Conference Week Sale

I can hardly believe it is already the middle of November... 

...we are 10 days away from Thanksgiving Break... 

...less than 2 weeks away from the end of Trimester 1... 

...and tomorrow marks DAY 1 of Fall Conference Week!

This time of year is filled with grading, catching up on our grade books, meeting with families, and work long(er) hours.

I feel slightly guilty because as a new Technology Specialist this year, for the first time in 8 years of teaching I don't have a single conference. 

All weekend I have seen teacher-friend status updates include grading, filling out pretty forms that highlight each student's strengths, commenting on student-writing in pretty pen colors (grading in color is more fun), and organizing organizing organizing. 

So, as my gift to all of you HARD WORKING conferencing teachers out there, I have put my entire store on sale for the next 4 days (the TPT Sale max-day amount).

Here are a few of my favorite things on sale right now!

My newly added Habits of Mind JUMBO file!

...and Thanksgiving Placemats...hidden math practice included ;)

FOR INTERMEDIATE STUDENTS 

FOR PRIMARY STUDENTS

Be good to yourself. You deserve it. Thank you for being you.

Bring on the first Full Week!

3 minutes of teacher-humor. You'll love it!

Welcome back to school, make this year your best year. We must!

Warm Welcome

Summer is coming a quick close...

I spent all day Friday unpacking 3 pallets (yes, 3!) of boxes, none of which is school curriculum. How did I acquire so much "stuff" in 8 short years? Discussion about that later.

I am excited to start this new school year for all of the usual reasons: super clean classrooms, organized everything, new beautiful crayons, cute new B2S clothes ;), and this year my school is welcoming 8 (yes, 8!) new staff members! Yippee!

I get to meet with all of them this week to answer any questions they have about our school. Where do staff eat? How do we travel from place to place in the school? Where do we go for fire drills? How does the end of the day work? Where is recess? Where do I park? Do we have bells that tell us recess is over? What time does the building open? How do I do the alarm code (I don't know that one... I am too scared to do it by myself!)?

I remember how all of these questions, and more, were swirling around in my head when I moved to my new schools over the past 8 years. So, I am looking forward to answering any and all questions that I can!

I also wanted all of these fabulous new teachers to feel welcomed at our school. So I thought and thought about what I love most about my classroom... and a few years ago a parent from one of my classes gave me a framed inspirational quote. It was bright and cute and I just love it... all these years later! So that inspired me to do the same for our new teachers...and this is what I ended up with:

Oh. EM. geeeee! They turned out better than I imagined in my happy teacher brain :) I just can not WAIT to give these to our new teachers!

I got the frames fro $1.99 each at a local store... I intended to buy $1.00 frames, but the only ones I could find (after going to 3 stores) were just too cheap looking, and the stand part on the back was super flimsy. But still, $16 for 8 gifts, is pretty darn good in my book!

I made these posters into my newest TPT product--with 20 super cute, inspirational, classroom friendly quotes that I am sure you will love!

Click the pictures to head to my TPT store--each pack is only $3! Currently only the Bright Polka-Dot pack has the 4 x 6 posters included, but by the end of the week all packs will include that 4 x 6 size!

Check out the beautiful sunset I watched with my husband and we traveled back from Gossip Island, Canada (via ferry) last night. It was the LONGEST lasting sunset I have ever seen... beautiful, to say the least!

Beautiful Bulletin Boards

I am so very excited to be linking up with Angie from Lucky Little Learners and Ashley from Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd for their #2getherwearebetter Linky!

Unfortunately I am not able to get back into my classroom until tomorrow, Aug. 3rd (first student day is Wed. Sept. 9th!!!). 

There are pros and cons to this, obviously. 

PRO:

-Summer feels really long this year

-I get more "me" time 

-My birthday (Sept.4th) will be during summer break!

CONS:

-I don't have access to my room yet

-My brain and SOUL still feel like I should be getting ready for my students

-We don't start summer 2016 until June 23rd ;(

So I don't have an actual bulletin board to show you yet, but I will show you my plan! ASAP I will post actual photos, pinky promise!

I am super anxious to get into my classroom this summer bc I moved rooms and changed teaching positions... so everything is still in boxes right now... ahhhhhhhh!

Since I am teaching K-5 Technology this year, I have the honor of meeting with every student at least once a week. My goal is to find ways to create whole school projects to connect our grade levels and students. 

My plan is for each grade level to be assigned a color. For example, K=Red, 1st=Orange... and they get a dot, paper, handprint... to add to our project. It is going to take some practice and practice and practice until we get to our technology standards on the chrome books, so taking time to do some projects like these will be perfect!

I won't have much to show you until the students arrive, but I will post my actual pictures asap!  I can't wait to see your bulletin boards!! 

Be sure to check out other Beautiful Bulletin Boards for more inspiration and fun.

And check back September 2nd for the next #2getherwearebetter linky! {click below}

Dreaming

I am slightly tardy to the TPTSellerChallenge Week 2: Dare to Dream

My nightly dreams had been about my dog...

Last week was a rough week in the Helm house. Our 13 year old Great Dane, Malone, went to Heaven to be with my Dad. This was such a hard decision for my husband and I to make, but we know it was the right decision for Maloney. 

His big-dog hips just weren't the same anymore, and sadly, his falls were becoming more frequent and scary. Tuesday night he couldn't walk at all when we took him outside to go potty. Wednesday seemed better, but then out of no where he fell hard on his chest and hit his chin... then nearly fell backwards when trying to go up the front steps. Thankfully my husband and I were right behind him and caught him. 

Malone is a big, looks-deep-in-your-eyes, old man. We couldn't stand the thought of him falling when we weren't there to rescue him, help him up, and comfort him. We couldn't stand the thought of him being in pain from breaking something during a fall and needing emergency care. 

Our amazing vet who comes out to our house agreed (after months of trying back-end strengthening meds... acupuncture...rest) that it was probably time. 

I miss my buddy, my shadow, my sweet companion. Selfishly I had hoped Malone would make it one more summer...I know he is in Heaven with my dad, loving every minute!

Photo Credit: Caveness Photography, WA

My TPT dreams...

#tptsellerchallenge Week One

...Make Over Madness!

This school year was busy... I know, yours was, too!

But I am so very excited for this TPT Seller Challenge to jump start my blog again. I miss connecting with passionate teachers like yourself... I miss learning from you... I miss being inspired by you!

So here I am, barely making it with the Week One Challenge... but I have only been on Summer vaca since Thursday, friends!

Here, we go! I chose one of my favorite items--my classroom management system. I love finding ways to promote positive relationships with my students, while teaching them the appropriate ways to behave in the classroom and in our learning environment. By the end of the year, I have 26 littles saying things like "you're interfering with my learning... please STOP... I asked you to stop..." instead of tattling and running to me. They are problem solving! They are gaining confidence! They are becoming independent! 

I just love how this turned out! Way more fun to look at!

And here are my stats... pretty sad... but that just means I have a lot of room for growth, right?!

I am really trying to up my instagram number! 

That is my mini-goal right now :) 

To get to 50 followers in these 4 weeks!

I don't even know how to tell you how to find me on instagram?! HELP, pretty please!