about

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Hi, I'm Ashley. I am an organized, slightly OCD fifth grade teacher and blog stalker. Even though most of my ideas are taken from someone else, I wanted to start a blog that is a compilation of these creations. There isn't one specific topic that this blog will cover, there will be teacher stuff, life happenings, and random thoughts... a hodgepodge of mumble jumble, if you will!
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Saturday, August 13, 2011

i have a sickness

Wednesday was the first day I could get into my classroom... and I forgot my camera :(
My goal was to get all of my furniture in place and focus on organizing and decorating next week. I didn't want to spend all day at school since it was my "official" last day of summer. But since I've been in my classroom, all I want to do is go back and organize and decorate. I must have a sickness!! I mean, who wants summer to end?? My project for this weekend is to work on my bucket seats for my guided reading tables. This picture from Pinterest is what inspired me:


I will post pictures when I'm done and I will most definitely take pictures of my classroom and post them next week.

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Ron Clark

Kasey (BFF from post below), my sissy, Leslie (college friend and hopeful co-worker), my precious niece Kyla, and myself went to the Barnes and Noble in Greensboro to see Ron Clark and have him sign our books! He is such an inspiration each time I see him... he's my hero!! :) Here are some pictures from the night:

He insisted on holding Kyla's bear... she didn't mind.
We even got to get on the tour bus!! :)
Proof that we were on the bus!

Turning Kyla into a "Ron" fan. They were on a first name basis by the end of the night!

All in all... a great night!!

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

crafting with the BFF

I'm staying the night with my best friend who just so happens to be a first grade teacher and super-de-duper creative. So, as we were pinning a couple of weeks ago we saw these teacher gifts where someone had taken a wooden letter and hot glued crayons onto it. It was really cute so of course we had to make one! I made mine tonight while she was working on something else for her classroom. Here's the final product:

ikea

Some of my teacher friends went to Ikea on Monday to do some school shopping. I got lots of goodies that I can't wait to get in my classroom. I will post pictures of all of them later when they are actually in my classroom and not still in the package. A few things that I got that SUPER stoked about is a Lazy Susan. I'm thinking of something like a wheel game OR something like this that I found on Teacher Tipster. Some of my other treasures include a floor lamp, some fake plants (so I'll have them live longer than a week), a spotlight for a "spotlight" on writing or behavior, a holder for files, and some frames for my CAFE board.
Here are the frames that I bought:

I am thinking of really cute CAFE pages and then attaching some ribbon to the bottom so that I can put up the strategies as I go. Cute?? I think so! I'm excited.

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

End of Molasses Classes

If you haven't heard, Ron Clark has a new book out. It's called The End of Molasses Classes. I've started reading it and it is FABULOUS!! I highly recommend it! Of course, anything this man writes or says you should do if you're a teacher because he is A-MAZE-ING!! seriously. Go buy it if you haven't already!!
I found out today that he is doing a book signing in Greensboro at the Barnes and Noble near Friendly Center this Thursday! I'm so there!! :)

Monday, August 1, 2011

read canvas

My most favorite summer project has definitely been my read canvas. One of my very first pins on Pinterest was this picture:
It was so simple, yet I thought it made such a statement. So, I got a canvas and some Christmas lights and went to town on making this baby:

All I did was paint the word "read" onto the canvas in a gray color, then I took an ink pen and poked holes in it from the back. I stuck the Christmas lights in and hot glued them to make sure they would stay. Easy as pie!!

I can't wait to get this in my classroom! :)

lanterns

So, as stated in previous post... I'm addicted to finding things to fill up my summer break, which has included crafting thanks to Pinterest. I decided that I wanted some cute lanterns to hang in my classroom this year, but I didn't want to pay a lot of money for them, so I found a couple of blogs telling how to make cute lanterns for cheap. And, that's what I did!

I found some plain jane white lanterns at The Christmas Tree Shops, I think they ended up being 89 cents and it came with a little light already in it! Sweet! After that, I went to my tissue paper pile (I hoard this stuff like nobody's business) and grabbed a few colors I liked.

Next, I traced a candle onto the tissue paper and used this as my stencil.
Then, ever so perfectly... I folded the tissue paper so that I would have several creases that I could draw half moons on, like this: After that, it's time to fold the stencil you made earlier in half and trace the half moons onto the tissue paper.Once you cut out all of the half moons, you will have several full circles and a few half circles, but don't throw away your half circles. Instead, use those to "line" the top of your lantern. Then, it's easy peasy from there. Whip out your hot glue gun and get busy gluing those circles on until you have your lantern filled up. Then your final product will look something like this:


Now, wasn't that easy! I made three cutsie lanterns for less than $3.00!! :)



addiction

So... I've recently discovered Pinterest and it has been both my BFF and my enemy this summer! I am CONSTANTLY on there!! I mean, it's ridiculous how much time I waste on this website... but I can't stop. Hi, I'm Ashley and I'm a Pinterestaholic. I need help. The new addition to my life has made me want to do all sorts of little projects throughout the summer for my classroom, my house (or my mom's... whatev). So, just in case you and Pinterest haven't become BFFs, let me introduce you. :) Pin with caution. Side effects include... addiction, time away from your family and friends, extreme creativity, and an obscene amount of money spent at Hobby Lobby.

Here are some of my Pinterest faves from the summer:

I can not wait to get back to school and make this! Organization... here I come!!


This is what I used to organize my millions of math folder games. I am going to use the little cup at the front for dice and chips and other needed materials. I'll post pics when it's in the classroom for you to get a better idea.

This is one that I haven't made yet. I went to Ikea today in search for the perfect guided reading stools for my table, but it was a no go. So, I found these on Pinterest and they seem pretty simple to make!
ANDDD.... just because I'm hungry: here are some food items that I've found! :)

These are biscuits made with 7-Up. I know... it's true though and they are DELICIOUS!!! You must try it!

Can't wait for Christmas to make these!


If you want to links to these all the other creations I've found... check it out here

Happy pinning! :)