Crraaazeeeyy!!

Yup..my title explains how things have been going. I just don't get it how you all do it when you have 265+ kids each school year?! This year I'm blessed with 26 little munchkins angels :D I don't know if my room is too small (some of you have amazing looking rooms and so much space that I'm totally jealous of) but things feel SO CRAMPED with 26 kids. Yesterday I was majorly freaking out because I was told (around lunch time) that I would need to make my broken tv cart accessible for the repairman to come and fix it....I was looking at the surrounding area and thinking how in the world am I going to move 2 HEAVY bookcases, teacher desk and my second teacher desk (made from a student desk) that is piled up with papers and stuff and 2 smaller bookcases...just to make room for the tv cart. THEN I would need to move all of my student desks because there wasn't a wide enough walkway to lug that big cart out. I just have to say that i am SO LUCKY and thankful and appreciative that I have THE MOST SUPPORTIVE bf in the world (or at least in my world) haha. He drove over to school, surprised me with a mcfrappe and some frenchfries and did all the work!! He even thought up of a new desk set up, moved all the desks for me and now my room looks much more spacious. I was shocked because I always thought I was creative desk set up queen...but he took the cake on this one :)
I'm off to school now and hoping for a smooth sailing Wednesday. Enjoy your last days of summer for those of you still on break! And for those that are back in school, have a successful day!!

What's Your Style..Teacher Fashion Linky

Yesterday, as I was trying to do some research on things to buy for todays big TPT sale..I stumbled upon a blog and a SUPER fun linky party!!

Jessica, from Blood to Books is hosting 

Here are the guidelines...

1. Tell me your favorite store(s) that you like to get your "teacher's fashion".

2. What are some of your favorite accessories?

3. What type of shoes do you teach in? (i.e. heels, flats, wedges, etc.)

4. Do you have a "go-to" item in your closet? (i.e. sweater you wear weekly, shoes you wear daily, etc.)

5. Have you ever had a fashion "uh-oh" at school? (i.e. heel broke, button popped off of blouse)

1. I read through quite a bit of the blogs that linked up to Jessica and I think I may be one of the first or few (didn't see any others) whose favorite store is Forever 21!! They have SO MANY cute and trendy clothing items for such a cheap price. I can't go anywhere else and score as cute items for so cheap..I even think their items are cheaper than TJ Max. Other than Forever 21, the rest of my clothes comes from Macys or other little boutiques we have on our island. Eden in Love is one of my favorite boutiques to shop at and they just opened an online shop!!

2. I really like to match my clothes with necklaces but they always get tangled in my lanyard. I've finally given up on that look for school. My main accessory that I always have around my neck is my hello kitty lanyard. I also love to match my outfits with dangly earrings. 

3. I live in Hawaii, so I pretty much grew up either bare foot (hula dancer my whole life) OR with rubber slippers (flip flops). So pretty much every day of the week, you will find me in a pair of fancy slippers/flats that have lots of bling!!

Source: stevemadden.com via Courtney on Pinterest 

4.Duh, like everybody else my go-to item is the faithful cardigan. You just can't go wrong with them. I too have them in all colors, styles, lengths..you name it I have it. My brother's wife looked at all of my cardigans and was like OMG you don't need to buy any more cardigans for the rest of your life!
I also love to wear dresses to school and almost always pair a dress with a cute belt at my waist. Dresses are so simple because you don't need to match them with anything!!

Source: polyvore.com via Courtney on Pinterest

This is actually one of my favorite belts...And I usually wear them exactly like this. I have a TON of belts...

5. I leave for school really early. I leave so early that it's still dark. I try not to turn on too many lights since the bf is still sleeping. Anyways, when I find a pair of sandals that are actually comfortable, I like to buy a lot because my feet hurt in almost everything. SO I had these wedge sandals in both brown and grey. I accidentally wore one of each pair! haha. The thing is is that I was so tired..I didn't notice until my kids came to school, it was bright and one of my students pointed it out!! We had a good laugh!  

TpT Back to School Sale and Your Fav. Products Ever Purchased Linky...

Boy!! This TPT Back to school sale is HUGE..and I can't wait to fill up my basket. I'm almost afraid of how many things I will purchase from telling myself..but it's sooo cheap compared to regular price :P I do this too often! haha. So, of course I will have to participate...I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin'

My store will also be 20% off and don't forget to enter the Coupon Code: BTS12 for an ADDITIONAL 10% off!! 

If you're like me (back to school and last minute) and did not get a chance to do your homework and look up all of the great things that you WILL purchase and make use of this school year...lets help each other out and SHARE our best investments from TPT. What are some things that you have purchased and used year after year....or that have been a total success in your class and you absolutely LOVED. 

Here are some of my all time favorites:

I really loved this pumpkin Book Project Pack and it was SO FUN seeing the wonderful work of art that the students and families created together. This was from the Clutter Free Classroom. You may link up to this store by clicking on the picture or HERE. 

This unit was created by Ashleigh (one of my favorite sellers). I had purchased this unit before common core blew up. My school began implementing common core last school year, and there really wasn't any materials or resources out yet like there is now. This was SO helpful for me in grasping an understanding of what the standards asked for. Plus there were so many practice pages that were FUN for the kids :) Check it out HERE

This is my most recent purchase from Stephanie, and I absolutely LOVE this. She made it so easy for me to implement Mystery Readers..and my students AND parents are SO EXCITED!! 

Check it out HERE

SOO To help out all of those last minute shoppers (like me)  make the most out of their dollar, PLEASE link up and share your favorite purchases from TPT. Be sure to link back to your blog post!

I Survived....

Week one and half of week 2!! For all you teachers, you know how exhausting this is!! My first post, I wrote about how tired and sore my feet and legs were. I kid you not, upon waking up my first 3 days back in school...I felt as if I ran a marathon. My legs and feet were SO SORE. Even after sleeping a good6 hours. I was just not used to standing up from 7:30-2:30. Thankfully, my legs are now used to it(and hopefully will be getting in to good shape) haha.

I am so happy to say that I am a survivor of week 1! Let me tell you, I was TERRIFIED of these kids I was getting. When I watched them on the playground last year, they were like wild animals that get let loose from the zoo. The first day they came to school none of them were shy or timid..just chatting away. I quickly had to whip out my whole brain teaching techniques and my mean teacher eye (and voice) to produce what I'm so happy and proud of as of today. These past two days have been so fun and wonderful, as my kiddos are finally getting the hang of everything, are responding to my cues and we are really beginning to jump into curriculum.

Our first math lesson, we worked on four ways to write a number. I wanted to start with the basics of place value as a refresher. I began by showing base ten blocks and showing 9 ones- cubes on a hundreds chart. I then added 1 more and asked what to do? How do I show 10? They directed me to trade in the ones for a ten stick. We discussed that the highest digit in each place value is 9, then you need to carry over to the next place value. We continued this all the way up to 10,000. This really got the kids understanding the value of each place. I then showed them number disks and let them now that we would be using these instead of our tens sticks, 100 flats, etc. The kids were asked to show various numbers in picture form, standard form, expanded form and word form. Drawing pictures really helped the students when it came to writing their numbers in expanded form. In the past, my students have really struggled when it came to place value, writing numbers correctly, expanded form and knowing the value of the digit. This worksheet and continued practice with this in school has really made place value a pleasure to teach this year! Click the picture if you would like to check this out at my TPT store:

I have this boy in my class who for some reason just cracks me up! He has this need where he constantly needs to talk..even if nobody is listening to him. He doesn't mean to be disruptive and doesn't notice he is breaking the rules...NOW all I need to do is look at him and he automatically locks his mouth and throws away his key. But he always seems to find his 'key' and begins talking shortly after. Today, I asked him what happened because I thought he threw away his key...he told me that he found it. haha. SO he then asks if I can hold the key for him. He now locks his lips when he enters the room, and hands me the key. Good thing I remembered to give it to him when he went to lunch and went home this afternoon :)