Colors, shapes, and a little freebie :)

I went into my room for the first time this summer and my room wasn't too bad. We did have to pack everything up, but I tried to get organized and throw a lot out before I left! Here is the view from the door...

I walked in to find a really nice surprise too! They had our carpets professionally cleaned! They look brand new! I was so, so happy!

I also had another surprise in my room...

a brand new rug!! Wow!!

Here is a view from the other side of the room...

If you look at the cabinets on the right you can kind of see my old shape posters hanging. Well...I took those babies down right away and hung these up!!

I hung the shape posters on the cabinets and the half size color posters above. I love how they look in my room with all of my other polka dot decor! 

You can pick up the shape posters HERE

and the color posters HERE

I also did a quick little craft project that I had on my to-do list. I actually made a to-do list haha

Now I can write my list with a dry erase marker and have it right on my desk for me (I probably needed a much bigger frame to write all my to-do's, but this one will work). The frame is 5x7 and you can grab the insert here, or by clicking on the picture above, for FREE!  :)

Common Core is getting HOT, HOT, HOT!!

Are you ready to get HOT, HOT, HOT with Common Core this year?! I certainly am!! ;)

School is approaching and most of us are beginning (or continuing) Common Core in our classrooms. This pack is a wonderful way to have FUN with your students all while assessing them, reviewing skills, and making sure you cover all areas of the Math Common Core!

You may be wondering what exactly a 'Hot Seat' is.  Hot Seats are questions that are stuck underneath your students' chairs with a small piece of tape before they get to class. This is not done everyday...it is totally random, which makes it SO much more exciting! When students take their seats, you can choose your time to announce that there are 'hot seats'. Students will check under their seats and if they have a question...uh oh! They will have to show you how much they know by attempting to answer the question. If they don't know the answer they can grab a lifeline (a friend) to help them out!

There are 8 questions for EVERY kindergarten math Common Core standard. This gives you plenty of variety and plenty of questions to use ALL year long!! The students will have a blast!! They will be so excited and even start checking under their seats before you make an announcement! Who doesn't want their students to be excited about learning?!

Click on the picture below to check out the Hot Seat packet on TPT. 

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It is FREEBIE Friday!!! So grab a FREE page of the Common Core HOT Seat to use with your students by downloading the PREVIEW!! Click on the image below

If you teach another grade other than Kindergarten, don't worry! I have first grade and second grade on my to-do list and will get them done as soon as I can. Teach an upper grade? No need to worry either!! Fifth grade was created by  Little Lovely Leaders, and she will make fourth and third as soon as she has the time :) Click on the picture below (or send your 5th grade teacher friends) to grab you FREEBIE for fifth grade Hot Seats!

Can't wait to hear what you think!!! :)

My Teacher Binder (I bought on TPT)

I really am SO excited to be totally organized this year! I think it is going to make everything else a lot easier! Last night, while I was watching Ryan Lochte the Olympics I organized my yearly teacher binder that I bought on TPT from Little Lovely Leaders. I LOVE how it came out. It actually makes me want to do my lesson plans. WHAT?!!? I have never said that before ;)

I split my binder up into different sections for standards, lesson plans, my grade book, and a WONDERFUL substitute section. Here are some of the pages....

They are obviously empty right now, but I am planning on writing everything in with pencil. Things change all the time--my roster, dismissal, etc and I don't want to have to reprint the pages when I need them (I do not like crossing things out...it makes my page look messy!)

If you are feeling jealous of my binder...then check it out here on TPT!  It was made by a great blogger, Little Lovely Leaders. Trust me, it is GREAT!! I love it! :)

I am also guest posting over on my friend Penny's blog, Teach the Math. I have a FREEBIE over there for you, so make sure you stop by!! :)

Toolbox Makeover!

I finished another item off of my 'Summer To-Do List'. I made the toolbox that has been floating around everyones blogs and on Pinterest.  I got together with my kindergarten team (there are 8 of us) and we all made a toolbox! Let me tell you, it took longer than I thought so it was great to have company!!

First, I bought the toolbox at Home Depot. I couldn't find it at first (I don't really ever look that hard...I would rather just ask!), so I showed a guy that worked there a picture of it from Pinterest. When he took me to the correct isle I thought 'no way this is definitely not it!' It is WAY smaller then it looks in pictures! So weird! But a great size for your desk and will still do the job :)

I took it home and sprayed it with primer and with some pink spray paint. If you are going to paint yours--make sure you get the glossy spray paint! I got the matte because I didn't even think of it, so I still have to go back and spray some glossy spray paint on top. 

It didn't take that long to dry and we were ready to start working. I first opened up these pre-made editable labels that I found on TPT for FREE. Then, I changed some of the words to better fit what I needed and I changed the font to 'Cheri' which is a free font if you google it :) 

The labels were on 4 different pages, so I chose 4 different colors of card stock to print them out on. After they were printed, I cut the labels out...

Then one of the teachers brought some super cute ribbon and scrapbook paper to decorate these labels with before we put them in our toolbox. Since my main theme in my classroom is polka dots, that is what I pretty much stuck to!

When I was finished with all of the labels I put a little bit of tape at the top and bottom to help them stick into the drawers better and WA-LA....

I love how it turned out and can't wait to be organized even better this year!!