Classroom Progress and Teacher Bag Linky

I was able to go into my clasroom today! I was soooooo glad to get out of the house and do something useful. 

Being that my interview is tomorrow, I tried to limit myself to things that could be used in whichever classroom I end up in, even though I decided to rearrange the room anyway. I figure whoever is there if I leave will appreciate it. =) 

Here is what my room looked like when I walked in this morning! YIKES!

The teacher who was in here before me didn't take anything off the walls....ugh. 

But here is some more of the madness!

 Those computers are so heinous and ancient and so is that table....I tried to see our computer guy had any other options, but it's not looking great! He did say that I will get more Dell Tablets this year to hopefully compensate for those worthless computers! haha

One big project I wanted to tackle was to reorganize my library books into the new bins I purchased at Target! They were only 79 cents! I'm getting rid of all of my neon baskets so that my bold color classroom theme is more prevalent. 

  I also plan on covering that awful looking chair...

I got a lot of them organized, but there are SOOOO many left to do! 

I have to go purchase more of those bins, but I think I'll wait until after my interview tomorrow and see how that goes first. 

And my friend Jen Ross over at Teacher By the Beach is hosting a fun little linky to show off your teacher bag!

I am a Thirty One girl. I love all of the compartments they offer. I love the prints. And I love that they are monogrammed. It makes my heart happy!

Here are a couple of the teacher bags I used last year!

I'm also loving this bag from Elizabethsplace on Etsy! 

Go link up your cute teacher bag with Jen! Cause I wanna see it. =)

More updates to come on my classroom and my interview tomorrow! =)

Classroom Job Buttons

I told you I would be working on classroom job buttons in addition to my motivational pack and so I am here today to share them with you!

I did not include full pages of the same button in this file like I did in the last one because most people don't have their entire class do the same job. Rather, I chose to include pages of individual buttons. If you happen to need duplicates, you can just print multiple pages. =)

I also tried to rack my brain and think of TONS of different jobs you might have in your classroom. Some of the ones included in here are similar but with different names. There should be plenty here to choose from so I won't be adding more! Thank you to those of you who helped give me ideas for jobs to include as well! You guys are the best!

You can head over and purchase them for $2.50 by clicking the image above!

You'll notice that I decided to take a bit of a different approach with these buttons. 

I wanted to think of a way that would be the most convenient for students to take them on and off as I'm sure helping 20 different students pin a button to their shirts everyday isn't exactly practical, especially those little bitties! So, I came up with the idea of attaching a ribbon to the back of the buttons instead. It's cuter, it's quicker to take on and off, and easier to display. I think I will hang them near the door so when students come in in the morning, they can just grab theirs and go.

I used to do EVERYONE has their own job each week in my classroom and found that I was just horrible about moving clips on the chart. Who's with me??

Then I discovered the best idea ever over at Sarah Cooley's blog post on helpers in the classroom. You can read that post HERE! Seriously, this revolutionized the way I did helpers. All I have to do now is have one boy helper and one girl helper each week! It's a life saver and a time saver. No moving a million clips around the chart. {Kudos to those of you that do and it works for you, but it just didn't for me!} 

Here's how it works each week. I put all of the boy names on a ring and all the girls names on a ring. Like this...

{This example is from Sarah's classroom because I couldn't find mine any where!}

Each week, I just flip to the next boy or girl helper. They are responsible for doing ALL of the important jobs for the week. We go over these at the beginning of the year a long with expectations. 

With my new buttons, I plan on displaying them underneath the name rings so the kids can just grab them on their way in each morning. 

I finally get to go into my classroom tomorrow and get started! I've decided I'm going to go despite my interview being Thursday. I plan on working on stuff I can use in either room just so I can get my lazy self out of the house and doing something useful! 

I'll be posting pictures of my room as it comes a long and pictures of projects that I'm working on as well so you want to stay tuned this coming week! I'll keep you updated about the interview as well!

Brag Buttons {Monday Made It}

I'm joining in on this week's Monday Made It to share with you a little something I've been working on this week. 

You've no doubt all heard about Brag Tags, right? Well, this is kind of a spin on Brag Tags and I'm sure I'm not the first one who has had this idea, but I thought I would make Brag Buttons instead! I personally just think they are cuter, but that's just me!

Here are some examples of the ones I printed and made! 

They turned out super duper cute if I do say so myself! These buttons came from Hobby Lobby. You can get a pack of 12 buttons for $4.99. The back of the buttons just snap into the front. It took less than 5 minutes to assemble all 12 of these. You can purchase these buttons at any local craft store! I scoured Dollar Tree and Dollar General, but they didn't carry them, so your best bet is the craft store {Michael's, Hobby Lobby, A.C. Moore, etc...}

I created a set of 39 buttons to print and use in your classroom and they are on sale in my TPT shop for half off for the day! Just click the image below to head on over and grab yourself a set!

Annnnnd I also created a little freebie download for you that is also available for download in my TPT shop! Just click the image below to go grab your free copy!

I will be working on button sets for classroom jobs and classroom rewards as well, so stay tuned in the coming week! 

You can also win yourself a copy of this newest creation by just commenting with your email below and giving me some examples of buttons you would like to see in the classroom jobs and classroom rewards sets! I'll choose a winner tomorrow!

In Limbo

Well, I woke up yesterday morning to a job interview offer in the district that I have been trying to get into. I got a couple of interviews back in May, but nothing came of it and nothing has since until this week. I don't know how I feel about it. On the one hand, I know this could be my one opportunity to get into this small district that's closer to home for me. It's not Title I {which honestly scares me} because that's all I've ever known. On the other hand, I've already moved classrooms at my school and have gotten settled into the idea of teaching second grade. I was actually starting to get really excited about it. I've printed tons of things, bought tons of second stuff on TPT, and now...I just have to wait. 

The email didn't give me a grade so I don't even know what grade I'm interviewing for. I think I would be okay moving at this point if it was a second or third grade position, but something in my gut just tells me it's fourth or fifth grade and I just don't know if I want to deal with the stress of so many standards to cover being that I'm 6 months pregnant. 

Oh yeah, and I'm pregnant. I know they aren't supposed to hold it against me, but I feel like they probably will. People keep saying it won't matter, but I just don't know. 

I'm going to go, give my best, hope for the best, and just see how it goes. You can never have too much interview experience! All I can do at this point is think positive thoughts! The worst that can happen is I go and it's not for a grade I feel comfortable with. All I have to do is say no if I get offered a position I'm not really crazy about, right? 

In the meantime, I feel like I can't do anything related to my class which kind of makes me sad! The interview isn't until Thursday of next week so I have a lot of time between now and then to kill. And who knows how long they will wait to call me. The last interview I had in the district, the principal didn't call me to let me know one way or the other for two weeks or more. By then, it'll be almost time to start back! Ahhh. This whole thing is just giving me anxiety!

Anyway, this post wasn't anything helpful for you, but I just needed to vent a little. I'm feeling kind of weird and unsure right now. I'll keep you all posted and let you know what happens. =)

Thanks for reading!

A Peek at my Long Range Plans

I've been working hard this week to get my long range plans done and I think I finally settled on a plan I am happy with. Moving to a new grade with a new group of teachers is going to be a challenge in that I'm not sure everyone will be on the same page with me. I have made certain changes to their LRP's from last year based on what I think these students need to be ready for 3rd grade next year {since that's where I coming from}. Regardless, I think I have to do what is best for my students!

I created two formats. The first is a glance at the whole year month by month. This is something that I think will be great to send home with parents at the beginning of the year so they know what they can expect. The second format is mostly for me and my own planning purposes. I've updated and changed the format of the latter one a bit to better suit my needs.

These long range plans reflect the 2nd grade Common Core standards for Math and ELA, but 2nd grade South Carolina standards for Science and Social Studies.

You can download your own copy HERE and edit them however you would like. You will need the fonts KG Always a Good Time, KG Miss Kindergarten, and KG One More Night to view the file correctly. I recommend having these fonts installed before you download and open the file since it is editable. If you do not know how to download and install new fonts, please click HERE for a simple tutorial form the Kayla Aimee Writes Blog!

I hope you find these useful! Happy Planning!

Wish List Wednesday!

It's that time of the week again!

My most wishlisted item this past week has been my Back to School Super Hero Unit!

It will be 50% off in my shop tomorrow ONLY and you can enter my Rafflecopter for a chance to win yourself a set! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Please leave your email in the comment!

Congrats to you Beverly! Please check your email!

Genre Posters and Rustic Chic Decor

I think it is a miracle that I have blogged so much in the last week! I am amazed at myself! I've been creating new stuff like crazy. I guess I'm trying to make up for all the lost time this last year, so sorry for the creativity overload!

In light of my new classroom theme, I needed some Genre Posters that would match. Thus, Bolds and Brights was born!

I am seriously so in love with how these turned out! I cannot wait to print, laminate, and hang them!

I have them in pastel and neon colors as well!

Not everyone will like the colors I wanted to use.

I also finished my Rustic Chic Decor set in teal, gray, and lime accents!

Both the posters and my decor set are available in my TPT shop!

And as always, you can win both of these sets today if you can just answer one little question!

What's my new favorite TV show? {Hint: It's fairly new on television.}

Back to School Decor, Ideas, and a Freebie!

I am itching to get back into my classroom this year. I'm moving rooms and moving grades, so it's time for a face lift! I don't really do "themes" so much as color schemes. Two things have inspired my decor this year. 

This tape...

{I love those deep teal, green, and brown colors!}

And Reagan Tunstall's amazingly beautiful, crisp, and clean classroom!

You can check out her full room HERE!

I'm thinking to simplify and just stick to a few colors. 

I also saw this adorable idea for making over my plastic drawers! You can see the original post about them HERE!

I'll also be giving my crate seats a little makeover! 

Every aspect of my room will be made over. My neon book bins are out and clear plastic sterilite bins are in! 

Here are some other great things I snagged at Target and I'm in love!

Looking for new book bin labels? You can purchase your own set of these from the Brown Bag Teacher HERE!

I scoured TPT and Pinterest for just the right classroom decor set to match my vision and I just couldn't find one. So...I had to make my own! I'm pretty excited about it!

You can grab your own decor set by clicking my TPT button below!

For a little freebie from this set, click the picture below to download!

I also have another decor set in the works if you are looking for something a little lighter and brigther!

And as usual, you can win a set of my new classroom decor if you can guess how many boxes of crayons I bought at Target today! haha Please comment below with your guess and your e-mail! =)