Classroom Reveal...Finally

 I finally get to show you my classroom!  I couldn't get into my room until last Tuesday...and school starts tomorrow.  So I was haulin' you-know-what to get things ready in time.  I only took a few pictures since I was rushing out the door today (they locked the building at 4:00) and I was sweating like crazy.

Here's what I started with:

And ta-da!

Much brighter and mostly done.

Here's my {free} banner from VistaPrint:

And I created my own version of this sign, which I found on  Pinterest.  I found the original source one day and now I can't find it again.  Let me know who it belongs to!

I was attempting to cover up the awful paint peeling outside my classroom but apparently it didn't help. I'm thisclose to breaking out a bucket of paint and re-doing it myself.  Sheesh.

Here is this year's version of my Writing Center.  To the left is my How We Go Home chart.

This is the Meeting Area in the back of my classroom.  We do Morning Meeting here as well as mini-lessons.  Above the board is where I will hang all of our Anchor Charts.  On the left board is our daily schedule, lunch choices, and classroom jobs.  In the middle will be where I write the Morning Message.  On the right, is our calendar, days of the week, PBIS calendar, # of school days, Reader's Workshop chart and important dates.

So excited about my non-desk area this year!  A small {newer} computer was donated to me by another teacher and it fits perfectly behind my desk.  No need to drag all my stuff over to the large dinosaurs I have in the front of the room.

I shared a picture of my library the other day.  Here is the other corner of it.  There's also a peek into my neighbor's room to the left.

Lastly, here is the front of my room.  The black bulletin boards will hold Star Student Work.  I purposely left the white board empty so that I could use all of it for writing or drawing.

I will share more close-up pictures as the week goes on, I promise!

And now that I have finally shared pictures, I can join these linky parties!

Don't forget to enter my Duo Trimmer Giveaway!

Another Giveaway!!

Ask and you shall receive!  In my laminator giveaway, a lot of you checked out MyBinding.com and mentioned that you would like the Duo Trimmer.  Well...here's your chance to win one!  Read what I have to say about it first and then enter using the Rafflecopter below.

Here it is, in it's fancy box!

Since it's a "duo" trimmer, there are obviously two parts to it.  The first side I used was the paper cutter.

It was incredibly easy to use and look how nice that cut is!

Pendant courtesy of The School Supply Addict.

The best part of this side was that the cutter locks into place for safety.  Very important when used around young kids!

Now, onto side number two.  Here's the trimmer side:

The coolest part of the trimmer is all the different settings:

You can cut your paper straight, wavy or perforated!  So cool!  Here's an awful picture of the perforation it creates:

Well, there you have it!  Now is your chance to enter to win the Duo Trimmer from MyBinding.com!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Giveaway ends on Saturday, September 1st.  Good Luck!

Freebie Attempt Round 2

The other day I attempted to give everyone a freebie...and, well, it didn't really work.  So here it is again:

I use this poster to cover up my bulletin boards at the beginning of the year before they are decorated with student work.  Check it out at my {TpT} store.

I'm going to link it up with

Also, don't forget to enter my giveaway from a Duo Trimmer!  Click here to enter!

And my computer is being painfully slow {and not following directions} so I'm off to bed!

To Tweet or Not to Tweet

Any Teacher-Twitter users out there??  I admit, I use my personal Twitter account ALL the time but for some reason I don't use my blog one very much.  Maybe because I don't know what to tweet about?

Simply Kinder to the rescue!  She has some great ideas and tutorials to share on using Twitter over at her blog.  She is also having a link-up so you can make some new connections with teachers and bloggers!

Here's my {slightly neglected} Twitter account:  

Traveling and We Have a Winner!

 Remember those teachers you had in high school who would tell you that they graded your test but wouldn't give it back to you until the very end of the class?  I'm going to be like that today.  I'm going to write a blog post and make you wait until the very end to see who won the laminator giveaway.  {of course, you could just scroll down to see...}

When I was younger, I didn't have much interest in traveling.  Don't get me wrong, when my parents said they were taking us on vacation, I definitely got excited.  But I was never one of those kids who wanted to travel the world.  I guess I was pretty much a homebody.

Then I became a teacher and that changed quite a bit.  All of sudden I wanted to share as many experiences as I could with my students.  I went to Hawaii with my husband and I spent a majority of the time with my camera slung around my neck.  Here's a photo I captured of one of the beautiful flowers we encountered:

Click here to see more photographs.

Now I am ready to go on more adventures!  My brother is doing an internship in Atlanta, Georgia this fall and I already have my husband looking up flights.  It might be a small adventure, but it's still farther than most of my students have gone.

{Anyone in Atlanta, Georgia want to meet up when I am down there?}

Okay and, now, the moment you have all been waiting for...we have a winner!

Congrats Patti!  

Thank you to all who entered - there were so many entries!  I wish I could give one laminator away to everyone!  But keep you eye out...I just might have another giveaway up my sleeve!

Freebie Friday

It's the last day of Teacher Week!

Here's my freebie!

I made this cute poster to hang up in my classroom at the beginning of the school year before my bulletin boards are full of student work.  It makes them look a little less empty!

Share your Freebie with Blog Hoppin'!

Don't forget to enter before midnight tonight!

Therapeutic Thursday

Hmmm...what are some things that I do to have fun?  That's easy!

1.  I love to do crazy things with my husband.  Here we are in Hawaii with some new friends:

2. I love taking pictures.  I find it to be so relaxing.  This cake was made by my very talented brother.  Check him out at Cut The Cake.

3.  My newest favorite way to unwind is to play with my puppy!  I love him!

{He is currently sleeping on my feet...aww}

4.  Spending time with my siblings is definitely high up on the list of ways to relax and have fun:

5.  Best Friends help too!  This photo was taken by my very talented sister-in-law.  Check her out at Olivia Greene Photography.

Link up your favorite ways to relax with Blog Hoppin'!

Only one more day to enter to win a laminator!

Where I Teach Wednesday

It's Day 3 of Teacher Week!

I would like to show you where I teach but my classroom is a little upside down right now.  I went in for the first time yesterday and have worked {very} hard for the past two days!  It's not quite ready yet, but I promise to show full pictures when I am done.

In the meantime, here are some pictures from last year:

This is the view when you walk in my room.

This is a look to the right.

Here is the back wall.

And finally, a picture from the other side of the room.

I feel as though my room is a little cluttered even though I get compliments all the time about how neat my room is.  This year, I want it to look a little more pulled together.

Here's a little itty bitty peak of my room this year so far:

Behavior Chart and 1 bulletin board (I ran out of ribbon before I could do the second one).

Class library.  Look!  Less clutter!

Link up with Blog Hoppin to share where you work!

And don't forget, you only have 2 more days to enter my Laminator Giveaway!

I don't think I've turned mine off at all in the past two days!  I have really been putting that baby to work!

You Know It's Back to School when...

Kindergarten Lifestyle knows that it's Back-to-School time!  She's hosting a linky party and here's my answer:

Yep, this is me:

Clipart by Melonheadz

Making my behavior clip chart with my handy dandy laminator!

And there is still time for you to win a personal laminator of your own!  Click the picture to go check out this post and enter to win.

You also know it's Back to School when the Back to School Expo is in town!