A little bit of this....A little bit of that!

This post is exactly what the title says. Just a couple things I wanted to share with blogland. I go back to work on Wednesday :( Don't get me wrong, I'm excited for the new school year, but I love sleeping in and staying up late.

I wanted to share this volunteer form with you. My friend Tuyetnga (that I met at the NCCAT this summer) shared a variation of this form with me. I changed it a bit to meet the needs of our classroom and I someone else might be able to use it. Parent involvement is something our school struggles with. I'm hoping I'll have some volunteers this year! I had two parents last year that helped with everything and that was it.

Parent Volunteer Form

Also, I had a couple people ask me how I got my donors choose projects funded. The first one I entered last year was largely funded by family. I posted a link to the project on facebook and got donations through that. Build a Bear workshop also donated some. I know certain companies/organizations do donations at times, but I'm not sure how they choose recipients.

The second project I entered was funded at the end of 2010. The end of the year is a great time to get projects funded because it's a tax write off. The people that funded mine funded a few others, and when I looked at their history it seems they do that every year. I would highly advise you to post a project in time for tax season.

Donor's Choose

A couple weeks ago I put up my first donor's choose project of the school year. I was able to get 2 projects funded last year. I got a super cute bilingual rug for my room, and some center activity kits. This project is for plastic book boxes. If you or anyone you know might want to contribute click the link below.

Donor's Choose

A couple projects

Today I've been working on a couple of projects at home. I was online looking up privacy shields, but they run like $8.00 for one. I don't have that kind of cash...I'm a teacher! I'm pretty sure I remember seeing these on a blog, but I'm not sure where. I also think another teacher at school mentioned making these. I just took two manilla folders and glued them together. I also added some tape for reinforcement. I'm going to laminate them when I get back to school. I'm still debating whether to decorate them (maybe with some penguins!). I'm not sure if that will be overly distracting. What do you think?

I'm also redoing my word wall words. Last year I wrote my words on notecards with different colors and put them on the word wall. This year I typed them up and glued them to construction paper. I'm also going to laminate these before cutting them again. I wish I had a laminator at home! The cabinets in my room have cork board all down the front so I use that as my word wall. I'm so glad to have that! What do you store your word wall words in while not using them?

A Few Classroom Pictures

The other day when I was working in my room I snapped a few pictures. I've done some more work since then, but I don't intend to go back until our workdays start next Wednesday. There are only a handful of teachers that have even gone in to work this summer.



View of the penguin curtains I hung up...those things thrown in the cubbies below are put away now.


View from the library center...that's my bff Blake in the background helping me.

View from the front of my room...I have all my tables where I want them. That blue cabinet is in my office now though.

View from my office door. I've since hung my alphabet strip above the board, and hung the clock up on the wall.

AND................the winner of the $10 Target giftcard is:

#24 Cindy who said "I'm a new follower of your blog!:o)

Cindy e-mail me your address at jennatwigg@gmail.com and I'll get your giftcard in the mail!

Congrats!

A Giveaway

I know I'm only suppose to blog once per day, but I just found an awesome giveaway. The blog formerly known as Adventures in Teaching has a new name and location, it's now Fabulous Firsties! She's hosting an AWESOME giveaway. She's giving away scentsy bars! Scentsy candles are my fave! Click the link above and check out her giveaway!

Help!!

I made some listening center sheets that I'd love to share with y'all, but I can figure out how. I tried uploading them to google documents, but they are too big. Then I uploaded them to scribd, but they have a font that isn't recognized and it changed the formatting and put dots across the page. Who can help me with this??

I did start a Teacher's Notebook Store and you can get the basic listening center sheet inspired by First Grade to the Core.

Click HERE to visit my store and get it for free.

Top 10 Reasons You Know It's Back To School Time

Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits is hosting a linky party. I love linky parties!

Without furthur ado:

The 10 ways I know it's back to school time

10. It's tax-free weekend here in NC.

9. My BFF asked me if I wanted to hang out Monday or Tuesdays because she's off and I asked her if she'd meet me at my school and help in my room :) I lurve her!

8. I've been spending hours devoting my life to reading teacher blogs again. I also lurve blogs!

7. My trunk is full of supplies I've bought...and a couple awesome steals I got from a retiring teacher on Craigslist.

6. I've gone back to telling my husband to "hush I'm working."

5. I'm practicing for less frequent bathroom breaks.

4.I feel like my to-do list is much too long.

3. I've already picked out an outfit for back to school night.

2. I'm preparing myself for the fact I won't be able to stay up late to watch my guilty pleasure shows.

and the number #1 way I know it's back to school time:

I started blogging again!