Tried It Tuesday {Digital Designing} {FREEBIE} and a {GIVEAWAY}!

Hello blogland! :)
I hope everyone is enjoying their Tuesday so far and for some, one of your last few days before heading back to work! I get to spend tomorrow and Thursday in Kagan Training all day, both days- but I actually am VERY excited! The school I was hired at is HUGE on Kagan activities, so I really want to know what I'm doing.

Onto the wonderful Fourth Grade Flipper's Tried It Tuesday! I am very excited, because next week will be the return of WEEKLY Tried It Tuesdays.. I see many activities occurring in my future :)

For today's post, I decided to try my hand at creating some useful things that I just couldn't find or they didn't suit my OCD certain needs off of other sites.

The first was my Teacher's Toolbox that I created, I know most of you have already created yours or have found some that you already like- but alas, I had to take the difficult route and make my own! I know I blogged about it yesterday, but I wanted to show the finished picture…

TADA! I just LOVE it! I am so excited to fill those little drawers up! :)

**GIVEAWAY! If you'd like a set of these awesome labels, leave a comment giving me advice for my first year of teaching and I'll email it to the first FIVE people that comment! Make sure to leave your email as well! :) ** 

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My next item that I made was inspired by my new found love for blogging! Everyone knows that blogging requires organization, patience, and a love for writing. I made sure to find some blog planners this week that I thought could work for me- but they were ALL missing one thing! My favorite way to blog, is to participate in these awesome linky parties, but because I'm so new- I can't remember the names of the bloggers yet or where the blog was even located! So it took forever to go back and look every time. In comes my new Linky Party Planner Sheet! I just love this little sheet and the chevron and cute fonts make me happy :) Because I love all my followers so very much and because many of you are newbie bloggers as well, I will be placing this item in my TpT store for free! That's right {FREEBIE} alert! :) I just ask that you leave a little feedback for me! Here is what it looks like! (Just click on either picture to access the freebie!)

It's simple- but it works! :) I hope you can get some use out of it!

My final little project was figuring out how to make this work as dry erase- without using glass for safety purposes in the classroom. Well, yet another reason I LOVE my laminator! I just laminated this amazingly cute poster that I got from Miss Wolgy's TpT store- these sayings for your classroom are seriously amazing and cute! AND.. they are free :) Go check them out! I just love that I will be able to write students names on this and make them feel totally special!! :) I used the Expo Neon markers on it and they work great!

Well, thats is for tonight folks! Its off to bed early for me! :) Goodnight and here's one last piece of "art" to dream of before you go to bed tonight ;)

Monday Made It- {7.29.13}

HELLO! It's Monday again (can you believe it?!) and that means MONDAY MADE IT! Woot Woot! :) I love linking up with 4th Grade Frolics because it forces me to take time to craft :) haha!

For my first "made it" I created my very own Teacher Toolbox labels! I am so excited because they took me a VERY long time to get just perfectly sized! I know lots of other people make them, but I couldn't find any that were "just right" for me- well here they are! :) I just love the bright chevron backgrounds by Anchor Me Designs, go check out her TpT store for some CUTE designs and backgrounds! If you would like a copy of these for your toolbox, you can grab them at my TpT store, on sale through tonight! 

{and YES! There is a sheet of editable labels included!} :)

Took a lot of tweaking to get it right, but they are PERFECT! I love the rounded edges, but you don't have to cut them round, you'll still see it even if you cut them out in rectangles!

However, I could be classified as OCD… So I cut the rounded edges :)

I love laminating things!!! 

Does anyone get super excited waiting for it to come out the other side?!? Or maybe I really am just that nerdy! Ha!

{I don't have a picture of the drawer unit put together because I'm waiting on the spray paint to dry! Check back or follow me on Instagram to see a finished photo! @justkeepteaching }

In the meantime, here are a couple pictures of the drawers and their labels! 

#2 Monday Made It!

I also made a sweet Thank You card for my incredible friend that donated all of those classroom supplies that I blogged about last week. If you missed that post, check it out {here}, it truly is heartwarming! :)

I used Lawn Fawn's Sunny Skies stamp set (Have I mentioned how much I LOVE her stamps!? They are amazing in every way possible!) 

I used some Stampin' Up watercolor pencils {LOVE these too!} to give the cute kites some color.

 Aren't they pretty!?

TA DA!!! :) Finished off with some Glossy Accents on the kites and a touch of Stickles on the clouds. Cute right? I always forget how much I truly love card making and the joy it brings people! :)

What do you think?!

Check back tomorrow for my other crafty goods that I've been working on today for Tuesday Tried It! There {MIGHT} (read- 99.9999% chance) that a FREEBIE will be involved! We all love those, right!? 

 Thanks everyone for stopping by!

Liebster Nomination #2- WOO HOO!

I just read some exciting news on my blog! I was nominated for a second Liebster Award and I am so excited and honored :) This time around, it was the lovely Michelle over at Miss, Hey Miss (LOVE your blog name by the way!) and she is seriously one of the sweetest bloggers out there (not to mention her blog- ROCKS!) Thank you Michelle! :)

Since this is the second nomination for me- you can read more about this award and what it means in my first post here.

These are the questions that Michelle asked me!

~What/Who made you decide to be a teacher?
...My older sister is a huge inspiration for me. She has always just jumped head first into life without any regrets and I love that. She has truly inspired me to go after MY dreams and aspirations and not anyone else's!

~Where did you grow up? 
...I was born in Tampa, Florida but grew up just west in the Brandon/Valrico, Florida area. We had strawberry fields, orange groves, and fruit stands pretty much in every direction if you looked out our backdoor. I loved it! It has since changed so much and I much prefer it here in quiet and small Newberry, Florida :)

~What is your favorite holiday?
...CHRISTMAS!!!!! I am such a Christmas freak! I start decorating the day after Thanksgiving if possible (sometimes before if my hubby lets me ;) ) Shopping, family time, baking, gift wrapping, tree decorating, house lights… You name and I love it… Not to mention I can pretty much recite the entire movie Elf… Don't judge- you know you love it too! ;) 

~On Pinterest, what board to you pin to most frequently?
...For my teaching Pinterest board- I would say my "Organized is a Happy Classroom" board.. I believe organization is the key to success!
...My personal Pinterest  board would be my "Baking Up Some Fun" board.. I have over 600 pins just on that board! HAHA! I <3 me some baking!

~Google, Yahoo, or Bing? Other?
...Google- i use it for EVERYTHING!

~What kind of vehicle do you drive? Does this say anything about your personality?
...I drive a Pontiac Torrent- its an SUV and I need one to travel with my pups to see my family in Tampa :) I wouldn't say it displays my personality though.. If I were to be honest, and I had tons of money laying around- I would definitely drive a BMW X5! :-P I have expensive taste I guess! :)

~Do you have any special talents? 
...I can sew pretty much anything you want! All I need is a visual and I can do it!

~Mechanical pencil or old school #2?
...I  love mechanical pencils if they are the good brands because it cuts down on SO much sharpening! I think pencil sharpening is my pet peeve.. lol! 

~When you were a child, what did you 'want to be when you grew up'?
...I was convinced that I wanted to be a Veterinarian all the way until about 3 years ago! That's when faith took over and reality sank in that my path was created for teaching :)

11 Random Facts-

- I will not eat food if a pickle touches it
- I absolutely detest frogs
- Breakfast for dinner is my favorite dinner
- My favorite animal in the whole.wide.world are hippopotamus :) I even got to adopt one for Christmas! bestchristmaspresenteverrr… Just saying..
- If have SERIOUS ADD if I spot something with glitter on it
- I hate black licorice… GROSS!
- I want to go on Cupcake Wars one day..
- My husband is seriously the best cook I've ever met.. he should be on Food Network too :-P
- I am an adrenaline junkie, I would love to go skydiving, ride in a fighter jet, and do the Zero Gravity experience if I got the chance!
- I love anything made from a potato… I seriously could eat mashed potatoes every meal of the day and I would be ok with that!
- My mom is my best friend.

My nominees for new blogs are (Drumroll please!)…

#1- Mistie @ Just Call Me Sparkles- Super cute blog with recipes, nutritional info, and encouragement! Not to mention she's my awesome sista and an AP! ;)

#2 Shannon and Brian @ The Teaching Twosome- ADORABLE blog and resources from K-3 since its both of them! I love it! ;)

#3 Rachel @ Third Grade Cupcakes- as a BRAND new blogger, she has some amazing posts and information! I cannot wait to keep up with her blog and I love her Instagram pics :)

#4 Jessica @ Teacher's Heart - such a cutie-patootie! I love finding new bloggers that have such inspiration in their posts! :)

#5 Krista @ Cantrall's Got Class - I love her blog because she tells it like it is and she gets to work with the newbie teachers at her school, helping them become  AWESOME! :)  

My questions for my nominees:
1. What is your favorite food EVER?
2. Have you ever gone on vacation somewhere you didn't want to come back from?
3. What is your biggest accomplishment in life so far?
4. If you had the choice to shop anywhere with unlimited budget- where would you go?
5. What is your greatest piece of advice to new teachers?
6. What did you want to be when you were little?
7. What do you do in your spare time?
8. Mac or PC?
9. Flying or driving?
10. One word to describe your personality.. GO!

Alright! That concludes this post of my Liebster Nomination! I'm so excited and I hope that my nominees are as excited as I am! :) Thanks everyone for your continued support and AWESOME guidance!

And with that, I leave you with this picture…

HAHAHA! :) You know you do it!

It's Thursday and I finally moved stuff into my classroom! :)

Hey everyone! 

I bet all you veteran teachers are wishing summer was a few more MONTHS long! However, this newbie cannot WAIT to get in there! I know it's probably because I'm new and the excitement is getting to me, but I am truly beyond excited! Today I was able to move stuff into my new classroom and I just stood there and gazed at what is now MY classroom. It seems so surreal! I mean, I just graduated in May and I never thought I would be teaching in a magnet program in a beautiful, huge room! I feel so blessed and honored to have such privileges. I worked hard, and now it's all paying off! I'm not linking up today because I'm actually on my way to celebrate one of our very great friends birthday at a local brewery! Fun times!! So, my post will be a little shorter today.

However, I wanted to share some pictures of my classroom for those of you that don't follow on Instagram. If you want to follow check me out @justkeepteaching :) 

This is my office! Holy moly!!! The other teacher that was here before still has to gather some of her things, so all that stuff will not be there when I actually get settled in :)

I dropped all of this stuff off today!! Whew! That was a serious loading and unloading trip!

This is a picture of my room :) I'm so excited I can barely stand it! It's going to KILL me to wait to decorate!!! But, my principal says no "nesting" until August 8th! Darn it! ;)

Anyways, just wanted to show y'all my classroom! If you have any ideas for the space, please leave a comment!! I'd love to hear what you'd do if you had my room :) 

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Lovin' {Hump Da-eeyy} Wednesday!

Hey y'all! Today is Wednesday, the day of the week that begins the nice slope into the weekend... That is if you're working right now! :) However, don't be too jealous- although us teachers have a WHOLE summer to "play and relax" (as one person said to me last night!), we don't... All teachers can vouch- the majority of our time is spent creating new things for our classrooms, photographing every second of doing said things, blogging about said things, and on and on... It can be exhausting!! Can I get an AMEN?! :)

We only have a few weeks until we are slung back into our rooms (or in my case granted permission to even START on my room for the FIRST TIME EVER!) and I think the last few weeks of summer should solely be spent doing fun things with families and friends, relaxing, sleeping in, and crafting your heart away on things you will never get to during the school year! How does that sound!? Except, we all know that will never happen because the last few weeks will probably be spent attempting all of the crazy awesome stuff  I've been seeing my fellow teachers post on Instagram! OH MY! You girls are KILLING my brain with crafting overload! Cue song- "MY MIND'S TELLING ME NOOOO, BUT MY BODY, MY BODY IS TELLING ME YESSSS..." That's pretty much how I feel, except backwards :)

For this weeks edition of What I'm Lovin Wednesday over at Covered in Glitter and Glue, I thought I'd share some stuff that is sort of random... But that is pretty much how my mind works, so it's fitting! :)

#1- I love this wallpaper that I found for my iPhone :) it's always important to remember this and I love the reminder when I turn my phone on!

#2- minions... I <3 minions!!! I just want to take them all home with me and speak in their language all day long :) so cute!!

#3- I am LOVING my new Alex and Ani bracelet that my hubby got for me as a good luck gift for my first year of teaching... I have been searching for this bracelet in silver for MONTHS now and I pretty much jumped up and down like a small child when I opened the box! :) he's truly the best hubby ever!

#4- I love school supplies.... That is all

#5- umm... Cake batter ice cream made at home is SOOOOO much better than Cold Stone :) just sayin! This ice cream was off the chain! I may or may not have been eating it out of the ice cream maker while it was churning away :-D

#6- I hit 200 followers on my Instagram!! Holy BISCUITS that's exciting!! Thank you to ALL of you!Now I need all of those wonderful people to head on over and follow my blog and TpT store as well! Yippee!!

#7- this wonderful subway art piece I got at my local TJMaxx Homegoods to put in my wonderful desk area that was inspired by the amazing Instagram photos of Chic Classroom Style... She is so talented at decorating and design it's incredible! :) Go check her out!! :)

Well, that's it for this installation of What I'm Lovin' Wednesdayyyyy!!! ::cue game show tune:: :) I know.. I'm a dork :-P (totally just realized I did this twice during this blog.... Must be the last two days of karaoke that I've been to! Haha!)

One question before I go- how would all of my fellow teacher bloggers/friends feel about a fun linky party for Teacher Fashion?! I was thinking that since the school year is starting soon and everyone will be getting their clothes together, shopping, planning their outfits and such it would be fun to share what works for you in the classroom and what is functional! What you all think?! I know I'm always searching for pieces to put together that give me the most bang-for-my-buck, but that are also super functional! Shoes could be included as well since I know everyone needs a good pair of shoes for the classroom :) Leave a comment down below and let me know what you think!

How I Made a Lesson Planner Template Work for Me!

**{7.29.13} EDIT- Linking up with Tracey over at The Teacher's Chair to "Show Us Your Lesson Planner! How fun! If you have a specific planner you use- Go on and link up! :) **

Hey everyone! I normally am a "Tried it Tuesday" person… But to be honest… I didn't try anything! haha! I did however have a few requests from some of my friends and also followers that wanted to know how I put my lesson planner together that I purchased from The Modern Teacher's TpT store… Let me just take a second to say how AMAZING her stuff is! Not only did I purchase my lesson planner template for her, but also her Classroom Organizer… Sigh… I love it :) That's for another post!

Onto the planner info!

I put together some collages that walk through my planner organization… I will be honest and say it took me probably 6 hours to get it absolutely the way I wanted BECAUSE I am a perfectionist and everything had to be printed exactly the same way and it couldn't have any defects… Don't judge… I also wanted pages to be printed 2 sided, so I had to keep putting the paper back into the printer to get it the way I wanted and my printer was being naughty..… But anyways, you asked and so here you go! :)

First my cover, she includes an editable version that you can personalize and I chose that one! She also includes a cover page that says "Lesson Planner" and the year… You can choose what works best for you! Next I have my contact info should I ever set this baby down somewhere (not likely) :) Then I have admin contacts and birthday/important event pages to help keep everything in check!

After the first few pages I have these pages: A blank important dates page, Classroom ideas page for jotting down ideas you see and would like to do (I love this page!), and a checklist page to help get things done! I love checklists :) Have you seen my Instagram page? Then you would know… ;)

It continues with my month heading pages that I marked using these fabulous Avery NoteTabs on clearance! WOOP WOOP! They are strong and you can write on them… I have commitment issues, and that's why I haven't written the months on them yet.. Haven't decided if I should write them or use a label maker… decisions, decisions… :) 

Next are the full 2-page calendar spread, specials schedule for the month, and a peek at the current month. This page is so cool because it allows you to set goals, objectives, what you need to focus on, and other areas of interest… It will be super helpful to see what I will be covering that month! Finally, after these pages come my planning pages. There are multiple options included in her digital file, but I chose the option above because I think it will work best for me being able to read from left to right each day.  

Finally, at the end of the book I have a few pages for notes (or doodles ;) ), more classroom idea pages, and a list of the common core standards for my grade level. I think this will help when planning to have a quick reference guide so that I'm not constantly searching for my grade, subject, etc… 

After putting it all together and checking to be sure it was in the correct order, I took it up to the local Kinkos/FedEx place and they bound it for me and put the black back cover on for about 4 bucks! Can't beat that!

I hope you loved this overview of my planner and I hope it helps some of you decide what you'd like to do this year! If you don't already have a planner, go check out A Modern Teacher's TpT store. You will NOT be disappointed, I promise! Not only does she have everything included you could ever need, but her designs are amazing and I'm sure there is one for everyone! If you have any questions about them, just shoot her a message and she will get right back to you! She is absolutely wonderful! :)

Thanks for stopping by today y'all! If you have any other questions about the planner- just drop me a comment below! ;)

Monday Made It, Amazing People, and FANTASTIC NEWS!!! :)

Hey everyone! Yet another Monday Made It is rolling around again and that means we are one step closer to school starting!! The butterflies are starting to get to me now ;) Also, some AMAZING news today- my husband who has been job searching like a MAD person for over a year now landed a phenomenal job with a company that is amazing to its employees and their families :) Finally, we can be a family because he will be working pretty much the same hours as me!! HOORAY!!! :)

I know it's Monday Made It day over at 4th Grade Frolics- but I have to share this amazing thing that happened to me yesterday. It gave me hope that even though humanity can be downright depressing sometimes, there are still amazing people in this world who are completely selfless! So, while I worked at the Animal Hospital for 6 years I met a client who needed someone to come to their house every 4-5 weeks and dremel her dogs nails and clean their ears because she cannot do it on her own. So, of course I said I would do it! Her pups are super sweet and she has pretty much become my mom here in Gainesville :) I still help her out with her dogs because they trust me and we have quite the system down to get them done ;) Well, she asked me if I would need any school supplies for my classroom and to send her a list. I said that would be wonderful if she wanted to help in anyway! Her and her hubby do not have any children, so all of the years that have gone by she made up for with this school supply shopping trip she did for me! I never in a million, billion years would have expected what I walked into when she asked me to come over and pick up the stuff. I pretty much cried and did a joyful dance at the same time! She not only bought the supplies on my list that goes to the students, but she bought enough to supply 4 students with everything on the list. Let me tell you, she is truly an angel sent from God to me because my worst fear was having a student come with nothing at all and me not having enough supplies as a first year teacher. I feel so blessed in my life to have such wonderful people and opportunities that have come to me. I thank the Lord every single day for the blessings, but it still does not seem like enough thank yous for everything. Nanette said she had such an incredible time shop[ping because she hadn't gone since she was a child in school! She said it took an entire entourage to get everything to the checkout counter and to her car :) I took pictures of everything so you all could see! The moral of this story is this: Although people can be mean, arrogant, and down-right rude sometimes, always know that there are amazing and gracious people in this world that are put there by God to balance the others out! :) Please say thank you to your volunteers, donors, and parents for their time and effort they put in to making sure you have a good year :) Enjoy these pictures of my kiddos' goodies and keep reading to see my simple and cute Monday Made It!

Don't mind the clothes and crocs :) Just look at all those boxes of supplies! 

Each backpack was full as well! 

Cool camo backpack ;)

Inside each backpack were the essentials that each student was asked to bring on their list!

Close up of the goodies.. These kids are going to be so excited!

Inside the box with each book bag- 2 reams of copy paper, clorox wipes, hand sanitizer, tissues, folders, paper, composition books, and spiral notebooks!

Holy moly!! :)

I felt like Christmas going through everything! 

Look how adorable this backpack is… I just love those colors for a sweet little girl!

This stuff was all in a box that she made up for ME! Yes, she made a box of goodies just for my desk and supply cabinet :) Sigh… I just cannot say thank you enough!!

I.LOVE.STICKY.NOTES….

Juliet loved the boxes of goodies as much as I did… until she realized food was NOT involved :)

Anywho, today's Monday made it was a super simple one- but cute none-the-less! I took plain ole binder clips and covered them with Washi tape! :) I'm so excited I might do the ENTIRE bin of them :) haha! Here are some cute pictures so you can see how they turned out, I've still got more to do though!

Are these not fantastic!?? They are so simple! Just grab your wash tape, a pair of sharp scissors, and binder clips- then get to stickin'!! It really is a genius idea to make them cute :)

I hope you enjoyed this edition of Monday Made It and I really hope you take a moment to say thanks to everyone who helps you out! Always remember to pay it forward when you can because it will always come back to you in the end :) Remember to link up over at 4th Grade Frolics!