The First Days of School: Book Study!

Put your party hats on…. I'm going to host my very own, brand spankin' new linky party!  Woohoo!

I just scored this book at a thrift store for $1.50 and I know how many teachers love it.  Julie from A First for Everything told me she has read it every year since she started teaching!  Because this book has helped so many, and has such valuable information to share with new and veteran teachers, I thought I would host a little book study here in the blogging world!

The book is "The First Days of School" by Harry K. Wong and Rosemary T. Wong.

Each week I will post some discussion questions from each "Unit" in the book (there are 5 altogether) and you'll have a chance to link up and share your thoughts and experiences!  Now, I don't expect you to spend hours reading this book cover to cover (ain't nobody got time for that!).  However, I want this to be valuable to YOU.  If you have read this book before and just want to refresh yourself, awesome!  If you've never read this book before and only have time to skim or read each unit's "Key Idea" or summary, go for it!  I want this linky to be a place for teachers to share what works for them in the first days of school.

The first link-up won't be until next Monday, August 4th.  That gives you time to get your hands on a copy of the book, and read through UNIT A.  

I'd love for you to Pin this post to spread the word!  Use the image below.  :)

Wish me luck… I can't wait to see how this goes!  I'll see you back HERE next Monday for the first Link-Up!  Wahoo!

High/Low Linky- July 26

Hi everyone!  I'm linking up again with A First For Everything for High/Low!  

I have been working SO hard on this Back to School Morning Work packet for 3rd grade.  And it's finally finished and in my store!  It includes 3 weeks of morning work for those first weeks of school.

Click the image to take you to the product in my TpT store!

Also this week:  I reached 100 Instagram followers!  Yippee!

I've also been shopping a little bit more for my classroom, especially at Thrift Stores.  Do y'all find any good stuff at Thrift Stores?  I LOVE them!  But I'm saving my scores for another post.  :)

Nothing TOO low to share this week… I've been staying up WAY too late lately, which has made me super tired the next day.  Not looking forward to back to school time.  I'll be exhausted!

How was your week?  Be sure to link up with A First for Everything and share!

Is it just me, or…..

Hello, my name is Ellie, and I can't get enough clipart.

Seriously.

My Wishlist on TpT is 4 pages long, and mostly consists of clipart.  I made a small dent the other day and can't wait to put my new goodies to use!

Here's what I got:
(click on any of the images to take you the store on TpT)

I am in LOVE with these paper sets by Little Red.  I got the Washi Patterns "Cosmos" set and the Geometric Patterns "Somersault".  I love how unique the patterns are, especially in the geometric set.  Can't wait to use these!

I also picked up some Retro Frames from MyClipArtStore.  There's 40 frames in the set, so you can layer different images to create your own unique frames.

I'm working on a Back to School morning work packet for 3rd grade, and needed some coin clipart.  I love A Sketchy Guy's clipart, because it's the most realistic I could find!

What are some of your favorite clip art stores on TpT?  What clipart do you use the most in your TpT products?  I'd love to hear about it!

Stepping it up with Social Media

One thing the TpT conference taught me was that, aside from quality products in my TpT store, I need to be active on social media.  This past week I have worked hard to get going on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

I already had an Instagram account, but I made my profile public, and have since gained a ton of followers!  It's been fun to see what other teachers post.  I might be a little bit addicted to checking my feed…. (anyone else out there?)  You can follow me on Instagram here.  :)

Miss Woodward's Class also got a Facebook page!  It's a work in progress, and I'm still working on figuring this one out.  Any veteran Facebookers out there have tips on reaching a larger audience?

Have you heard of PicMonkey?  I LOVE it!  It's a free site you can use to edit photos, add text and other images to your photos, and create collages.  I even used it to create this pin for a collaborative Pinterest board.

I posted the Pin on a collaborative board by Rachel Lynette.  Check out the board here!

The Seller's Forum on Teachers Pay Teachers has sections dedicated to social media.  I suggest you check it out to get some of your social media questions answered!

Check out just how techy I've become!

Facebook

Pinterest

Instagram

Teachers Be Shoppin'!

I went to Target the other day, looking for binder page dividers… (You know where I'm going with this, don't you?)

… And I walked out having spent $75.  I made the mistake of walking past the Back to School aisle.  Whoops!

Today I'm linking up with Kickin' it in Kindergarten for Teachers Be Shoppin'!  Because we all know that, even with our teacher salary, we still love to shop for our classrooms.  I am just getting started with the shopping, and I'm still not quite sure what I want for my classroom.  But this haul at Target was a good start!  

Here's what I walked out with at Target:

I got TWO of these 6-Shelf Organizers.  Each was $8.  I've seen similar things at teacher stores for much, much more.  Can't wait to put these together!  Success!

Remember this post about my inexpensive book bin solution?  Yeah…. by about October, I was regretting those bins.  They fell apart so easily!  I guess I didn't learn my lesson completely… because at Target I bought 10 sets of 3 cardboard magazine files.  Each set was $4 and some change.  Hopefully my 6th graders are more gentle on these bins than my 3rd graders last year!

Be sure to stop by Kickin' it in Kindergarten to show off what you bought (or are wishing for) for your classroom!

New Linky: Highs and Lows!

Happy Saturday!  Today I'm linking up with Julie from A First for Everything for the first ever High/Low Linky!  I just met Julie in Vegas and I was so excited because I'd been following her blog for a while.  I'm glad she started her own linky!

I had a date with Ms. Mai from Diary of a Grumpy Teacher to talk about my trip to Vegas and work on some TpT stuff to add to our stores.  I always love seeing her because we share the same enthusiasm for Teachers Pay Teachers!  :) 

Usually for summer vacations I am a nanny, but this summer I decided not to work.  It has been great!  In the last few weeks, though, I have been tutoring and babysitting a lot, which has pretty much filled my days.  It just hit me that I only have a few weeks left of summer, which has kind of bummed me out.  Hopefully I can keep my schedule more open for these last few weeks.

What are your highs and lows this week?  Link up with Julie to share!

Five for Friday- Vegas Edition!

It's Friday, which means I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for Five for Friday!  Because I just went to Vegas, today's post will be all about my trip!

1.  TpT Swag

When we picked up our name tags for the FIRST EVER Teachers Pay Teachers conference, we got some awesome swag!  I've been using the bag ever since I got home!

2.  Amazing Sessions

ALL of the sessions I went to were AWESOME.  I saw Deanna Jump from Mrs. Jump's Class and DeeDee Wills from Mrs. Wills Kindergarten, Kelley Dolling from Teacher Idea Factory, Rachel Lynette from Minds in Bloom, and Erin Cobb from I'm Lovin Lit.  I learned SO much!

During Kelley's session with TpT's Data Ninja Ryan Van Meter, they showed us some TpT stats from the audience they were presenting to.  Guess who was on one of their slides?

3.  The TpT Way

I asked someone to snap my picture in front of this TpT sign.  

"We are proud professional educators… We seek to empower our careers and lives."

4.  Vegas Fun

Of course, we had a little bit of fun on the strip!

 We saw the fountain show at the Bellagio, and on Fremont Street, we went to "Vintage Vegas", where they have old coin slot machines.  The High Roller observation wheel was so cool!  We got such a great view of the strip!  We tasted the best chocolate-covered macaroons from Bouchon Bakery in the Venetian.  We saw the Cirque du Soleil show "O" and it was A-MAZ-ING.  Can't forget our home away from home… the Venetian allowed us to live like queens for a few days!

5.  Starstruck!

The best part of the conference?  I got to meet Paul Edelman (the founder of TpT) and Deanna Jump (the teacher who has made over a million dollars with TpT).  I have to admit I was a little starstruck!

All in all, Vegas was AWESOME!  I am so glad I went and got to be a part of the first Teachers Pay Teachers conference.  I am definitely going next year!

VEGAS Bound… Get Ready!

How many of you are going to Vegas for the TpT conference?  I know many of you are already there! Are you excited as I am?!

In preparation for the conference, I've been reading up on the TpT forums, as well as reading on the TpT blog.  Here is a good post that answers some common questions.  It also has the Wi-fi log-in information and links to presenters' handouts.

Know Before You Go!

I arrive Thursday evening and leave on Monday mid-day.  Comment below if you want to meet up for dinner or something! :)

JULY Currently!

I can't believe it's already July!  It's the peak of summer, and it's time to soak it up before it's gone!

If you haven't linked up with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade yet, be sure to add your July Currently!  :)

Wordless Wednesday- July 2

Happy Wednesday!  Here's to a long 4th of July weekend ahead!

Today I'm linking up with Sugar and Spice for Wordless Wednesday!

Here's a sweaty selfie for ya!  What do YOU do over the summer to stay fit and keep your mind clear?

If you look closely, you can see the beads of sweat!  Boom!!