Back to School Oriental Trading Giveaway

Are you ready for an Oriental Trading GIVEAWAY? To win 250$ to spend on amazing products for your classroom?!

Perfect time to start thinking about Back to School goodies - and Oriental Trading has it all.  If you have read my blog posts before, you know that I am a big fan of their supplies from bins for organization to cute pencil toppers and prizes for my students.

Here are some of the fun products I have gotten in the past from Oriental Trading:

Giveaway begins July 16 and runs through July 30 - Good luck and happy shopping! 

$250 Oriental Trading Gift Card Giveaway

Back to School 2017

I am so excited to show you my second grade classroom.  I am moving from the upstairs in fourth grade to a downstairs classroom in second grade.  I am very excited - what a perfect age!

I love incorporating the Daily 5 in my literacy block.  Here is my Daily 5 and CAFE posters that you can find on Teachers Pay Teachers.  Click HERE to check out the cutest CAFE headers and strategy cards.

Oriental Trading has a new addition to their website - Learning365 for all of your teaching supplies and other great educational resources. 

[[Disclaimer: Oriental Trading sent me products in exchange for a blog post, but all opinions in this post are mine.]]

The photo below is my calendar area.  I love me some Georgia Grown Kiddos xo her calendar set are the best out there on TPT! Equally just as awesome, Good Enough Teacher has the best calendar pieces that fit perfectly in my calendar pocket chart.

To the right of my calendar area is my "I Can" learning objectives chart.  I LOVE this... there is actually more sections but I pinned it off to only have 3 sections.  It twists to hang perfectly straight and I can't wait to use my I can statements here.  You can use dry erase or cards!

[If you are looking for 3rd grade I can statements, check mine out HERE]

Looking for a little gift for your students? Mine are going to love these second grade pencils!  I love whenever it's personalized by grade level.

These magnetic dry erase owls are on SALE (under $5 for a dozen!) and they can work for table numbers, groups, reminders, or just cute BTS decor.  I have these located right now in my math area and I hope to find new ideas throughout the year to use them.  I already got a few compliments ;)

I also love these posters from Sneaking into Second.  So cute!

Magnetic alphabet squares are a must for me working in a primary classroom.  It's such a fun way to add practice to spelling and word work.  Incorporating the Daily 5 into my classroom I always try to find new ways for learning.

Something else that is perfect for my literacy groups are these highlighting reading strips.  For the primary grades sometimes it's tricky for kiddos to keep track of where they are with reading, especially when the print gets smaller and smaller with the more difficult books.  My sweeties will love using these during reading :) 

A fun, exciting part of second grade is learning about life cycles.  At my school, we will hatch chicks and monarch butterflies.  This 4 poster life cycle set is only $6.49.  You cannot find a better price for these quality posters!  This is one of the best deals for high quality posters I have seen out there. A MUST HAVE for a second grade teacher!

The last photo I'll end my blog post with is my cookie bulletin board.  While I was browsing through

Pinterest and TPT, I decided to create my own with cute clipart and personalize them with my kids names.  I used counting cookies from Classroom Chitchat.

I hope you all have the best school year.  Thinking of you all - for the ones that already have your routine down and for those of you just starting out and getting your classroom as ready as you can before back to school... Never forget - you are wonderful and we all make mistakes and learn from them.

Have a fantastic year! xo

Second grade starts my new journey.

Kindergarten Classroom Organization

Sooo the school I work at is pretty small and all of the teachers know each other well.  I taught Grade 2/3 last year, and Grade 3/4 this year, so I am usually browsing through upper grade material... but my wonderful friends like Miss Kindergarten, Deanna Jump, Rachelle Smith, Jessica Stanford, and many many others have the cutest resources.  I visited a Kindergarten classroom and I had to take a few pictures because I really love the way it is organized..  And this was the perfect time to link up with Primary Possibilities for Wednesday Wisdom... with my favorite topic.. ORGANIZATION ;)

 

Below are some pictures from Sarah's classroom that I visited:

This is a picture of her CAFE Chart.. the animals are so cute!! I always think it is important to stay organized with reading, and I believe that the Daily 5 and CAFE program do just that.  I like these printables (I am sure she got them on Pinterest but I am not sure of the website!) and I like how they are labeled with C's, A's, F's, or E's so the children can identify where they belong on the chart.

 I love her Marble Jar that is so nicely labeled... what a wonderful way to organize and track classroom management.  It's also very cute!

 I love the setting of the tree and monkeys.. it's always good to organize your classroom with a theme (and hers is animals / monkeys in particular)

   My favorite part of her classroom is her reading area! I LOVE the way the books are organized and how all the bins matched... something I need to keep in mind for next year!! (even if I have to pay a little bit more for it)

Here is a picture of her word wall and where students meet together.

 And a picture of their book bins and math manipulatives. Very cute animals and organized nicely!

 Sarah's husband also made a dum dum tree.. it doesn't have anything to do with organizing in a classroom, I just thought it was adorable.  It organizes lollipops ;)

I hope you enjoy these adorable Kindergarten pictures!!

Before I go, I want to share with you some Organizational Freebies on TPT!!

1. Owl Themed Days of the Week Folder Printables from Teach 4 Real!

2. Book bin labels from Swimming into Second!

 

 3.  CAFE headers from Faith Wheeler!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by!! Make sure to link up with Primary Possibilities ;)

Substitute Binders, Stella and Dot

I'm linking up with my bestie girl Holly at Fourth Grade Flipper for her Tried it Tuesday :]

 I don't always have time to post every Tuesday, but I recommend that you always check back to Holly's page!! She's so wonderful!

My Substitute Binder this year comes from Grade School Giggles.  This FREEBIE was such a lifesaver to know I had [even though I didn't need it!] The apples are so cute and each page is very detailed of everything you need to stay organized and ready for a sub.  My favorite part? It was editable!! How wonderful for Grade School Giggles to offer such an amazing product for free... Click HERE to get your own copy, and make sure you leave her some sweet feedback!

 

Below are pictures I took of my own sub binder... shown are my binder cover, welcome note, lesson plans, extra information, and a classroom management page.  But if you check out the product, there is so much more to it.

 

Another thing I am "trying" this week is hosting a Jewelry Party!! My wonderful coworker Heather is a seller of Stella & Dot.  Never heard it before?  Neither did I until this year! But this is a brand of jewelry that many high-end celebrities wear... is it a little bit pricey? Some of it, but it really is worth it, I promise you!!

 

 I am a girl that was brought up as a definite bargain shopper and to save every dollar I have.  But you know what? I want to look pretty and dress up sometimes too... as women (and men) we deserve to feel our best and treat ourselves once in a while.. I am definitely going to try and work on that!
Sooooo... for every dollar that goes into my party, I get a partial credit towards jewelry :] I figured that was the best way for me to get a piece of jewelry, is to throw a party!! Please please check out the beauty that Stella & Dot have to offer... if you make a purchase, you can choose a teacher product from my store.  If it is a more expensive purchase, of course you can choose more units!! I am very flexible with this ;) Thank you so much for reading and checking out my blog post!!

Pssssst... if my sales go well, I will have a fun Stella & Dot giveaway ;) ;)

Summer updates

Hello fellow bloggers! Sorry it has been so long since I have blogged... I have had a lot on my mind, and I have been working 50+ hours a week.  It's been a good summer, but a stressful one.

I am very happy with my new apartment.  I continue to decorate it and add little touches.. I just bought this vase and tree lights at Christmas Tree Shop.  I saw some fancy tree lights at Lake George for 40-50 dollars, and these lights were only 10 dollars a set! So much cheaper and work just as great (LED lights)

I have had time to do some babysitting, which is always fun for me.  We have shopped, go-karted, mini golfed, swam, and so many fun things.  This picture is of me and two of my boys on a walk.  The summer time is so beautiful for walks.

And I have been on a kick with doing crafts.. me and one of my girls love to do new crafts and I am always looking for new ideas! We used the fabric paint and did T shirts last week, and the other day we had fun with sand art - I used to do that all the time as a kid and missed it!  The picture shows my T shirt that I decorated.. I made it a summer theme!

Who loves fairs?  In Upstate New York we have a lot of them and Mike and I went to the Saratoga County Fair last night.  It was a lot of fun (and I can't help but love fair food).  Here is a picture of me petting a donkey :)

I am announcing to you, that next year I will be teaching a mixed grade level once again, but I will be teaching a 3/4 classroom.  I will probably keep my facebook name "Love to Teach Third Grade" but I might add the fourth to it :) You never know where you are going to end up as a teacher, which is why my blog name is so generic.  I am so happy for my colleague Second Grade is Splendid - she is moving on to Kindergarten at a new school.  I wish her all the best-Check out her blog page because she has another cute setup done by Ladybug Teacher Files (Kristen) :)

I am so sorry I have neglected blogging.. I will try to be much better at it.  I am going to be making some sort of Common Core 4th grade package I believe to get me started for the school year.  I was also trying to think of some Back to School ideas that are always fun.
Don't forget to check out my Teacher Guide Unit, especially if you are a first year teacher :) it has forms, organization labels, information sheets, and other ideas that you may need.

And also my Organization labels if you only need those.. I can't wait to print these and laminate them for my classroom!

I hope you are all enjoying your summers.  Miss talking to you all and I can't wait to reconnect. I've been in a "funk" lately but I'm starting to return back to my old self and be less stressed about things :) Let me know if anyone needs anything! And if you know of any fourth grade materials that have been really helpful in your classroom, please let me know! Thank you!!