5 Back-To-School Tips For Teachers

1. Plan dinners for the first week back at school. - Okay, so that's kind of obvious, I know. But here's the real tip... Come up with five easy meals (Sunday through Thursday) that will also be great for leftovers the next day. Then you also have lunch for the entire first week! Getting up early for school is traumatic enough after a summer's worth of sleeping in. Having to make lunch too just adds to the pain. One of my favorite leftover meals is King Ranch Chicken. It's probably not the healthiest thing in the world but it is EASY and delicious (plus my kids like it and it's cheap.... BONUS). Here's the recipe I use: King Ranch Chicken. To make it even faster and easier, I cheat and buy a rotisserie chicken from the deli (shh...don't tell anyone).


2. Put together your school "emergency kit". - What? Like for fire drills? No, that's not what I'm talking about. I keep a small tote bag in my closet full of little things I might need: aspirin, safety pins, deodorant (yeah, it's HOT down here in Florida!), mascara, mouthwash (for those really long days like Open House night), an extra house key, extra sunglasses, Tide-To-Go stain remover, and the all-important emergency chocolate bar. I usually have a pair of flip-flops in there too for when my shoes start to hurt or when I stay after school for awhile.


3. Take a trip to Walmart. - Okay, I'm the first to admit announce that I hate Walmart. I seriously detest the place. In fact, I will happily pay 20% more just to shop somewhere else. However, there is one time I will venture into the depths of Hell-mart... back to school time. Here's why: When the kids bring in 80 packs of those super cheap pencils or several dozen paper pocket folders without prongs, Walmart will let you exchange them without a receipt (as long as they aren't Office Depot brand or something). Now, if you're anything like me, you will end up with an entire shopping cart full of unwanted supplies. So, I strongly suggest that you either call ahead or better yet, go in and talk to the manager while wearing your school badge in a prominent spot. Explain the dilemma of receiving so many unwanted supplies and how it would be so beneficial to your students to be able to exchange them for things they actually need. I've never been turned down.


4. Use your phone in class. - No, do not text your husband ten times to say how you wish summer had been just a month or two longer. You know how easy it is to get off schedule the first few days of school? How many times have you been deep in discussion about reporting vs. tattling only to discover that special area started 10 minutes ago? It happens! So before the first day of school, set your phone to alert you to those transition times.


5. Create new student bags. - One of the most disruptive things to an otherwise smooth school day is a new student coming in. Not that I don't like new students, but if I'm not prepared, my day goes completely off track. A good way to keep things rolling is to prepare a bunch of "new student bags". These include all of the essentials that I normally give students during the first couple days of school: homework folder, supply list, parent letter, student info sheet, folders for reading and math, desk tag, etc. When the new student arrives, I pull out a bag and everything is there. What a lifesaver!

So those are my 5 best back-to-school tips for teachers! Don't forget to stop by my TpT store for the BIG HUGE Back To School Sale on Monday and Tuesday. Everything will be 28% off including:

Don't forget to grab this freebie for all of those kids who speeeeeed through their work...

Enjoy!

Christmas In July!

Christmas is my favorite time of year but it's oh so far away! Luckily, you can enjoy a little bit of the holiday season right here in the middle of July. I've joined in with a group of awesome TpT sellers to bring you an extra special (HUGE) sale on July 13th and 14th. Everyone participating will have four of their best sellers or bundles marked down up to 60% off PLUS there will be a ton of flash freebies available only during the sale!!

To find all of the resources included in the sale, hop on over to TpT and type #Christmasinjuly into the search bar.

Here are the items I've chosen for my sale:

My freebie will be one of my awesome (if I do say so myself) interactive comprehension booklets:

But remember, these will only be available July 13th and 14th. Be sure to also visit some of these other sellers who will also have incredible Christmas In July sales going on:

An InLinkz Link-up

12 Days of Christmas Mystery Markdown!

Only twelve more days until Christmas and four more days of school! This month is just flying by. To get in the holiday spirit, I'm hosting a 12 Days of Christmas Mystery Markdown.

Visit my TpT store every day until Christmas to find a great teaching resource marked down as much as 70%. I'm not going to tell you what the deal of the day is... You have to snoop around to find it! Have fun!

An InLinkz Link-up

Cyber Monday Sale: What's On Your Wishlist?

Can you believe Thanksgiving is over already? This is my favorite time of year. I wish it could last forever! The leftovers are almost gone and I spent the day painting the dining room. Next on my to-do list is some shopping... NOT out in the craziness of the mall but right here on my couch. I already snagged a few awesome deals but I'm holding out for Cyber Monday. I'll be combining the online sales with coupon codes from retailmenot and ebates. What's better than getting cash back on your shopping?

Besides buying Christmas presents, I'll be doing some serious shopping on TpT. It's time for their annual after-Thanksgiving sale!

Everything will be on sale and I've got a wishlist a mile long. I'll show you one of my must-get resources in a minute. But first, I'm linking up with Ideas By Jivey. She's got an awesome giveaway going for some TpT gift certificates to help you with your shopping. You'll want to hop on over and enter to win!

So if you're looking for some ideas on how to spend one of those gift certificates. let me share a couple of the most wish listed items from my store. You can enter to win these too at the end of this post!

The number one most wishlisted item in my store (by nearly 500 people!) is my pack of Classroom Reward Coupons. It includes 25 different coupons in bright, colorful designs that kids love to earn. They are very motivating rewards that won't cost you, the teacher, anything! It's really amazing how hard students will work to sit at the teacher's desk or wear their slippers in class. Check them out...

Some teachers who have bought these have requested them in a larger format (like four different coupons per page) so they can create a catalog of rewards instead of passing the cards out. Cool idea!

The second most wishlisted item in my store is my Big Bundle of Task Cards. These are perfect for second and third grade. The pack includes nine individual sets with more than 200 task cards altogether. They include main idea, author's purpose, context clues, parts of speech, subject-verb agreement, prefixes and suffixes, variant vowels, plural spelling patterns, and grammar review.

If you don't use task cards very much, check out my post about Teaching With Task Cards for ideas and suggestions on how to use them in your classroom.

Now, what am I going to buy during the TpT sale? I have my eye on a lot of things but there's one that I absolutely MUST get...

This is a huge pack of close reading passages with comprehension questions. The lexiles are mostly in the mid 600s to mid 700s - perfect for my higher level reading groups. They need a lot more practice just answering text dependent questions and I think this pack is just what I need!

Now, on to my giveaway! If you would like to win my Classroom Reward Coupons and Big Bundle of Task Cards, you can enter the Rafflecopter below. Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Christmas in July!

I just discovered a big Christmas In July sale going on over a bloghoppin and thought I'd join in (yeah, yeah, I'm late... very fashionably though)!  Check it out...

Since I'm late in joining, I've put a whole bunch of things on sale today, instead of just one. Take a look. You might just find something you need for back to school!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

I just love this week! Not because I need recognition, but because I need chocolate and my principal showers us with it every day. Today we got chocolate cake. Tomorrow it's cookies. Wednesday and Thursday who knows but it'll be good! Then on Friday, we're getting a fantastic BBQ lunch to counteract all the chocolate we had the previous four days. I can't wait!

Now, what's better than chocolate? Well, nothing, of course. But in second place is a good sale and luckily, you can enjoy one of those this week too. Teachers Pay Teachers is hosting their annual Teacher Appreciation event starting at midnight tonight. You can save up to 28% on all those resources you've been wanting. Here are a few things that will be on sale in my store...

Actually, my entire store will be discounted, even my big bundles, so be sure to stop by! No matter what you buy, make sure to use the coupon code TPTXO to get an extra 10% off the sale prices.

To find more stores holding sales, visit the linky at Flying Into First Grade. Just click the button below:

Happy shopping!

Happy Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving week at school! Two days of fun followed by three days off. What could be better? It seems that we spend every single second of our day stuffing the kids full of knowledge, testing, remediating, retesting, and analyzing data. There's so little time left for anything fun. But Thanksgiving week is a nice reprieve from all of that work!

Here are some of the fun things we did this week..

•  made Indian pudding in the crockpot
• played a game of "Classroom Feud" with questions about Thanksgiving
• made handprint turkeys
• went on a virtual field trip to Plymouth Plantation

Want to try making Indian pudding yourself? It's super easy and really tasty! The following recipe is done in the oven instead of the crockpot. It's much better that way!

 I wish everyone a happy and healthy Thanksgiving! Don't forget to check out the big sale at Teachers Pay Teachers on Monday and Tuesday. Everything will be discounted!