It's been too long!

Wow! It's been soooo long since my last post! Actually it's been since right before school started! I've had a crazy busy year so far and wish I would have documented more of it on here! I need to make time to post more on here! Maybe for now I can work on trying to post once a week...it's a start! Valentines day is tomorrow so our room is getting ready for a little fun and of course a party tomorrow! Our PTO always does Valentine Bingo with the kiddos so they are all looking forward to that! I also have a project up on DonorsChoose.org right now! I put one up earlier this year to get a set of wireless headphones for our class listening center and it was fufilled right before Christmas! We are not in the process of trying to raise enough money for a classroom iPad. Most of the schools in our district have at least one iPad per classroom, our school doesn't even have them for the teachers so it would be huge to get one in our classroom! This week is MATCH week so if you were ever thinking of donating NOW is definitely the time! You just type "HEART" into the code area whhen donating and they automatically match your donation-up to $500! We are getting closer to our iPad and I believe that we will earn it before the end of the school year!-Thinking happy thoughts! Okay, off to finish Chicago Fire (I'm obsessed with this show right now) then to bed! Busy day tomorrow at school!

CRAZY BUSY!

Wow! I have been soooo busy preparing for the school year! I have been on my computer making tons of new printables including: name plates, daily 5 headers, math workshop headers, and right now am working on creating new library bins and book labels. I'm happy to announce that I have officially started selling my stuff on Teachers pay Teachers!!! Please stop by and check it out! I have soooo much work to do and hardly any time left! Here's a link to my teachers pay teachers store! Enjoy the rest of your weekend everyone! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Search:natalie+lepp

BUSY WEEKEND

Wow! I had such a fun/busy weekend!! I had a Tastefully Simple party on Saturday with some girlfriends then we enjoyed a night out. Sunday I headed down to Chicago with a very good friend of mine along with some of her other bridesmaids and we found our bridesmaids dresses at J.Crew! We all absolutely fell in love with the one we picked out and it looks great on everyone! I just got an email confirming that mine has been shipped out! I'm sooooo excited to see that little package sitting at the front door :) Today I did a bit of crafting...I made some adorable key flobs....not sure what I will do with them? Maybe give them as gifts and such....I just thought they were cute and not to difficult! Take a look at them!

I also did some shopping on Friday and found these adorable black and yellow "tissue wheels" I think they will go PERFECT with my theme this year! I can't wait to see them in my room!

I was very busy Friday night putting together some of my binder for the upcoming school year! You'll see that I have a mini 3-hole punch right in the front because last year I felt like I never had mine when I needed it! I also added a little pencil pouch to keep random things I need throughout the day/meetings/etc. such as pens, pencils, glue sticks, highlighters, post-it's, etc. Then I did my tabs....Not sure if I will keep them the same or change/add some but it's a start!

Enjoy the rest of your week! I'm heading to my room tomorrow to get some cleaning/organizing done!

Hi everyone! Happy Saturday! I was up late last night working on some different things! I started to organized and make my binder for the upcoming school year, made the cutest binder cover to match my grey, black, and yellow theme this year, made a cover for a good teacher friend of mine and so much more! My school also updated our math curriculum this year to allign more with the common core so I was busy putting that binder together. I also finished my behavior chart...just have to laminate it and get the clothespins ready! I did a bit of shopping yesterday and found some cute black and yellow "puff wheels" from Party city that I got for my room as well! I'm getting sooo excited to get in my room and start setting up! Here are a few pictures! I'm looking forward to having a few girls over tonight for a Tastefully Simple party then girls night out :) Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Classroom colors/theme!

I have decided on a classroom theme/colors!!! FINALY! I've decided to do black, grey, yellow and some white. I found these adorable borders at The Learning Shop today and I was sold! THEN I went to Target and of course the dollar section had ALL sorts of grey and yellow cute desk supplies that I had to get! I also found the mirror at Goodwill a few weeks ago and spray painted it yellow before I even knew what my colors would be...I must have known subconsiously ;) After I decided on my colors I wanted to try and make some of those cute yarn balls that I have seen all over Pinterest to hang in my room....so I ventured over to Michaels and JoAnn Fabrics to get my supplies and TA-DA! They turned out! I'm so pumped to get my new classroom set up!!! I also wanted to get new table tubs that matched the new colors and Walmart had these black ones for only $0.97!!! BARGAIN!!! I should probably go get a few extra because one or two always end up breaking throughout the year. What is everyone else doing for classroom colors/themes this year??

ALL MOVED!

In my last post I mentioned that I will be switching from the ELL room to the inclusion room! I'm super excited about it....but I also knew I was switching rooms and I was not looking forward to moving all my stuff in this 100 degree weather we have been having in Wisconsin! BUT I spent all day at school yesterday and got ALL of my stuff moved across the hall into my new room! The best part is that the is a good 10 degree difference between my old room and my new one....my new one is on the cooler side of the building! YAY!!! Okay, so my stuff is all moved...but organized??!! NO WAY! I have to get back in ASAP to get things organized, order new book boxes...or bags. I've seriously been thinking about doing bags this year for durability...my boxes always fall apart, no matter where I get them or what they are made of. Only problem is...I'm not sure where I would store the bags. the boxes can sit nicely on a shelf but I have such a small room that I have nowhere I could hang the bags...I better decide soon because I have to order them and have them ready for the start of the school year! Any suggestions?? Okay, time to head to pinterest to see what DIY crafts I can bust out today :)

Change can be a good thing....

A LOT has been changing at my school! My teaching partner who taught the inclusion room (I taught the ELL room) has accepted a kindergarten position at a different school in our district. I am going to miss her terribly. She was a wonderful mentor and friend my first year teaching! Although she won't be across the hall anymore, I look forward to making many more memories with her. Now, since she is leaving I had a big choice to make....Do I stay put and continue teaching in my ELL classroom or do I switch and take on the all inclusion room with a wonderful special ed. partner that I went to college with and am good friends with? Needless to say after weighing all the pros and cons there were many more pros and I'm happy to say that I will now be co-teaching in the all inclusive classroom with a very good friend of mine! I could not be happier with my decision! ANOTHER change, I'm moving across the hall to my partners old room because my room was EXTREMELY HOT this past year and has all the playground distractions. I'm looking forward to being able to keep my blinds open without having a heat stroke :) LAST but DEFINITELY NOT LEAST.....wait for it.....my principal asked me today if I would like a SMARTboard in my room! ARE YOU KIDDING?? Is that even a question you ask a teacher!?! Of course I would LOVE a SMARTboard in my room!!!! So, NEW class, NEW classroom, and NEW smartboard!!!! Oh, and I hit up a 15% off sale at The Learning Shop today with a fellow teacher friend and got some great new stuff for my classroom! Overall, I'd say I had a pretty great day....and did I mention that tomorrow is my LAST day of teaching summer school?!?! I'm looking forward to being done with it so I can focus on getting organized for this coming school year! Happy Wednesday people!!!