Freebie Friday and Some Random Stuff

Today I'm linking up with 
 Teaching Blog Addict's
Freebie Friday

to share a game I created for practicing ordinal numbers 

1 - 10. 

You can find it here.

I hope you enjoy it!

Now for some random stuff...

Would you mind terribly if I shared

 this lovely pic of my parents?

 They celebrated their 

58th wedding anniversary

this past week and I am so, SO

 blessed to call them Mom and Dad.

Last bit of random stuff...

I went to school this week to try and organize some books and I was greeted

with this hot mess.

Seriously... what happened in here?

The floor is dirty...

Random stuff in the cubbies...

Anchor charts willy-nilly 

placed in the book center...

Do your classrooms look like this 

at the beginning of the year 

or am I the only fortunate one? 

Stay tuned... 

I'll share pics once I've sorted 

through this mess and cleaned up a bit.

Leave a comment, won't ya?

Lesson Planner Goodness

In roughly 3 weeks I'll be returning to school and my 24th year of teaching will begin!  August is such a great month to start fresh... even if it is for the 24th time. 

  This post is actually about my lesson plan format for this next year.  

I'm trying something new... an Erin Condren lesson plan book and I honestly believe this will be one of my best years as far as organization is concerned.   

Take a look... 

I love the two-page spread and the large, open blocks of space.  

It's bright.  

It's lovely.  

It makes me deliriously happy.

Well... maybe not that far gone but you get the idea.

This is yet another feature I like.

Each month is followed by two blank pages for notes, to-do lists, birthdays, etc...

Honestly, there aren't any rules.

 For me, this is the space in which I'll feed my "organization" craving.  I printed all the "pins" from my Pinterest "October" board and glued them here in categories.  You'll see ideas for Columbus Day, bat/Halloween projects, ideas for an owl unit, holiday snacks... everything that I might possibly want to include that month is all in one place.

I am lovin' this planner!

How will you write your plans this next year?

Finally...

I just completed my first science unit and I'm super pleased with it.  It's all about those silent critters who inhabit our homes but prefer to go unnoticed.

 

It will be an awesome unit to teach in October or as a stand-alone unit at any other time of year.

Simply add your own non-fiction books and watch your little people develop into expert arachnologists!

It's on sale here for a week!

Enjoy your weekend!

 

 

It's Time...

I'm disappointed to report that 

it's that time of the year once again. 

It seems to arrive every summer at about this same time and as much as I believe at the end of May 

that I will NOT experience it this year... 

(not this year!)

 I can't seem to escape the fact that I'm bored with summer. 

   (What?!)

You see, this summer has been a LOT of fun.

I've had lunch at my favorite restaurants with old friends, enjoyed late night movies with my children, visits with my parents, and early morning coffee with my dear hubby.  Yeah, the last six weeks have been so relaxing however, I'm ready for the structured part of life to return

 (the part that loves routine!).  

Isn't that just pitiful?!

So now my carefree days have been reduced to

 menial tasks like...

 cleaning the refrigerator,

(No, contrary to what you might have heard, the health department did NOT leave a flyer on my door allowing me an additional week to address this matter.)

organizing the linen closet, and

cleaning out closets.

This has simply got to stop.

Can anyone else relate?

One other matter...

About the only element of fun I've had in the last few days has been developing this card game that I'll introduce during the first few weeks of school.  It develops number sense, addresses the common core, and it's just plain fun, too.

If you need more information, click here.

 I'm giving away 4 copies for free.  

Be one of the first four to leave a comment and it's yours!

Don't forget to leave your email address!