End of July - Say What?!!!

I think the title of this post speaks for itself... I'm starting to panic. Not as much as some of my teacher friends who don't have jobs yet, but still.. I'm freaking out. My to do/to buy/ to ask list is growing by the second. 

To catch you up here's what has gone on. I've debated back and forth for MONTHS on buying an Erin Condren Teacher planner. Finally my mom convinced me that it was worth it. So, I bought one!! (Well, my mom paid for half..) Half of an $80 planner is a fabulous donation! It won't be in until about a week before school starts so I've been kind of procrastinating on planning. Instead I've been going Pinterest crazy. Again, I'm so thankful for my mom who is crafty. Any project I can think of she's helped me complete. I guess while I'm throwing out shout outs I owe my little sister one. She's a professional teacher's shopper helper. She second guesses everything I buy so I don't go broke... She also spent hours helping me level books. 

I found out today that my classroom is ready to start working in! There are 20 weekdays left until school starts so this was great news. I'm sure my boyfriend will be thrilled to have the apartment back. It's been filled with supplies since May. Not to mention my parent's house which is currently storing everything that doesn't fit in my apartment. Mom, Dad, & Tom if you're reading this.. IT WILL BE GONE SOON!!!

 I'm not exactly sure how I want to arrange the furniture, or what kind of furniture I'll have! My sister (thanks again!) will be coming tomorrow to help me figure things out. I also get to meet some of the teachers in my hallway tomorrow! EEEKKK so nervous!

I'll keep you updated :) 

Where'd the time go?

Hi there! It's been a while... sorry about that! I feel like last time I looked it was the 4th of July. Now, it's the end of July. I can't say that I've been relaxing the past few weeks because I haven't! I figured today was a good day to get caught up on blogging. I got in a car accident this morning and am way more sore than I anticipated I'd be. If my car, Zippy, could talk I'm sure she'd say shes sore too! So as I sit here eating candy corn (yes, Stop & Shop had candy corn out already and yes, I just hadddd to buy some) I'm trying to remember everything I've been up too!

Well the good news is I've just about finished my sight word rings. So expect a post about how I'm going to use them and other things sight words pretty soon. I've tried to start diving into my curriculum materials. However, until I find the ultimate teacher planner I've tried to hold off. The search for a planner is one of the most difficult things I've done!! I'm VERY picky and want things an exact way. I purchased a planner at a teaching store in Myrtle Beach back in April. However after further review.. I don't think it'll work... Every planner I've found after that I've also found something wrong with. The other half of the problem is I don't want to drop $50 on a planner...

Besides the planner debacle I've been working on leveling all of my books! The teacher that I took over for left me tons of books so before I start on those I want to finish the massive piles I have at home! Not only am I leveling them according to DRA level I'm making a spreadsheet. This way, I know every title, level, author and how many copies I have of every book in my library. Yes, it is super time consuming. But, I'm sure it'll pay off in the end.

 I have a ton of books that don't show up on The Scholastic Bookwizard . Either the book itself or the DRA level. Any suggestions?? 

I'm going to try to keep up with blogging but I can't make any promises! School starts in a little over a month & I need to make sure I'm ready for all my kiddos! 

Fantastic Friday

Happy Friday!

Today has been a whirlwind. I was able to get my curriculum materials from my principal today! I have tons of beach reading now! Thankfully my school uses Envisions and I've been lucky enough to be exposed during student teaching. At least there is one thing I'll be comfortable with! 

I was also able to see my room for the first time! This was a surprise, I didn't think I'd be able to see it for another few weeks. It's not cleaned yet, but I LOVE IT!! I'm at the beginning of the hallway and have another new teacher next to me!!  The teacher I took over for left TONS of stuff for me including, books,  paper, supplies and much more. It was great to see what she had left because that's one more thing I don't need to buy! 

When I got home I realized I should really kick it into gear so that once my room is clean I can start bringing things in! I'm still working on those sight word rings.. Yes, I said still. It was a huge undertaking but I know I'll be so happy when I'm done! 

In addition to the sight word rings I've been cutting & laminating my schedule cards from The First Grade Parade. They're so cute and have pretty much every task I could need! 

In between laminating, cutting & printing I HAD to make a trip to Target's dollar spot. I kept seeing all my teacher friends posting about their fabulous finds. Well I can say from personal experience, it was AWESOME!! Here's a picture of what I got. They had tons more including personal pocket charts but I just couldn't figure out what I'd use those for.. if you have any ideas please let me know! I'd love to find a use! 

Cheap Supplies/Contests!

I hope everyone had a fabulous 4th of July! Although the weather wasn't stellar hopefully you were able to celebrate on the 5th! 

Just thought I'd give you a quick update on what's been going on. 
I'll be getting my curriculum materials later this week so I'm trying to catch up on as much prep work as possible!

Since this is my first year teaching there are tons of things I'd like for my classroom that probably won't happen right away. However, I was able to grab some cheap cheap cheap supplies this weekend! Office Max is having their penny sale until July 12th. You need to spend 5$ then you are eligable to get the following:

• 3 packs of 100 index cards
• 10 pocket folders
• 2 packs of eraser caps

ALL FOR A PENNY!! What a deal! It's only one per customer so I called all the troops in and asked for help!

Here's what I have so far. In order to spend my $5 I got that stapler pack (stapler, remover & staples!!) I couldn't resist the cute owl notebook for PD and of course, my favorite, binder clips for $1! 

In addition to these cool supplies, I also found some awesome blog giveaways! 

On this blog, Sweet Sounds of Kindergarten you can enter to win an Erin Condren planner. How amazing would that be? 

I found some other ones too, I just can't find the links again. Keep your eyes peeled for some excellent product giveaways as teachers start updating their TPT store!