Monday Made It

Seriously, how is summer almost over? I can't even begin to understand where the time has gone. We go back for meetings on August 26th, and students report August 27.

So, I made a TON of stuff for this week's Monday Made It! I went a bit nuts, I have to admit. This first one is inspired by something I saw on pinterest, which sadly does not link back to the original source! If anyone knows who originally thought of it, send me the info so I can link up. :)

Seriously, that bow was the bane of my existence. It is so hard to tie a good bow with thick ribbon! Many, many attempts later I ended up with this one. It's not perfect, but it'll do. 

I'm totally loving this, and can't wait to use it this year. It'll be a helpful reminder to the little cherubs at the end of the day.

Next, I was determined to spice up my classroom this year. Our standard school issue bins are really, really ugly.

See what I mean? They're drab and plain. Who wants to look at that all day? So, I decided to spray paint them! While I was at it, I thought I'd spice up my paper trays, too. They were a bit more colorful, but not much!

Of course, I had to go with my standard favorite colors, lime green and hot pink... 

Voila! As I'm posting this, I realized I didn't take any final after pics of the pink spray paint or the tan bins. They're already at school, but I'll update later with a few more pictures.

Finally, I had to use my Silhouette Cameo for something. It's new, so I have been dying to try it out. I have been working on my library a ton lately, so I was inspired to create a book return bin. I found this cute metal bin in the summer clearance at Target for $7. 

Seriously, a piece of adhesive vinyl and 10 minutes later I had this beaut!

 I'm loving it. Seriously, can't wait to use it!

While I was busy in the classroom, I was also refreshing some stuff in my Teachers Pay Teachers store. I put some cute new backgrounds on my existing 5th Grade Common Core Math "I Can" statements. The first new set is "bright colors."

The other new set is "pastel chevron."

I use these in my math class every day. I post them on my math wall, and have the students talk about them in their math journals. We discuss them at the beginning of class, and then do a recap once every week or two of what we have learned. All 3 sets are on sale for $1 for one more week! 

Finally, I made a new reading log for my classroom. Thought I'd share as a fun little Monday freebie!

It's a simple reading log with owl clip art. All days of the week are listed, with a requested reading time of 100 minutes per week. Students are encouraged to read 20 minutes per day, but are able to spread their reading out through the week however they wish. Check it out!

Winners all around

I can't believe how many people entered the giveaway for the Classroom Friendly Supplies pencil sharpener!  There were about 3,000 entries. Totally nuts! So, without further ado, the winner is....

Lisa L. 

Congrats, Lisa! You will be getting an email from me asking for your address shortly.

What a crazy couple of weeks it's been! I have been working hard at reorganizing my classroom. I had to move down the hall at the end of last year, so I asked my kiddos to help a bit. I gave (what I thought were) pretty good directions about where to put things... but everything still ended up all mixed up. We're talking trade books in no particular order, pencils in the bookcase, and math manipulatives under the sink. OMG! I'm not there yet, but I am doing my best. Hopefully, I'll get it done by next week so I can relax and enjoy the last couple weeks of summer. We go back August 26, and students report the 27th. Eek!

The trash pile... 

To the untrained eye, this is just a mess. To the eye of a trained education professional, this is part of the bulletin board making process... also, still just a mess. :)

Hubby and I also just returned from vacationing in Bar Harbor, ME. We hiked, mountain biked, and mountain climbed in Acadia National Park. We love it there! This is the fifth year we've gone. It's a cute little coastal town which just so happens to have a giant national park attached. You can get a beautiful hotel room with room service for breakfast, and then climb a mountain later that day. What more is there to love? The climbs were awesome. We did the Precipice climb,  which is non-technical climbing (no equipment). You use the boulders, stone stairs, rungs, and ladders to up this mountain. It was seriously scary, but a lot of fun.

 Coming up over a big edge

 Hubby and I going around a cliff corner (note how tightly I am holding onto that rail!)

No joke, we had to climb up these. Seriously. No joke. It's a long way down!

Afterward, we found this video of a couple climbing it online. It's seriously cool- check it out!

Last week, I got a package of goodies from Lana over at 4 the Love of Teaching! We participated in the Back to School Blogger Exchange hosted by Covered in Glitter and Glue and Adventures of Ms. Smith. Check out all these goodies!

I got some really awesome erasable highlights, my first felt tip pens (LOVE), binder dividers, paper & binder clips, an awesome owl notebook, and a collection of goodies from Myrtle Beach.

Beach sand!

Shark teeth (my kiddos will LOVE these. I know they've been watching Shark Week!)

Sea Shells

I totally love everything Lana sent, but I especially love all the Myrtle Beach goodies. How cool are they?! I am going to set up a little museum in my classroom and put them in there. I have always had my students bring in pictures from their vacations, but I am thinking I am going to ask them to bring in more things like this to add to the museum. How cool is that?? Thanks again, Lana!

Now, I've just got to finish my classroom and plan for the first week before my darling hubby and I head off for our second summer vacation in Miami, the Keys, and the Everglades. Woo!

I saw this on MTV and just had to take a picture... all this to get done by 8/25, the last day of summer vacation, which is also my birthday. They were playing No Sleep til Brooklyn during the commercial (I think it's for the music video awards). We've been singing "No sleep till Mandy's Birthday!" since then. Ha!

Now, a fairy tale for teachers everywhere... 

:)