Back to School Student Treats!

And there it goes... my summer is over! Tomorrow is the first day that teachers report! I actually started going in to work in my classroom about two weeks ago. Since I took everything off my walls at the end of last year I had a lot of work to do! 

Tomorrow is the day that my new friends find out that I am their teacher! I cannot wait! I have waited to post pictures of my classroom because I have their names up all around the room, I can't wait to get some pictures up!

Thursday is our ice cream social night. This is the night students come in and drop off supplies, see our classroom, and meet me! To get my friends excited for an awesome new school year I put together a sweet little treat. I made a cute little welcome note and then headed to Party City to pick up our fun treat....

Mini paint sets!

Click here to download the freebie!

V.I.P. Bucket & a Freebie

I completely fell in love with the idea of having a V.I.P. table bucket after seeing a pin of Primarily Speaking's V.I.P. bucket on Pinterest. Too cute!

I especially love that this reward is something that can be used over and over again. I stopped using a treasure box about two years ago, because I just got tired of trying to find things to fill it up with all the time. The V.I.P. bucket is a perfect reward for students because it is an "experience" that not just anyone can have! Adults pay big bucks at clubs, sporting events, and restaurants for extra special experiences... so I know my students will l-o-v-e getting to use this extra special table bucket.

To start off I made sure that each item I put in the bucket was something that was NOT on their supply list, so it would feel extra special when they got a chance to use it.

Here's what's in my bucket:

1. Scented markers
2. Guest book... so everyone can see who has gotten access to V.I.P. treatment!
3. Twistable colored pencils... instead of boring regular colored pencils. 
4. Glitter markers

5. Blue glitter glue

6. Mechanical pencils... 100% not allowed in kid's pencil boxes.
7. Silly puddy

8. Mini stapler
9. Neon white board markers... everyone else uses only black!
10. Giant highlighter 
11. Giant blue eraser 
12. Flame scissors 

13. Scentos gel pens... I even bought a set for myself.

To earn the special V.I.P. treatment I will be looking for kids who are filling buckets or making improvements on our "super improver" wall. Since the V.I.P. bucket includes a "guest list" I will easily be able to check and see who has had a turn. 

 When a student does earns the V.I.P. treatment they will get to wear the V.I.P. PASS necklace. I plan on giving out the V.I.P. treatment about two or three times a week. I know that if everyone gets it right away the novelty will wear off quickly! I even made a little note that kids can take home to share with their families about why they earned the V.I.P. treatment! Click {here} for the freebie!

Top 5 iPad Apps: Math Facts

I'm so excited to share some of my favorite apps with you today! I have spent many hours on my iPad searching for the perfect apps for my second graders. It's important to me that students are spending their time doing meaningful activities when they are using the iPads. Here are my top 5 favorite apps that focus on math facts. These apps are so much fun, kids will forget they are even doing math! 

 My second graders are cra-zy for Pet Bingo. Kids answer math fact questions to make a bingo. After they score a bingo they get to add a pet to their screen. They can also use their points to "buy" things for their pets.

Freefall math facts is an app kids will love to play over and over again. The app is very interactive. Students type answers to questions, as well as pull down facts to match their answer. Once they answer a certain amount of questions they get to add a fish to their aquarium.

This app is amazing! If you have a limited amount of devices in your classroom this app will be one of your favorites. With this app two students can play at the same time! Kids can choose between verse mode or practice mode. You can also choose if you want the math facts questions to go to 10, 20, 50 or 100.

Eggy add and subtract has sooo many fun games to choose from! Each game has a different interactive way to practice facts and will keep kids engaged for the entire center time block.

I just recently found this app and am in love! It is an app created by my favorite teaching store, Lakeshore! The first- second grade app you can choose to practice addition, subtraction, money, and time. The third- fourth grade app has the categories multiplication, division, rounding, and fractions. The way the game works is that the math question is at the bottom of the screen, and the player has to pop the balloon that has the correct answer. Too much fun!

Birthday Love

I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for another Monday Made it! Today I'm sharing one of my favorite things to prep during the summer, birthday treat bags! Having these bags pre-made saves me so much time during the school year. 

Birthday's are a BIG deal in elementary school. Everyone looks forward to their birthday! I know adults that even claim an entire birthday week! I on the other hand prefer an entire birthday month! Ha! Here's a peak at what I put in my birthday treat bags. 

1. Birthday balloons -Target

2. Mini birthday book

3. Scentos mini play-doh -Target

4. Birthday brag tags

5. Mini bouncy balls -Target

6. Birthday stickers -Lakeshore

7. Mini stickers -Lakeshore

8. Slap bracelets -Lakeshore

9. Birthday pencils -Target

10. Cake stickers -Target

11. Birthday bookmarks -Target

To put the bags together I made an assembly line on my dining room table. I put 30 bags together in about 15 minutes. 

I put all the finished bags in the balloon bag at the end of the table. I plan on hanging the bag up on my birthday wall in my classroom. When a student has a birthday I will simply pull out a bag and then... BOOM! birthday done! 

My birthday brag tags!

Target Dollar Spot

If you are like me, then you might have about died if you have been to Target lately. This sight made me feel a little woozy. I start back August 5th... like as in one month from this Sunday! As I walked away from this display in my yoga pants... thinking that soon I will have to wear real clothes again... I realized that just maybe the dollar spot would have some teacher treats! 

As I got to the front of the store I saw a swarm of people digging through bins... I knew my chances were good! 

Oh my cuteness! The back to school dollar deals were out! I probably went through each bin two times. I made eye contact with another woman who had a cart full of deals and we totally had a teacher connection moment where we were both thinking, "Isn't this stuff so cute!? I know I'm so excited too!" 

Here's my loot!

1. Cute getting to know you questions cards. I'm going to use these during the first week of school.

2. Pencil tins to hold my "sharp" and "dull" pencils. Mr. Fancy, " Do you really need ANY MORE tins?" Me, "insert teacher look."

3. Insect fact cards. A teammate of mine got these cards a few years ago, and I almost died when I found them! In the Spring we use these cards to write insect reports. 

4. Magnetic composition themed notepad. 

5. Non-fiction insect books.

6. Cute pencils for rewards and birthdays. 

7.Birthday stickers.

8. Birthday bookmarks.

I also picked up a ton of these adorable window clings. My classroom door has a small window on it and I love to decorate it!

Oh dollar spot... you sure add up to a lot of dollars! Another win for Target's marketing psychology!

Homework Tracker

   Hi Friends! I am so excited to link up with 4th Grade Frolics for my first ever Monday made it! Today I am going to share with you how I plan to track my student's homework. I originally saw this idea on Pinterest with a cute little pizza tin and stone magnets. I have changed it up a bit to fit with my new classroom theme. 

To make this project I first went to Jo-Ann's and found this adorable blue magnetic board. I also found stickers that matched my new classroom theme, and letter stickers that matched the lettering I use on my bulletin boards. 

Next, I stuck the stickers to some pretty green card stock and laminated them. Once my lamination was cut out I numbered each sticker and glued a magnet to the back. 

In my classroom homework is due every Friday. I plan on using this homework tracker to help me see which students have completed all of their homework in a given month. If a student does not turn in their homework they will move their magnet to the back of the blue magnetic board. 

At the end of the month the students that still have their magnet remaining will have earned that months homework brag tag!

3 - 2 - 1 Teacher Bio

 I am so excited to link up and tell you a little more about me! 

 

1. I love setting up and organizing my classroom. When I moved into my current room last year it was just like every other room I have ever moved into... completely empty! It takes many hours and a lot of love to get a classroom ready. At the end of this school year I moved some furniture around and took down this years theme. I can't wait to put up my new theme and set my room back up. Here is what my classroom currently looks like... 

2. This year I was so blessed to get 5 iPads donated to my classroom through donors choose. At the end of the year my school got technology money from the district, and they bought the second grade teachers 13 mini iPads and a teacher iPad. Wow! Our current iPad count is at 19 iPads! I am so close to being a 1:1 classroom! I love finding apps that engage students and get them so excited they don't even realize they are learning. Here is one of my favorite math apps called Number Run.

 Math facts disguised as a video game!

3. What girl doesn't love Pinterest!

1. I will have an Amazon Prime membership For-ev-er. Seriously! Phoenix just got next day delivery and it is amazing! My purchase this week was not a book but rather the erasable Frixion markers I have read teachers raving about. Oh my gosh these markers are awesome! Mr. Fancy totally didn't believe they would erase (because they write like a real marker) but YES they do erase, and they write beautifully! Seriously you have to own these markers!  

2. I could watch Cutthroat Kitchen and Chopped all day long... oh wait I already do... Oh summertime how I love you!

Okay Stop laughing! I just want to see one from far away, nothing close up or scary. I may just settle for this t-shirt!