Working hard, Captain My Captain and New Teacher Tuesday

Sorry for the lack of posts this week. Since I've been back from vacation I've been hard at work doing the curriculum mapping for our grade and trying to have a life at the same time...no small feat!
I do have 2 projects I'm just about finished with and will be posting soon so keep an eye out for those.

I do however have something I'd like to share today. In our classroom, it is so hard to keep up with jobs everyday since we have a million things going on in the school. So a few years ago I developed a system to get rid of the classroom job chart and simplify it down to 1. Yup that's right, 1!

Each day I assign one student to be the "Busy Bee" for the day. That student is responsible for all the jobs in the classroom that day. To keep track, I keep it simple as well...Alphabetical order! That's it. One at a time, no fighting, and everything gets done. Plus the kids love it because they get to do each job multiple times during the course of the year, not just one or two times. To make it even more special, I give the "Busy Bee" a special vest to wear all day.

Here's a pic of a student wearing the "Busy Bee" vest. The kids get really excited to wear it. (No, they don't always wear the hat...that's from another project!).

Finally, I'm super excited to be apart of Dana Lester from Fun in First Grade's New Teacher Tuesday. Make sure you head over to her page and give her some love!!

Fun In First Grade

Vacation over...

Just got back form our family vacation last night. I am exhausted!!!! Had to come in to school today to do a little curriculum work. Still need to unpack, do laundry, and most importantly, go grocery shopping since we have pretty much nothing at home since I cleaned house before we left. Once I get all that done, I have a project for ya, so stick around. Oh, and if you want to see any vacation pics or vacation tips for travelers, head on over to my other blog:

Not Your Typical Jersey Girl

Hope you all are having a great summer!!!!

Skippyjon Jones & a trip to Target

My co-teacher Dalyn is really amazing. She always makes these elaborate drawings and murals for our bulletin boards. She also happens to be completely obsessed with Skippyjon Jones. So during the school year, we tried to incorporate Skippyjon when we hit certain themes. At the end of the year, the kids voted which one was their favorite.

Didn't it come out so adorable? I love it! And guess what, now you can get all the Skippyjon books and a plush Skippyjon from Kohls for only $5 each! We already picked some up for our classroom!!

Skippyjon at Kohls

I also went to Target (yes again) with my brother. We were in the tissue aisle and found these adorable tissue boxes that look like blocks. So of course, we wrote our names:

I think I'm going to pick up a few for my classroom...hmm, another trip to Target!!

Tutorial!!

Hi everyone! Today, I created my very first tutorial on my lifestyle blog, Not Your Typical Jersey Girl. Head on over and check it out. Oh, and don't forget to follow me so you can see other videos that I post!!!

Top 5 Essential Items for a Walt Disney World Vacation

New Classroom Pics and...My New Blog!!!

I managed to sneak into my new classroom for next year and take some pics while the construction workers were on lunch. It's a kinda odd shape, like an L. Take a look:

View from the doorway of blackboard and one window.

View from the opposite side of the room (by the window).

View of the rest of the room ( my back is against the blackboard). There is a second window and a closet on the right. There are also two cubbies stuck in the corner (not a fan of that).

Another view from the board of the opposite corner. I'm really hoping the rug and easel stay since the school purchased them.

If you have any ideas for classroom setup, let me know!

Big Announcement!!!

Lately, I've noticed that I've added a few posts about more personal things like my home, weekend, fashion, etc. So I've started my own lifestyle blog. It's just in the beginning stages and I still have to customize it a bit, but I'd love for you all to join! Head on over to Not Your Typical Jersey Girl and start following me!

4th of July Recap & Two New Projects

To say this week has been busy would be an understatement. I have been crazy busy running all around getting ready for our 4th of July party, cleaning up from the party, and most importantly hitting the after 4th sales!

Plus, we have a wedding to go to in a little bit and my mom's birthday tomorrow, but I felt I needed to come and show a little love to my bloggy friends. 

Here are some pics from the 4th:

Sangria in mason jars with  cute firecracker straws (from Target of course!)

View of our patio at 11pm, party still going strong!

The backyard is looking really good these days. We've actually added an outdoor bar and more string lights around the perimeter since our party. I'll have to post a picture of it soon. It looks incredible!

Oh, and one other things I've been busy on is two projects for TPT.

The first, Super Spellers, is a great way to review spelling words during literacy centers. I love doing these activities for my word work.

You can pick this game up HERE.

The second, Super Hero Search, is perfect to help incorporate phonics and grammar into literacy centers.

You can pick up this game HERE.

Both activities can be planned two ways. After laminating, I usually place them on a binder ring. Then I pull out on task card for the students to complete. I follow this procedure until I have introduced all the tasks. Then, students are allowed to select the activity they would like for that day.

I find that these are super easy and the kids stay engaged while doing them. You can head on over to my TPT store and pick them up!

We Have A Winner!

I'd like to thank everyone for participating in my very first giveaway. I'll be doing another once I hit 100 followers. And now, the winner of the 50 follower giveaway is.....Ashley! Ashley, I'll be emailing you in a few! Thanks to all who participated!!!!!

Target Haul, Barrel Planter, and Getting Ready for the 4th

Hey everyone!
  The last 2 days we have been working on a TON of stuff. Since today was the first Monday I didn't have to wake up early and go to work, I slept in, watched some tv, then did one of my favorite things....go to Target!!

Seriously, Target is really my favorite store of all time. Here's a snapshot of my haul today:

 Really though, where else can you go and get scotch tape, nail polish remover, gift bags, pencils, false eyelashes, foundation, a banner, straws, a notepad, and a dress for under $50....and it's awesome stuff!!!!

Here are two of my fave items:

I fell in love with these pencils and had to have them. Oh, the Places You'll Go is once of my favorite books, so I needed these pencils!

I bought these cute items for our 4th of July party on Wednesday. The straws are supposed to look like firecrackers and the other is a fun banner I think I'm going to hang between some trees as a little backdrop for the day. LOVE THEM!

After a long and productive trip to Target, I did a little Make it Monday and stained a barrel to put outside. It works perfectly as a planter for my flowers:

Bought a plain barrel at Christmas Tree Shop.

Stained it using Olympic wood stain...rubber gloves are key!

The finished product!!! 

I love the way this came out so much, I ran back to Christmas and bought 2 more...and an extra large one. I have a little something special planned for that one, I'll have to post it when it's done!

Finally, I made it home in time to watch the Bachelorette and get a little patriotic with my nails...what do you think? I love them!

Hope you all had a fabulous Monday. The winner of my giveaway will me announced soon, I can't wait. Plus, I snuck into my new classroom for the fall and took some pics. I'm gonna need some help figuring where everything should go, so I'll be posting them next time as well!!