Monday Made It

Teachers started back to school today in my district. We will be in meetings all week and finalizing touches in our classrooms. We will have a meet the teacher night on Friday night, and the students' first day will be Monday. I thought today would be a good time to link up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics with her Monday Made It.

Teacher Toolbox
The toolbox has been all over the internet.  I wanted to make one that worked for me.  Well, I have a ton of pens, pencils, highlighters, markers, and sharpees that would not fit well in the toolbox that I wanted.  I decided to do the toolbox for small items and have two big containers on each side.  I already love it!

View of the whole thing

View of just the toolbox

Writing Station Bulletin Board

I wanted a bulletin board above my writing station that would not need to be changed much.  I decided to go with this idea from Mrs. Phippen's blog.

 

Source:  http://mrsphippen.blogspot.com/

I tweaked it just a little and came up with my own version.

I am not sure whose blog I got the signs from around the outside, but if I locate the source I will definitely give them credit.  I created the question word cards for the middle. 

Palm Tree

I have had a blow up tree in the corner of my classroom library for 4 years now.  The tree was an absolute headache by the end of the year, because it would always fall over and run out of air.  I decided at the end of last year that I was going to throw it away no matter what.  I decided that I needed to make a tree.  I was excited when I saw this palm tree on Mrs. Jump's blog.

 Source: http://mrsjumpsclass.blogspot.com/

I just knew I had to make it, and I love how it turned out. 

Well those are my top three things that I have made this summer for my classroom.  I hope you liked them.  Check back soon for pictures of my classroom. :)

 

Wednesday's Word of Wisdom

I don't know about you, but I have been working nonstop in my classroom to get everything ready for school to start.  In our district, teachers start Monday (July 30) and students start the following Monday (August 6) with a meet the teacher type of night the Friday before (August 3).  Therefore, I have to have everything done in the classroom by August 3, and there is not much time to do it next week because they have it jammed pack full of meetings.  So, I've been putting the final touches on things in my room this week.

Sometimes, work gets overwhelming especially when it comes to getting a classroom together.  You want your room to look the best for first impressions, and you want others to like what they see.  With the rise in blogs and sites like Pinterest, our minds are flooded with new ideas on things to do in our classrooms.  Although these sites are excellent tools (and I use them a lot), sometimes I feel that we  get sidetracked into making our classrooms look the best or competing with other teachers, and we forget about who we are doing our work for overall.  This verse has weighed heavy on my heart this week as I have worked in my classroom:

Source: http://theloganfamily.wordpress.com/2011/10/01/another-art-print/ 

The Lord has put each one of us in the teaching profession to have an impact on students' lives.  Our classrooms should be decorated in order to bring the most function and educational experiences in the grade that we teach.  It should be our home away from home, because we definitely spend lots of time there in the school year.  It shouldn't be about which teacher spent the most money this summer on supplies, what teacher worked the most hours (We all know that there are some teachers that can spend tons of hours at school, but hardly get anything done.), or who has the cutest directions.  It should be about what makes you happy in your classroom.  We are all built different with different personalities so we aren't going to have classrooms that look the same nor are we going to work the same way. 

When we are working especially in the days to come creating our classrooms, we need to remember why we are in the profession that we are in and who we are working for - the Lord.  It's OK to go next door, talk, and get ideas.  However, it's not OK to go next door and envy what another person has or has done in their room.  Take what you have and make it work.  Do it for the children not for your own glory.

I pray that the Lord will help us create a classroom that will meet the needs of the students we will be teaching this year.  I pray that we are not envious of other teachers, but we are able to acknowledge others hard work and creativity in a positive way.  I pray that we are not overwhelmed with too many ideas from the internet instead we are able to use the ideas to create the most use in our classroom.  Finally, I pray that our works are done for the right reasons so that our students can see the Lord through us.

Tell Me More

Before I go up to school today, I am joining in on Step into 2nd Grade's linky Tell Me More, Tell Me More! 

 

Since many of you have just started following me, I thought it would be a great time to share some more about myself.  So here it goes:

1.  I went to school in the school I teach at.  When I attended, it was K-3, but now it's only 1-3.  I have  actually taught with former teachers of mine.  It has been a great experience.

2.  I am an only child.  I know some of you are thinking "you lucky dog".  However, I have always wanted brothers and sisters.  I am one of those people that gets bored easily so it drove me crazy growing up that I didn't have someone to play with all the time. 

3.  I dated my husband in high school. We broke up before my Senior year, because I wanted to enjoy my Senior year.  (My husband is older, and I definitely broke his hear.)  We went years without talking even though we both lived in the same town.  (Yes, we attended some of the same events and did not speak. Crazy!)  My grandmother passed away during my first year teaching which led me to text him, and it was happily ever after ever since.  Check out this post on my personal blog to learn more.

4.  My husband and I left the church after our wedding on a John Deere tractor.  I had a vintage car all lined up, but my husband had this crazy idea to leave on a tractor since he was a farmer.  The groomsmen spent all day before our wedding cleaning it up so it wouldn't get my dress dirty, and we hid the tractor up until the end of the wedding.  It was a huge hit.  We had people pulling over and honking the whole way to the reception.  I am so glad that I gave in on this idea!

5.  I completely remodeled my home.  I bought my house before my husband and I got back together.  My parents and I worked on the house for six months before I moved in.  It was a foreclosure so it needed a lot of work.  It is still a work in progress.  Here's a post about some of the process.

6.  I love water!  My 2011 resolution was to drink only water.  Before that, I was addicted to Dr. Pepper and Sweet Tea.  I went the whole year drinking water.  I was so excited to accomplish this!  This hasn't been my resolution this year, but I have pretty much kept the same lifestyle.  It is such a great feeling.

 

7.  I teach private piano lessons.  After school three days a week, I run home to teach private piano lessons.  I have around 8-12 students every year.  This side job started as a way to make money in college, and it has just continued.  My first student is actually still taking lessons from me.  I am so fortunate to have understanding parents and students, because occasionally I have to text and cancel due to last minute school meetings and events.

 One of my students playing during a church service.

8.  My monogram has never changed.  Actually, the first 5 letters of my last name has never changed.  My maiden name was Lovell, and my married name is Lovelace.  It's all about Love in our family...haha.  The joke in our house is that I just married my husband so I didn't have to change all the L items that I owe, but this is far from the truth.  

 

9.   I have a pet bird (Padro) and dog (Izzy) that does not live with me.  I got the bird when I was in 3rd grade (over 15 years ago), but I never really wanted a bird.  However, my mom fell in love with it so the bird stayed with her.  I got the dog while I was remodeling my house.  When it was time to move out from my parents, I didn't think they would do well loosing me from home and the dog so I left her with them.  Plus, they had a better schedule to letting the dog out at lunch and such.  Now, my house is just the vacation home.

10.  I love to travel!  We actually went to Hawaii for our honeymoon.  I have also traveled to Honduras, Germany, Canada, and much more.  However, due to time and money I don't get to travel as much as I would like.  

Hope you have enjoyed getting to know me a little more!

Back To School Eve Linky

We just got back from probably our final trip to our river house before school starts. Sad day! :(  However, I am very excited to start back to school in a week.  With that being said, I thought it would be great to join in Love of Teaching's Back to School Eve Linky.

1.  What grade do you teach?  - I teach 1st grade and absolutely love it!

2.  How many years have you been teaching? - I am starting my 5th year teaching.  All 5 years in 1st grade.

3. What is one thing you are doing different this year? - I am going to have an iPod station.  I received an iPod last year, but I never used it in the classroom.  I am excited to have this as part of my stations, and I think the kids will love it too.

4. What is something you do every year for your new students? - I always send a letter to my students.  I not only do it for the new students in my classroom this year, but I also write letters to my former students. It takes a lot of time and some money, but it is so worth it!

5. What is your theme this year? - I can't seem to stray away from the theme I have had forever - the jungle!  I love monkeys and it just fits.

6. How do you feel the night before school starts? - The night before school starts I am always excited.  I don't sleep much, because I am scared that I will sleep through my alarm. 

Looking forward to getting some more stuff done in my classroom tomorrow.  I am hoping to have it all done this week.  Teachers start back July 30, and students start back August 6.  Check back to see how it goes.

Elizabeth L.

Newbie Bloggers Blog Hop

I thought since I am a new blogger that I would join my first blog hop today.  This seemed like the perfect one for me - Newbie Bloggers Blog Hop hosted by Grade Three is the Place for Me!  So here it goes:

1.  What State You Are In - I live and work in West Tennessee in between Jackson and Memphis.

2.  Your Current Teaching Position - I will be starting my 5th year teaching 1st grade in August.

3.  Your Teaching Experience - I have only taught 1st grade and have loved every minute of it!

4.  When You Started Blogging - I started blogging back in January.  However, I didn't do so good keeping up with it.  I just really got on board with it in June.  I have loved every minute of it!  Check out my first post to see why I started blogging. 

5.  Share a Blogging Tip / Blogging Resource - My blogging tip would be that it is not about how many followers you have so don't feel like you have to do things to gain more followers.  Although it is great to know that many people are following you, it is about reaching out to others.  My blogging resource would have to be Google, because you can Google how to do just about anything that you want to do.