Help! I'm drowning in paper.

 Hello friends,

I have been enjoying summer break so much.
I love looking at all the things teachers do during the summer. 

This e card truly says it all

I have been on a mission to get back in shape.  I started back in January but have been hitting it really hardcore this summer.  I am on a mission to hit my pre-baby weight.  I'm not talking about baby #2, I  mean pre-baby #1.  At first I dreaded every minute of working out.  Now it truly has become second nature.  I also love that I am working out with my best bud. Its so much fun when you are doing it with someone.  I am happy to say I have lost 18 lbs so far.  I still have a way to go but I am loving all these new muscles that are showing up.  I must admit that I have a flex session every time I come from the gym.  It might be silly but it keeps me motivated.  Ha!

Well back to the point of my post.  I have been going in to school twice a week since summer break. Another mission of mine this summer is to get organized.  Let me tell you the work out is much easier.  I am tackling my file cabinets and they are a hot mess!

When I first started teaching I filed everything in monthly folders.  So everything I did in September went in one folder.  Then I continued the year like that.  So by the end of my first year I had 9 really fat folders.  They were literally filled to the brim.

The next year I decided to continue the monthly filing but I took it a step further and divided stuff into thematic folders within the month.


This is what it looked like.  As you can see it is still pretty full and looks messy!

So then 2 years ago I decided enough was enough I was going to file everything according to the week it happened in the month.  So I had a September week 1, September week 2 and so on.  This worked really well because it helped me tame my piles because I only had to keep on copy of what we did for my file.  Then I could look back and see what I did the first week of September for years to come.

Not a great picture but you can see how its divided.

Well last year this method was really good because it really helped with planing.  My teammate and I were able to go to week 1 and see what we did the previous year and decide what we wanted to redo or what we wanted to change.   It made planning sooooo much easier.  The only problem was when weeks didn't align but it wasn't too bad because you would just have to look through the weeks.  Another problem I had was with the things we didn't use.  Do I leave it in the folder and then add the new stuff we did that week?  Which now makes a huge file.I also never got rid of my thematic monthly files because sometimes I didn't want to do what we did last year, so I went to my trusty thematic files and pulled some new activity out.

So now I am starting my 5th year and I refuse to start with this file cabinet.  I need to let go of papers that I have never used and are super old and find a new system.  So as hard as it is for me because friends I will be the first to admit it.

I am a Hoarder!

I literally keep everything because you never know when you are going to use it.
its a serious problem people!

So I have been busy throwing paper away.


This is my 4th bag of just old files that I have never used or will never use.


I have 2 empty file drawers but still need to work on the other 2.

My question is this:

How do you file your thematic or everyday papers that you want to keep for future years?  Stuff you have done with your kiddos.  Like your math, reading, etc. files.  What do you do to tame the paper mountain?

Help!

Monday Meet me

                                                   
                       I am linking up with The Teaching Tribune for 'Monday Meet Me'! 
                                                     
                                                     

                                             Here is a little info about me:

 Head over to The Teaching Tribune to link up or leave a comment below so I can get to know you, too!

XOXO

Cindy

The Big Sale is Happening Now!

Hey Friends,
Im sure you already know that the big sale has started.  If you don't, TPT is throwing a big teacher appreciation sale. You can get up to 28% off of your purchase. So walk, no run, well no actually click as fast as you can on the banner to take advantage of this sale.



XOXO
Cindy

Five for Friday and a clipart freebie!

Hellos everyone!!!!

I'm baaaack! It's been a minute since I have posted but I have been keeping up on my blog reading. The beginning of the year is always so time consuming that its hard to juggle everything. Now that we have a nice routine going in class and at home I can get back to this poor little blog.

                          I am linking up with Kacey from DoodleBugs teaching for her Five For Friday on a Saturday. 

1

Our daily 5 this year went amazing. The kids had some exposure to it during kindergarten so it was a nice transition.  Check out my kiddos.

2

I have decided to bundle my winter clipart set so that you can be ready for all your winter units.  Check out all the images you get.  You get both of these sets and its only $3.00 now so click on the pic to head on over to my shop.

                                            You can buy them individually if you would like as well.

3

We visited the pumpkin patch last week. My boys loved it. They got to pick their own pumpkin and cut it off of the vine. They also got o pick apples, eggplants, and peanuts. It's so nice tone able to expose them to this since its so hard living in a big city like Las Vegas.

My little guy picked the biggest pumpkin ever.  It was so cute to see him try to carry it like the big kids.  

4

My grade level did their annual pumpkin characters. The students have so much fun with this and they seem to get more elaborate every year. Check some of these out.

 

 

5 

Here is a little freebie you can pick up at my TPT store. Hope you can use a little more clipart. Who am I kidding you can never have too much clipart.

Ok now I am off to enjoy the rest of my weekend.

Cindy

Back to the Grind and lots of Freebies!

Hello Everyone!

So I am back to school.  

I actually started last week and let me tell you I was exhausted!  

I literally came home everyday and I just wanted to crawl into my bed.  

My students are great this year but I totally forget how much work it is to set all your routines.  

Another exciting thing that happened last week is that my little guy started kindergarten.

Just look how handsome he is.

He was so excited to get to go to mommys big kid school.  

All I could do was hug him and be super excited with him. 

 Let me just be honest, I totally lost it when I walked away from the kindergarten playground.  

It so bittersweet to watch your little guy be so big now.  

Well anyways let me focus before I go down memory lane.

The first week we do alot of All About Me activities, classroom community, and routines. 

Its alot of fun activities to help us get acquainted.  

This is a free little superhero hunt we did last year to help the kiddos get acquainted with the school.  

Our school mascot is a superhero so it fit perfectly.

This week we are starting to set more of a routine and get the ball rolling.
We are starting our Math Journals this week.
The kiddos love these and they love to challenge their thinking.

Check them out in TPT shop.  

During Math we use Investigations and the first unit is all about number sense so we always talk about number lines and so on.  So I looked online for something good to intro number lines and I found a really good anchor chart.  Which didn't let me click back to the owner on Pinterest so if it is yours please let me know so I can give credit.  

Now I do not know about all of you but I don't have a lot of wall space to hang anchor charts unless they are made with my kiddos.  

Its prime space people so I have to make it meaningful.  

So instead of hanging on a wall I decided to remake the anchor chart so that I could display on my smartboard.

This is another anchor chart I found to help me teach sequencing.

When I clicked on this it took me to some crazy website that was not teacher related. 

Can I just rant for a minute.  I love Pinterest but sometimes its so hard to find the original owner of the work because they have been pinned and repinned so much that it gets lost in the mix.  

Ok focus!

Here is what I made:

I also made this to use this week.  

Just click here to grab your three freebies.  

This week we are also learning about Germs.  

Here is a little mini unit I made a while back.

Hope you can use it.

Now I am off to bed.

XOXOXO

Cindy

Back to School and last minute crafting!

Hello Everyone!

Before I start I want to tell you that my mind is all over the place so this post might resemble.  

I go back to school tomorrow for staff development.  

We have Meet The Teacher on Friday and our first official day with the kiddos is on Monday!

I dont know about all of you but every year I feel so nervous and anxious!

Im sure the year will be great but I cannot help those butterflies in my tummy!

Well onto my second part of my post! 

(im telling you I am truly feeling scatterbrain)

So I have a confession.  

I am not a crafter.  I have no patience so I do not craft.  

I have tried a lot of crafts and have had many pinterest fails!

Last week I saw Kelly from First Grade Fairytales had some beautiful Chevron tables and I mentioned how I was obsessed with chevron but can never do it because I have no patience to sit and measure.  

Trust me people I have tried many times and my lines always come out looking crazy!

Well she was so sweet and contacted me and let me in on a little secret.  

Did you know they sell chevron tape???

What!!!!

I have been going crazy measuring and taping and re-taping and re-measuring for nothing!

Well I knew I had to run to Lowes and pick some up.  

So after I got over the price I was in love.  

I had the perfect thing to add some chevron too.

I bought these stools from Ikea last week.  They were $5 and I knew they would be perfect for my reading area.    

So I got to work.  Now remember I am not a crafter so I did my best.  I knew I wanted it to fit my Hollywood Theme so this is what I came up with.  

I love how they came out.  Are they perfect NO!  but I love them anyways! 

I also redid my clothespins.  Let me tell you I use clothespins all over my room.  For my behavior chart, job chart, student work, you get the picture!  Ha!

I just love how these came out.  The washi tape was on sale at Target and they go great with my classroom.  This was super easy to do.  So if you want to cutesify your clothespins I definitely recommend this.  

Before I go to bed I wanted to tell you that I got so many goodies during the Back To School Sale.  

I cannot wait to share with you what I bought.  

Thank you to all of you who took the time to visit my TPT store and especially to all of you who took the time to leave feedback.  You guys made my day.  

Ok goodnight blog world.  

I am looking forward to an all day staff training said not teacher ever!

Cindy

Back To School Sale!

Have you hear the good news???

TPT will be having their annual back to school sale on Aug. 18-19

I don't know about all of you but I always look forward for this sale and this year it seemed like it took forever.  My wishlist is pages long so I am definitely going to take advantage.   

My store will also be on sale so make sure you check it out.  Just click on the pic to head on over.  

I found this fun linky and decided to link up.

Make sure you link up.  All you have to do is list your 2 most wishlisted items and 1 item on your wishlist.  

My superhero clip art set is one of my most wishlisted items.  I used it to create a lot of my superhero items and I have gotten great feedback.  You will receive 18 individual png images with transparent background. They are beautifully colored and I have also included black and white line art. 

Everything you need to implement math journals in your classroom is included.

This packet contains 30 math journal prompts. Each prompt comes in two versions. One to show on your Smartboard and one in a cut and paste format. The cut and paste page has multiple copies of the same prompt to make it easy for students to glue onto math journals. It also contains math journal covers and math journal paper. 

Have you seen this unit from A Year of Many Firsts.  It is super cute and will be perfect for writing.  

Click on the pic to check it out.  

XOXO

Cindy