One Sharp Teacher Gift Idea

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With us both being teachers, we thought it might be cool to do a joint post together on the top 10 gifts to give teachers. I mean, everyone has a teacher in their life whether it be your child’s teacher, or your mom, aunt, brother, or friend. And with Christmas approaching and college graduations occurring, now is a great time for gift ideas! So we got to thinking about this plan for a blog post.

Until something happened.

We received our pencil sharpeners in the mail. No longer was there a need for a top 10 list. We didn’t want to waste our time with numbers 10-2. So we’re just going to tell you the top item. If you haven’t guessed it, it’s the classroom friendly pencil sharpener!

Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener

We had heard about this pencil sharpener in different ways. Leslie had seen the sharpener in reviews on blogs over the summer. Julia had heard about it by word of mouth. Someone in her school had one, and news about the amazing pencil sharpener spread through the halls. So we decided we’d like to try it out.

Classroom Friendly Pencil Sharpener

We are glad we did!

We love this pencil sharpener because:
  • You know when to stop sharpening. The handle looses resistance.
  • It’s quick! It takes about 12 seconds to sharpen a brand new pencil, and 5 to sharpen a dull or broken pencil!
  • It’s dependable. Same results every time.
  • The pencils are incredibly sharp.
  • It’s small and attractive. :)
  • It can be bolted to your table.
  • It doesn’t overheat like an electric one.

Top Teacher Gift of 2012!

Here are some reactions we received from our students:

  • “Whoa!”
  • “That sharpener’s better than the other one.”
  • “Cool.”
  • “That’s so sharp!”
  • “I’m going to ask Santa for a pencil sharpener like that!”
  • and a LOT of ::::::::gasp:::::::::

Collectively we’ve had about 8 pencil sharpeners in our classrooms over the past 5 years. We are glad to say we’ve finally found one that we are happy with! We recommend it to any teacher, or to any person buying a present for a teacher this holiday season! And teachers, go ahead and pin it to your wish list on Pinterest. (And then if you don’t get one this holiday season… go ahead and order one. You’ll be glad you did!)

To get your pencil sharpener visit Troy (a teacher himself!) at Classroom Friendly Supplies!

Happy Sharpening!

sister signatures

Teaching Before Christmas

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It’s true that teaching the few weeks prior Christmas is a little more challenging than teaching at any other time in the year.  All the kids have CHRISTMAS on their brains! I decided this year not to fight that fact, but to join it with a trip around the world to learn how Christmas is celebrated in other countries!

Christmas Around the World Book

On Monday morning as my 2nd graders came into the classroom, I greeted them with a boarding pass.

Boarding Pass for Christmas Around the World!

“Where are we going?” “Are we flying on a plane?” “Will we be back for supper?” “We’re riding on a real reindeer!” Those were the snickers I heard around the room as I signed their take home folders. I thought, “Oh no! They are going to be disappointed when they find out this is all pretend.” But they totally weren’t. I think they were just excited to see me pretend along with them.

Each morning I would play a window-seat plane takeoff clip on you tube, followed by a plane landing clip. Once we “arrived” in our new country, I would greet them in the native language as I passed out their stamp for them to glue in their passports.

Christmas around the World Passport

Then we would read the passage about Christmas celebrations in our current location.

Christmas Around the World Reading Book

To tie this in with our reading curriculum we paused at the end of each paragraph and said, “Time-out! What’s the topic?” while making the time-out T with our hands. Then they shared the topic (in one or two words), or the topic sentence from the paragraph.

We’ve had a blast learning about these countries and their celebrations. In fact, one of my students said that her mom offered to let her play hooky from school to go Christmas shopping, and she declined because she didn’t want to miss our “trip!”

So far we have “traveled” to Canada, Mexico, Peru, Germany, and Italy. Next week we will go to Greece, China, Japan, and Australia.

Christmas around the World Hall Display Map

I highly suggest this activity the last few days before Christmas. It’s a great way to learn about geography, diversity, cultures, and Christmas!

If you are interested in doing Christmas around the world in your classroom, you may want to check out my TPT product for this unit. It might just be something you could use.

christmas around the world preview

No matter if you check it out or not, I hope you’ve been inspired by something in this post! May your last few days before Christmas break be pleasant ones!

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Best Gifts I’ve Received (Julia)

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With the holiday season approaching (or has it already arrived?) many of us have gifts on the brain! I thought I would share with you some of my favorite gifts I have received over the years.

Grandmother’s Cookbook

My grandmother loved to cook and experiment with recipes in the kitchen. Unfortunately, she passed away before I learned to cook. My mom gave me this cookbook at my wedding shower, and I boo-hooed like a baby. I’m so thankful to have these hand written recipes from her. It’s great to still have her cooking influence with me as I experiment in the kitchen.

Memory Jar

Leslie compiled this memory jar for me a few years ago. They are filled with hand-written memories on scrapbook paper cards. I like to save them for a day when I’m just really missing my sis!

Ornament

I have sooooo many ornaments. My parents only had one ornament on their tree their first Christmas. My mom was so depressed by that fact that she made sure that wouldn’t happen to either of her girls. So again, I have many ornaments. A lot of them are special to me because they are tied to certain memories, but one of my favorites is this golf cart. Joshua and I got married at a golf resort, so my parents found this golf cart and adorned it with tulle and a replica of the sign on our golf cart. Too cute!

Homemade Stockings

Joshua made these stockings for me when we had been dating almost a year. I thought it was the sweetest thing- especially since his grandmother helped him. Since stockings are something that you use year after year, it told me that “We’re in this for the long haul.” It was a definite tug at the heartstrings.

If you haven’t noticed already, most of these gifts have a common theme- memories. I think memories are precious, and there’s no sweeter gift than something that brings your back to those special times. They have a homemade element to them too, which shows that personal touches are special to me.

So as you are racking your brain for a just-right gift this year, maybe you can find something (or make something) that brings your loved-ones some sweet memories.

Sometimes the best gifts aren’t the most expensive ones, but the ones that are priceless!

Happy Holidays,

Wedding photography by Allison Jansen

The Whole Brain Teaching Rules and Me

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This is the first year for my school to use Whole Brain Teaching and I’m loving it! One component of WBT is the rules. You may be familiar with the 5 rules:

Rule 1- Follow directions quickly.

Rule 2- Raise your hand for permission to speak.

Rule 3- Raise your hand for permission to leave your seat.

Rule 4- Make smart choices.

Rule 5- Keep your dear teacher happy!

While these rules are necessary and have proved helpful in managing a classroom, I felt like more was needed for my second graders. That’s why I added the acronym, REACH for success.

R- Respect

E- Effort

A- Attitude

C- Cooperation

H- Honesty

After we recite our WBT rules each day, I ask the students, “How can we follow rules 4 and 5?” The students answer, “REACH FOR SUCCESS!” Then we recite each of the letters in the acronym with its coordinating hand motion.

I like this acronym for several reasons. It gives students clearer expectations than just, “make smart choices” and “keep your dear teacher happy.” It shows them HOW to do those things, which is necessary when teaching young children. I also like it because most behaviors that I want students to exhibit can be represented by one of these letters. Also, the acronym is positive in nature and teaches students that when these character traits are evident you are reaching for success. And isn’t that what we all want for our students?

Although I did add this acronym to my WBT rules, it is not original to me. It was used school-wide at my last school. Also, the sign pictured was made by Shannon at Technology Rocks Seriously. I got my WBT rule posters from 3rd Grade Thoughts. 

Fall Festival Black Light Room

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You may have seen my classroom on here before. However, you would not have recognized it this weekend! I transformed it into a blacklight room for our school’s fall festival.

I can’t really explain how I came up with this idea. I just wanted it to be fun and it evolved into this. But let me tell you, fun it was! Can you tell we had fun by these pictures?

These are mostly “after” pictures. I don’t have any “during” pictures because I was too busy having fun!

If you are interested in hosting your own black light paint room for a fall festival or any other event, here are more details on how I pulled this off.

I used black butcher (bulletin board) paper to cover my walls. It was held on by neon duct tape. I had 6 24″ black light bulbs and 5 60 watt black light bulbs. I pushed all my desks together and covered them with butcher paper as well. I got several hundred pleated paper condiment cups donated from area restaurants (Arby’s, Wendy’s, and a local frozen yogurt shop). I filled those cups about a third full of washable florescent tempera paint from Hobby Lobby. To create a fun atmosphere, I played the techno station on Pandora. It also attracted a lot of visitors! The night would not have been successful without my vollunteers. I had workers to collect tickets at the door, dispense the paint, and clean the floor.

It was a lot of work, but it was worth it. There were several people that came back two or three times! I also had kids that were ready to stay all night. Their parents had to page them from the front office for them to leave! And my own students begged me to keep the paper up for class today.

Thanks for stopping by, and I wish you the best with your own fall festivities!

Super Hero Shower

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This weekend I was able to throw a baby shower for none other than my busy brunette sister, Leslie! That’s right! Leslie is due with a baby boy in January!

Leslie’s husband, Jesse is crazy for Marvel, so it was a no brainer that we would do a super hero themed shower.

We began the shower with a prayer over the expecting couple led by my sweet husband. Then we helped ourselves to some yummy snacks before Leslie and Jesse opened presents.

One of the refreshments we enjoyed was some poppin’ punch! I kid you not! It really was popping! What’s the secret? Pop rocks!

If only you could hear this picture!

Here are the happy expecting parents in their super parent capes!

And we can’t have a 2 busy brunettes shower without a sister shot!

(I know, I chopped my hair off! It was time for a change!)

Here are some details about the shower:

  • Wreath: $1 wreath form from Target, painted red, wrapped in black tulle, glued onto round felt board (walmart), with felt cut out of city scape, and yellow fabric paint widows; cardstock “It’s a boy!” sign using font Wurper Regular Font.
  • Cupcake Toppers: stickers on cardstock
  • Capes: felt sticker letters in the font BadaBoom BB 
  • Pop! Straw Tags: I made them using photoshop and the BadaBoom BB font. Download your own sheet of straw labels by clicking the picture:

It’s always wonderful to gather with family- especially to celebrate a new life.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cute as a Button Baby Shower

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Yesterday turned out to be a lovely day for a baby shower- not a cloud in the sky!  (Although we would have probably welcomed one or two to provide some shade!) But I can’t complain at all.

The shower was a huge success and the baby herself was the star of the show. We enjoyed celebrating her birth and adoption with her at her own baby shower. I know she won’t remember it, but we sure enjoyed passing her around!

Here are some pictures of our September cute as a button vintage baby shower.

She really is as cute as a button isn’t she? Such a precious little miracle.

Thanks for stopping by!

*The baby photograph on the food table was done by Leap of Faith Photography.

Sew Cute!

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A dear friend of mine just adopted a baby girl. We’re ecstatic, and I’m honored to be able to host a shower for her. It’s next Sunday and my house is starting to look more like a flea market as I prepare for it. I don’t mind though (don’t tell my husband that!), because it is super fun to plan!

My friend has a primitive/antique taste, and her baby girl is as cute as a button! So I thought, “Why not mix the two and go with a vintage ‘cute as a button/sew cute!’ theme?” The wheels started turning…

Have you ever seen the show Junk Gypsies? Well you know how the first step to their room makeover is to “go junkin’?” Well I went junkin’! They always go to their favorite junkin’ spots, and well.. I went to one of my favorite resources too- my mom! She is always great at listening to my ideas and helping me get to the final product. Here’s a sneak peek at what we’ve got so far:

Come back early next week to see the final product!

Classroom Close-Ups

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This is our first and maybe last post in August! I don’t know how other teachers do it- start the school year AND post regularly on their blogs?

I’ve been back at school for almost 3 weeks now, and to be honest, I almost forgot we had this blog!

This school year I am going full force into implementing Whole Brain Teaching, Daily 5/CAFE, and our new district-wide writing program, Being a Writer. Call me crazy!  But now that school is calming down a bit, you will see more of us!

Back in July I shared my western-themed classroom. Today I’m going to share with you some non-western themed close-ups from my classroom that assist in keeping our classroom organized and managed.

First up! My voice levels chart. I slightly modified this chart I got from The Kinder Kid.

Also on my white cream board is these signs: Chips and Salsa!

When I made my name tags, I put a hundreds chart on each one. The hundreds chart on each name tag is either green, blue, red or yellow. In each group of four desks there is one of each color. Reds sit with greens, and yellows sit with blues. Also reds sit across from blues and yellows across from greens. That way whether the students are using their shoulder partner or their face partner, one is a chip and one is salsa. That way I can say things like, “Salsa share first,” or “Chips share first.” This sign just helps remind them who is who. I can also write on the board beside each sign the role for each partner, for more extensive activities.

Something new to my classroom are these recycle bins. Our school has  recycle bins behind it, but I’m always to busy lazy to go everyday. Before, I just shoved the cardboard and water bottles to recycle into my cabinets. Now I have a designated spot!

If you like this idea and want your own signs, you can download these for free at my Teachers Pay Teachers store.

Sitting on top of these bins is my book hospital and missing parts container.

These are ice buckets from Wal-Mart. It sure is nice to have a place for damaged books instead of them piling up behind my desk like before!

Until next time!

Rounding Up More Western Classroom Pictures

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I recently posted about my western classroom. Since then I have noticed I left several detail pictures out. Here are more pictures from my western classroom for your enjoyment (or if you have a western classroom- inspiration).

I showed you my cabinets….

but not the clothespins that hold my anchor charts.

I showed you my library…

but not the labels I use to organize it.

I showed you my desks…

but not the name tags on them.

I also didn’t show you the bathroom passes…

Or the bulletin board outside my room (It wasn’t finished yet!).

Now that you’ve seen a bit more of my room, you may want more info on how I created my DIY room.

The Clothespins

  • I used blue bandana scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby.

The Library Labels

The Name Tags

The Bathroom Passes

  • I bought the wooden door hangers at Hobby Lobby.
  • I painted them with acrylic paint.
  • I cut out the vinyl letters on my cricut using this FREE font. 

The Bulletin Board

Now I think you’ve officially seen every western element in my classroom. Soon I’ll be posting on the non-western classroom management displays I have in my room.

Thanks for dropping by!