Oh Me oh My!

Well, why break tradition?  I have moved classrooms three times in the last three years... I think they must like my painting techniques, so admin is going to keep moving me until I have all the classrooms painted:-)))  

Here's what I'm dealing with as of now.  The gal that is moving out of her room just had a baby, so all of her stuff is in the middle of my new room.  But that didn't stop us from painting.  Her classroom was absolutely precious precious precious, but I felt that the yellow for first graders might be a little bright, so I figured I better stick with my neutral green and just add accents.  

 YIKES!!!!!!

 AGAIN - YIKES!!!!!

 This is my sweet daughter, Courtney.  She will be a senior this year (H.S.) and guess what she wants to be when she grows up... YEP, a teacher.  

Almost done, Court!  Thanks for helping me!  Love you!

Great Finds!

So, my parents gave me the guilt trip about visiting them in Arkansas... so I HAD (wink wink) to drive up and spend a relaxing, enjoyable week with the best parents in the word and two of my three children.  We had a great time and while I was there, I pinned at least 50 million ideas for my new first grade classroom.  We also hit estate sales and second hand shops... and boy did I find some goodies.  I bought a filing cabinet, director's chair, ladder (don't ask), a listening center table, and other odds and ends - all for around $60.00. Only one problem... I had to get all of that in my van and drive back seven hours, but we made it!  I've already got two coats of black paint on most items.  I'll post before pics and after pics in a few days.  

 I actually found two of these in our school's graveyard - my daughter is going to paint a saying on each once I finish painting them black.

 So... after many hours of wanting another filing cabinet, knowing I needed one, but not wanting to pay an arm and a leg for one... tada!  I found one for $20.00 (and it is the sturdy kind... not the cheap ones).  I haven't decided if I am just going to paint the whole thing black or maybe paint the front of the drawers my accent colors... decisions, decisions.

 WOOT WOOT!  I wanted a listening center table, and I found one.  YAY!  I saw a cute idea on Pinterest, so my daughter and I will try to do the same with this little beauty.  I can't wait to work on this one.

1/4 of the way done... Yes, I did paint my ladder... everything HAS TO BE color-coordinated.  But here's the one thing that truly came in handy... SPRAY PAINT (where have you been all my life?)  I surely would have brushed all these things, but my husband told me I was CrAzY.  I just love to paint, and never thought anything of it.  But boy, was spray paint easier!

Moving Forward

As I'm always wanting to learn and grow, I've decided to post a few things on TpT (Teachers Pay Teachers) and several things on Teachers Notebook website.  Even though this is a big step for me... I'm going to try it out.   I don't mind giving people my stuff for free, but when I have to worry if others are going to be satisfied because they are paying for it... YIKES... that makes me a little nervous.

Here's my first item for sale.  This is saved in a PDF file and each number will be printed on a full sheet (8 1/2 x 11.)

Teachers Pay Teachers - $1.50 for the set.

This was a fun one to create.  I have always loved the game Boggle, and now I have found a way to incorporate it into my classroom.  I'm going to start off with three rows and three columns to get the students understanding the concept... I've created letter cards using the Chevron design and also created a center sheet for them to fill out as they work on their Boggle words.  I have a magnetic board in the front of my classroom, so I will use that to hang my game - putting magnetic strips on the back of each letter will make it so easy to "shake" up the game.  I've created one in purple and one in blue.