Best Year Ever Sale + TpT Giveaway!

The time is upon us! We are all going back to school and needing TeachersPayTeachers products to spruce up our classrooms and teaching. I am teaming up with other TpT sellers for the SITEWIDE sale event: Best Year Ever!

First, you will save up to 28% on almost ALL of my store items! All you have to do is use the TpT Code: BestYear. The sale will run from August 1st through August 2nd! This is an amazing deal as you will be purchasing most for only $2 or LESS! 

Also! Enter for a chance to win a FREE Oh So Elementary product of your choice! Yes, I want to start out the school year with a little back to school love! 

Enter Below via Rafflecopter! 

You can visit my Facebook Page and LIKE,SHARE,COMMENT!

You can also leave a blog comment here telling me one thing you LOVE about Back to School!

Or, you can tweet about the giveaway! 

Do all three and you have more points entered in to WIN, WIN, WIN! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget we are all winners for this amazing sitewide TpT sale, so head over there now and put some OSE goodies in your cart! 

Thanks always! 

Five for Friday!

Another summer week has come and gone, and I am still so FAR away from being ready for school! I am excited to do my first link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday! 

I am still trying to get my head straight after coming home from a whirlwind trip to Montana and back moving my brother home to Texas! He has finished his 6 years in the Air Force and we are so incredibly happy to have him home. It just seems so surreal! (No, he wouldn't let me drive the U-Haul, but obliged me the staged photo to send to my husband.)

Tuesday, my twin sister and I went to a professional development workshop. Woohoo! Well, kinda. We were the only K/1st folks in a room full of high school teachers. We learned a few neat Google tricks and got some much needed work done since the workshop was in our service center's computer lab! 

I have been wanting to learn Google Forms (I know, I'm late to jump on that bandwagon!), and she walked us through all the ins and outs of how to make them and incorporate them in your classroom. We also saw some neat tricks from Aurasma Studio and Quizzizz.com. 

        

I was feeling the love and posted two FREEBIES and a guided reading product this week! Click the pictures or HERE to go to my TpT store. Go check them out and leave me some feedback!! I may even post some more before the week is over, so keep looking back to see OR click the FOLLOW ME button to receive email updates when new products are posted! 

I have been listening to this song like crazy this week. It speaks so sweetly to my soul. As part of our weekly #teachersintheword challenge, I encourage you to link another favorite worship song in the comments! I'd love to hear what has been speaking to your spirit this week! 

I have been trying to work in my classroom. I am desperately behind and only have TWO weeks before inservice starts. I use the word trying, because I have to bring along two very sweet "helpers." My work time with them is half productive work and the other half cleaning up their "help." Who can resist these two adorable teacher kids!?!? Teacher-Moms, I know you can relate right now! I have also been working at night at school. You know it's bad when you leave at almost midnight and you are actually the first to leave and there are still teachers there laminating and working. We don't do it for the money, do we?

As the summer weeks are flying by, I am trying to soak up all the time I can with my girls. Hope you all are having productive work time and family time! 

#teachersintheword

So I am the only kindergarten teacher at my district. I have no "kindergarten team," but we have an amazing team of elementary teachers who build one another up in Christ. Ladies who pray for one another and encourage each other in their walk with the Lord. I know I am very blessed to have that, and that not all of you may be in the same situation. You may be isolated for your faith in the workplace or even ridiculed. I want to point you to a community of teachers that has been an extra blessing in my life and career. Check out the Facebook group Christian Teachers. It is lead by Bonnie Hunter of Bonnie Kathryn Teaching and Meghan Powell Harris of Keeping Up with Mrs. Harris. They are amazing women living out their faith and doing the work God has commanded them to do. I have learned a lot from them and been inspired through our group discussions and challenges.

So if you are aching to connect with other teachers of like faith in Jesus Christ, your first challenge is to join the Facebook group and pray for God's blessing through it.

Then, I want you to really think about joining our current Bible Study "Open Your Bible" by Raechel Meyers and Amanda Bible Williams. I have been so uplifted and encouraged to open my Bible more and truly delve into the Word of God. Through live discussion via Google Hangouts, Bonnie and Megan (plus guest teachers) lead us through this study with excellent points to provoke a deeper commitment in reading and experiencing God's Holy and Living Word. The discussion may twist back to teaching here and there, but ultimately we are seeking God through His Word! I think you will truly enjoy it! You can catch up on previous weeks (Bonnie's YouTube)  and/or jump right in to finish this amazing Bible Study with us. You can find all the information on the Facebook group page or sign up through Bonnie's page. You will not regret it! 

You may want to also check out the hashtag #teachersintheword to see how this study and group has been touching the lives of so many teachers around our country. When there is so much turmoil in our nation- shootings, hate, violence, rampant attacks from the enemy, we need to really stand together to pray for one another as fellow teachers and as fellow brothers/sisters in Christ. We need to seek His truth that can only be found in the Bible. 

Our Week 4 challenge was to really spend daily time with good chunks of the Bible and see what God may be revealing to us. My sister wrote on her Facebook about 2 Timothy, and I have thoroughly enjoyed it tonight! She said it was very relevant to our lives and situations in America today. I completely agree! 

II Timothy 1:7

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

II Timothy 4:3-5

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

John 1:5

The light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it. 

What are you studying in your Bibles? Give me a shout out in the comments or in social media on what scriptures are really speaking to you right now!

What's in your TpT cart?

The summer is like one giant planning period, and I have been super busy trying to get new products on TpT while snagging some great deals of my own! I think teacher created resources are not only more eye appealing and engaging, but also tried and true. You can bet if a teacher made it and is using it, the quality is there and your students are going to benefit!

So what's been in my cart?

Tara West! She has been on a marketing streak with her Summer Steals, Bundles, BOGOs, and more. I have been very fortunate to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE on new curriculum to vamp up my kindergarten instruction. She is the creator/owner of Little Minds at Work, and her products are AMAZING. I am very excited to utilize them this year! 

  

 

Each of these Tara West products have been on super sale. I started grabbing these in April/May and June has been evermore on sale! These products combined total $224.00. That price is well deserved for the amount of work and energy put into them. However, with her generous sales and deals, I snagged this lot for ONLY $77.00! How incredible is that! I know that may seem like a lot out of  out of pocket expense for your classrooms, but I am kinda addicted to her stuff!  I also purchased this  Close Reads bundle earlier in the 2015-2016 school year and have enjoyed it as well. It has been great for my theme units and learning to connect questions with textual evidence. 

What else? I am excited to try out Emily Ames's Alphabet SmartBoard Bundle! Sure, I could have taken extra time to work on my own, but thank heavens I found this to save me some time! I love my SMART board, so this is right up my alley. 

I know I am new to the TpT game, and building my store is going to be a slow and steady race, but I love learning from established sellers such as these. If by chance you want to hop on over to my store and check out the products I have posted, here is the link! If you grab something, please leave me some feedback! I'd love to hear from you! 

Let me know what you have in your cart!! What are some amazing buys you have snagged in hopes of taking your classroom and instruction to the next level? Comment Below or connect with me on social media! 

            

Summer Teacher Steals!

So, I'm not trying to break the bank on my personal budget towards my classroom, but man is it hard to resist! Here are a few of my summer finds to use in my classroom. (Warning, I am not being paid by any of these stores to write about these finds. However, if they choose to do so, HEY, I obviously need to recoup my teacher spending!)  

Let's start with Target. 

Target, Target, Target! 

Your "Dollar Spot" should just be called the "Target Teacher Zone" because we know who you are marketing! Let me tell y'all, they have put out some super cute things in their $1 and $3 bins. Pegboards, bins and baskets, bulletin board sets, wall decals, and more.  My new calendar set is my FAVORITE, but I can't remember if it is $1 or $3. It was well spent regardless because it has really vibrant colors and fun graphics. 

I know, right!? Colors galore and Pintrest worthy finds! I was at a Super Target, so you may have to check around if smaller Targets have less of a supply. 

What about my other favorites? That's right, HOBBY LOBBY, DOLLAR TREE, and AMAZON!

You can always find your staple items at the Dollar Tree. I think teachers probably keep that place in business anyways. Every time I go to one of my Kindergarten math workshops, we share our Dollar Tree finds and how we are using them in our classroom! Also, check out those cute little test tubes with holders! They'll be great in my science center, and since they were only a dollar, it won't be a problem if they get a little extra loved! 

I really made a Summer Steal at Hobby Lobby. The bright pink and yellow card stock was clearanced to $2.15! Don't forget to always look online for the 40% off coupon to help on any big item - I know some of my friends have used their Teepees in their reading areas. My Amazon finds were scented markers (Mr. Sketch) and Paper Mate Flair Pens. 

Although I like hitting up all these great spots, nothing beats the experience I have at my local teacher store! I will be making my need list for there soon. 

I'm sure you all can relate. We "have the summer off," but do we ever "turn it off?" No. Our teacher brains are always running at full speed, and we spend way more time (and money!) in our classrooms during the summer than most would think. I'd love to see your Summer Teacher Steals, let me know what deals you find! 

Comment Below or Share on Facebook! 

Meet the Teacher Brochures - QR Code Tutorial

TUTORIAL ALERT! 

So I've uploaded a new product to Teachers Pay Teachers! I hope you will love and utilize these Meet the Teacher Brochures that you can edit for your grade level/classroom and print in either color or black and white. I have included PreK - 6th grade and a blank one for complete personalization!

When folded, these brochures have a contact info section on the back. I think QR codes with contact information are very impressive to parents, so I choose to not only type out my contact details but also add a QR code so parents can easily scan and save contact information into their smart phones/devices. Many teachers tell me they do not know how to create one, so I want to show you a little video tutorial to help you out here. Not only can you insert your QR to this product, but maybe this tutorial will also help you know how to create and use QR codes more in your classroom. They aren't as tech scary as you think if you aren't the most savvy computer person! Watch and see how simple you can create one to insert into these brochures! The video doesn't have volume, just pay attention to my screen clicks and steps! 

Let me know what you think or if you have any trouble or questions! 

Comment Below!!

My First TeachersPayTeachers Product!!

For years I have been saying I am going to start selling on Teachers Pay Teachers, and I have finally uploaded my first product! Every kinder teacher needs a Student Information Form for the beginning of school, and it's a FREEBIE too! Use it on Meet the Teacher Night, Open House, or Back to School Night. It is printer friendly as black and white, but how awesome would it look on neon or colored paper!? Please check it out, and I hope it makes your back to school form process much easier!

 I am very excited to work on some more and make them available to you all. Don't forget to check back at my store for more in the future!