are important to them to share at school. I only let mine share 1 (the most important thing to them) because it would take FOREVER otherwise! 

Anyway, those are some fun things I do in my room during the first few days. I'd love to know what kinds of things you do on the first day!

So, with that being said, if you would like to win a copy of my new unit, I would like for you to share your favorite first day/few days of school activity in the comment section along with your email! Sometime tomorrow, I will use a random number generator to select a winner! Make it good!

I used a random number generator to select the winner!

Congrats Dani!! I emailed your packet!

Carolina Blogger Meet Up and Some Other Stuff

I can hardly contain my excitement! We are finally having a Carolina blogger meet up! I will finally get to meet my bloggy heroes!! 

 And no…not just for bloggers…stalkers other teacher friends are welcome to join! :) 

So, If you will be in the Columbia area on September 15, I would love to see you there! I know this is still 2 months away, and we are still in the beginning stages of planning, but I wanted to give you PA-LENTY of time to put it on your calendar! Time and location will be announced once we have a general idea of how many people to expect.

IF YOU ARE INTERESTED…

Please head over to Second Grade Shenanigans and leave a comment under Hope’s Carolina Blogger Meet-Up Post {HERE}.

Please make sure that you leave your email address so that we can contact you with further details!

What? What!? Who else is excited!? 

Again, please head over to Hope's blog and comment with your email if you are interested in attending. 

In other news, I have missed blogging and catching up with everyone these last few days, but I have immensely enjoyed my time here in Missouri for the Whole Brain Teaching conference! 

I met some bloggy friends...

Angie from Timeouts and Tootsie Rolls and Kathy from Kathy's Coordinated Class!

Ate some delicious food at a 360 degree rotating restaurant with a KILLER view...

And learned some amazing teaching strategies from Chris Biffle and his team of awesome instructors! (Sorry my camera phone was all I had!)

I can't wait to get home and share what I learned and finish working on my new Super Back to School Unit!! 

Hope to get it done soon so I can share it with you all! 

Later gators!