Monday Made It! {Link Up!}

Back to school is quickly approaching. I have lists and lists and lists started. Next week I start my National Boards Jump Start class. It is a 4 day class, that is 2 hours away :( to teach me the ins and outs of what to expect and what exactly the hundreds of papers I had to print are all about. 

So the last week has been a busy one for me! As soon as I am finished with that class I will be going into my classroom as often as possible to get ready.

1. Cork Board Rehab!

Last Sunday my husband was gone all day fishing. And although I am happy that he has a hobby, by about 2pm I am ready for him to come home. 

I had a busy morning...I had cleaned the house, walked around the yard cleaning up things here and there, worked on some school stuff, then around 2 pm, when I was wishing my husband was back home, I decided that I would grab my mini, some water, and my dog... and we would sit out on the back patio enjoying our Washington summer :) It was almost 90 degrees!!!

So naturally I began my sit down with Pinterest. I actually told my best friend yesterday that I probably spend 2 hours of my life on Pinterest every day. I can't get enough!

I saw a super cute cork board on there and thought! PFFFT! I could totally do that! AND I knew I had a llllll of the supplies up in my craft room.

Perfect-o!

I grabbed four squares of cork board, painters tape, white spray paint, and plastic to go under the project.

This project was so easy and turned out really cute!

I did get a little paint on the grass, but thankfully I was on the grass and not the patio, right?! 

2. Work On Writing Rehab

One huge goal I have for myself this school year is to be a better writing teacher. I want to work on giving my students more opportunities to explore being a writer. 

I found the MOST AMAZING blog ever with tons of writing workshop ideas. The blog is called Second Story Window, and two amazing ladies manage the blog together!

I fully intend to keep these monthly themes going all year! It will be a challenge but I think so so fun! Every month I will find monthly themed list paper for students to practice list writing, I will have Heidi and Emily's monthly list ideas ready, I have started collecting the expert cards and will get the research going right away, and finally, instead of having a boring monthly journal calendar, I am using their list of journal prompts mixed with some of my fans, too. And something new that I will be adding is whole class journals. I have seen this idea on many blogs and I am excited to try it out!

I was so super excited to find chevron duct tape and a cute little chevron bag to hold the list papers in. This will match my new classroom theme (Bright Chevron) perfectly!

Well that's it! 

Advice is definitely welcome! Tips for helping me with teaching writing... anything! :)