'Tis the Season for Late Nights...

Well, this is the week of late nights at school!  I'm watching my nieces during the day and then heading into school at night to work on my classroom.  I got a few things done tonight...but still have a mile or two to go.  I'll post pictures, once things are more presentable.

I am a huge fan of music both personally and in my classroom.  I've been known to purchase an album based on one song...even a small snippet of a song.  iTunes makes things way too convenient for me but I love it and my Shazam app is a dream to me!  I listen to all genres and research proves that music does the body and brain good so we always have something playing in the background during the school day and I'm always looking for the perfect tune to teach a skill or two.  You can find some of our favorite albums on my website.  My nieces and I found a few cool albums on iTunes this morning that I think you might want to give a listen to...

Our first discovery was the group called "The Not Its" (Love it!).  They have three albums and I purchased their most recent album, Tag, You're It!  You can just google "The Not Its" to find the best deal!

We also discovered Wayne Brady's album for children, "Radio Wayne"...totally hip and so much fun!  Especially his "The High Low" song...definitely one that will get your toes tapping!  I only paid $7.99 on iTunes for it this morning...bargain!

Off to shop at Really Good Stuff to purchase more workstation baskets to store more Reading and Language Arts fun for my kiddos!

We're Here!

We made it to Foxburg, Pennsylvania today and went right to Allegheny-Clarion Valley Elementary School to set up all of our goodies...well...most of them.  We still have a few things to do tonight at the Foxburg Inn but we're so excited to see everyone again!

My friend Megen Kania has been working on her new blog and I'm learning a ton of new ideas from her...and therefore am just dying to play with my templates, backgrounds, and buttons to spice my blog up a bit.  So don't be surprised if you start to see a new design in the next few days.  You can find her brand new blog over at Mrs. Kania's Tech Korner.  Be sure to check her out!  She's just starting...but has a ton of super cool ideas!

I'm going to be honest...I totally went blog stalking during our inservice yesterday (I still paid attention to our speaker) and found a ton of great new blogs!  I honestly don't know how I'm going to keep them all straight!  Thank God for Google Reader and my RSS Feed!

Headed to Pennsylvania!

I'm so excited for the next couple of days!
My colleague and friend, Megen Kania and I are heading to Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District, in Foxburg, Pennsylvania tomorrow morning for our presentation on Friday!  We have lots of goodies to share with our Pennsylvania friends.  One of the things we're going to do is talk about all of the amazing teachers who are blogging!  We're so grateful for all of the sharing...we just have to spread the word!

VERY Productive Day Today...Thankfully!

Whew!  Today was extremely productive!  Woo-hoo for me!  :)  I crawled out of bed bright and early this morning to head to my parent's house to work with my dad on a few classroom projects.  The first project on our list was my 6 crate seats.  These seem to be the hot item this summer so I just had to have a set.  We headed to Home Depot, picked out a cheap but very sturdy wood and Dino cut it for us for free!   

If you're going to have them cut your wood for you, take your
 crate with you so that your measurements can be exact.

A Perfect Fit!

I found mattress foam at Ollie's for $6.99.

I was a little worried about whether or not it was too thin, but it worked!

I picked up a queen sized sheet at Target for $11.99.
You could probably get 16 covers out of one queen sized sheet.

We found a "Foam Board Adhesive" caulk that we used to glue the foam on.

We then placed the board in the center of our fabric and
wrapped it like a present.

Dad used his staple gun to attach the sheet to the board.

We had to hammer a few of the staples in...I think
Dad needs a new staple gun.

We then used Duct Tape on the material that was a little flappy.

And Ta-Da!  It worked!  :)

 One project completed from beginning to end!

Then we were ready to hang the branches on my tree so we loaded up the toolbox and headed into my classroom.  Talk about a lot of prayer...I was so nervous that it wouldn't work because I didn't have a Plan B for this project.  It worked surprisingly well and when we left around 12:30 all of the branches were still attached.  I'm sure I'll be having tree nightmares but I'm loving how it looks!

The next pictures you'll see is of a completed tree full of leaves and green grass below!  Hopefully next week sometime!

And yes...I did get some pool time this afternoon...but I felt so guilty with everything else I should have been doing!

Attending a district-wide in-service on our new observation system tomorrow!  I'll hopefully be able to multi-task again...or at least do some more blog stalking! :)

First Day of Meetings and More!

Today was my first day of back-to-school meetings!  As you may know, I'm in the process of receiving my principalship license and am in my second internship of my required classes.  One of the requirements is to collect 90 hours of observing other administrators and pretty much doing anything they ask me to do!  :)  I love the experience but I feel so frazzled between classwork, internship stuff and getting ready for my firsties...it's just crazy!  Anyway, I was able to attend the new teacher orientation this morning and the technology training for the newbies this afternoon.  Gosh...I remember being that new and full of nerves!  Glad I'm where I am! :)

Now a confession...I was multi-tasking during the meetings...it's kind of my thing.  I was actually helping my 2nd grade teacher friend create her own blog.  She's brand new to blogging but has a ton of cool ideas too...give her a few weeks to get herself up and running officially but you'll definitely want to give her a peek!  Here's where you can find her: Sumner's Crows Nest.

After our meetings I ran over to school to check in on my branches and I had four that were dry and ready to paint!  Here's an updated picture of two of them:

I also got all of my books organized and on my shelves...whew!  It was really hard to separate the books I use or might use from those that I probably haven't or won't used (if that makes sense) but I am bringing home three boxes of books to thoroughly sort = PROGRESS!

Of course I'm missing one of those little pieces that hold up the shelves!  :(
It has to be somewhere!

I also put up my outside bulletin board...well, it's partially up!

I found the idea of using caution tape from one of my new blogger friends so I can't take full credit for the idea!

I'm working on little signs that reference each of my students.  For example, a sign that says "Leanne's Great Ideas Coming Soon" to give it a little more personality.

I have so much to do but I let myself do a little blog stalking tonight and saw that the girls over at First Grade Fanatics are hosting a Back-to-School giveaway!  Make sure you visit their site so that you can join in on the fun!  They have some awesome goodies!

Well, that's it for tonight!  My technology teacher (and very good friend), Mrs. Kania and I are presenting at Allegheny-Clarion Valley School District on Friday!  We need to put the finishing touches on our presentation tonight so that we have time to add those last minute ideas that always come to us when we think we're all done and ready to go.  This is our second year presenting at ACVSD and we are so excited!  Oh!  By the way...one of the teachers, Marcy started her own blog too! Check her out at SUNdling's BRIGHT Ideas!

Tomorrow's Goal:  Wake up early, be productive so I can have a little pool time in the afternoon!  :)  19 Days!!!!

Another Linky Party! "Top 10 Reasons You Know It's Back to School Time!"

I found a new blog tonight!  Reagan, over at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits is hosting a Linky Party!  You must go and check out her blog!  She created a "Teacher's Song" video that you just have to watch too!  It's hilarious!
The Linky Party part is to list your "Top 10 Reasons You Know It's Back to School Time" so I thought I'd join!

Jenn's Top Ten Reasons She Knows It's Back to School Time!

10.  My outdoor plants are starting to die because either I'm rushing out the door early or I get home late from school and it's too dark or I'm too tired to water them.  (It always starts to happen around the first week of August.)  Poor things.
9.  I'm blog stalking at all times to find the newest and coolest ideas for back to school.
8.  I comb through the Sunday advertisements and look for sales on back to school supplies.
7. I wander through the back to school aisles looking for those last minute supplies...and I kind of eavesdrop on conversations between parents and their children about what supplies they are choosing.  :)
6. My sleep schedule gets all out of whack!  I usually am tired when I get home so I head right to bed, but then I'm awake and working on things after about 4 hours.  I call it my nap schedule...except somehow I miss my afternoon naps...so maybe I survive on an average of 4 hours of sleep each night.
5. I'm due for one or two mild meltdowns before the start of the year...mostly due to the stress of getting everything done in time!
4.  I travel with my Mac, rubber cement, construction paper, catalogs, and my cutting board in my car so I can pull it out at any time, especially family dinners and work on anything I need to do.
3. I start delegating more to my family-crate seats, cutting my laminating...the tree!
2.  I have new accessories!  Laminating paper on my legs, staples and sticky tack stuck on the bottom of my shoes, and that lovely glistening look to my skin...don't get excited...it's not a new makeup...try sweat!  YUCK!  (I can't believe I just typed that!)  My classroom is so stinking hot!
1. I'm truly excited about meeting my new kiddos and their families!  It's going to be a great year!

So Much To Do!

So remember my earlier confession of loving all kinds of children's literature?  Yeah...well here's a few pictures of my addiction in full effect...

This doesn't include my classroom library and books on tape!

A little excessive right?  BUT...I have a plan!  Before they go on my bookshelves, I am really going to make sure it's a book I will use with my kiddos.  It has to have purpose!  Those books that don't "fit" will come home for me to sort through thoroughly, when I have time.  I have to make room for newer books somehow, don't I?  :)

So I worked a little bit in my room tonight and made some progress:

See how neat and clean it looks?  Empty shelves just waiting for something wonderful to be placed on them, baskets wondering what fun they'll be holding this year....ahhh...looks good!

Not so much:

Yep!  That's the rest of my chaos!  I'm breathing though...I still have 22 days until my cuties arrive!

Oh!  I also want to thank Dana Baker over at Love2LearnandShare!  I went to bed with 9 wonderful followers and woke up to 33 followers!  Being new to blogging, I was like, how did that happen?  What did I "say"?  Then I found out that she included me in a post about "2 cute new blogs that are worth checking out"!  What a nice surprise to wake up to new friends and new comments!  Thanks Dana!

I mailed my "Welcome Back to School" letters this week!  If you're curious, you can view them by clicking on the links below.
Welcome Letter
Supply List

Are you sitting down?  Prepare yourself...I'm thinking about getting rid of my large reading table.  When I meet with small groups I usually gather them on the carpet so that we can spread out and be comfy.  I use my table, but I think I can make better use of the space...I don't know what to do!  What do you think?

Fun Night Last Night!

Last night was so cool!  Our downtown has an Art Walk the first Thursday of every month...well May through December.  Various artists set up their artwork along the streets and most of the shops remain open!  It was so much fun!  My cousin, Wendy Kromer, who creates amazing wedding cakes for the Martha Stewart Wedding magazines and books has her own bakery in downtown Sandusky where she not only bakes her cakes, she also makes awesome cookies, other treats!  Anyway... she was hosting a children's illustrator, Marsha Gray Carrington.  Now...if you don't know me well...I'm a sucker for great children's literature...whether I fall in love with the story or just the illustrations!  I'm always looking and purchasing children's books for not only my classroom but my nieces and nephew too!  She had 4 of her books displayed and one of them was one of my favorite stories about the Liberty Bell!

Saving the Liberty Bell

It's just the coolest story ever!  My kiddos love it!
So then I started looking at her other books...and because I have a horrible addiction, I just had to purchase her other two books.

Coriander the Contrary Hen 

Go Home, Mrs. Beekman!

She was kind enough to autograph them for me on the spot!  She also had several of her prints hanging around my cousin's shop so I'm feeling the itch to go back and make another purchase...but I'm going to try to hold back for now!

My sister and I are hitting the garage sale circuit today!  Not that I need to be spending anymore money as I've been spending money like a rockstar lately but I just might find some more trinkets for my math tubs and other work stations!  I'll post my goodies later! :)

I'm Not Grounded Anymore! YEAH!

Oh my gosh!  I've been so crazy busy lately...I had to ground myself from all things fun...blogging, pinning, updating my website, etc. because I had to finish an online course I've been taking for the past six weeks!  It was killing me!  I finally finished everything Tuesday night...or I should say, I did the best I could and it is what it is...thank God!  :)  So I got up super early on Wednesday and headed to my classroom!  I was cleaning off shelves...and moving piles around and found some goodies I thought I'd share!
First...I found a surprise package left for me by a teacher that retired a few years ago!

I have 24 6x6 mini albums!

My first thought was to let my kiddos design a page for each month with their favorite things we did...then I thought I would make a different template for each month for them to complete so that it had a seasonal feel.  I also thought about shrinking some of their work and including it on each page...but that would be a lot of shrinking.  (Sometimes my original thoughts aren't always practical.)  And then I remembered our amazing technology teacher and very good friend, Mrs. Kania!  We already do digital portfolios with my students!  So...I think I'm going to keep them at home and make a scrapbook for each of my students and then give them this book at the end of the year.  I know some kindergarten teachers who do this each year and get really detailed...with 24 scrapbooks, I think I'm going to keep it simple, but nice too.  I don't even know a lot of my families yet, but I think they'll appreciate it...oops!  Some of them may be peeking at this-shhh!

Another "find" I found:

Yep...those are hard cover bound book covers (if I said that right).  I know that I'll be using these to publish the kiddos writing or stories...but I'm still figuring out how to do it!  Really excited though....there's a box of probably 50 different styles and colors.

I also found all of my magnetic letters and decided to color code my vowels!  I decided to make all of my vowels red because some of our second grade teachers use a phonics program that color codes all of the vowels, consonants, digraphs, etc. called Touch Phonics.  I used a red glitter spray paint for some of my e's to distinguish them as "Super Silent e" and I'll be spray painting my "Mystical Magical Y's" with a gold glitter spray paint.  Here's a picture so far:

They are drying at my parent's house so when I get them finished I'll share details about the spray paint I used and other tips!

Since Border's is closing forever, :( I've been making a few visits to get some of their closeout prices.  Here's my newest purchases!  I really need to figure out how to embed one of those Shelfari widgets into my blog.  :)

Obviously a rhyming story...easy rhyming for the beginning of the year.  It's about a group of dust bunnies who are coming up with words that rhyme but while they are rhyming, Bob is trying to warn them about the vacuum cleaner that is headed their way.  I'm seeing a cute bulletin board with our own dust bunnies made out of those colorful pom-pons and those fun googley eyes you can find at craft stores!

Russell is a sheep that is looking for a treasure.  After several funny incidents he finally finds the treasure and inside it he finds an old camera.  He starts taking pictures of his entire family and puts the photos into an album.  The album becomes his best treasure.  Our PTO bought digital cameras for our classrooms last year so I'm going to use this book to introduce our cameras and discuss how we are going to use them.

Tilly is a goose who does some crazy things..."Tilly was a silly goose, a daffy-down-and-dilly goose, who took her baths in apple juice."  Rhyming story-great for visual images too!

This book has been shared a lot on blogs this summer!  There are tons of ideas out there to use with this book.  Since color words were "mastered" during kindergarten, I'll be using this book at the beginning of the year.  It has a great message of getting along with others and sharing too!

I'm really excited about this book!  It begins with a perfect square that is transformed into lots of different things on each day of the week!  I'll be working on some activities to go along with this book and will share them when they're created!

As you know, our school mascot is a pirate so I just had to have these!  Pirates Go To School will be great for back to school and I'll use Pirate vs. Pirate during our district's Pride Week in January...if I can wait that long!  :)

Our art teacher, Mr. Beuglass and I got together on Monday morning to work on my tree branches...they are looking so awesome!  Here's what we've done so far...

We're using this flexible tubing found in the plumbing department.

It's 12 feet, when stretched out, of wonderful tubing that we cut in half.  Each tube is giving us 2 branches.  We cut one of the ends on an angle so that we would be able to screw it into our tree.

We then made a glue and water mixture, shredded newspaper in his shredder and started applying it to the tubes.  We can only do one side at a time and it takes about 24 hours to dry enough so that we can flip it and do the other side.

Here's a close-up of the angled edge.

My sister and her girls came to help...thank goodness!  It's a lot of shredding and mixing so it helps to have one or more people working on the tubes while another takes care of the shredder.

We just kind of glooped it all over the tubes.

Here's a close-up of how we're applying the shredded newspaper.

My nieces came to help out too...well...sort of!

My soon-to-be 4 year old niece found my box of Disney books!

My 2 year old niece loved going through all of my drawers and cubbies!

Well...this is the update so far!  I'm so glad my online class is finished so that I can focus on other things...classroom, professional training presentation in Pennsylvania, collecting internship hours, attending professional development trainings...'tis the season, I guess!  :)