Meet the Teacher Linky

Hey y'all! Today was our first day of inservice and oh my goodness the back to school chaos has finally hit me! The good news is my room is 90% done. I'm so glad I got a head start this year and won't have to full on panic come next week when I meet my new set of minis.
I'm linking up with Falling Into First for a fun filled meet the teacher linky just in time for back to school.

 I've seen this linky floating around for a few days now, and I've hesitated on joining. I'm not one to talk about myself much and can be fairly shy. This will be the most pictures of myself I've ever put into a blog post.

I'm a 30 year old Christian, daughter, sister, friend, Cross doing, Texas twangin' second grade teacher! I'll start my fifth year of teaching in a couple of weeks. I've always loved school. I was the kid who played "school" with stuffed animals and graded their papers. 

Traveling is one of my favorite hobbies! My two must do's (do's? Is that correct?) while traveling are a spa visit and cupcakes. 

It was windy and the hair was a hot mess but I had to venture out to the observation deck!

The big piano at FAO Schwartz was one of my must visit places when I took my first trip to NYC in April.

New Orleans is my all time favorite place to visit. I try going every year if possible.

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS.....

Cupcakes, pink, anything sparkly, Target, Starbucks, pedicures, almost anything on Bravo, lounging poolside under a big umbrella with a yummy beverage, Christmas, QVC.

IF YOU WEREN'T A TEACHER, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?

I'd love to be an event planner or someone who hosts one of those awesome traveling shows so I get to visit amazing places.

THREE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU.

Caring, calm, creative

FINISH THE SENTENCE, "_______, SAID NO TEACHER EVER!''

"Analyzing data AGAIN and going cross eyed from all the numbers is just so much fun, said no teacher ever!"

Q: IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY AND YOU CAN INVITE ANYONE {DEAD OR ALIVE} TO THE PARTY. WHO ARE YOU INVITING?

I'd invite Oprah. I've always been a fan of hers since I was little. Anyone who supports teachers is a favorite of mine.

Q: IF SOMEONE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD BE THE TITLE?

Stronger Than Yesterday

 Q:YOU GET TO PICK ONE SUPERPOWER. WHAT IS IT?

Hmm, this is a tough one. I'd have to go with super human strength.

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE OR SAYING?

"Be careful not to do something permanently stupid because you are temporarily angry, stressed, tired, or hungry"

Q: IF YOU HAD TO SING ONE SONG ON AMERICAN IDOL, WHAT WOULD IT BE? 

I'm currently obsessed with the song Fancy by Iggy Azalea, but only sing it in my car. Trust me y'all don't want me to sing in public!

Q: ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL?

Definitely more of a morning person once I wake up and get energzied for the day.

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCE THAT YOU'VE CREATED IN YOUR TPT SHOP?

I don't have a TPT shop yet, BUT I am moving forward and hope to get it up and going in the next couple of months. I've thought about a TPT shop before and God placed it in my heart this summer. It's exciting and scary territory for me.

Q: SHARE SOMETHING WE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU!

I have three tattoos! My most recent on my right ankle and favorite I got a few weeks ago. It's still in the healing/peeling phase.

Monday Made It

Happy Monday teacher friends! I went back to my classroom today to start working little by little.

 You know how you can tell you've returned back to school? When you don't stop to take a potty break until 3:00 in the afternoon! I'm linking up again with 4th Grade Frolics for some Monday Made It  fun!

Earlier I shared my finished product on Instagram. Bright colors always make me happy. Excuse my fresh faced (read no makeup and lazy) look ha! I noticed the smudges on the top right of the frame after taking pics and touched it up later in the day.

With the exception of the letters, I bought everything at Michael's a couple of weeks ago. Hopefully I can find another project to use the spray paint with. The color is too fabulous to let it sit unused. I originally was going to purchase chalkboard spray paint, but the bottle was on clearance for less than $1.

A teacher friend stopped by just as I was finished with everything. I'll rewrite 1st in fancier writing just before school and I'll switch it for the 100th and last day of school. 

The completed project cost me around $22. Don't forget to link up and share your awesome creations!

August Currently

I guess I can now say my summer has come to an end? Teachers don't start PD in my district until the 14th, but I'm going back tomorrow to start working on my classroom! I'm linking up with Farley again for August Currently. Who doesn't love the currently linky every month? It's one of my favorites hands down.

Listening- Normally I've got the t.v. on, but it's a rare moment when I've got no background noise. 

Loving- I can't wait for the TPT back to school sale! I've got some items on my wish list I can't wait to purchase and use my TPT credits to save even more!

Thinking- Tomorrow when I go back to my room I have a checklist; arrange furniture, purge old files, and complete one board. If I can get more done that's great but those 3 things are a top priority. I can't wait to start decorating and share with everyone!

Wanting- We all need a personal assistant this month am I right? 'Nuff said.

Needing- My eyebrows, hands, and feet look a hot mess right now. I got so busy with doing other things to get ready for BTS pampering had to take a backseat. 

As I mentioned earlier we don't start until the 14th but those PD days won't be enough time for prepping and they fly by so fast. Kids start the 25th. 

Five for Friday

Hey everyone! It's been a while since I've participated in the Five for Friday linky party with Doodle Bugs Teaching!
I have a to do list a mile long before going back to my classroom next week, ahhh! Let me tell you, part of me is ready to go back right now so I get back into a routine and I stop spending money!

I finally caved and started using Instagram! Hopefully I'll start posting more pics and connect with teacher friends soon. Anyone have suggestions for teacher hashtags? I've seen a couple today that I need to start using.

I posted this pic of what I found in my McDonald's bag today. Ha! Notice the A+ spelling of Jacuzzi....

I went to Legoland with a teacher friend Monday night. It was alright. I didn't walk away from it super impressed. The city landmarks made out of Legos were cool though.

While shopping for a birthday gift and Barnes and Noble I couldn't resist picking up ANOTHER book for my class. See what I mean by spending too much money? I have books I can't even find space for. Flat Stanley is one of my favorite book characters so of course I had to have it. 

I created some fancy schmancy new business card magnets. I'll have these ready to go for parents during supply drop off before school starts. 

I snagged this freebie from the fabulous Cupcakes n Curriculum. 

Let me tell you I'm easily entertained by even the smallest things. I went had dinner at Chili's this week for the first time in months. They know have these cool tablets/computers at each table how cool is that?! My friend commented it must have been a while because those things have been there for months. I paid the $0.99 to play the games and trivia. 

GISD iCon...And I Had Some Work Done

Hey everyone! I intended on blogging this weekend, but got behind. I was a school shopping/crafting fool this weekend. The good news is I'm 95% done buying what I need. Did you notice my blog got a face lift?! I LOVE it! Tessa over at Tales from a Blog Designer did a great job.
This past Thursday my district held it's first ever iCon. It was professional development based on the EdCamp model meaning you were free to come and go to sessions as you pleased. It was exciting to have so many people from my school attend! If I'm not mistaken I think we had the largest number of people from one school in attendance.

Teacher techie friends <3

Professional development is always great when you're in the same space with other teacher friends who are just as excited and ready to learn as you are. Don't you agree? 

My coworker and I presented a session called Tech 4 Tots. You can find a link to our presentation here. 

My techie friend Darla was an excellent volunteer during Winning Words. I was having hot mess hair issues that day!

Winning Words is a free (who doesn't love that) group of apps that are excellent for vocabulary. 

Have your minis play independently or in a learning station and pick your level of difficulty. It's easy peasy and can be learned quickly.

During the session I showed the easy levels, but the medium and difficult levels are excellent introductions to higher level vocabulary words.

Chatterpix was my new favorite app of the day. I definitely can see this app being used for some readers theater or summarizing for a lesson or story. 

Start with any picture you choose. Upload from your camera roll when if you don't plan on taking a new picture.

Draw a line for the mouth

You'll have 30 seconds to record what you want.

Your picture does the talking, and provides some laughs at how silly the mouth can make the picture look.

You can add whatever borders, props, or text you would like. A quick heads up; some of the props may not be appropriate for your minis so monitor choices carefully.

Voila! Another easy peasy lemon squeezy app.

There was and still is so much being shared from iCon I couldn't possibly blog about it all. That plus the fact I get easily distracted while writing one post and it takes me forever. My blogging attention span is apparently the same as a goldfish. Follow the hashtag #gisdicon on Twitter to learn more. 

Monday Made It

Happy Monday everyone! I realized today my summer break is drawing to an end, eek! I have a little over 3 weeks before I go back to school for staff development. I don't know about you, but I always like going back a few days early to get a head start on my classroom.

I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for my first Monday Made It post! I've seen this linky pop up on my Bloglovin news feed, and decided it was time to participate.
Have you seen the super cute library paint sticks on Pinterest? Last year I had a system in place for students to remember which basket to return class books too but it didn't last long. My minis used numbered clothespins to clip onto baskets which worked great for a couple of weeks, then the clothespins were constantly breaking ugh!
Here's everything I used for the library paint sticks.

I got the paint sticks for free from Home Depot. The holes were drilled in the sticks by a sweet employee. Shout out to my local Home Depot for being so helpful to me! The cupcake numbers are a freebie from Twinkl Printable Resources on TPT that I laminated to make them last. I already had the spray paint.

I laid out the paint sticks outside and sprayed to even coats of paint on each side. Thankfully no spray paint got on me, clothes, or the sidewalk yay!

I kicked up my heels in the lovely ac while I waited for it all to dry. At first I was concerned the red would be too bright, but I was pleased with the end result. I love how the red pops. The cute polka dot ribbon I found at Hobby Lobby.

Side note: Some of the sticks I went back and sprayed again for a more even color.

Voila! This was an easy peasy affordable craft. I can't wait for these to get used! Don't forget to link up with your own Monday Made It and join the fun. 

July Currently

Happy July 1st teacher friends!! I've had a fabulous day today. It's time to link up with Farley again for June Currently.

Listening- Y'all know how much I love me some Bravo. The People's Couch is a hilarious show! The different people and opinions on this show crack me up. I missed the Real Housewives tonight because I was at dinner, but thank God for DVR right?

Loving- I'm house and pet sitting for a sweet teacher friend who just retired. She has a pool that I've started enjoying today!

I met up with a first grade teacher friend to start planning our presentation for a district iPad workshop later this month. Let me tell you I'm so easily entertained. We both were out on a school night, wearing shorts, and eating dinner! It may sound silly, but it's the little things that make summer special for teachers.

Thinking- My mind can go a mile a minute. I've always got a mental checklist going on. 

Wanting- I'd love some ice cream or frozen yogurt right now.

Needing- I need a blanket year round no matter the weather. There's nothing better than lounging on the sofa with the ac going and burrowing under a blanket.

4th plans- So far I have no set plans, but of course fireworks at night will be involved.