MIA & A Crafty Frame

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last wrote a blog post! This just shows how busy I have been due to the back to school frenzy!

I made a few things that I wanted to share so these next few days I plan to post a little bit here and there. I also want to start sharing what we do in our classroom. I'm just hoping I can keep up.

For the first day of school I made a shadow box that the students will be holding in their first day of kindergarten picture! This idea is similar to the first day of school chalkboard thing that is going around on Pinterest. I plan to change it out and put one for the last day of school and possibly their birthdays... My theme is birds and polka dots so this fit it perfectly!

"Mi Primer Día de Kinder" translates to "My first day of Kinder

Classroom Tour Blog Hop!

I love to see all the pictures of all your classrooms so link up! We all need more projects! Lol. My husband says my to do list never ends... it's true once I scratch one off another two get put on! I love my job and all the cute decor make it more enjoyable :)

IKEA, Classroom Decor & TPT

Warning: Oh yes this post will be long!

Two days ago  A week ago, my husband and I decided we should take a mini shopping trip to Portland. Why Portland you ask? Outlet mall!!! Oh and of course IKEA :) Well this turned out to be a two nights/3 day trip. Oops!

Anyhow, IKEA! I loved it! I can't believe I had never been! Seriously, it was the best 4 hours of my little life. Ha ha. My boys were happy because they had food. Who can think about food when you have all that stuff to look at? Regardless, I ate... I had to. I needed more energy to continue on to the upper level.  So at IKEA I decided to buy everything I could get my hands on and inside that BIG yellow bag. I bought some containers for my kid's tables (I am going to try if not at least they were cheap $3!) instead of the regular colored caddies I had in the past. I need something open and accessible from either end of the table.

I also bought a table for my kids to do their centers at. This table was a steal at $9.99 (no taxes in Portland)! Place mats at $1.99 to use for the kiddos that need a specific spot to sit on during carpet time. It could also be used as a special seat during Daily 5.

Classroom Decor:
I am working on making some new stuff to decorate my classroom since I have decided to do a polka dot, trees and birds theme. I will show you as I go. I am also making a behavior clip chart so that will be in the next blog post... hopefully! Does anyone have anything that they have made that was very useful especially for the beginning of the school year or even for Kinders???!!

TPT:
During my time off, commercial breaks and down time (when I should be sleeping), I have glued myself to search TPT stores. I guess I sound like a stalker now. Lol. Only for good reasons.

I have to thank the following for their help in working with me to create spanish documents to use in my classroom. It's hard to find cute things in Spanish but with the help of my Spanish/translating skills and the creativity of these wonderful ladies that has been easier. Translating their documents have been worth it as now I have tons to use in my classroom and they can also offer their products in Spanish!

Thanks to Mrs. Cupcake at A cupcake for the teacher who has these behavior calendars available to track each student's behavior per month. You too can get these in English by going here.

Thank you also to Sandy at Soaring through Second  who has this wonderful Ipad policy. I had thought about it but the words weren't there. Thankfully all I had to do was translate! 

Thank you to Melissa Gibbs who provided me with Spanish Literacy Centers which are also available in English here at her TPT Store

Hopefully I have not missed anyone. Thanks again to all you ladies. You make my job way easier. Hopefully one day I can create something that maybe you could use. :)

Classroom Day #3

I have been to my classroom three days so far. Only for maybe 2 hours max because I take the little one and he becomes the grouchy little lady bug after an 1 1/2. But I can't blame him. He'll learn to love it. :)

So here is another sneak peak of my classroom AS OF NOW... I am sure it will look totally different by the time the kids actually show up.

I'm not quite sure on a few things and I am thinking of making a little curtain for the math manipulatives. Any suggestions, comments or anything would be awesome!

BEFORE

 AFTER

My reading nook

My Kitchen... not sure yet on this little nook

Student tables with book cases on the side for their book boxes

Calendar area/Entrance to my classroom

View from the door

Oh yes! My hubby just worked on my signature! I love it! Thanks love!

Word Wall

I have finally started getting into "school mode"... who am I kidding, that started in July. Anyhow, I went to our local teacher store (Teacher's World) and decided that I really needed to get my theme together so I can start creating things for my classroom. So, for my classroom I have decided to go with the theme of polka dots, trees & maybe birds (I have yet to figure out how I am going to include these). For sure the polka dots and the trees though. So to start off my collection for this theme I purchased these cute word wall cards from  Rachel Lamb's TPT Store. Because I am a bilingual teacher and teach in Spanish I needed the extra letters that are in the Spanish Alphabet so she made them for me. Yay! Thanks Rachel!

My husband is going to work very hard tomorrow to take my old bulletin board stuff down and put up my new stuff so I will be posting some pictures as soon as that is done! I am really excited but I hope once I start it goes quick. I still have a few more days of summer left!

Aren't they adorable! Only $1!

DIY, Giveaways & Freebies!

First off let me say... I love Pinterest! Actually we have a love hate kind of relationship. :)

As I was searching on Pinterest I found tons of neat things. Then I thought. "Why not share?" So while you are cleaning up your classrooms, preparing for another school year, keep these in mind.

Check out these neat crayons that you can make using old glue sticks

When I saw this, my brain started thinking... "Darn! Why did I give all that old stuff away?!" Lol

I think these are perfect for new Kinders! Check out the link here.

If you have a supply list and want to get some free Clorox wipes, you have only 2 days to do this!

Click Here for your free wipes! Hurry, it's only a few days away! The link is to a couponing blog... I am going to try couponing again. Hopefully I stick to it a bit longer.

This seems like the perfect thing to do to help me organize myself (or just go crazy labeling!) They are easy and as teachers, I am sure we can find some use for them! Click here so you too can make your own Chalkboard labels. This is a wonderful blog with lots of crafty DIY projects!

Aren't these so practical?!

Now one final Freebie! These thank you cards are cute, chic & free! This is definitely worth bookmarking for the future! Lots of free printables!

Polka Dot Thank you cards

Chevron Thank you cards

Enjoy the Freebies & DIY crafts! Now going to pin more for my to do list!

A Glimpse into my 2nd home...

I have yet to post any pictures of my classroom but today I decided to let you get a "glimpse" of it. I am still on "summer" break so of course it's not set up yet but I wanted to show you what it looked liked before it had to all go in boxes.

Last year was my first year teaching Bilingual Kindergarten and I was not sure how that was going to go. I had taught first grade the year before and I wasn't sure how to go about the set up of my class with Kindergartners. These pictures were from the last month of school., but I changed it about 8 times during the school year... Please tell me I am not the only one who changes their classroom around that many times... Anyone?

I like change and this helps me keep it together the remainder of the year :) Oh and the kids love it! It's like a new classroom to them.

Okay so here are a few pictures. Please feel free to comment. I have no idea what it's going to look like this year but I hope much neater and organized. At least for the first week! :)

This is my calendar area... word wall, calendar, poems, alphabet chart

This is my "desk area". I actually don't have a desk because it was taking up too much room so I ditched it. I am now using all that counter space as my "desk" and it actually has worked way better. It limits my space for clutter. Although that's hard to see here. Ha ha.

This picture also shows my behavior chart (green, yellow, orange, red)... I think I need something new.

This shows my reading table which also works as my Teacher's Aid area. She pulls students who need extra help while I work with them at their desk or teach whole group. This also shows my little kitchen, puzzle box, coat hooks (drove me nuts! I need a system for this!), and their book boxes above the hooks.

I had to post this because I really liked this alphabet :) Made by the kiddos and stayed up all year!

Okay so there you go. Just a small glimpse. I plan to go to my classroom this week so I will take pictures of the before and post as I start fixing my room up for the new kiddos. Let me know what you think and share any ideas you may have for me.