Five for Friday - August 16th!

I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs to share my Five for Friday with you!  I'm really glad to be posting about five random topics because after heading back to work this week, my brain is completely swamped with to-do lists, lesson plan ideas and last minute classroom organizing.  I'm not sure I could put together a complete thought, but it's definitely been a fun week that I wanted to share with you!

1. Well summer is officially OVER.  :-(  As much as I LOVE my job, I really, really enjoy the time off to relax, regroup, and most importantly the time to work on my never-ending to-do lists for my classroom and my house.  Plus it's nice to do all that without having to wake up early and while wearing comfy clothes.  This was my first summer in forever that I wasn't hunting for a teaching job or working on my masters degree so I was super excited for this summer.  Some of my favorite memories were getting to catch up with old friends, visiting my 4th MLB ballpark (and literally walking on the field!), having an IKEA trip day with my best friends and celebrating my 3rd wedding anniversary with my husband.  But I think most of all, my favorite thing was spending summer with this cutie.  
   
   
   
   2. Open House was last night and I am SO excited that I got to meet my new class!  I was so impressed with how nice my kids and their parents were.  I have my fingers crossed that it will be a great year!  I am excited because last year I had 27 students and this year it looks like I will have 23!  It was also great to be back at school because I got to see many of my old students from last year.  Nothing beats knowing they still think you're the best teacher ever after being away all summer.  Their high fives and hugs made my night! 
   
   
   3. Organization overload!!  Not only did I try to tackle my house this summer and make it HGTV approved by organizing and adding little decorative details here and there, but in August I got to start working on my classroom and I went nuts!  This is my second year in second grade and after last year I had so many ideas of things I wanted to try in my room.  I decided to give my classroom a huge makeover and I love it!  I kept the same theme but I gave my room a new layout and reorganized like crazy.  I added some new storage that will really help my room look great.  I feel like I still have lots of little projects that I need to get done, but I did snap a few pictures of my work in progress to share with you soon when I do my classroom reveal.  Any guesses what my theme is?  Here is a sneak peak of one of my projects I'm working on to give you a clue about the colors. (And yes - I realize my current labels are post-its at the moment!  My color printer is working overtime as we speak!) 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   4. Did you know there is a TPT Back to School sale this Sunday and Monday??  I have a been adding to my wish list all summer and I'm super excited to shop this weekend.  I can't wait to purchase some of the things I have been eyeing to help decorate my classroom and enhance my upcoming lessons.  Better yet, I am working hard on "sprucing up" some of my favorite things that I have used in my classroom to add them to my TPT store soon.  More on that later!  
   
   
   5.  And last but not least... notice anything missing?  This was a not fun part of going back to school... we went appliance shopping this summer and had a brand new refrigerator for a few days that broke and we have NOT been able to get a replacement.  It's so hard to go back to work and know you have an unfinished project... especially when it's kind of a necessity.  I am starting to think I won't survive.  Ahh!  

Monday Made It

The back to school craziness is ON!  I may have fallen off the face of the Earth this week but only because I have been hiding in my classroom completing one too many projects.  (And running out of time until my classroom is filled with second graders!)

I'm so excited to share my very first Monday Made It with you!  I am a huge Pinterest stalker and I found this on Pinterest quite some time ago.  It was a picture of a mailbox makeover posted by Mrs. O Knows. I thought it was perfect for me!  My classroom mailbox looks just like hers, if not worse - complete with a nice "wobble" when you touch it.  (oh no!)

Mrs. O's "ugly" mailbox

I certainly have an ugly mailbox too, so I put this on the top of my must-do list for back to school.  I searched all summer for the perfect duct tape and finally got to put my plan into action today!  Check out my pictures below!  

My before picture - complete with years of stuck on stickers 

and labels that I tried to scrape off with no success!

And AFTER! Woo hoo!

Close up picture 

A little chevron duct tape and it looks a million times better!  I think I will even add a little more of a border on the top and sides to spruce it up.  The binder clips will make it SO much easier to label mailboxes each year since they are now numbered and won't require any scraping off labels at the end of the year. 

Check out other Monday Made Its with 4th Grade Frolics!  And make sure to follow me on Pinterest by clicking HERE.  I have been a dedicated pinner since practically the day Pinterest was born. LOL.  

First Day of School Linky!

It's hard to believe I only have about ONE week left of summer.  I don't know about you, but the last week of summer I'm already in back to school mode anyways and sometimes it's hard to remember if I should be relaxing or running around like crazy getting ready for school!

I'm teaming up with Deana at Primary Punch to share my First Day of School plans with you.  Her linky party was a reminder to me that I should dig out the old plans from last August and get things ready to roll.

I feel like my first day plans are a mix of icebreakers and lots of teaching ROUTINES since the first day can set the tone for the rest of the year.  I keep my plans simple and in a list form (without definite time frames) so that I can have the flexibility to expand as needed.  On my first day of second grade last year, I took things really slow since I was still living in Kindergarten land and used to explaining things 50 million times.  (If you've taught Kindergarten then you know what I mean!!)  I quickly realized my new 2nd graders didn't need quite as much step by step directions, but that it didn't hurt to take the extra time to set my routines.  :-)  

I can't wait to hear your comments and tips for the first day! 

Ready or Not...

Ready or not... it's time for back to school!  I feel like it was just June!  Don't get me wrong, I love my job and I'm so excited to meet my new students soon, but I also love sleeping in, wearing flip flops, lunch dates with friends, and long walks with my puppy.  All good things must come to an end I guess, right? :-)

It's been a busy week and I haven't had the chance to blog much because I ventured in to school this week and started trying to put my room back together.  I always like to try to get a head start, so that I can stay as little or as long as I like and not have to rush at the very end to get everything together!  Here's what I found when I got to my room.  (Ahhh!!!!)

Giant reading table obviously wanted to be the center of attention, LOL! 

Classroom Island... hehe.  That will be fun to unload!

Once I got the furniture moved (thanks to help from my husband!) it is starting to look like a room again.  I am super excited being in the same room again this year because now I have learned what I like and want I think needs to be changed from last year!  I also have a million and one organizing and decorating projects that I am starting to work on, so I can't wait to see how they turn out and share everything with you.  I took home a BIG project to work on over the weekend that I hope to share with you by Monday. ;-)  

Bad picture angle - but the beginning of my new arrangement I'm trying! 

We start back on August 15th so luckily I have next week to work on some of my projects and hopefully have a few more days to relax and enjoy summer.  This is the earliest we have started back, but as a trade off we get out in MAY.  That sounds so foreign to me!  LOL!  When do you all start back??  

School Supply Linky Party!

I'm teaming up with Amy at Turtley Loving Teaching to share my favorite back to school supplies with you! No matter what bargains I find during the summer, these are my must have items for the beginning of the school year.

I can't start the year without these top 5 supplies....

1. Pencils - Seriously... what do kids do with them?  I start out the year with what seems like a million pencils which go in community supply boxes on each table.  By November, I feel like I already need to guard the extra supply at all costs!  I'm sure I'm not the only teacher with this problem...

2. Post-its - I am constantly writing notes and to-do lists when I'm at school so post-its are a must have.  We also use them in our reading groups for noting important things in the text while we read.  

3. Mr. Sketch Markers - These are a must for grading papers.  I have one set at school and another for home.  Enough said. :-)  

4. Stikki clips - I always need a box (or several boxes) of these each year when I'm setting up my classroom.  They are the only thing that seems to stick on my walls so I use them everywhere!

                                                        

5. And last but not least... while it's not technically a school supply, I can't begin the year in August without my fan!!  It is a must have for those hot summer months when you are teaching without air conditioning.  

                                                                  

Glad I could team up with Amy to share my favorites with you!  What are your favorite school supplies?  

Back to School Bargain!

With only a few weeks until school starts, I have been on the look out for great back to school deals!  (I mean do teachers ever stop looking for great deals for their classrooms??)  One of the biggest things on my wish list was new chair pockets for my classroom.  One of my fantastic co-workers gave me her old set of handmade chair pockets last year which I was so thankful for, but sadly they are starting to sprout holes faster than I can fix! 

I found this deal on Facebook and wanted to share it with you.  I have been stalking Really Good Stuff all summer hoping that my chair pockets I wanted to order would go on sale and I was so surprised to see today that they are on sale!  It is their Weekend We-Treat sale so I'm definitely ordering mine a.s.a.p. so I don't miss out.  I will post a picture once they arrive!  

Check out Really Good Stuff's website here to see the chair pockets and make sure to "like" them on Facebook so that you can get notified of all their great deals, often before anyone else knows about them.  **Please make sure that you check the price before ordering since it might vary depending on when you click this link!!** :-)  

If you're not shopping for chair pockets but still want a great deal on products from Really Good Stuff, you can check out coupon codes you can use online at http://www.retailmenot.com/view/reallygoodstuff.com. Happy Shopping! 

What's your favorite back to school deal you've found so far??  

Off and Running!

Hooray!  After some friendly reminders from my bloggy friends I decided to finally get my blog up and running!  I am so excited to blog and share new ideas with you as I start getting ready for a new school year. I figured if I blog stalk enough why not share some of my own ideas too? :-)

I'm starting my second year in second grade, but before that I taught Kindergarten for a few years and also worked with K-3 students for reading intervention.  I feel like I am a better teacher because as my blog name suggests, I have been "sprinkled" in many grades and each age group has added to my experience and knowledge as a teacher.  I loved teaching second grade last year and learned that second graders really have great personalities and get so excited about learning!  I can't wait for a new school year, although I guess I can wait because I don't want summer to end any time soon.

When I'm not teaching or blog stalking, I love spending time with my family, especially my wonderful husband and our dog.  I love to read, try new recipes and travel.  I love searching for new ideas for my classroom.

I can't wait to share more soon!  Please be sure to follow my blog on bloglovin' by clicking on the button on the right side of this page!!