Box Tops

Today is back to work. Did I get any work done over break... of course not! Did I relax and enjoy myself... YOU BET!! Vacation is over though and today the alarm was set for 5:00 AM. I usually wake up around 6:00 AM, but with this being the first day back in a couple of weeks, I didn't want to rush and get everything done at the last minute. I'm sure I will be in for a long week and you can be sure that I will share it with you. As far as today goes, it is Monday Made It over at 4th Grade Frolics.

I'm probably one of the last ones to get on the "Box Top bandwagon". I know that there are many different variations on the box top holders, but I wanted to link up the original creator. My students have been collecting box tops since August and we have just been putting them in a plastic baggy. I've been meaning to make this box top holder for months and I've finally gotten around to it.

Here is the before picture. I used a recycled coffee container. 

I love the little bear. I used the Cricut cartridge, Teddy Bear Parade. I've been wanting to use this cartridge for a while and I finally got a chance. I also added Glossy Accents to her glasses to make them look glossy.

I hope you enjoyed my project today. I have so many other projects for my classroom planned for the future. If you have something to show off, head on over to 4th Grade Frolics and link up. Leave a comment with your blog post so I can see what you have created! :-)

Books I Want to Read

I love reading books of all kinds. Maybe that's one of the reasons I wanted to be a teacher. To be honest with you, I never liked to read when I was younger. I was always jealous of those people that could get lost in books. Now that I have gotten old older I appreciate books and reading a whole lot more. I think teachers are one of the few professions that you need to keep up with on a daily basis. I enjoy reading books for pleasure, but I also really love professional books. If I'm not currently in the middle of a book to push me professionally, I go crazy. I am at that point. So when I found the Books I Want to Read Link Up Party, I knew I had to join.

Professional Books

Teach Like a Champion is a book that I saw this summer over at Cara Carroll's blog. She is one of the many teacher bloggers that I look up to, so when she says it's amazing, I just had to get it. Unfortunately, I have yet to read it. I will make it a point to get to it though!!

The second book is a book that I've been wanting for a VERY long time. I read The Daily 5 almost 4 years ago and I never started it in my classroom. I always knew that if I started the Daily 5 in my room, I wanted to start it with The CAFE Book. This will most likely be my next professional read.






Personal Books

I love Netflix. I couldn't image going a day without watching something on Netflix. A few months ago I found the show, Extreme Couponers. I completely fell in love with the idea. Now I'm not sure I would be an extreme couponer and make my entire house dedicated to a stockpile, but getting a few frequently used items for free wouldn't be too bad. That's why I bought myself this book, Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey. It's all about couponing and on a teacher's salary, that isn't such a bad idea.

I am in love with a lot of things, if you couldn't tell by now with this blog post. There is no amount of words that could explain my love for Harry Potter. That will be my classroom theme one day, I will make sure to that. I have seen all of the movies and read all... 4 books. Yes, that's right, I have only read 4 of the books. They are written beautifully, but I just haven't set aside time to finish the series. I already know what happens so reading them won't be as exciting. I need to finish though because I've been borrowing the set from my sister for the past 10 years. Ooops!!!


Books to Teach

I wish I could give you a list of great books that would teach all sort of skills like how to become a better writer, but unfortunately I don't have any sort of list like that. One day I will have one, but for now here is a book that I just heard of over vacation. It is called The Hundred Dresses. It is a great way to discuss bullying in your classroom. I plan on reading it when we get back to school and see how my students like it. I will do a whole blog post related to it I'm sure.




Wasn't that fun? I thought so. Now it's your turn to list your reading suggestions. Leave a comment telling me what your three, or more, books are for each category. Make sure that if you create a blog post, head on over to Pitner's Potpourri to link up!

Must Haves of 2012

With the New Year here and 2012 gone, I just want to look back on what was a must have in my classroom during 2012. I know that we all have those tools of the trade that we couldn't live without. Today I will be sharing with you what my must haves of 2012 were and still will be for 2013.

Scholastic Storybook Treasures
We all have those teaching days where we can't stop looking at the clock waiting for the day to end. This is when "stories" come into play. I love stories. They are a collection of popular children's books put on film. Some are just narrated and others are recreated to be actual cartoons. I love being able to pop in a story and have my students watch a couple each day. It's a great way for students to enjoy reading, they get to see their favorite characters come to life, and it's also a great way to incorporate with current themes you are studying in class.

Thirty-One Organizing Utility Tote
I'm sure we all saw this lovely bag all over Pinterest earlier this year. I can't believe I ever lived without this bag. I don't have to worry about loosing anything. I carry my wallet, water bottle, keys, lesson plans, you name it, it's in there. I even made a video describing how much I love it!!

 Pinterest
Enough said. We all know how much Pinterest has helped make us better teachers, wives, mothers, crafters, chefs, cleaners. Pinterest in full of amazing ideas that I have used in my classroom this year.

 Teachers Pay Teachers
I've heard about Teachers Pay Teachers for a few years now, but I never really looked into it until this year. Man, am I glad I did that. TPT has almost everything you are looking for. Whenever I need a thematic unit, instead of having to recreate one on my own, I just hop on over to TPT and most of the time I find just what I'm looking for!

Donors Choose
 I can't express how truly grateful I am for Donors Choose. I recently made a blog post all about DC and how I've received over $7000 in resources for my classroom.

I hope that you take a look into my top 5 items that I found useful in 2012. I plan on using these for many more years in the future. Now it's your turn to share your top resources of 2012. You can write about your top 5 or your top 100, whatever you want to share. Then come back here and link up so everyone else can profit from your amazing recommendations. Make sure to link back to this blog post as well so others on your blog can join in on the fun. Just grab the code below and add to your blog post. It's that simple!!!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://www.darlinglittlelearners.com/2013/01/must-haves-of-2012.html" title="Darling Little Learners"><img src="http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc380/JennuineCrafts/musthaves_zps3ed4b759.png" alt="Darling Little Learners" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I'm linking this over at the Ultimate Linky Party!!

Donors Choose for Teachers

If you've been teaching for a while, you know how much money you have invested into your own classroom. During my first year of teaching I was going out every weekend and shopping for my classroom. I ended up taking a lot of my money and investing it back into my classroom. At the time I thought I was doing a good thing. I realized that I was spending money on things that I could be getting for free. In this blog post, I will explain how I've gotten $7000 worth of resources and supplies for my classroom for little to no money at all!!

I'm sure most of you have heard about Donors Choose. Some of you may use it religiously like I do. Others may have an account, but never submit a grant. Some of you may have never heard of it at all. I have gone ahead and created a video explaining Donors Choose and how it works. In this video I walk you through the process of creating your own project.


Once you start using Donors Choose, you will realize what a great resource it is for us as teachers. The best part is when the students actually get the materials and resources in their hands. I love taking pictures of them using the donations. Part of the thank you package is writing thank you letters to your donors. I have gone ahead and created a file that includes three different templates for you to use. You can find that file by clicking here.

This file is not only great for creating thank you letters for Donors Choose projects, but they can also be used for general thank you letters. If you have any questions regarding DonorsChoose.org please feel free to contact me. You can find my information in the contact section of my website.



Barnes and Noble Haul

I just recently went to Barnes and Noble to pick up some books related to teaching. I love watching hauls. In case you are not aware of what a haul is, it's a video in which someone shares what they bought. The reason I love watching haul videos is because I get to see things that are available that I may not have known of. I decided to create a haul video on my latest Barnes and Noble haul.

Christmas Happenings

It has been a long December. Usually we only have two weeks to squeeze everything Christmas/holiday related in. This year we had three weeks and boy did these three weeks drag on. I don't think I've ever been ready for Christmas to be over. We did have a lot of fun though. Here are a few snapshots of how we spent our December.

Since December started, we've been doing a lot of centers through out the day. December is a time when the normal, daily schedule is thrown out the door and you welcome the unknown. For our class we have a lot of testing during this time of year and a "normal" day is something we hardly ever see in December.

Speaking of not normal, the last week of school was spirit week. We had red and green day, pajama day, twin day, backwards day, and my favorite... crazy hair day. Crazy hair day is a favorite for anyone who has naturally curly hair. I have crazy hair every day, for one day out of the year, I have an excuse.

 

On pajama day we made hot chocolate and watched the Polar Express. 

 My kids were so excited to have hot chocolate. I wish I could show you their little faces with chocolate mustaches.  

Tried my best at getting a class photo without a tripod.

Then it was the day of our Holiday concert. Look at my precious little darling in the front with her big read bow.

On our last day of school I gave my students their presents. It was the book "The Night Before the Night Before Christmas".

They loved it and couldn't wait to read it.

Some of my students even read to each other.

Well that was it for our December happenings. I hope that you all have a safe and wonderful Christmas and New Year. I will be back in January with some brand new things and ready to go strong. See you in 2013!!!

Elf on the Shelf

This year I decided to do Elf of the Shelf with my class. I have always wanted to do it with my own children, but of course I don't have any yet, so I had to improvise. I only had him in my room for 4 days and it's a little sad that he is gone. Next year I will be bringing him in after Thanksgiving and he won't leave until Christmas break. My students this year went a little overboard with looking for him. I guess you can say this was my "test" year. This week I also found so many great ideas to incorporate into my classroom for next year. Since I have nothing too special to share with you, I will go ahead and leave you with some of our pictures of our elf, Skip.

We found Skip on Tuesday hanging onto our easel.

After decorating our Christmas tree with ornaments, Skip decided he wanted to hang out on the tree as well.

Reading a Christmas story to his friends.

Hanging on the flag pole.

Drinking Mrs. Ruiz's root beer.

Closeup of the root beer.

Just chillin' in the Smartie Pants.

I have so many ideas already for next year including: watching tv with the remote, writing a message on the white board, taking a bath in the sink with marshmallows. The possibilities are endless. It's been a little tricky because the students aren't supposed to touch him. I will have to buy him a few props for next year as well. I also need to add velcro to his hands so he can do a few more things. Already planning!!