An A+ For A+Images!

I don't know about you, but one of the highlights of my day since I was a child, is checking the mailbox! I feel like the mailman is the "regular day Santa", and I have the opportunity six days a week to experience some sort of surprise event! (During the school year multiply that by as many trips as I can make to my mailbox there each day, and I am a girl in constant suspense!)

So, imagine my DELIGHT when I received a package from A+Images last week and inside was this KNOCK-YOUR-SOCKS-OFF-CUTIE-PIE-BLOGGER SHIRT!

 BONUS: Did I mention that I ordered it on a Thursday evening, and by Friday morning A+Images already had a picture on Instagram of my shirt being prepared for shipping?! (I KNOW!? CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?!)

If you aren't already familiar with A+Images, they are a FABULOUS company that creates custom shirts, teacher apparel, and classroom shirt sets! They do full color digital printing on shirts, embroidery, and even rhinestone designs. They even have a spirit wear store and can put together entire school program orders!

You really should take a minute to check them out...you will not be disappointed!
Thank you A+Images!

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TPT Seller Challenge: Week Two Dare To Dream

It is week two of the TPT Seller Challenge, and this week's focus is Dare To Dream!

What are my goals? What are my dreams? What do I want to get out of my TPT business? Well, July will mark the one year anniversary of my business, and after one year of being on this incredible journey, my goals and dreams are simple...                

Share my passion with others... I was always raised to think outside of the box. The more creative the better! Because of that, the opportunity to be creative in my teaching style is one of my favorite things about teaching. Starting my TPT business has allowed me to share my creativity with so many other teachers around the world!
Grow as a professional... I cannot believe how I have grown in the last year as an educator because of TPT! The knowledge I have gained through my new friendships with other sellers, bloggers, and teachers has been immeasurable! I am beyond excited about what the future holds for all of us working together as educators!
Provide my sons with the "extras" in life... It is no secret that the teaching profession is not the highest paid profession in the world. We all knew that going into it. Those of us that have stayed with it obviously had other goals in mind. I do however hope that as my TPT business grows I can add a few "extras" to the lives of my sons...My sons who have graciously sat by day after day, year after year, and watched me buy things for my students, never once complaining. 
Pay it forward... I have been so blessed on this journey to have many friends, family, and supporters who have helped me along the way! I am always conscious of how lucky I am for that, and I am hoping to continue to be able to pay it forward in many ways in the future!
Again, Thank you to my WONDERFUL blogging friends for setting up this TPT Sellers Challenge this month! You can visit them here:

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Makeover Madness: Week One

Hi Friends! It is week one of the TPT Makeover Madness Challenge!

This was perfect timing for me because #1 on my summer To Do list was to makeover some of my earlier products, so I was already well into this challenge before it even started! When I began my journey on TPT in July of 2014, I named my store First Grade Chicka Boom Boom Boom. This name matched my classroom and myself perfectly! But as I got further into my selling/creating journey I felt like having "First Grade" in the title was misleading, since my products are for all primary grades...and pre-K as well! So after some consideration, I changed the name...of everything- the store, and all my social media accounts. (It really was not as much of a hassle as I first thought it would be.) The only problem really was that I had created A LOT of products by then! This brings me to my summer To Do list...update old products to match new logo! (Lucky for me so far it has been a very rainy summer in Ohio!)

I started with my BEST SELLING, FAVORITE, products in my store! These are my passion, and they are my social stories!

My students ABSOLUTELY love reading these special stories for important situations in our classroom community! I keep them in a Social Story Basket in my library, and I have to admit, it is the most used basket in the library!

You can find these in my store {here}

I also did a makeover on my other FAVORITE item in my store...

My Brain Stretch Set which includes Joke Of The Day, Question Of The Day, and Fact Of The Day

   

(You can click on the above products to find them in my TPT store!)

We begin our Morning Meeting every day with our Brain Stretch and the kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! The questions, facts, and jokes lead to lots of great conversation, giggles, and creative writing in our journals!

I found these PERFECT kids joke glasses at Target last summer. They are perfect for Joke Of The Day!

I also found these cute little buckets at Target last summer too! The cards fit perfectly inside!

The fun just creates itself!!!

Some days we have class conversations about the Brain Stretch questions and facts, but some days we use them as journal writing prompts! 

Get this journal FREE in my TPT store {here}

Come link up with us in the TPT Sellers Challenge...you will be so glad you did! Thank you to these TERRIFIC ladies for coming up with the idea!

Have a great day and check back next week for Makeover Madness: Week Two!

http://www.teachcreatemotivate.com/

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Monday Made It...On Tuesday?

I am SO excited to be linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics

 

for my first Monday Made It! The only problem?

It is TUESDAY!

If you are following me, this may or may not be something you will need to get used to...I am REALLY new to this game...but I figure it is like I heard Magic Johnson say in an interview the other day,

"Your legacy is about how many lives you have touched and made better...

not by how much money you have or how famous you are." 

Or how quickly you can get your blog posts written!

(I know he wanted to say that part too, but they ran short on time in the interview!)



Ok, so did I tell you I had a TERRIFIC student teacher this year? Well I did! Her name was Miss Werwie and she did a FANTASTIC job with my firsties!

So to thank her, I wanted to make her something she could always look back on to not only remember all of us, but to also remember all the great things she did while she was with us. I had seen a great post Maria Manore from Kinder Kraze had done about making a Kindergarten Alphabet Book using Shutterfly
                                             
and I wanted to incorporate that idea into making a book for Miss Werwie. I made sure to take lots of pictures of her teaching throughout her student teaching, and I also made sure to include all the students in those pictures. I then went through the alphabet and came up with words that described her well. I wrote these on chart paper with marker and had each child take turns holding the words in different places in the school so that I could get their pictures.

Then came the fun part! I went to Shutterfly and created my book! I combined the describing words with all the pictures I had taken throughout her student teaching experience!

  

I used the custom path option. It was really very simply. Lots of options and very affordable.



My Made It #2 is one of my favorite things in my classroom! It is my graduate board! When you have been teaching first grade as long as I have, you start to accumulate lots of things...the best thing you start to accumulate is GRADUATES!!!! I have been building my graduate board for ten years now and I finally was able to fill it up! The class of 2016 will begin my new board! Eeek! I used a basic 24x36 poster frame.

which I covered with black scrapbooking paper. I then STALK my firsties at their graduation ceremony so that I can get my picture taken with them, and TA-DA.....

Not a day goes by that I don't look at my graduate board and give thanks for the blessing that is my life!

                                                    
My final Made It is by far my FAVORITE thing in my home! With two teenage sons, my husband and myself having schedules to keep track of, our calendar gets pretty full each month...and pretty messy! It is a focal point in our house, but I just couldn't stand how it looked!
BEFORE...

SO.... I took a trip to HOBBY LOBBY and bought myself a chalkboard with a wooden frame, (they have tons of different designs and types of chalkboards there...be prepared to walk up and down EVERY aisle... I know...you were going to anyway!) a white paint pen, and some fun chalkboard markers. 

Then I got to work measuring and marking (yardstick, pencil)
FINAL RESULT...

I used the paint pen (permanent) for the boxes and the heading (LET TODAY BE THE DAY) I used the Chalk Markers for the rest because they can be washed off each month. I added the basket for two reasons:

1. To hold markers so we are not constantly searching for them!

2. Because when I was measuring, my husband was "hovering" over my shoulder, which caused me

    to hurry to end the project, which caused me to miscalculate, which caused me to have to add a

    basket to try to cover up my measuring error!



I hope you enjoyed reading about my very first Monday Made It! Let me know what you think!

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