Monday Made It

I've had a pretty busy summer creating so I thought I would show you a few highlights in this edition on Monday Made It!

We are blessed with walls at school that are just a HUGE bulletin board. No cinder blocks everything can be stapled into the wall. I have a few quotes that I have hung up for years but I jazzed them up a bit! I bought this wooden frames from Michales Craft store and just painted them the colors I needed and placed my min posters in them! As you can see I had a little help. I can't wait to hang these on the walls!

My second project I want to share is these adorable invitations I made from my son's Birthday. I almost always order through Shutterfly and end up spending WAY too much and it never dawned on me that I could just make it! I love the way they came out AND I saved myself a ton of money by making a JPEG and printing them at Walmart!

 Yup that is a crayon with my blog name on it! How cool is that. We took a small road trip to the Crayola Experience and had a blast! There is so much for the kids to do, and the gift shop is a teacher's dream come true! If you get the chance I would totally make the trip. They have a few locations just click on the image below to see their page!

Here are a few shots of my own loves having fun!

Summer allows me to get in the kitchen more and I discovered two fantastic recipes! The first one was for this pleo granola. It made the whole house smell wonderful while it was in the oven! You can find the recipe HERE

 The second recipe the whole family enjoyed was Spinach Mac and Cheese! Everyone loves Mac and Cheese but throwing spinach in just makes you feel a bit better while pigging out!

Well that's it for me! Please stop by Fourth Grade Frolics page to see what other fabulous bloggers have been making!

Creating a COZY Classroom

I know many of you will be setting up your classrooms soon, so it's a perfect time to share some of my tips to create a cozy classroom. Like many teachers I spend hours upon hours setting up my classroom to make sure it's perfect learning environment for my students and I to spend our days in. I'm always looking for ways to make my room cozy and welcoming.

I really believe that creating a cozy classroom is so very important. We spend much of our life in our classrooms and you need to love where you will be day in and day out. To our students the classroom is a little home away from home where they should feel comfortable to explore and learn!

Tip #1 Find Your Color Scheme
My first few years teaching, my classroom was a mish mosh of things I gathered. As years went on I found two colors that just worked for me and now I found my color scheme. Too many colors can make for a busy room that lacks focus. By choosing a few colors it really helps define a room.
(The above images are from Creative Teaching Press and Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits)

Tip #2 Create Individual Cozy Spaces

Aside from their desks your students should have the chance to find and use personal cozy spots throughout the day. Pillows and blankets create quick and comfy spots. Crate seats also make for extra seating and storage. Take advantage of thrift stores and yard sales you never know what gem you will find!

Tip #3 Make Your room Scent-Sational 

Let's be honest kids can be stinky and messy! It is amazing how your room will get a totally different feel to it after you attack it with some Clorox wipes. I also love using plug in tart warmers, Yankee Candle makes some wonderful scents. If you are looking for a more holistic approach essential oils can add some extra warmth to your classroom.

Note: Please check your student's allergies before adding scents to your room. 

Tip #4 De- Clutter

Clutter makes people anxious. If students don't know where things go our how to find something it will make your life more difficult. Students should have access to 90% or more of the room-It's their space too. If your classroom is labeled and kid friendly it will automatically at a cozy feeling. I love visiting the Clutter Free Classroom's Blog, so many great ideas of how to make your classroom clutter free!

Tip #5 Add Personal Touches

Make your room, YOUR room. I always add photos of may family, it's important to show students you are human too! Curtains are a quick and easy way to soften up any cinder block classroom. Bringing in houseplants or other types of decorations can give your room more of a personal touch as well!

Hope these tips give you inspiration this year!

Pintrest Pick 3 August

It is August, which means the count down is on for Back to School. I am one of the luck ones and our kids don't start until after Labor Day! Today I am bringing you 3 of my most favorite Pins to inspire you this school year! I am linking up with Inspired Owl's Corner and Pawsitively Teaching for August's Pick 3 Pintrest Party. So here you go...

As a mom of boys and a teacher of Primary grades this pin caught my eye immediately! How can you not love anything Lego related? I am always looking for Work Work ideas early in the year for those babies who still need help with their letter recognition. Young learners will be instantly engaged with this center.

If you look closely there are two spoons on top of each other. The white spoon has the uppercase letter and the clear spoon has they lowercase letter. What a cute and low cost idea to add to your classroom!
This pin really got my creative juices flowing and I thought of tons of other possibilities: numbers and dots, opposites, color and color word.... the list goes on and on!

I saw this pin forever ago and LOVED the creativity! How cute would this DIY bubble gum machine be on your desk? You can fill it with tiny erasers or a yummy treat for you kiddos!

I hope these pins inspired you and got you in the "Back to School" mode! If you are looking for more inspiration click the images below to see some amazing pins picked out by some great teachers!

An InLinkz Link-up