#teacherweek15 is HERE!

We are linking up at Blog Hoppin' for Teacher Week 2015 (use hashtag #teacherweek15 on Instagram and Twitter). We would love for you to get to know us a little bit better:

1. I'm a fitness instructor.  I teach Jazzercise twice a week! It's the best 3rd job, ever (teaching 1st graders, running a blog, and teaching Jazzercise).

2. I've lost 115 pounds and I try to inspire other teachers/women to get fit and healthy on my *other* blog, For Blogness' Sake (I mostly post on Instagram @forblognesssake).

3.  I have the goofiest family ever and I love them so much! They make me laugh (with my husband at the top of that list). We are the family that can talk about anything with each other at dinner (no topic is off the table....hahaha) and we have the best of times at our family cabin. Love these peeps!

4.  In college I went on a humanitarian trip to Kenya.  I worked at a deaf school and an orphanage. It was a life-changing, humbling experience.  I miss these kids every.single.day.

5. My husband and I are both in the Greek system. My husband is a Sigma Chi (as well as my brother) and I'm an Alpha Phi (as well as my sister, sister-in-law, and Natalie).  In college I was the Chapter President and now I'm the Alumnae Chapter President here in Salt Lake City.  This organization has taught me so much and I wouldn't be where I am today without Alpha Phi.

1. I have 3 little kids who are my most prized possessions! Being a mom is my favorite thing in the whole world. These kids can sure be a handful some most days, but I would't trade being their mom for anything else.

2. Besides blogging, my favorite hobby is photography! I used to do it to earn a little extra money on the side, but I've mostly stopped and just do it as a fun little side hobby. I love making a beautiful picture and capturing the little moments of life. (The picture below is from our trip to Vegas this summer for the TPT Conference. I miss those beautiful palm trees already!)

3. I love to travel! One of my favorite trips I've ever been on was when I was a senior in high school. My high school drama group (yep, I was a drama kid…) got invited to perform at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. We got to spend two weeks in Scotland and it was definitely a trip I will never forget!

3. Once upon a time, I was a little bit of a pageant girl and I competed at the Miss Utah pageant. I was able to earn quite a bit of scholarship money doing pageants and I'm grateful for the many great opportunities it gave me to serve in my community. I loved being an advocate for the American Heart Association and raising money for women's cardiac care and research as part of my platform. 

5. My favorite store is Hobby Lobby! This summer we put our condo on the market, and when I looked through all my pictures for the listing, I realized that almost all of my decor is from there. Sometimes when I walk through the store I look around and say, "I have that sign, I already own that piece of art, I have that hanging in my kitchen…" Haha. (Here's a little collage of what our condo looked like. This week we will finally close on our new house and we are SO EXCITED!!!)

Do you want to link up, too? Head over to Blog Hoppin'!

We'd really like to hear what you think about our fun facts. 

Please leave a comment about something you learned 

about us or something you have in common with one of us. 

We love hearing from you in our comments!!

Back to School with a BOOST!

If you missed out on the last back to school sale or if you are looking for more great resources for your classroom, you are in luck! TeachersPayTeachers has recently announced another site-wide sale where you can save 28% on all your TPT Purchases!

(Thanks for the cute graphic, Amy Lemons!)

Please check out Rachelle's store for some amazing center ideas, guided reading lessons, and other great K-2 products!

If you're looking for some great upper grades resources for literature circles or writing projects, Natalie's store has got you covered! 

We hope our resources can save you time, engage your students, and add some excitement into your teaching! 

Happy school year, everyone - make it the best year you've ever had!!

Organizing for a Substitute {Sub Tub}

A few weeks ago, I shared how I organize my "teacher stuff".  This is part 2 of the ABC's of Organization! Just a reminder that you might want to download some freebies:

I will be doing a short series on organizing your classroom. You'll want to download {these} FREE handouts.  Up next this week is Organizing for a SUB!

Sub Tub with binder and all lesson supplies (grab the tub tag here)

Positive reinforcements-green basket (Brownie Points and Smarty Pants Tickets)

Technology hookups- blue basket

Technology directions

Sub Treat (pack of gum)

 You can find this cute {editable cover and ALL the forms inside HERE}

Behind the binder are files with all of the activities my sub will be doing with my students. In the folders there are also the picture books that each lesson associates with.

I ALWAYS leave extra books for my sub to read "just in case". 

Don't forget to leave the necessities in close reach.

Positive reinforcements (Brownie Points and Smarty Pants Tickets)

Can you see that blue sheet taped to my desk in the bottom-right? That is my class list.  I tape it to my desk so that it's always there for my sub (and for me too!)

 Depending on my substitute and what lessons they'll be teaching, I might leave directions on how to use the simple technology in my classroom.  You can snag that (here). It'll obviously be different in your classroom, but you can get an idea on how to write your own. 

 Leave some love for your sub! Download it for free {here}

 I hope I gave you some ideas on how to organize for your substitute!  If you'd like some forms to put in your binder you can Click {here} to check it out!

Back-to-School Bulletin Board, Management, and Donation Door

I have a few random pictures of what I've been doing in my classroom to get ready! I love the energy of my school during back-to-school time! Everyone's excited, but slightly bummed that summer is over.  That feeling goes away once we all start working in our classrooms and prepping for our new students (ok, well that bummed feeling *mostly* goes away).

I LOVE to think of fun ways to welcome my students to my classroom with my back-to-school bulletin board. Check out *some* past bulletin boards HERE.

 This year, I took some inspiration from my husband who LOVES Minions (he's a little kid at heart). We watch Despicable me with our niece and nephews and my husband laughs louder than they do. ;) Sure do love that man!  Anyway, I found a piñata at Walmart that just CALLED MY NAME and then I found these cute Minions on TpT. Off I went to decorate!

 I cut the headers for this board on my Silhouette Cameo (best crafting tool, ever!).
The names on the Minions are just Avery mailing labels. Easy-peasy.

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Each year I do a Donation Door for our Back-to-School Night. Parents can come by and grab a sticky note off of our door that says the name of a school supply. They can send in the donated school supplies with their child to school the next day! It's an awesome way to get a variety of supplies for your classroom and not just getting 3,934 boxes of tissues. ;) {You can check out another donation door I've done, here}

I did print on SUPER sticky notes (found at Target) and I used a tutorial from this cute blog.

Arrows are vinyl and made with my Silhouette Cameo with KG Arrows font.

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A few years ago I found this CUUUUUTE behavior mangament idea from Growing Kinders.  I've always done Brownie Points as a whole-class incentive, but this year I'm doing Mr. Potato Head.  I'll pull off all of his parts (hehe) and if the students are working quietly, I will add one part at a time until he is all put together.  Once he's all back together, there will be a MYSTERY prize that the whole class will win (lunch with teacher, extra recess, or maybe popcorn party).

With pretty much everything, I got mine on Amazon. Praise all that is holy for Amazon Prime. ;)