Monday Made It: good times!

Well, I could've sworn I had a lot of little projects to share this week, but it appears most of them were created on the computer and/or Cricut, and all of those are off with my friend who took my stuff to get laminated for me!  :D  I just took some screen shots to share instead of the real deal.  :)

I'm linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics, of course.  :)

This is my new classroom banner.  I still have to string all the pieces together with ribbon, of course.  I haven't decided where I'll hang it, mainly because I haven't been able to get into my classroom since they didn't clean it till today.    

Our school-wide theme is "Peace, Love, Longhorns" (our mascot), and we use the phrase:

Do what you love; Love what you do.

I also made some new month headers for my calendar.  

These will go nicely with my new classroom theme/colors.  :)

New Word Wall letters:

I made these signs for my whole team: each of us in a different color. 

I figure we can hang them on/by our classroom doors.  

(Peace sign backgrounds are from Surfin' Through Second.  Click the link to visit her TpT store.)

 Here's my new behavior clip chart.  The one I've used the last 2 years is just made from construction paper that I wrote on with a Sharpie.  Yeah.  So I finally decided to remedy that eye sore.

Be sure to visit the linky party and check out everyone's creations!

Currently: August

You just gotta love Farley.  She's hilarious.  And you definitely gotta love her monthly Currentlies.  That's not a word.  But I wrote it anyway, 'cuz I wanted to.  I also ended that sentence with "to."  So there.

Please stop over at Farley's blog and link up/check out all the awesome blogs!  (Click her button above to visit the Linky Party.)  Thanks, Farley, for creating the cute template and for hosting, as always!  Be sure if you link up to go visit the 2  bloggers who linked up before you and then check back and visit the one who links up after you--and leave them comments!  Share the comment love, people!  A short comment can make a blogger's day, right?!

Here is my Currently for this month.

Seriously.  How is summer vacation already almost over?!  I should count myself lucky that I don't go back for in service until the 20th.  But I just dread leaving my baby boy again.  I feel like it's going to be even harder this year than it was last because he is at such a great age, learning and doing so much.  Last year I was pretty much a breastfeeding, sleep deprived zombie when I returned to work.  This year I really will feel like I'm missing out by being away from him all day.  :(  But until we win the lottery...ha!  Anyway, at least I love what I do, and I love my co-workers.  That definitely makes it easier.

So, I've mentioned before that I'm changing my classroom up a bit to just decorating with black, teal, and lime green this year.  I've been on a manhunt for some black baskets/tubs that I could put in my class library to hold my books, and I FINALLY found some today at Dollar General.  I sort of had to trek across creation since there's not a DG near me, but I found my baskets, whoo hoo!  They only had 18, so now I have my mom joining in the manhunt to find me more, lol!

I have been on a crafting SPREE this week, so I can't wait to link up on Monday for Monday Made It! I've got lots to share.  Or at least a few things.  Hard to keep track.  

I am the "Keeper of the Chocolate" in our hallway, so I must always be stocked up during the school year.  I used to keep the chocolate in a basket near my desk, but this past year I had a child who we'll call "Sheila" who had sticky fingers, if ya know what I mean.  One day I noticed I had way fewer Mini Snickers bars than the day before.  So I had to relocate my beloved chocolate to inside my desk drawer.  :)  Sometimes other teachers from other hallways even send their kids to me for chocolate.  It's pretty funny.  Desperate times, you know.

So that about does it.  :)  I was going to write a post showing pics of my classroom from last year, but I can't find the pics on either of my flash drives!  I'm going to check if they're saved on my remote hard drive.  Let's hope so!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, peeps!

Monday Made It.

Friday, when the little man was napping, I got lots of fun stuff done!

Take a looksie.

Here are my little table buckets I started last week by adding ribbon to them.  Friday I cut out the tags and vinyl numbers on my Cricut.  I haven't laminated them yet, so I just stuck them on temporarily for the pics.  :)  I think they turned out cute!  I made 6, because I usually have no more than 6 table groups. These will hold our community markers.  Does it bother you that the font of the numbers is different on each side?  I can't decide.  But I like both fonts.  And they're already made.  LOL.

The other side:

I bought the polka dotted paper plates at Dollar Tree.  SCORE.  Then I cut out the background borders and vinyl letters on my Cricut and stuck them down.  Again, still have to laminate the letters.

I'll display my CAFE subheadings under these letters.

I bought these cute little buckets at Target (dollar spot) a couple of weeks ago.  

I cut out the vinyl letters on my Cricut, and I already had the sticker gems/jewels and just stuck them on to jazz them up.  I also added a few black polka dots with a Sharpie.

I decided to stagger the letters because I KNEW I wouldn't get them perfectly straight!

What do you think?  I can't decide if the jewels and dots make it too busy.

I actually bought some super cute pencil cups last year, but now they don't match my new color scheme!!  I'll probably gift them to another teacher, because they are very cute.  :)

I'd love to know your thoughts and/or suggestions!

Happy Monday!  I'm sad I only have a few more weeks with my baby before back to work.  :(

Of course, I'm linking up over at 4th Grade Frolics!  I hope you'll stop over and check out everyone's fun creations!  I've gotten so much inspiration from everyone's ideas.

Guilty Pleasures Linky Party

What a great idea for a linky, huh?!  A big thanks to Ashley Kathleen at The Resource Room Teacher for hosting this!

So here we go!

Oh, guilty pleasures.  Ahem.

My hubs would say that my number 1 guilty pleasure is trash t.v.  He hates pretty much every show I watch, LOL!

Here are some shows I love to watch that he wishes would be cancelled so I would have no choice but to stop:

-The Vampire Diaries.  Ian Somerholder.  Enough said.  I will never stop watching.  LOL.

-The Real Housewives of New Jersey.  When did Teresa jump aboard the crazy train?  Remember when she used to be nice?

-Dance Moms.  First, I love to watch dance because I can't do it.  Second, that woman is insane.  Highly entertaining.

-The Bachelor.  What can I say?  It's a train wreck.  I can't look away.


OK, there are PLENTY more, but I'll stop.  We could be here all day with "guilty pleasure t.v." I watch.  :)

Another guilty pleasure...Braum's Ice Cream.  Specifically Cookies 'n' Cream.  It reminds me of spending summers with my Gran and going to Braum's together.  She passed right before my 18th birthday, so I cherish my memories of her.  I don't have a Braum's close to me, so I stop by almost every time I visit my parents.  Yesterday I went, and they were out of Cookies 'n' Cream.  'Twas a sad, sad day, folks.  But I got Butter Pecan instead.  It's a close 2nd.  :)

Guilty pleasure in the summer: NAPS.  Oh, how I love naps.  I don't get as many as I did before I had a baby, haha!  But sometimes I nap when he does, and it's glorious.  Incidentally, the times I have brought up introducing a "nap time" to my students, they have been totally on board!  LOL.

McDonald's McGriddles breakfast sandwiches.  They are the DEVIL and probably why I can't seem to get those last 10 pounds of baby weight off...14 months later...ahem.

OK, that'll have to be all for now, as I have to figure out what I'm teaching during my tutoring session tomorrow morning!  Ah, procrastination.  

Don't forget to check out everyone else's guilty pleasures over at The Resource Room Teacher.

More Awards!!

Oh YAY.  It is so fun to get awards, and even MORE fun to get new followers!  So yay and thank you to all of you who are following my little ole blog.  :)

Am I allowed to claim these awards if I've already been given them?  Well, it's the thought that counts, right?  :)

OK, so first off, The Versatile Blog Award.  Thank you to Danielle of Scrappy Teaching for nominating me!

Versatile Blogger Award:

1. Thank the blogger who nominated you.  (Thank you, again!)

2. Include a link to their site. (See above.)

3. Include the award image in your post.

4. Give 7 random facts about yourself. 

1.  I am obsessed with chips and queso.  I could eat it every day of my life.

2. Tonight I had a singing engagement (haha) at the Elks Lodge where my dad's a member.  My mom's in charge of "ladies fun night," so I was the "fun" this month.  HA.  But no, it was fun, and the ladies loved it.  I sang 8 songs and talked a lot in between.  I love singing, and I love talking: win-win.

3. I met my husband on Match.com.  Sort of.  He actually emailed my BFF and roommate at the time on Match, and then she set him up with me instead.  It's like she KNEW.  She was our maid of honor at our wedding, too.  :D

4. I have worked many jobs, including lots of temp jobs when I lived in NYC.  The worst was working the 3-11 pm shift at a hotel front desk, then commuting back to Queens that late at night when the subway/buses are practically abandoned. SCARY.  Lol.

5. My son is named after the Hudson River in New York.

6.  If I was a boy, my name would have been Evan.

7.  I was hired by the school where I student taught in the same grade level.  I have been at that school ever since!  This will be my 6th year, and I LOVE the people I work with.  Some of my best friends are my co-workers.  We are like a big family.

Next, the One Lovely Blog award.  Thank you to Karmen of Karmen's Kinders of Room 103 for nominating me!

For receiving this award I have to...

1. Follow the person who gave me the award. Yep.

2. Link back to the person that gave me the award.  See above.

3. Pass to 15 new bloggers and then let them know they have received the award... Well, I feel like I just did this, so I certainly can't come up with 15 new bloggers since a week ago, LOL!!  I'll try to come up with a few new blogs to honor!

And finally, a big thank you to Jennifer of Darling Little Learners for nominating me for TWO awards!  The Versatile Blog Award (above) and the Liebster Blog award!

This award is named for the german word "Liebster", which translates to  "beloved" or "favorite" and is given to a "new, up and coming blogger".

Here are the rules:
1. Link back to person who gave it to you
2. Post the award to your blog.
3. Give the award to at least 5 bloggers with less than 200 followers.
4. Leave a comment on the five blogs to let them know that they have been offered the award.




OK, here are a couple new peeps I'd like to nominate for the above awards (any and all!):

and

Today In Second Grade:

Thank you ladies so much again for nominating me!  It always feels good to be recognized, and it is so great to meet more fellow bloggers.

-Mrs. C.

Another Monday Made It

I'm glad to be joining up for 4th Grade Frolic's Monday Made It again this week!

Last week I was off in the beautiful Destin area, and while I did work on some designs for my classroom (I know, shame on me for working on vacation), I didn't do any projects.

This was my view:

It was nice.  Now I'm back in the dang Texas heat.

Wait, where was I?  Oh yeah.

Well, today I did a simple project.  I'm not underestimating myself here.  It was the simplest of simple projects.  Which works well for me.  I am a woman of big ideas but small capabilities.  Crafty-wise.

I found these little goodies at...you guessed it, the Target Dollar Spot.  Man, I loves me some of that mess.

My classroom for the past 5 years has been a beach theme.  I haven't decided if I'll be keeping the beachy aspect or not, but I'm going to narrow down my plethora of bright colors (I LOVE bright colors) to just teal, lime, and black.  So I got me some goodies last week.  (Keep in mind my 2 favorite colors are teal and lime green, so I already had a ton of them in my room.)

Anyway, all I did was hot glue some coordinating ribbon around each of these little buckets.  They're going to be my table buckets, so I made 6 of them.  

They are FAR from perfect, but I'm not too anal retentive, and I plan to punch out some circles, etc. with my Cricut and mount the table numbers on the sides.  Hopefully that'll cover where the two ends of ribbon meet, at least.  Did I mention I got the ribbon for 60% off at Michael's??  YES MA'AM, that's what I'm talking about!

That's really all I've got unless you wanna see the program I created for my cabaret performance tomorrow night at the Elks Lodge Ladies' Fun Night.  (The things I do for my mother, people.)

And just because he is SO darn cute, and I can't resist: 

my little man helping me in the kitchen today.  

And by "helping," I mean taking everything out of the lower cabinets.  

Be sure to stop by 4th Grade Frolics' blog to link up and/or to find some new project ideas (just we all need, right?)!

Nighty night.

Newbie Blog Hop!

I came across a fun little blog hop over at Grade Three is the Place for Me!

Thanks so much for hosting; what a great idea to "meet" other new bloggers!

Here's what we are supposed to share for this party:

1.  what state you are in

2.  your current teaching position

3.  your teaching experience

4.  when you started blogging

5.  share a blogging tip / blogging resource

So here we go:

1.  I'm in North Texas

2.  I will be teaching 2nd grade this year

3.  I taught 3rd grade for 3 years, and this will be my 3rd year in 2nd.  LOVE IT.

4.  I started blogging personally back when I moved to NYC to finish college in 2002.  Yes.  I've been blogging for a VERY long time, and in that time I've had probably about 5 different personal blogs (due to privacy and other issues).  I've had a classroom blog as a means of parent-teacher-student communication for about 3 years now.  To visit that blog and see some of what goes on in my classroom, check it out at: Mrs. Cockrell's Class.

5.  I think it's really important to have an uncluttered blog where it's easy to find the following things:

--how to follow you/become a member

--past posts/archive

When I'm trying to decide if I want to follow a blog, I always look at lots of their past posts and even at the titles of old posts to see if it's things that I might find helpful/interesting.  If you don't have your archive on your sidebar and easy to find, then I have to scroll down and click "older posts" every. single. time.  Which is time consuming and unhelpful.  At which point, let's face it, I'm just gonna click on over to the next blog, because there are SO many blogs out there, you have to pick and choose.  Just my personal opinion.  :)

Thanks again to Grade Three is the Place for Me for hosting; love this idea!  Be sure to click the icon at the top to visit the Blog Hop and meet other newbie bloggers!

-Mrs. C.