Almost Ready

Today was our first official day back and tomorrow the students will attend Open House in the evening.  Here's a little peek.

You are a star!

Here's a simple little something I set out for Open House before school begins. I'm still working on them, so I don't have a picture of the final product.  I attach them to a baggy of Starburst.  

You can grab it here if you'd like it. 

Have a great year!  

Latest Start to My Room

Summer has been crazy! I'm usually home relaxing for most of the summer. Everything seemed back to back this year and I've sat in class or in a car for more hours than I care to count.

I just finished a 30 hour Comprehensive Orton-Gillingham class this past week.  I'm usually in my room and almost finished by this time!  I haven't set foot in my building since June.

Has anyone else not been in their room yet?  Those back to school dreams are about to begin!  So much to do, and so little time. It seems like a perfect time to recreate 36 spelling units.

How cute are these guys?  

Here are a few of my favorite Lego displays.

My favorite!

Are you ready to shop?

My wishlist is full and I'm ready for the sale! I can't wait to pick up some new goodies for the year!  I'm sure my wallet will be happy that I'm sitting in a class all week.

I'll be offering 20% off everything in my store including bundles, which are already discounted.  I have some great review activities, and I'm excited about using one of my new place value stations. 

Organizing Task Cards/Station Materials

My goal this summer was to organize my station materials. Summer is winding down and I haven't started yet!   I'd like to know what others use. This is what I have and it clearly doesn't work for me.  It was inexpensive though!  

I'd like materials to be upright or on the side, the container to close, a way to display the cover, and to be able to store the original copies within it.  It is nice to toss the bag into the station tray.

I've tried keeping the masters separate, but it just doesn't work for me. It's just more searching for what I need. 

The more I create, the more I need to store so I need to get a handle on this soon and I'll be meeting my students in one month!  

What works for you?  I'd love to hear some ideas and see some pictures! 

An InLinkz Link-up

A Little Bit of Summer

It's been a busy summer!  It's hard to believe in less than a month that school will be starting.  I'll have 2 new teammates and we'll be starting OTES as well as Common Core.

After 21 years, school is just busier than ever. I once had a doctor tell me that after 20 years I should be able to go on autopilot and leave the stress at work. That was at the end of once of the most challenging  years in 20.

Perhaps this was all that I needed.  Her advice did not help.

Here is a little bit of summer!

Blue Ridge Mountains - Such a pretty resort. Our destination was Florida, so this was just a little stop to break up the long drive.

 

Leaving the Mountains

Our Destination- Our last trip was 5 years ago when our son was 2. 

This is just a random picture of the main building. There are 8 buildings around the lake with a nice path along the lake. On the 4th, if you walked the path you could catch various park firework displays if you were in the right spots.  This is one of my favorite resorts. 

Disney Quest- Fun place!  The tickets were tossed into our package.  He would have loved another day here.

My Favorite Ride- I loved it when I was little and I still love it.  There are just some sights and sounds that remind you so strongly of childhood and this is one of them.

I've never saved a seat to watch the parade until this visit. My son loved all the shopping while waiting for the parade to start. Luckily, Grandma likes to shop, too.  This transports me back to being in 4th grade and being with my best friend and her family.

We had a pretty nice view.  The next evening we saw the 4th of July display and it was amazing.

Dance Party at Hollywood Studios- We just happened to walk by as this was happening.  My son loved the loud music and the bouncing beach ball.  I captured some great character shots during this.

Polynesian Character Breakfast with Lilo & Stitch- Breakfast was amazing!  They had a Conga Line for the kids. They have an organized way of making sure you get to see and photograph all of the characters.  If you missed a character, they made sure you were able to see it.

Our Last Stop

 This place was my son's favorite. He loves Legos and shopping for them!  Their fireworks at night are pretty neat, too! 

We can officially ride big boy roller coasters now!  No more "baby" rides. He loved the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train, but not the incredibly long wait of almost 2 hours. It was a great first roller coaster as it was the smoothest.  

We convinced him to ride this. Rock and Roller Coaster  He survived, but I felt pretty guilty for most of the ride. We forgot what it was like as it had been at least 10 years, but the bars gave us a tiny clue that we didn't tell him about. He enjoyed it, but probably wouldn't have done it again. He'll never forget it!

Legoland had very short lines for all of their rides.  Their roller coasters are short, yet fun. They were just his size and speed.  His only concern was: Can we ride this one more time before the storm rolls in? 

Enjoy the rest of your summer! 

Two for Tuesday

I've decided to join up with The Teaching Tribune for the Summer Bloggin' series.  What a fun way to explore new blogs, meet new friends and find new products! 

I chose 2 of my most popular math products to feature.  Students have a lot of fun with these!  If you are still in school, these activities are great for the last few days!  Students will be up and moving around, which is exactly what they feel like doing this time of you!

Click on the pictures and the links will take you directly to my store.  Each item will be only $3 for today!