Classroom Reveal, Winner & Freebie :)

Well, school is officially back in session and I am officially EXHAUSTED!  But, I must say, I am loving third grade more and more each day.  I'm going to keep this post short and sweet, and I'll try to get around to an actual update or blog post of some sort soon.... but for now, check out my classroom pics.  Make sure to read all the way to the bottom to find a little freebie ;)

So, if you remember my ikea-makeover last year, a lot of this will look familiar... And despite appearances, I actually don't enjoy re-decorating my classroom.... but since I was changing grades (and staying in my same classroom), I wanted the classroom to look and feel different... and it was a great excuse to change out the brown and blue color scheme I went with 3 years ago when moving into this school.... now I am in pink heaven with all the pink, black, and chevron that I was able to find at UISchoolsupply.com  Hope you enjoy this little tour of my classroom!

This is a view from my desk, which is in the back corner of the room.

Student Mailboxes / Fancy Nancy shrine ;)

More Mailboxes... I love decorating my shelves with books.

My new card-pull chart. I found the Chevron pockets at Lakeshore and couldn't resist! And just as a little side note, if you ever decide to cut the numbers out with a cameo (like I did)... cut them on vinyl, not cardstock... this was a PAIN to glue all the numbers onto the envelopes.... DUH! Vinyl would've been so much easier.

Back of the room... I have a few ideas for the large bulletin board... sill not 100% sure. Also, the "question / concept" board is for our reading program.

I am LOVING my new helper chart... I made this using my cameo (and VINYL this time! YAY). The chevron letters came from THIS pack.  

Just doing my part to encourage my students to go to the BEST university around! Go Utah State Aggies!

Here's a view toward the front of the room... see that random bulletin board above my file cabinets... I've never known what to do with it... so it's just been ignored for the past three years.... then I had an idea....

TA-DA! I love how this turned out!  I printed a few posters from THIS pack, added a little ribbon, and it was perfect!

I am trying something new with the calendar this year... I got the number of the day set HERE, and the calendar pieces HERE.

a view from the front of the room

my new table totes... I didn't actually NEED new totes... but target had PINK and BLACK ones... so I knew it was a sign :) LOL! I love them.  It's really the little things that make me smile I guess!

 And last, but not least.... it's giveaway time!!  Thank you, UISchoolsupply.com for donating a $25 gift certificate to one lucky reader...

ANDREA LEE! Congrats to Andrea! She said she would like to buy cardstock or classroom answer buzzers... happy shopping, Andrea!!

BUT WAIT... there's more... UISchoolsupply.com has offered ALL my readers a discount on their next purchase... simply enter the code "goodenough" at checkout to save 10% off your total purchase.

AND, since it took me forEVER to get this post up... I have a little freebie for ALL of you.  Click HERE to download some "super reader" bookmarks for your students.  I made these the other day after my students went to the library and I realized that I didn't buy bookmarks for them... DUH! Talk about a teacher brain cramp.  These bookmarks are in black and white, and I printed them on white cardstock and let my kids color them... they loved it! Hope you can use it too.  Enjoy :)

I'm linking up my classroom reveal with the lovely Cyndie, from "Chalk one up for the Teacher".... feel free to check out some other darling classrooms below:

An InLinkz Link-up

Winner winner :)

Thanks to everyone who stopped by and commented this week... 

Congratulations Elizabeth!  Please check your email and respond within 48 hours :)

I hope you all survived your Valentine parties and are able to relax and enjoy your long weekend. We had a comp day on Friday for our parent-teacher conferences, so I am already feeling refreshed, and looking forward to sleeping in on Monday.  I'm working on a fun new game to help my 2nd graders with telling time... make sure you're following me on facebook and TPT so you will be notified as soon as it's ready :)

Winner {and a freebie!}

Thanks for all the comments... It was fun to see how many (or how few!) days of school some of you have left... and for those of you that are done, I officially hate you! Just kidding... I'm super jealous though, that's for sure... anyway... thanks to my good friend, random number  generator, we have a winner....drumroll please.....




 Comment # 4 is the winner! YAY :)





Check your email, Karen! I wish all of you could win, and I appreciated all of your sweet comments.... so I decided to make a FREEBIE so that EVERYONE can be a winner :)  Click on the image below to snag your freebie from TPT.  And if you want to buy the full elf packet, it is on sale until Saturday. You can check it out here.

So glad that tomorrow is Friday.  Can I get an AMEN?!? :) 5 more days... I think I can, I think I can!

Shhhh... do not disturb! Freebie & Winner

I'm supposed to be making cookies right now.... but I'm watching General Conference and drinking hot chocolate.... so here I sit, blogging instead!

Today I wanted to share a little freebie with you.... A few years ago at a math training, I came across a clever idea of decorating folders as "office cubicles" for the students to put up when taking tests... the concept was that each child would decorate the folder much like adults decorate their cubicles... family photos, sports team posters, etc., then you would laminate it, and they had this great little privacy folder to put up when taking tests. I immediately fell in LOVE with this idea... then remembered the mobility rate at my school... I would be making cubicles every other week as new students came an went... feeling defeated, I tossed the idea out the window and didn't think much more of it.  Fast-forward to the second week of school that same year... It was very apparent that a few wandering eyes and chatty Kathy's were in need of some sort of privacy folders in the classroom (as well as a reminder to be quiet during the test!!), and that's where the "do not disturb" folder idea was born!

So what exactly is a "do not disturb" folder?  I'm so glad you asked :)  It is simply two folders that I have glued together and put this cute little cover page on... Here are pictures of the original folders my students made a few years ago.... the great thing about these folders versus cubicles is that I can use these folders for a few years and don't have to throw one away each time a student moves (which is quite often in my classroom).  The first year we made these, I printed them in black and white and let the students color them.... they loved using the folders that they had each created, and it was fun to see which folder they would get each time I passed them out for a test. (note: these folders are 3 years old and were created before I discovered the awesomeness of Kimberly Geswein Fonts... so the new ones have been updated with her fonts :) )

 

 

So, as you can see, the kids did a pretty good job coloring the folders themselves.... however, I didn't take into account the fact that my class might get bigger, and I didn't think to make extra folders.... so I made a full color version when I quickly needed to make a few more folders... this was a good and bad thing.... students were fighting over the few folders that were "better" because they were printed in color.... so I ended up making 6 of the "nice" folders, which I keep together and would give to the table being the most quiet as we are getting ready to take the test :) problem. solved. I think in the future, I might just make a full class set with the new full-color cover sheets... my kiddos this year are really into scribbling... I'm a little bit worried about how some of the cover pages might turn out!  Anyway, here's a few pics of the folders in action, as well as a pic showing how to make them.  Click on the colored pic above to download the freebie for yourself :)

"do not disturb" folders in action

These are kind of small... I used 2 folders, but have seen it done with 3 folders as well, to allow for a little bit more work space on each desk.  This is what I get for not gluing the folders together myself... I love parent volunteers... but sometimes, things don't turn out quite like I had them pictured in my head...*sigh*...

As you can see, this is just 2 folders overlapped, with the cover glued in the center.  I laminated the folders for durability.

I've seen folders where they put number charts or ABC / sound cards inside the folder... so you could totally do that inside the folders if you want :) I was in a hurry and didn't put anything on the inside of the folders.

I hope you find this useful!  I'd love to see pictures if you make them for your classroom :)

and finally.... the winner of the educents pin it to win it contest is.....

 

 

just a few more days to pick up this great bundle! Hurry before the deal expires!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

YAY!  You two lucky ladies get to pick any item from my store for free :)  Happy Sunday, everyone.

Winner! Sale! Freebie! Oh my!

first thing's first... here's the winners for the calendar sets... I'll be contacting you to choose your favorite set from my store :) thanks everyone who entered!
a Rafflecopter giveaway
Now, if you didn't win, I have TWO exciting things to share with you... first off, my entire store is 20% off for the HUGE back-to-school sale at TPT all day today and tomorrow!! So you can head over and pick up your favorite calendar set (or anything else in my store)!  Use the code BTS13 to save an extra 10% off the discounted price for a total of 28% off!

ANNND... as a little thank you, I put together a freebie for you with black and white apples and stars... feel free to copy these on colored cardstock and come up with your own patterns!  This freebie is only available on my blog and you can snag it here! Click on the picture to download :)

ONE MORE THING... holy smokes... I've been working on my latest project off and on since MARCH (it sorta got put on the back burner so I could finish the vocabulary cards).... but I'm so excited to finally have volume 1 of my bar model problem solving detectives pack finished!!  When I first learned about the bar model, I was confused... once I understood it, I was blown away with how EASY math was for me!  It was like a light bulb went off and suddenly upper-grade math wasn't scary anymore!! (Math is not my favorite subject... which is why I think I'm so passionate about making great math resources). Anyway, I am so excited to finally have volume 1 ready to go!  It has 10 weeks of problem solving pages, and volumes 2 and 3 will each have an additional 10 weeks, for a total of 30 weeks of problem solving when it's all done.  Click on the picture to check it out on TPT... 

And since giveaways are so much fun.... why not give two lucky winners this pack?! Hurry, the rafflecopter closes at midnight. You know the drill... enter below :) Happy Sunday... have fun shopping!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway