Another Freebie

Back for the second week in a row!! Hopefully I can keep this up! Had a nice three day weekend due to MLK Jr. Day. Was able to get a lot of cleaning done on Sunday that allowed me to take it easy on Monday. It was a nice feeling to get my house back in order. Back in December I had a plumbing issue in my master bathroom and it overflowed into my bedroom and caused mold under the carpet. Had to get new carpet and now I am in the process of planning how to redo my bathroom. It is fun and exciting to pick out what I want but very overwhelming. Can't wait to start this new project! Before and after pictures will be a must.

We have a short school week this week because we also have parent teacher conferences on Friday so the students get another 3 day weekend. This is the second round of conferences so I do not meet on all students this go around. I will have some time to get work done in my classroom, not much, but i'll take what I can get.

Today I am sharing with you another item I created for my Teachers Pay Teachers store, and its FREE!

I use this checklist for many different things. Just recently I had to collect money for a field trip and I attached this list to an envelope and as the students brought in their money I checked them off the list. It has really helped me stay organized in my classroom. Hope you like it! and If you want me to create anything feel free to let me know!

I hope you get your chance to get back in the swim of things!
Kimberly

Time

For someone who is trying to start a blog my posts are few and far between. It has been a little over a year since I created this blog and this is only my 9th post! What's wrong with me? Time is something everyone wishes they had more of. I created this blog to show things that I have to get back into. Whether it is projects I love, getting organized, or even new things in my classroom. Everyone has a point in their lives when they say I need to get back at it. I am the queen of getting motivated and slowly fall off course and try again. Perfect example, this blog. Well I have made myself a goal. One post a week, and If I have time, or something to share I will post more. I'll be posting organizing ideas for my home and classroom, projects and lessons I have done or created in my classroom, even at home projects. I love scrap-booking and cooking when I have time for it. So I may throw a few of those in there too.

This post I wanted to talk about my teachers pay teachers store. View my profile on  I do not have many items yet but I hope with time that I will be able to create and post more items.

Teacher organization is something I strive to do. I created a few documents to help me do just that. This document you can find for free on my store.

I use it for everyday! This list you can have up to 28 students. I have more students that I have ever had in my classroom and I could not find any lists that fit all my students. I use this to check of assignments turned in, assignments missing, reading conferences, and more. There are so many uses for this checklist. If you choose to download this list please take a minute and rate it! If you have any items that you would like me to create, just ask! I'd be glad to work something out for you.

Hope you get your chance to get back in the swim of things!
Kimberly

Summer for Me

Summer was a busy time for me. I know I'm a teacher and I have the summers off, but this summer was gorgeous! I took this summer to relax and do things that I wanted to do. I did some traveling and lots and lots of reading on books that I wanted to read :) I was still completing my masters but I am happy to say I am DONE!

My family has a place in Michigan that we love to spend the weekends when the weather is nice. As we all know Illinois/Michigan had some great weather this summer so I spent a lot of time up there on the beach. I was able to take a whole week with no internet and just relax.

I gave up some Michigan time and my boyfriend and I traveled to his family's place in Minnesota this August before school started. We went fishing, saw some black bears, fishing, sight seeing, and did I mention fishing!!! :) We did a lot of fishing. It was my first time fishing since I was maybe 13 years old. I think I did pretty well! Below is a picture of one of my biggest fish. My boyfriend was so excited that he actually stopped at a Bass Pro Shop on our way home and bought me my own fishing rod. A pink one of course!

 Since school was starting in 5 days :( We decided to stop at Wisconsin Dells for a few days on our way through. We stayed 2 nights at the Kalahari Indoor Water-park/Resort. We planned on going to Noah's Ark one day, but of course we were in a cold spell those 2 days and it would have been miserable. We enjoyed our time at the indoor water-park. Had a caricature done (looks nothing like us!) Went to the outlet mall of course and the best part, we went zip lining at the Big Foot Zipline Tours. I was so nervous at first. But I would recommend it to everyone! I even hung upside down and I never thought that was something I would do. If you ever travel to Wisconsin Dells this is something I would definitely check out.

Now that school is back in session, I look forward to trying some new things like The Daily 5 and posting them on this blog. I also hope to start back up with my household challenge. Look back for some of my new things!

Mother's Day

Mother's Day was last weekend. I spent the afternoon with my boyfriend's family. My mother was able to spend a nice relaxing day at our cottage in MI. The girls of the family celebrated dinner at Olive Garden on Monday. The experience at Olive Garden is a whole story in itself.

With my students for Mother's Day we created two things. First the made breakfast in a bag. I found this idea on pinterest. The pinterest link brought me to the blog called Eberhart's Explorers. It was such a cute idea that I couldn't resist. Here is an example of one. 

I used the bottom of a coffee mug to trace the circle used for the head. Scrapbook paper was used as the bedspread and the poem was attached to the bedspread. Students were able to use construction paper and markers/crayons to make their mother's faces. Inside each bag I put a napkin, an apple, and a Fruit and Grain Bar. We also made a Mother's day book.

I found this book on teacher's pay teachers. It's a cute little book where the students illustrate and write about things their mothers like and do. It also includes a grandmother version. A portion of the proceeds of this book is donated to relay for life. What a great cause! The students really enjoyed this project. The loved the fact they got recreate their mother's faces!!

Have a great day!

Kimberly

Graduation Day

It's not quite official yet, but I am almost done with my masters. I walked at graduation this past Saturday, and I just finished my practicum presentation tonight. Just 12 more weeks of going to class on Wednesday nights and a paper/project here and there. The last class will be less stressful because it is over the summer and I will not be teaching on top of it. 

I have a list of things that I would like to accomplish. I need to start back up on my organizing challenge, finish my niece's first year scrapbook, scrapbook my own stuff, and I am looking into starting to create some packets, lessons, powerpoints, SMART board lessons etc. for teacherspayteachers.com. I am just at a loss on where to begin. I have tons of ideas, just not sure on how to start and make them pretty :) Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

School

I am so frustrated right now. I haven't not posted anything for months, and I have not done anything with my challenge or my scrap-booking. All because I am going back to school on top of my full time job. I keep telling myself it will be worth. But fortunately for me the end is near! Yesterday I spent almost 12 hours working on my write-ups for my practicum. I only have 4 more left and my final reflective paper to complete. I will walk in May for graduation but I will not officially be done until August. But that's ok. Once this practicum is completed and turned it, my schooling will consist of a few projects here and there and best of all I will not be working in the final months! That leaves time for me to really get back on track with the organizing of my house and even get back to scrap-booking for my niece! Hopefully you will see soon some things I am able to do and create again!

Happy Easter!

Kitchen Challenge

The first of the year I started this 52 week organizing challenge. The first challenge addressed countertops and sinks. Here is my Kitchen before I started week one.

My kitchen table was constantly a catch all table. When I would walk in the door everyday I would throw my mail onto the table and sometimes not get to it for days. Stuff I pulled out to use would find a home there until I figured out a place for it.

I'm not big dishes girl. I have never like doing them, but who does? I had bought a drying pad that I had placed on my countertop next to the sink but it always ended up full and just look cluttered.

I took some time and I did some shopping. Sometimes I just look at the shelves at what is available and ideas will eventually come to me. How can I organize my mail, what is a better solution to my dishes?

I bought a mini mail sorter to put on the table. So far I have taken just 2 minutes to look at the mail that I bring in each day. I get rid of the junk and I put bills etc. in the correct spot in my sorter. 

I decided to get rid of the counter mat, and a rack to put in my sink. So far I have done a good job with the dishes, lets hope it continues.

This challenge is meant for one a week. I unfortunately have not found the time for that between teaching and going back to school. I am doing what I can everyday, it may take me longer but hopefully I can catch up this summer. 

Next up Cabinet Organizing!