Friday Favorites {8-26-16}

Although I'm a day late, I still want to share my Friday Favorites with you guys! I just got done with my first full week of school and it was exhausting! But I loved (almost) every second of it!

My first Favorite of the week was that one of my students brought me a cup of Braum's vanilla ice cream for breakfast! Is it totally against my diet? Yes. Did I eat every single bit of it? YES! It was so thoughtful and sweet!

My second Favorite of the week was how I taught the Scientific Method to my Science classes.  I used The Tiny Teachers 'The Cat's In The Bag' lab and my students absolutely loved it!  It made the scientific method real to them, as opposed to a set of questions on a worksheet.  I will never introduce the scientific method any other way!

My third Favorite of the week was the following two letters I received from students.  The top one is absolutely hilarious, and the bottom one is the sweetest letter I've ever received!  

My fourth Favorite of the week was when my homeroom class and I created our Social Contract.  Our district has each class create a social contract each year as a document that will reinforce how we should treat each other.  My class this year had wonderful answers!  We started with each student creating a flip book and answering the 4 questions that form the social contract.  Then we all got to discuss our answers and write them on the board.  Then I got a piece of poster board and wrote their answers on it and they all signed it.  It was a wonderful experience that truly bonded us as a class.

 My next Favorite is LULAROE!  Over the past few months I have fallen in love with LuLaRoe and a friend and I have decided to become independent consultants and actually sell their clothes! It is exciting and scary at the same time, but we can't wait to get our inventory and get started. I just hate that it will be about another 5 weeks! Patience, grasshopper!  These are some clothes I bought at online sales this week: A Carly Dress, an Irma Shirt, a pair of BUTTERY leggings, and a Cassie skirt in the bottom right!  I love them all and can't wait to wear them to school next week!

And lastly, what I would have to say was my Utmost Favorite of the week was a few nights ago when my family and I played outside. My super sexy, 30 year old husband was gettin' it on his skateboard and was even teaching our 4 year old daughter the basics!  And my 4 month old was smiling the whole time!  It was one of those rare evenings that I put all of my 'to do's' in the rearview and just took some time to play with my family. And I enjoyed every second of it!

I hope everyone else's week was as great as mine!

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Back to School! Lots of pics!

I was truly SO excited to get back to school! Of course I missed my girls every day, but I enjoyed the routine, the challenge, and getting to know my new kiddos!

Monday morning was our district's convocation and it was awesome! They brought in the drum lines from all three of our high schools and it took me straight back to when I was in high school! This is a pic of me and my teammate and right-hand-man, Mrs. Vann, at convocation!

Tuesday, the second day of "Back to School" for me was a FULL DAY OF PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT.  I literally spent the entire day with this look on my face.

Wednesday morning we had a whole-school meeting in the morning, and then we FINALLY got to work in our rooms in the afternoon! Then that evening we had Meet the Teacher Night! It was so great to see my new kiddos walk through the door with huge smiles on their faces as they got to pick out their seats for the year!  I also got visits from many previous students and that truly made my day!  Get my Back 2 School Pack HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How I collect supplies on Meet the Teacher Night!

My Classroom!

My Welcome Back Pack and Parent & Student Information Pack!

Thursday was my baby girls' 1st Day of School!  It went so well! She loved every second of it!  My husband got her donuts and 'pink milk' and had breakfast with her in the cafeteria the first morning.  It was a great day for her, as well as for me and my students!

Breakfast!

Painting! One of her favorite things to do!

Her teacher took this and sent it to me!

Her precious name tag and backpack!

And finally, Friday was field/team-building day and my 29th birthday! My students loved competing against other classes playing fun games like Sharks and Minnows, Over/Under, Relay Tic-Tac-Toe, and Tug of War!  

Playing girls against boys tug of war! The boys had to take their shoes off but they still won! 

And my incredible husband came to surprise me at school and bring me my gift- A Fitbit Charge HR!  I was so surprised! I absolutely loved it!  And after school we went to dinner at my favorite Mexican restaurant, Teds Escondido!

My husband and I at dinner!

My awesome present!

And lastly, today has been a day of lesson planning and relaxation.  I've gotten to spend a lot of time with my husband and girls and I've loved every minute of it after having such a busy week!  But my favorite moment of the entire week?  This...

Classroom reveal and something you MUST do NOW to help you later in the year!

I was so excited to get back into my classroom and get my room together! To my surprise, when I entered my room the desks were already put out into tables so that saved me a lot of time and sweat!

Here are some pics of my room!

Right behind my desk

Middle wall between windows

Scientific Method 

Some personal items on my counter so my students can see that I'm a normal human being with a family! Ha!

"How I Get Home" clip chart and my "Voice Levels Clip Chart"
Get my Voice Levels Clip Chart HERE!!!!!

Behavior Process, Hand Signals Poster (get it HERE) and my Scale of Understanding (get it HERE)

"I CAN" magnets so I can post my daily objective under them with expo markers.
My Choice Board so I can write down what my students can do when they finish their work.

Fifth Grade Photo Booth! The lights in the building were off, so I couldn't get a good pic.  The kiddos will stand in front of it for our Meet the Teacher Night and their parents can take pics of them!

Here is a close up of the border and letters!

Now on to the most important part of this post- Something you MUST do NOW to help you out later in the year!

One thing that I always make sure to do before school starts is to make Substitute Packets for days that I have to miss school with short notice.  I get sick, my kids get sick, my car could break down, and I always like to have at least 3 sets on hand for if I'm gone multiple days.

All I do is copy multiple pages (I'd rather them have more work, than not enough) of mazes, coloring sheets, 4th grade math worksheets (since I teach 5th), reading comprehension worksheets, and other fun things, and I make them into a packet.  Then I make copies of the packet for each student in my class.  That way, if I'm gone, one of my team teachers can simply go and get my sub packets and the students have something to do for the day!  It takes all of the stress out of being absent.  And it takes pressure off of my teammates who would be stuck coming up with things for the substitute to do with my students if I didn't leave anything for them to do!

Making Substitute Packets has been a HUGE helper for me and takes most of the stress out of being absent.

What is something that you do in the beginning of the year that helps you later in the year??!!

Leave me a comment and let me know!

Well that's all I've got for now! Enjoy!
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Giveaways Galore and Recipes!

First, I must say that I am loving all of the giveaways lately! I am entering every Blog Hop giveaway that I can find!  Teachers love free stuff!  I was lucky enough to actually win a giveaway I entered  last week from Kelly at An Apple for the Teacher! I won her Fifth Grade Daily Spiral Math Review, and I can't wait to use it!

Second, you MUST enter a giveaway that I am helping to sponsor for one of 2 $75 TpT Gift cards!  Go HERE to enter! Even though I can't enter it, I can still dream about all the goodies I could buy with $75, right?!

Third, I want to share two of my most favorite Keto recipes I've tried lately.  This "Fat Head Pizza Crust" is amazing! I was missing pizza so badly when I went low-carb, and this truly hit the spot!  The recipe is very easy and I added on all of the cheese and pepperonis that I wanted!

Another one of my favorite Keto recipes (that is a snack, not really a recipe), is Cheese Chips! I took my daughter to see a movie the other day, and instead of binging on popcorn I snacked on these guys!  You simply cut each slice of ultra thin cheese into 4 pieces. Put on parchment paper for 35 minutes on 250 degrees!

On another note, today was my first day back at school to decorate and get my room and curriculum ready for the new year! I got lots done, but I have much more to accomplish this week before teachers report on Monday! I'm so excited for the new year!  I will post pics of my room soon!

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$75 TpT Giftcard GIVEAWAY!!!!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Prize: $75 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

I am more than excited to be teaming up with An Apple for the Teacher and a bunch of other AMAZING ladies to bring you a giveaway for 2 $75 TpT GIFTCARDS!  Enter below for a chance to win!  

Giveaway organized by: An Apple for the Teacher

Co-hosts: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher),  A Plus Kids,  Teaching Superkids, Peas in a Pod, Embellished Education, Lattes and Lunchrooms, KB3Teach, Dancing into First, Teaching Ideas For Those Who Love Teaching, The Chocolate Teacher, Ms K Math, Knowledge Mobile, Mrs. Roltgen, Elementary Antics,  CrazyCharizma, Carla Hoff, Third Grade Giggles, Mickey's Place, Rissa Hanneken, Activity Tailor, Kamp Kindergarten,  Reading and Writing Redhead, Planet Happy Smiles, A View Into My Classroom, Momma With A Teaching Mission, Sara Rucker, The Literacy Garden, Pam's Place, Heart 2 Heart Teaching, Mrs Humphries Class, Sliding Into 1st, Growing Grade by Grade, Jackie Crews, Life As I Know It, Sarah Griffin, Teacher Treasure Hunter, Glistening Gems, and A Classroom for All Seasons.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter form to enter.  Giveaway ends 8/13/16 and is open worldwide.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Are you a blogger who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your blog?  Click here to find out how you can join a totally awesome group of bloggers!

Friday Favorites!

Today I am linking up with Momfessionals for Friday Favorites! This is my first time linking up with them so I'm super excited!

Favorite Book:  The Sweetness of Forgetting by Kristin Harmel is one of the greatest books I've ever read.  It perfectly weaves together a story of love, history, and secrets!  I was completely intrigued by the storyline as well as the historical side to the story.  I definitely recommend it!

Favorite Recipe:  As I've begun my journey into getting fit and eating healthier, I've tried out multiple new recipes that I would've never tried before.  One of my favorites was Baked Cauliflower Nuggets! I was truly impressed with them.  They were healthy and delicious and I will definitely make them again!

Favorite Vacation:  Because I had a baby in April, we decided to not take an actual family vacation this summer.  But we have been very blessed in that we have gotten to go to our family cabin, FOREST VIEW CABIN, at Lake Tenkiller here in Oklahoma multiple times! It is beautiful and incredibly relaxing.  We are heading there one last time this weekend and I can't wait!  Like us on Facebook!

Thanks for reading! I hope you have a great Friday!
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