Teacher Week: Must Haves!

Today's theme from Abby's blog is teacher must-haves- here are 10 of things that I use a lot in my classroom!

1. Craft Supplies- a have a huge cupboard of the most random collection of craft supplies. Somehow just about every item has come in handy at one point or another- glue guns, buttons, ribbon, beads, googly eyes...

2. Ziplock Baggies- I never would have thought that I would use baggies as much as I do- holding flashcards, crayons, random collections that kids find in their desks, teeth that fall out, ice for a bruised knee, left over snacks...

3. Staple Remover- gone are the days of broken fingernails and ripped papers- I adore this type of stapler remover- it makes bulletin board take down so much easier!

4. Spoons and Forks- like a mentioned earlier, my kids eat their lunch in our room with me. I don't think a day goes by without some child needing a spoon or a fork.

5. Laptop- a drag my laptop back and forth from my house to my classroom everyday. I use it all the time to look up ideas, type up worksheets and tests, and about everything else under the sun. I only wish that I had a projector or a smartboard to hook it up to...ah, to dream...

6. Love and Patience- I really don't think any explanation is really needed, but at times I need to remind myself to use these two things continuously in my classroom.

7. Warm Winter Coat- recess duty is really not on my top ten favorite things to do, but nonetheless, as part of my job, I am required to have recess duty once a week during the day, about twice a month before school, and every six weeks or so for a week after school. I live in Michigan and our playground is on an open field- it is cold!!! One of the best purchases I made was a warm winter coat for recess duty.


8. Poppin Pattern Bulletin Board Accessories- I adore these patterns and think that they instantly can make anything look great!

9. Pencils- a have this awesome pencil holder in my classroom, (which I thought for sure I had a picture of, but after looking for a good half hour for it, gave up) but it takes hundreds of pencils to fill it up. And those pencils are usually gone by Thanksgiving time. Sometimes I want get stubborn and refuse to pass out anymore pencils, but really- they need pencils to do their work- therefore, pencils are a must.

10. Candy- yes, I know- candy rots kids' teeth, but it is one of the best motivators that I have found. It is actually quite amazing what a kid will do for a piece of candy- I'm not talking about a huge candy bar or really even a bite size one, I'm talking about one lifesaver or A smartie- really it is quite amazing. Of course, some of that candy is for me. ;)

Teacher Week: Open House

My husband and I just got back from driving 3200 miles on a fabulous road trip. Seriously, I thought that maybe it was a bad idea to drive so far in such a short time, but we really had a wonderful time at all the cities that we visited and driving together. I had planned on blogging about the first part of our trip tonight, but then I was reading Rachel's blog and followed her link on her blog post to Abby's blog. Abby is hosting Teacher Week so I decided that it would be fun to participate.

Today is Open House day so here my little get to know you in number list form...


1. I have always wanted to be a teacher. No problem deciding my major in college, it was decided on when I was 8.

2. I teach at a Christian elementary school. I feel blessed to be able to pray with my students every day and show them God's goodness that is in everything and all around them.

3. I also happen to teach in the same school system that I went when I was in elementary school. It is in a new building and yes, I do teach with one of the teachers that I had. She was my favorite teacher!

4. This year will be my fifth year as a teacher. I can't believe that it is already my fifth year- it sort of makes me feel old. I have taught fourth grade every year. I love fourth graders, but also wouldn't mind teaching a lower grade- manly because I love crafts and well, you can only make fourth grade boys do so many of those (although I try and push the limit every year). :)


5. I love coming up with themes for my classroom every year. Really, I should probably rotate them at some point, but that would be no fun! This year I'm working on a western theme. Yeehaw!

6. My favorite time to work at school is late at night. It doesn't always work for me to go in then, but especially before school starts and I'm getting my room ready, it is the best time. No one else is around (not that I don't love them, but they get be distracting), I can use the copier and laminator without waiting, and I can crank up the music in my room.


7. Two years ago I got married and invited my entire class that year to be part of the wedding. It took some creativeness to come up with that many jobs for them to do, but everyone had some part in the day: handing out programs, playing their violin, guest book attendant, passing out rose petals... They looked adorable and did a great job. I also had fun planning a mini reception for them at the church.

8. One of my biggest annoyances as a teacher is when it is an indoor recess before school starts. Although that does annoy me by itself, my biggest problem is when the kids come in a half hour before school starts and then ask me why I don't have the schedule up yet or where the morning work paper is. I still have 30 minutes to get ready!!!

9. One of my favorite things about being a teacher...ah, there are too many! One of them though would be listening to 4th graders talk to me or each other at lunch time. (We eat lunch in our classrooms.) They are a lovely mix of loving being a kid and trying to be grown up- it usually is endearing.

Summer CatchUp

Summer Catchup:

1) Weddings, Weddings, Weddings

For some reason, I thought that we were over the summers packed full of weddings, but we have definitely had a fair share this summer, including one weekend with 3 weddings! They have all been wonderful and we have been able to celebrate with lots of friends!

Also, my sisters and I helped my mom throw a wedding shower for a family friend. It was complete with a candy bar- yum! I also adore the R and M letters and might just need to buy my own letters for my house. :)

3) Tennis Camp, Art Camp, and VBS

My summer vacation started off with leading a girls' tennis camp, which although fun was warm and a bit stressful to be leading with a threat of rain every day. Art camp was last week and ended with an awesome art show in the dark. This week is VBS- my sister and I are in charge of the props for the stories. We successfully built a boat for today, so the rest should be a piece of cake.

4) Celebrating 27

My birthday happens to be on the longest day of the year. Nothing exciting. Was spoiled with gifts including a necklace from Dan, a GPS so I won't get lost anymore and a sewing machine. Watch out for all my sewing projects to come ( once I learn to use it!)

5) Happy 2 Year!

Dan and I celebrated 2 years of marriage on July 19. Dan was actually out of state for work, so hopefully we will be able to celebrate on our vacation next week.