Interactive Notebooks

So, I've been gone awhile.

A long while.

Well, I have no excuse except I've had writer's block. Bad. I would sit down to write and nothing. Even though I did have lots of things going on, I didn't know how to get it all into print.

So I won't. And I'm going to start fresh today.

So, Hi!!! Nice to see you!



To reacquaint myself to you, I am teaching first grade this year (again) but at a new school. I'd taught first grade for about 12 years before this, but all at the same school. I loved it there, it was just time for a change. My principal was leaving and I wanted to go with her.

So now I'm at my new school and things are going pretty well. Parent issues, truthfully, but I'm not going to dwell on those right now.

What I'd like to talk about are interactive notebooks!  Not so much of a new idea anymore, but I'm constantly trying to make them work in the best way.  I decided to start over.
I just bought these at Target.

I find that buying a new notebook or supplies of some kind really help me get motivated and inspired! I've been reading all I can find online about interactive notebooks and it's really kind of hard to find a whole lot of details when it comes to lower grade notebooks.

So I'm going to kind of have this be my blog topic for a little while. I'm planning to start them over tomorrow. I'll take lots of pics and share with you soon!!!

I'd love to hear from you to know you're still out there, too.

Until next time,

Favorite Pins Linky

Happy Fifth of July!!!!

Are you as excited as I am?????

Yes, I love the 4th, I'm happy to celebrate our freedom, see friends and family, but honestly, I could do without the fireworks. I have three young boys. My main job is to keep them safe. Fireworks really test my ability to mother properly. Yes, I used mother as a verb. So what?! If you have young children, I bet a lot of you out there agree with me!

Anyway, I'm happy to be  linking up with Cara Carroll for her "Favorite Pins Friday" Linky. How fun! I've been pinning a lot lately, so I've got some stuff to share. First, if you've got some stuff to share, too, join Cara's link by clicking here.

As you may know, I'm moving into a new classroom this summer. As in, brand new. In a brand new, beautiful building. I'm so excited! And I'm thinking all about my decorations and a theme and all that.

The room is great, but it has a blue floor. BLUE. I'm not kidding. Here it is...

So, since I like bright colors, I'm thinking of going with a Rainbow theme. I've found a lot of inspiration on Pinterest, for sure.

My favorite idea is this from the Creative Juice blog...

I have got to put some sort of rainbow like this on my wall. My friend suggested using the "noodles" we use for floaties in the pool which I think is a great idea, I just don't know if I'll be able to find them in the bright colors that I want. Definitely going to look though.

I also love these decorative poms from Ramblings from the Sunshine State!

And I think this would be such a fun idea to do to my teacher desk! 

This idea came from Easy Homestead! Sooo cute!!!

And finally, I really like the glass balls filled with tissue paper from Hostess with the Mostess! Luckily, Hobby Lobby already has their Christmas stuff out, so these shouldn't be too hard to find!

What do you think???? I would love some input! Do you think these ideas are too girly? 

Will first grade boys like it?

I hope you pinned some great ideas this week, too!!!

Bloglovin

I don't really understand...I've apparently been missing out on something great...Google Reader!!!! I always had just checked and read my blogs on blogger.

Was I wrong to do that? I'm so sorry! Well, I have joined Bloglovin so I guess I will try and join the rest of you guys and try and see what I'm missing. Could you explain it to me? Why don't I just read the blogs from blogger??????

Anyway, please follow me on Bloglovin if you aren't already!


Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Thanks!!!!

July Currently

Wow! We just got back from a little weekend trip to Branson. To tell you the truth, it was our first hotel experience with the twins. Yes, I'm exhausted. They still sleep in their cribs and to expect them to sleep in a strange place, in pack and plays, was just too much. The first night they didn't get to sleep until 10 and the next night, at 9. We are used to going to sleep at 7, so this mama was tired. It was good practice to gear us up for a trip to Gulf Shores later this month. I'm hoping it will be a little easier since we're renting a house and they have now had experience in their pack and plays. If I'm crazy, just don't tell me.

I am joining up with Farley for her currently, which I have not done in several months.



To be really honest, I've been struggling with this blog and where I should go with it. I've been reading all different types of blogs lately and it's made me question the purpose of this blog. I've finally decided that this blog will have to just be a little of everything. Sometimes I'll post about my classroom, sometimes what I'm teaching, but often just about my family and being a mommy and wife and everything else in my life. I hope that keeps you guys following and I hope to gain more in the near future, now that I feel like I'm going in a direction. It may be random, but it's still a direction. :)

So, here we go. The Currently....

Listening to the aquarium, the one that had 7 fish in it, that are all now gone. Too many deaths. So sad.

Loving the cooler weather in our area! We have some major heat and humidity in Arkansas and for it to be in the lower 80s at this time of year is CRA-ZY! I love it!!!!

Thinking about saving this image. Some of you know I switched to a Mac and I am still learning my way around. It is very difficult to not have MS Word and PowerPoint. I'm getting there. And for the record, no. I didn't do it correctly the first time. Saving and inserting the image took me a couple of hours. Ho hum...I'm going to write it down this time.

Wanting to download a new book on my iPad. I'm thinking I'll download The Book Whisperer for professional reading and the first in Janet Evanovich's series for pleasure. I don't know much about either one except they came highly recommended.

Needing some new bras. I'm sorry if that's TMI, but I do. I don't know if I'm just hard on bras or they don't make them well anymore. I do wash them in the washer, but I hang them to dry. They still seem to wear out after a couple of months. I need suggestions of some good bras.

And finally, tips for your blog, this has really been my pet peeve lately. There are so many AWESOME teaching blogs out there now and I know it's hard to differentiate between them all. And I know many of us are creating some great products and we do want to know about them, but I really don't want to read a post that is ONLY about your product. I know many people give freebies away with it and also tell you how they've used it, I just don't want to read commercials. Am I alone on this?!?!

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this post and my random blog! There'll be more where that came from!

Grand Opening!

As I told you before, I am MOVING to a brand new school next year! I am so excited, I can hardly wait for to get started on my room!

Today was the Dedication Ceremony for the new school. I was amazed at how many people came. It was humbling! There are some great people who are counting on us to take care of their most precious things next year and it overwhelms me. It's true anywhere you teach, but it comes to surface when there's something new or different going on.

Here are a few pictures for your viewing pleasure. This school has some great features, like a water fountain that has room to refill a water bottle. Awesome!!!

Front of the School

Commons Area (Blurry, sorry)

Detail of the stair rails. Those are recycled magazine strips. Very "green" building.

My classroom, with a sink AND a bathroom! And cubbies!!!

So, I need some help! I've never had the built in type closet before. How do you organize your stuff? I threw a ton of my old stuff away, but I'm not sure how to organize my stuff. As many ideas you can give me will be appreciated. I think I'm going to go with a rainbow/primary colors kind of theme since my floor is BLUE! Also, I need to buy a carpet. Any advice in that area?!

I'd love to hear from you!