TBT, Pirates, & Double or Nothing Sale!

Happy Throwback Thursday!

Before I share one of my favorite throwbacks, I want to let you know I'm joining with the The Primary Chalkboard chalkies to throw a "Double or Nothing Sale!"

Everything in my store is 20% off today and tomorrow!

I'm so excited to hopping on a plane this morning, but not to Vegas. I'm visiting my family and attending a very special wedding in Ohio. It will be a quick visit and then another week before I return to school July 22nd! A few days of PD and I'm off to Houston for a week at the end of the month.

I'm packing my presentation notes to practice and this:

Have you read it? Did you ♥ it?
I feel like I've already read it because I found so many inspiring and thorough notes from many bloggers' book study posts. I think it will be a quick and easy airport read :)

Here's a throwback to last summer when I was Vegas-bound...

SUNDAY, JULY 28, 2013

Vegas-Bound Smorgasbord!

Happy Sunday!

This is my first time linky up with one of my favorite-to-read bloggers: Michelle from Fabulous in First

This will be short because I'm about to dash out the door to catch a flight. I'm headed to VEGAS (woot! woot!) for a week-long conference.

I'm. Beyond. EXCITED!!

I'll be attending sessions for both elementary and special education, plus networking with my colleagues and other educators from around the country. This is my third year going and it takes MONTHS to process all the fantastic info from the week!

This Sunday Smorgasbord, I'm giving a sneak peak of my office organization. My motto this year is USE WHAT I ALREADY HAVE. I have enough teaching materials to continue well past retirement. And while I'm sure I'll find new things, I'm trying to organize my existing materials in a logical fashion.

Here's what I've come up with so far:

Now imagine at least 25 more of those boxes :)

Here's a closer look at what's inside (because I KNOW you have these items somewhere in storage, too!):

Word Sorts!

The picture above shows a word sort I have from Teachers Clubhouse (a.k.a.: the incredible Amanda Madden). I have over FORTY word sorts, all printed on different colored cardstock, laminated, and stored in snack bags. I put stickers on the back of the header cards so my students can pop open a bag & get to work!

Phonics Puzzles!

These are also laminated and put into their own plastic bags. I literally have over SIXTY individual puzzles gathered from over the years. I'll keep this box nearby during small group testing, so I can have early finishers work on a puzzle while I'm providing extended time for other students.

Scrambled Sentences!

I ♥ these! Every bag contains 4-6 themed sentences. The graphic helps sort the cards and then the students create the sentences. They are laminated and feature traceable font to use with a dry erase marker. This is one half of my Sentence Builders units. I've made 12 different themed packs so far and will continue to make more for my students. The picture above is from my Super Sentence Builders, which is great for back-to-school and all-year round. Most of the holiday sentence packs are already in my store, but I have many more non-holiday (including student special requests like sharks and superheroes, lol!) waiting to be uploaded when I return from LV!

My other project I'm super psyched about it using all the magnets that have been gathering dust in storage! It just felt so cumbersome to search for the magnet letter I needed and I usually gave up & reached for a whiteboard instead. But now...

I ♥ the magnet board (cookie sheet?) I found at Ikea! It's flat and has embossed lines which is SUPER helpful for my firsties (plus looks really stylish!). I used wasabi tape for the horizontal dividing line and then laminated some printed chevron papers to created moveable sorting lines. The cards are simply graphics fromoverwhelming abundant clipart collection. The magnet "dots" are from Oriental Trading...I spent DAYS researching costs and ease-of-use and these magnets are the BEST! They are a little thicker than you would expect, which makes the cards soooo much easier for my little guys who struggle with fine motor skills to pick up. There's nothing worse than waiting patiently while they struggle to pick up slippery laminated cards, I always feel so bad :(

I'll post more about my magnet centers soon...now I've got to head to the airport!

Have a super week!