End Of The Year Gift: Class Address Book Freebie

Have you seen Tessa @ Tales from Outside the Classroom and Courtney @ Swimming Into Second's End of the Year Gift Linky Party?  Click the images to check out all of the other great ideas you can do for your students.  Also, don't forget to link up if you have an End of the Year Gift you would like to share!

As you read in my older posts, my family is trying to sell our house because we are relocating to Chicago.    While I was packing my room up a couple weeks ago, I found many old school memories tucked in my desk and closet.  I found this and thought I could share it with you guys!  This is when I was in 2nd grade (circa 1996-1997, yes I know I'm young!)

My 2nd grade teacher called this "Treasured Memories".  It is basically an address book for students to write to peers over the summer.  This is great for kids who go on vacation and can send a postcard to a friend.

This is the cover page.  I put it on top of an 8x11 booklet so you can compare the size.  (I wish my teacher took a cuter picture of me for my cover page! haha)

Here is what the inside pages look like.  One page per student. 

Katie was one of my best friends in this class so my teacher put a picture of us on colored card stock.  She had 3 pages like this in my booklet.  All of the pictures on card stock and cover pages (front and back) were laminated.  

All of my pages were signed by my classmates, so I'm pretty sure we passed our booklets around the class during the last week of school.  I think this is a wonderful idea to include for your end of the year gift!  To make this address book gift up-to-date, I would also include space for the student's email and phone number.  Don't forget to include yourself in the address book! My teacher added her information on the last page as well.  

To make your life simpler, I know how the end of the year can get hectic for y'all, here's a template you can use to fill in your student's info.  The Document is in landscape form and just cut it down the middle and bind it together! Click here for the freebie!

Let me know what you think about this gift! I love to hear your comments and thoughts!  

Earth Day Picture Book

I know Earth Day is around the corner (aka Saturday) and this post is a little late.  But I wanted to share with you guys one of my absolute favorite books I discovered in college.  This fabulous book is called 10 Things I Can Do To Help My World by Melanie Walsh.

I bought this book a few years ago and I remembered having a difficult time finding it at the local bookstores (e.g. Barnes and Noble, Borders).  So I bought a used (trying to save the printing!) book on Amazon for a very cheap price.  Click on the picture above to go buy it on Amazon!

I wish I could share the what the pages really look like inside but I couldn't find this book in all the boxes I packed!! But thank God for google images! Here are some examples of what the pages look like:

What I love about this book is that it lets children be eager to help the environment out using easy, simple terms.  It gives 10 simple ways for children to make a difference in their daily life.  Each page has colorful pictures with a sturdy die-cut flap and an eco-friendly tip.  All of the recommendations the author uses, the children can relate to such as turning off the water while brushing your teeth (which can save 18 glasses of water) and using both sides of the paper.  This book is geared toward the little ones, but I'm sure upper elementary students will still enjoy the book, especially the flaps!

Please check this book out! I've gotten positive reviews from students every time I read it.  You will notice your students will be more self conscience in help the earth because they will be using both sides of the paper all the time!

Stylish Sunday

If you read some of my past "tagging" posts, you can see how much I love shoes!

Since we have to wear them (shoes) whenever we go, I thought I could share my cute findings with you!  This is important accessory we use every day. On Friday, I went to DSW (one of my favorite shoe stores ever!) after subbing and found two adorable shoes before I had to go to my other job.

Any teacher knows that investing in good, comfy flats are vital in the teaching world.  Whether you are teaching Preschool or high school students, you are standing on their feet the majority of the day!

Here are my two small finds at DSW.  Click on the pictures below to see the shoe on their website.

Brand: Audrey Brooke 

Style name: Paris Metallic Flat

Color: Orange

I was walking down one of the isles and spotted this!  They are super comfy with patting on for your toes, heels, and balls of feet.  Also, the back of the heel have that elastic band so it doesn't rub and blister your heels.  I love the cute the gold medallion.  This shoe reminds me a lot of Tory Burch's classic super expensive ballet flats. But no worries!  I got the Audrey Brooke flats for half the price and I used a coupon I had.  For size comparison, I bought the flats at my normal shoe size, which are size 6.  

Similar style but in a much cheaper price!  

Brand: JS (Jessica Simpson)

Style name: Jessica Oscar

Color: Dove

Heel Height: 3 1/2"

I'm a heel girl and love finding new heels to wear for outings and weekend trips.  Jessica Simpson's shoe line is my absolute favorite brand to wear when it comes to price and comfort.  These are a classic heel that can be casual or dressy.  For me, these are comfortable to walk it throughout the day.  As for size, I know typically people go down their normal shoe size but even though I have narrow feet, I have a bunion. I have been dancing my whole life and started pointe shoes at a very young age, which ruined my feet.  So because of this, I usually buy heels a half size up (size 6.5).

I know this was a non-related teaching post but I hoped you enjoyed my new shoe findings.  If you have any questions about the shoes I found let me know through comments or email!  Or let me know where are your favorite places to find adorable AND affordable shoes.  Some of my favorites are DSW, Macy's, and TJ Maxx.  Have a happy Pre-Tax day Sunday!

Tagged and a Freebie!

It's been awhile since I've posted something (things were hectic in the house!).  I've been away from the blogging world and I miss it terribly!!  This week my family and I were putting the house on sale AKA a lot of cleaning and prepping the house.  Anyways, I'm hoping to catch up on all the fun giveaways and blog posts in the next couple of days.  So while, I was cleaning my house non-stop, I was tagged twice.

First blogger was Judy from Teaching Little Apples.
1. Soup or Salad? Soup! I love a good hot soup.  Clam chowder are one of my many favorites.
2. Designer Purse or Designer Shoes? Designer shoes!! I love shoe shopping and dressing up my little size 6s whenever I can.
3. Favorite Music Genre? This is tough because I love all kinds!  RIght now, I'm listening to a lot of Rock and Alternative.
4.Pepsi or Coke..or Neither (explain)? Coke!!!
5.What is the name of the board that you post the most pins on Pinterest? Teaching Tips and Ideas. I'm currently and slowly trying to organize that board into smaller subjects.
6.Righty or Lefty? Righty!
7. Favorite Season? Spring
8. The glass is always...? (half full or half empty) Half full
9. When is your birthday? Don't worry about putting the year! May 25. This is why I love spring because of my b-day!
10. Do you have siblings, if so how many? 1 younger sister named Tiffany.

Second blogger was Jenny from LuckeyFrog's Lilypad.

1. Did you take lessons in anything as a kid? I was fortunate to take a lot of things as a kid. My parents wanted my sister and I to have a well-rounded childhood and learn many skills.  I took piano, swimming, singing lessons (children's choir), dance (all types), flute, golf, art, and horse riding.

2. What is the one book you would recommend to a new teacher? I'm technically a "new teacher" myself but the picture book my 1st graders loved during my student teaching was "The End" by David LaRochelle.

3. Who is your very favorite children's book author or illustrator? This is a hard one but I adore Laura Numeroff's books.

4. If you could only listen to one musical artist/group for the rest of your life, who would it be?  Another toughy!  Today I would choose Jack Johnson.

5. What is your favorite dessert? Ice cream

6. What is your biggest strength as a teacher? I am very flexible and adaptable to change.  I think it's because I'm a big organizing freak and over prepare myself.

7. What is your favorite piece of clothing? Do shoes count?  haha, if not then cardigans. I always layer!

8. What is the last thing you bought? carnations! haha for a science experiment. Check below for the freebie lesson!

9.  If someone gave you $500 for your classroom right now, what would you buy? Well I wish I could buy any classroom with $500. LOL But since I don't have one, I would imagine I would buy BOOKS, lots of picture books for my future classroom library!

10. What is your favorite vacation spot? In the US, it would be Washington, D.C. ( I love museums). Out of the country, it would be Paris (it is beautiful any time and day of the year).

So I am going to be a party pooper and not tag anyone in particular.  If you haven't been tagged yet, considered yourself being tagged by me!  If you don't really like any of the "tagging" blogging games, you can join Traci at Dragonflies in First in her "anti-tagging" Linky Party.  Basically it's for bloggers who have been tagged and don't want to keep up with the tag game.  You can even answer the cute graphic she created.

On another note, if You have stayed with me this far I'm going to share my freebie with you!! HOORAY!

These are the flowers that are slowly turning colors!  It looks the best after 24 hours.  This is what it looks like after 1 hour.

Today, I did a fun science experiment with carnations.  We were learning about plants the last two weeks.    The science experiment shows how plants drink water from the ground through their stems and up.  There are actually two experiments in this unit.  And did I mention it is all free?!  Check it out at my TpT or TN store!!  OR click on the pictures below!

Enjoy my freebie and leave a comment if you downloaded it! I love getting feedback on products I make! :)

Currently April and a Job Hunt Tip

I'm linking up with Farley's Currently April party!  Here's mine!

Anyone addicted to the new ABC TV show, Once Upon A Time?  It's so good! You need to check it out if you like all of those princes and princesses and fairy tales.

I've been struggling with my free time on my laptop between blog stalking and trying to complete my TESOL online course.  I just started this month and it's a lot of reading!!!  Many of my teacher friends, school staff, and other substitutes have told me that adding a TESOL certificate to my resume will boost my chances to finding a full-time teaching position next year.  I am hoping and praying that's the case, since it is a decent amount of money and time I am spending.

Do you or do you know any teachers that also have a TESOL certificate on top of their teaching certificate?  I would love to hear some input about this.  Since job hunting season is about to come up, I wonder how people are preparing themselves (definitely people like me who are already a year out of college).  It's scary to not know what will happen this year will a lot of school budget cuts going on nationwide.

Anyways, here's my Job Hunt tip that I learned from last summer: If you are like me and are willing to move anywhere for a teaching job, you must stay organized!  The teaching applications will add up and the emails will become confusing (or at least for me it did).  I use Microsoft Excel to organize all of my teaching applications.  This is what mine looked like last year:

The main sections I use are:

• Location/School District
• Contact (I put the name provided on here (phone # and email). If there is no name, then I put the website link so I can look up the principal or HR contact. I also put the grade I applied for to reference.)
• Date Updated
• Date Submitted
• Need to Submit!
• Documents submitted

I organize my list by state.  So I with my home state and group all of the schools/districts within that state under it.

Then I color coordinate my list.  This will be helpful when you list becomes really long.

• Blue = didn't get the job
• Red = need to complete application, send cover letter/resume, contact school/principal/HR (basically anything you need to finish!)
• Green = have an interview.  Then I wait for results.  I change this to blue if I get the rejection call/email/letter.

Did you have a system of organizing your teaching applications?  This was the best way my friends and I came up with.

Don't forget to link up with Farley!