Merry Christmas!!!

Are you ready to reorganize some storage this second semester! Our color printer ink is getting a little low, and I might've gone a little crazy with the color ink this past semester!  These labels have impact but are all black and white. Merry Christmas from me! They are so cute for book boxes or book bins (alpha order?)  or any way you want to use them.

Get them at TPT or Buy Sell Teach! 

Blessings-

Target and Daily 5

Target has been my best teaching resource this year.  I have found the best stuff for my Daily 5 and Guided Math centers.  It started with book boxes. I was looking in the housewares dept. and found white ice bins.  They were blah white and were $3.99.  Then (choir singing in the background) I found the perfect  book bins in the Dollar Spot!  I was thrilled.  I had to collect them in small amounts, partly because they were $3 each (not bad at all, but didn't want to break the bank buying all at once), and partly because they would only have three or four of them at a time.  The ones I found are a bright medium turquoise blue and lime green.  They did have some really cute hot pink bins with a chevron stripe in turquoise and lime, but I am not a big pink fan for my room.  One weekend, I just got tired of looking over and over at my Target to complete my set.  I only needed seven more, so I started calling all of the Targets in our metro area.  I had to drive about ten miles, but I hit the jackpot and found the number I needed. (I think I have about 26 now just in case some break.)  

www.teacherfluffandreallygoodstuff.blogspot.com

  Another wonderful thing I found was coupon holders in bright lime green and turquoise.  They were $1. I use them to hold my flahscards. (For math, I divided up  my multiplication cards into specific facts, e.g.: x2, x3, etc...).  I put them into one of the larger holders.  I have my reading rotation flashcards in the coupon holders also, along with my vocabulary cards that go with our reading series, separated by story, into the different sections.  That way I can grab the set I need and place them into the center I want to use.  Speaking of cards, I found some wonderful flashcards at Dollar Tree.  They had synonyms, antonyms, and sight words (3 levels!!).  Those are now in the wonderful coupon holders I found.  My kids can take a holder, get the cards out, and play concentration or just match cards.  They love it.

www.teacherfluffandreallygoodstuff.blogspot.com

www.teacherfluffandreallygoodstuff.blogspot.com

The final items I found at Target were mini dry erase markers, mini erasers and lap-sized dry erase boards (with lines).  They also had regular sized (black) dry erase markers at two for $1.  The minis I found were in a four-pack, four colors.  They are perfect for little hands.  It is so much more fun for the kiddos to write their answers on a dry erase board than on paper.  I know the markers won't last all year, but I think they'll last quite awhile.   Yea Target!!  My favorite store, hands-down.

Summer is here!

I am so excited to start this new blog (June 2013).  I love teaching...been lovin' it for 23 years, ten of them in third grade.  A retired 3rd grade teacher once told me that to her, "third grade is the 'country club' of elementary.' "  I laughed, and then I thought about what she meant.  It's really a great place to be.  Third graders are still so sweet and little, but they can do so much.  It's like the perfect age.  (I love all the other grade levels I've taught, but I hope to stay in third grade as long as I possibly can!)

 I love to learn new tricks. (sounds like a bio for an SPCA adoption!?)  I spend my summer doing