Gearing Up for Back to School!

Wow, this summer has flown by!  I can't believe I only have 2 weeks left before I report back for pre-planning!  As the summer comes to a close and back-to-school time draws near, I always love thinking about classroom themes and seeing what others are doing to freshen up their decor!

Are you changing things up or adding to your theme this year?  Here are some of my favorites lately:

 

Kids love superheroes, and it's a theme that will be popular with both boys and girls.  And what child wouldn't want to see his or herself as a superhero?

Schoolgirl Style has the cutest Superhero theme classroom decor set!  I LOVE these paper lanterns with superhero masks!

I am a big fan of colorful classrooms, especially in the lower grades.  A superhero theme is a great way to add in pops of color!


Another theme that has been around for a little while and is still popular is a chevron theme!  I've seen colorful chevron as well as chevron decor focused around a certain color combination.  There are tons of possibilities with this!

Cupcake for the Teacher 

First Grade Teacher Lady

Our school is implementing a year-long Cowboy/Western theme this year, so of course I had to take a peek at what others have done in that theme!

           

First Grade Wow

Clutter-Free Classroom

In honor of the upcoming Back-to-School time I'm having a sale on all classroom decor items in my shop!  This includes decor packs as well as individual decor items.  I have some new stuff, too!

           

                Superhero Theme 

Chevron Owl Theme

Pirate Theme

Getting back into the swing of things...

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!  We spent our first Christmas together as a family of 3, and it was every bit as amazing as I'd always imagined it would be!  Our baby girl is only 10 weeks old, so she didn't have a clue what was going on, but it was still so special to us.

Well, my maternity leave has ended and it's time for me to get back into the swing of things!  Both at school and with creating new resources for my classroom and for my TpT store!  I just posted my first post-leave product and I'm really excited about it!  I've had this idea in my head for a while, and it feels good to finally work on it and use it in my own classroom.  January Made Easy!  My plan is to create a similar pack for each month of the year.  Click on the picture to check it out!  I'll have it on sale for 20% off through the end of 2013!

I am still here! :)

It has been a while since I've updated the blog... but, for good reason!  I've been on maternity leave!

I've posted before about how we were planning to adopt and were matched with a wonderful young woman who has having a baby girl and chose us to be her parents!  Well, that sweet baby girl was born early last month and my time has been filled with ALL things BABY since then! :)

I have a few weeks left at home, then I'll go back for a week, then have Christmas break off with her before returning and getting back into the swing of things in Kindergarten!  Oh my word, how am I going to juggle everything when I go back? :)

Friday Five...

What a busy week!  I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for a Friday Five!

1.   My kids are hilarious!  This seems to have become a favorite activity during our developmental center time!

2.  We worked hard on cutting apart and assembling sentences.

3.  We read Elmer and wrote some awesome story responses!  Have you read this book?  I love it!  Do you have to use commentary on student work at your school?  We are encouraged to add commentary to displayed writing.  I love cutting fun shapes from post-it notes and using that to write me commentary.

4.  My friends and co-workers at school threw me an adoption baby shower this week!  It was amazing!  I loved these monthly onesies!

5.  And, here's how generous everyone was!  I just couldn't believe it! :)  Only 4 more weeks until baby girl's due date!

So Ready for Halloween!

I love Fall!  It's my favorite season to celebrate in the classroom!  Part of what makes is so great is Halloween and Thanksgiving so close together!  My kiddos this year are loving our learning centers, so I couldn't wait to put together some Halloween centers for us to use next month!

There are 5 literacy centers and 5 math centers included!  Click on the picture above to check it out!  It will be on sale for the next 24 hours!

Friday Five!

What a week!  I'm so thankful for a three-day weekend!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for another Friday Five!

1.  I have to start by recommending that you NOT buy this yogurt.  Ever.  It tastes like what I'd imagine orange Clorox wipes taste like.   There is a coconut vanilla flavor that is awesome, but this one... not so much.

 

2.  Our first week of math centers was a success!!

 

3.  Making shapes with yarn and glue.

 

4.  I've been spending more time with my embroidery machine...

5.  And....

 

Friday Five!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs for another Five for Friday!  I love reading what others post about their week and looking at all the pictures.  It's a great way to wrap up the week!

1.  We had some Chicka Chicka Boom Boom fun this week in class!  I love having my kids make Chicka trees!  I tell them to write all of the letters they know... it's a good way to gauge their letter knowledge at the beginning of the year!

2.  We had F.A.Q. Night this week... it's pretty much a Parent Night, or Back to School Night.  Parents are invited to come learn more about the classroom and ask questions about anything.  Here's a picture of my parent turnout... whomp whomp. :)  There's was a huge downpour right before it was scheduled, so I think that had a lot to do with it.

3.  This little one made my heart melt with her adorable outfit today!!

4.  I've been working on things for our baby girl we're adopting in October... a ribbon wreath is the perfect girly touch in her nursery!

5.  And I tried my hand at sewing her a onesie gown!  LOVE it. :)

P.S.  I've bundled several products into a Back to School Bundle!  I marked it at 20% off for the regular bundle price... but this weekend only I've take an additional 20% off!  Click below to check it out!