TRAVEL Binder

Hello! It's Tuesday, so I am linking up with my best buddy Holly from Fourth Grade Flipper with her Tried it Tuesday linky!



The topic for today is something that I "tried" last year... my inspiration comes from my lovely friend Tara from K-2 is Splendid.  She introduced me to the "BEE Binder" which stands for "Bring Everything Everyday."  You have to check out her post here on all of her organization techniques.  It's wonderful and she is one of the most talented teachers I know!
This post and picture below are from 2010 but still by far one of my favorite blog posts ever!

 

So with the help of Mrs. Leander and all of her creativity, I came up with my own type of binder.... a T.R.A.V.E.L. binder! - Total Requirements And Very Effective Learning (spells TRAVEL!)

Here are some of the things that my kiddos keep in their TRAVEL binders :) And again, so many of the ideas came from my lovely friend... so I can't take all the credit... just for coming up with my own resources (except the Clip Chart that you can find HERE for FREE on TPT from Tara's store!)

 I also got the idea for writing prompts and speller's choice from Tara, but I created my own :) Maybe sometime I can post them on TPT/TN if there is enough interest for them! Basically every Wednesday my kiddos choose a writing prompt to complete in their homework notebooks, and they choose a speller's choice every Thursday to do in their homework notebooks (because spelling tests are every Friday.) 

 In each child's TRAVEL binder, there is also our class schedule, school calendar, homework guidelines, and clip chart.  This keeps parent's updated daily and keeps communication strong.

 You will notice that my student's homework notebook is full of stickers! That is because every time a student is on "Outstanding" on the clip chart, they receive a sticker.  10 stickers = a prize, 15 stickers = a private lunch, and 20 stickers = lunch with the principal.  This is not something the entire school does, this is something I made up for my classroom :)

 

I had to share this with you that I saw outside... the first flower :] It is Spring!!

You are probably wondering why I posted a picture of a bunch of Crunch bars... well, I went to my local Walgreens and was asked to donate to the troops overseas.  Of course I would, but then they tell me I need to buy some yummy CANDY and all the money will go to them.. and they were about 40 cents each!! So of course I got a bar for each of my kiddos, and even one for myself (the skinny cow chocolate!) So if you can, check out your local Walgreens, buy a candy bar, and give back to our wonderful troops! :]

 

 Don't forget to check out my 400 Follower Giveaway! Going on now until Sunday :]

 

My friend Andrea from Reading Toward the Stars is having an amazing 5 day giveaway!! Become a follower of her blog and make sure you enter each day :] I am so happy for her blogiversary and over 500 followers!!

Almost Thanksgiving!

So excited for our mini break of Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday :) I can't wait to spend Thanksgiving with my family.. I love going over to my parents and eating their amazing cooking (my favorite is the stuffing.. it's out of this world, and I wish I was the only one who felt this way so I could have seconds and thirds :P) Mike and I will also be venturing to his mom's house as well.. it should be a great day!

How will you be spending your Thanksgiving? I hope everyone spends their day with a nice meal, and even if you don't have family around, just spending it with people you care about - that's the most important! I will also be loving the fact that me and my BFF will be going Black Friday shopping aaaand my parents got me tickets to see Wicked! Yay, bonus!! :) I have been wanting to this for a very long time! Anyone went to see it? Loved it? Liked it? Didn't care for it?  What about Black Friday deals?! Anything good??

Here are some read alouds and a couple chapter books that my kids read by themselves and to the younger students of the school.. My great friend Tara taught me the trick to request all the books I need online at the library, and go to pick them up! It's that simple, and spreads the literacy in my classroom.  Thank you again, Mrs. Leander :)

 We had Literacy Day at our school today, and we wore the shirts that we made (the iron-on sand paper shirts!) See the post here for the cute designs the kids came up with!) Below is the design I came up with.  It was inspired by the 3am Teacher but she does waay better art than me ;)

Speaking of OWLS, check out my cute new lunch box from Thirty-one!! Love it!! I had a great time hosting my Thirty-one party, and received some free gifts for myself and for my family for Christmas, so it was very worth it.... hmm.. I think I want to host another one maybe after the holidays or towards Spring time with all my friend K-2 is Splendid and Love for Early Learners! What do you gals think? :)

Ok, back to Literacy Day!
We made Stone Soup with Heather's class.. what a lovely idea from her! The kids loved it and were really engaged with the story and making the actual soup.  We had some local celebrities come to read stories to the children as well which they loved.  It really was a good day, but I am EXHAUSTED.  We also had milk and cookies... yum and yes, I ate them too. Of course!

 

 Christmas is quickly approaching and okay yes, I am one of "those people" that just put their tree up before Thanksgiving!!  I couldn't help it.. I actually had time this weekend, and I decided I might as well get started because with lesson planning and getting things ready, I never have time for any of that fun stuff.

Christmas comes and goes so quickly as it is, and I wanted to make sure I could really enjoy it this year.  Still extremely tight on money, but I don't mind working extra hard to make a little more so I can give great presents for the holidays.  My parents are so wonderful and caring and don't want me to spend a lot of money on them, so I have also been crafting :) and coming up with amazing ideas!! I sooooo wish I could show you now, but I will have to wait until AFTER the holidays so I do not spoil any of the surprises.  But I will be most definitely putting up my craft finds on here and Pinterest as SOON as Christmas is over!

We have a beautiful new Christmas tree this year, thanks to Jocelyn and Skyler! :)

One of my wonderful parents gave me an early Christmas present... the best smelling hand sanitizer I have ever had from Bath & Body Works (Twisted Peppermint) aaaand two books on my wishlist from the Scholastic Book Fair :) Wonderful and so unexpected!

And I will leave you on the note that I won the Teacher Rock Contest.. I made an apple and a sandwich :) A few people were making fun of my rocks (that my principal named "Lunch") but I worked hard on them! ;) Here's a picture of them.. aren't they cute? I raffled them off to my kids after the contest.  One of my students won the most patriotic rock.  A cute idea for paper weights.

I love you all! Take care :) So happy I have been on this journey will my blog and my bloggy friends.. you really are amazing to me.  Thank you, thank you, thank you! And I haven't even been blogging a year! I can't imagine if I actually had time to sit down and come up with great ideas and really connect with you all, but thank you for being patient with me and for ALL YOU DO!