BLOG HOP!

Hello! Thanks for hopping by today for some wonderful freebies!

For my freebie, I put together a set of chevron bunting that you can print out to spell anything you need! The file contains both gray and blue bunting for every letter of the alphabet so you can alternate colors in your banner if you want! I can't wait to print them out for my classroom - I'm going to print out my name to hang above my door.

Click the picture or click here to download from TPT.

To keep on hopping, please go visit Autumn from First Grade Teacher Lady! She's LOADS of fun, so please follow her blog to show her some love!!

Thanks for stopping by my little blog!!

Chevron Papers!

Hooray! I just finished my first digital paper pack, and had a blast making it, so get ready for many more to come!

Chevron papers are finished and up for grabs in my TPT store for a dollar! What a steal!!

Like I said, I'll most likely be making a gazillion digital paper files in the near future... If there's anything you're looking for, let me know and I'll give it a shot!!

Don't forget to come back on Wednesday for the Blog Hop hosted by some fantastic PA bloggers!!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

PA Blogger Meet-up (and a Blog Hop!)

Wow! I had the most wonderful time meeting up with some other Pennsylvania bloggers Wednesday in Harrisburg for lunch! It was neat to finally put faces to some of the blogs I've been following!!

I met up with these awesome bloggers:
(That's me and my wife on the left!)
Jess and Kheila from Two Friends in First.
Autumn from First Grade Teacher Lady.
Wendy from Read With Me ABC.
Jen from That First Grade Blog
Nick (and his wife Killer B) from Sweet Rhyme Pure Reason.

Apparently Pennsylvania has a high percentage of first grade teacher bloggers! 5 out of the 7 of us were first grade friends :-)

Stay tuned! Next week we'll all be hosting a blog hop!! Come back next Wednesday, and we'll all have a freebie waiting for you!!

Hope you're all enjoying your last few precious moments of sweet, sweet summertime!

Monday Made It - Rain Sticks!

Ok, so I realize I'm a day late, but it would have been hard to post this at the beach! (Don't get too excited or jealous. We were there for a day and a half and it rained pretty much the whole time.)  I'm linking up with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics for a Monday Made It linky! Since I'm going to start Daily 5 in my classroom this year, I've been looking for a calm and quiet transition signal. I used a timer last year that would beep when it was time to rotate. It served its purpose, but I hated it for a few reasons... First, my students would pay too much attention to it and would immediately start to rotate once it went off, whether or not I was done with my guided reading group. Second, it was really loud and I wasn't always at the table to turn it off when it started beeping. 

So, in comes the rain stick. Hoping that it will be slightly less distracting, and will only allow the students to rotate when I want them to rotate. It was VERY easy to make and cost practically nothing.

Here's what you'll need:

-PVC pipe: I found some pieces 1 1/4 in. thick, and about 3 feet long

-End caps: Make sure they're the same size, and that they're NOT screw on caps

-Nails: I used #16 x 1-1/4" with a FLAT head

-Rice (about a cup or 2, totally up to you)

-Duct tape (preferably a super fun pattern)

-Drill: I used a 1/16 drill bit, the smallest I had

-Gorilla glue

-Hammer

In theory, this is very simple. Drill holes into the pipe in a spiral pattern down the tube. I started out about a half inch apart, but it REALLY doesn't matter. As you can see, the holes got much closer together at certain points. There will be tiny pieces of PVC all over the floor when you're done. They're not sharp, but you might want to have the vacuum ready. Once you're done pounding nails into the little holes, wrap that sucker with your favorite duct tape. I opted for some chevron tape that I found at Target and/or Michael's. Can't remember. Put a tiny bit of gorilla glue inside the rim of one of the caps, and twist it on tightly. I let the glue dry for awhile before I put the rice in. Add the rice, glue the other cap, and BOOM! You're good to go!

Also, if you don't follow me on instagram yet, you should :-)

Anyone else out there going to the PA blogger meet-up tomorrow??

Calling all PA bloggers!

This coming Wednesday, a few of my new PA blogger friends and I are getting together for lunch in Harrisburg. I'm starting to get really excited!

Click the picture to sign up :-)

If you're a PA blogger and you'd like to join us, head on over to Read With Me ABC and check out the info... Would love to meet as many of you as possible!!

-Andrew

Summer Shopping!

So, I was in my classroom sorting through my book bins, and I decided that I needed a little break. Will post about my classroom library soon, when it's all done. My classroom currently looks like a bookshelf exploded... There are literally books everywhere while I try to figure out how I want to group them!

Here's what I found today...

These were all at Michael's. I especially love the miniature alphabet sets - I plan on putting them out in my Word Work area. I'm always looking for cheap/fun cards to use as thank you notes, so was happy to find the card packs in the dollar section, too! And I couldn't pass up the window clings. I'm an impulse buyer. #sorrynotsorry

The rest of my purchases were from the dollar spot at Target. Fun patterned pencils for my prize box, tons of fun post-its (if you live in the Harrisburg, PA area... sorry, I bought all the light bulb post-its!) I'm especially excited for the chalkboard speech bubble! I have a Cat in the Hat poster outside my door and I'm going to put the speech bubble coming off of it so he can leave fun messages for my firsties!

AND, there's a bagillion Dr. Seuss things there, too! There's socks, plates, bowls, pencils, erasers, flash cards, bags, bookmarks, you name it. It's Seuss crazy right now. Go. Run. Try not to buy too much.

Have you had any fun finds recently?

Chevron Bulletin Boards (and Vacation Pictures!)

I'm a huge fan of covering bulletin boards with fabric as opposed to paper. All those little holes in the paper bug me, and the paper is also, well, boring. Last year as I was setting up my classroom, I went to the clearance rack to purchase fabric... One of the ones I got was great, the other was not a good idea... The monkeys seemed fun at the time, but they ended up being extremely distracting and I ripped them down halfway through the school year. This year, I was determined to find fun fabric that had patterns, NOT pictures. And find it, I did! JoAnn Fabrics is currently having a sale (which they almost always are) on some really cool fabrics. The whole wall was 40% off, plus the teacher discount of 15%, I essentially paid less than half-price for all the fabric I got. WIN. Here's what I got...

Grand total for one large bulletin board and 2 small ones? $14. And all the borders were found at the Dollar Tree. Yes, even the awesome owl one! I'm excited to start filling them up with all my new Daily 5 stuff and my "I Can" Statements. 

If you like to cover your boards with fabric (and if you don't, I recommend it) go check out the stuff that's on sale at JoAnn Fabrics... There's chevron in practically every color, as well as TONS of other really cool stuff. It was definitely hard to narrow my choices down to only 3!!

AND, here's a few of my favorite pictures from our little European getaway :-)

Climbed up this ridiculously tall bell tower in Split, Croatia... terrifying.

Our hotel in Venice, right on the canal... 

I was more than a little excited to be riding a gondola, if you can't tell... That's the bridge of sighs in the background, connecting the doge's palace to the prison.

At the temple of Zeus

The Parthenon

 Mykonos, Greece. Other than Venice, this was my favorite stop.

We were bending down to get our picture with Petros the pelican, and he stuck his neck up into my face and we screamed and this picture perfectly captures our surprise :-)

Anybody else go somewhere fun this summer?

Liebster Blog

Wow... My little blog was nominated for a Liebster Award by Shannon at The Teaching Twosome! The Liebster Award is an award for new blogs. Liebster is a German word that means beloved, cute, lovely, dearest and welcome!   

Here are the rules for accepting this nomination:
1. Link back to the blog that nominated me.
2. Nominate 5-11 blogs with fewer than 250 followers.
3. Answer the questions posted for you by your nominator.
4. Share 11 random facts about yourself.
5. Create 11 questions for your nominees.
6. Contact your nominees by commenting on their blog or sending them an email to communicate the nomination.

I’ve nominated the following blogs.

Mrs. Holder's First Grade

Adventures With Firsties

The Techie Teacher

Mrs. Cranfill's Class

Here are the questions from Shannon and my answers.

1.  Why did you start your own blog?

When I began teaching, I was immediately blown away by the networking behind teacher blogging. I knew it was something that I wanted to do. My hope was that I could inspire other teachers in the way that the blogs I read were inspiring me.

2.  Why is your favorite sweet treat?

Everything? As a Hershey native, I'm partial to a good ol' milk chocolate bar. (However, just returning from my first European trip, I'm pretty hooked on that Italian gelato!)

3.  Do you have any siblings?

One older brother.

4.  How do you like to spend your spare time?

Honestly? I can usually be found surfing through other teacher blogs and pinning like crazy. My wife and I adopted a cocker spaniel this year and we can usually be found treating him like our dog-child.

5.  What’s the best thing about being a teacher?

Comments from parents about how much I've touched their child's life. As a first grade teacher, we're all used to comments from our students about how much they love us and how fun we are and how much they love school... To hear from parents about how excited their child is to wake up every morning and race to school? Melts my heart.

6.  If you could spend the day with a famous person, who would it be?

Milton Hershey.  In the summer, my wife and I (she's also a teacher) work on the Hershey Trolley giving historical tours of town. They're not just your average tour. Oh no. I get paid to sing and change costumes and make a fool of myself. Telling his story every day is beyond inspiring. He and his wife were unable to have their own children, so they started a school for underprivileged kids, and he signed over all of his stock in the company to the school. It's free for the students, and they're provided with opportunities they'd never have experienced if it weren't for him. Also, my wife teaches there and I'm a little jealous.

7.  What is your favorite season and why?

Fall. My family goes camping every year, and I love seeing all the different colors of the leaves over the river.

8.  Name two of you favorite school supplies and tell why they are your favorite.

Sharpie. Who doesn't love a fresh, new sharpie?! I also have a set of jumbo push-pins that I adore.

9.  What is your favorite children’s book?

This has to be a trick question. I'm notorious for telling my students that every book I read to them is my favorite book. I could never pick a favorite, BUT, I'll narrow it down to two. My favorite Dr. Seuss book is The Lorax... My other favorite book to read to my kiddos is The Polar Express. I nearly cry like a baby at the end of it because they're just so young and naive and I don't want them to grow up!

10.  Do you have any siblings?

Oops! This was on here twice! 

11. What is some good advice for up and coming bloggers?

Have fun!!!!!

Here are eleven random facts about me. 

1. My wife and I are far too in love with our dog.

2. I could eat cheese every meal of the day.

3. My wife and I were the leads in our high school musical... I was the Music Man and she was my Marian the Librarian.

4. I may have a pinterest addiction.

5. I'm also addicted to instagram.

6. I have a keurig in my classroom and my students know the sound it makes when it's finished... someone always comes over to tell my my coffee is ready. I'm rather spoiled in that regard.

7. I've never seen The Godfather.

8. I stop at the Dollar Tree on the way home from school to see if they have anything new that I "need."

9. I sometimes drive out of my way to stop at Starbucks on my way to school.

10. If it was a long day, I'll stop at Starbucks on the way home, too.

11. I ran a 10k a few months ago and haven't run since... Oops!

Here are the questions for my nominees.

1. What's the last book you finished?

2. When did you decide to become a teacher?

3. Do you have any advice for new teachers?

4. How do you unwind after a day at school?

5. What's your dream vacation?

6. How do you stay on top of that pile of paperwork?

7. Favorite sweet treat?

8. Favorite movie?

9. Favorite food?

10. Why did you start blogging?

11. What was the best advice you ever received?

Thanks again to Shannon for nominating my blog! If I nominated yours, please link back or comment so I can read your post!

Andrew

Trip Of a Lifetime!

Just got back on our cruise ship in Mykonos, Greece! I've taken so many beautiful pictures, I can't wait to share some of them with you all!! Here's some quick instagrams... 

My wife and I at the Parthenon, atop the Acropolis. 

We found this pelican in Mykonos, and it's so friendly the locals have named him Petros... Amazing!!

Can't wait to share more!! Spending the weekend in Venice, and checking one big thing off of my bucket list!!