Printing, printing and printing away!

I get super jazzed when it comes to getting ready for a new school year! I love imagining all of the things that I'll do with my fresh start! I love finding new posters to use to teach concepts, ways to improve small management tasks that didn't work well before, etc.

I've been printing up a storm to get ready for next year!  I've found some amazing things for my room next year on TpT and they're going to add some serious flair to my walls while also helping me provide great visuals while I introduce topics not only at the beginning of the year, but throughout the year as well.

Some exciting things in this picture:

• Daily 5 posters: these will be perfect for introducing my Daily 5 work expectations at the beginning of the year and after school breaks. The colors are gorgeous and the graphics are so cute.
• iPad Pass: I'm going to add these into my class Dojo store
• How to be a Friend: These are going to drive our class meetings for the first month! I always talk a lot about being a good friend and these will serve as a visual reminder while we get started.
• Mathematical Practice Posters: I LOVE these! We are always trying to keep students focused on the objectives and it can be hard to remember what we're really trying to get kids to be able to do. Having these up will help everyone stay focused on our mathematical practice objectives.
• Textual Evidence Frames: I can't wait to introduce textual evidence sentence frames with these posters! Then, they'll go up and stay up for reference throughout the year.
• Good Readers Do These Things Posters: I love that these came will reading response sticks. These will be a great addition to getting started in my small reading groups.

More Great Stuff:

• End of the Year Awards: My students LOVED these. Plus, the graphics on them are way too cute!
• Character Eduction Posters: These posters will drive my class meetings after we finish the "how to be a friend" section. We always talk about character education and what it means to be a good person.
• We Believe Posters: This is just a cute little inspirational poster set that I'm going to add to a dull corner of the room.
• Math Objectives: These objective posters cover our math learning goals and objectives for our first math unit of the year! Now, I can just pull out our objective for that days lesson and hang it up. Easy and pretty!

I Won a Grant!

I'm was new to my school district this past year so I didn't know what to expect when I decided to give it a shot and apply for the grant through our local education foundation. I spent the weekend writing up a grant application that I thought was perfect and a sure winner! I wanted around for quite some time before the winners were announced. In fact, I had forgotten that the winners would be announced soon at all when they showed up at my classroom to snap this picture of me with my grant award!

I wrote a grant for a class subscription to newsELA. Have you used newsELA before? If you teach 3rd grade or above, I would recommend checking it out. My class tested it out this year on a 30 day free trial and they loved it. What's even better is that I loved it too!

The site allows students to practice reading current, appropriately leveled texts on news topics that are interesting to them. They then take quizzes and write in response to their reading on the site. It's great practice for state assessments and it engages them in current events around the world. The students loved being able to track their quiz scores and progress and I loved having all of the data available regarding their progress and challenges. 

I can't wait to use newELA next year for the ENTIRE year. 

Parent Volunteer Gifts

I was so lucky this year! I had multiple parent volunteers that were just amazing! They came in weekly, multiple times a week, etc. and cranked out any project!! I couldn't have asked for more support from my parents!

I wanted to do something very nice to thank them for all of their hard work and I found these adorable coffee mugs on Etsy! I knew that they were perfect.

I filled them with some Starbucks Via packets, mini Torani syrups and a little card that all of the kids signed that said "Thanks a Latte." 

If you're interested in ordering the mugs, you can find them here!

Unshakable Giveaway Winners!

I am happy to finally announce the lucky readers who won a free copy of Unshakable by Angela Watson!

We're starting a book study on July 6th and you can still join us if you're interested!

When: July 6th-31st, Mondays-Fridays

Where: Online via a private, closed Facebook group

Cost: Free

This is online book club is for a brand new release called Unshakeable: 20 Ways to Enjoy Teaching Every Day…No Matter What. We’ll be exploring the 20 ways in 20 days, Monday through Friday for the last 3 weeks in July.

The discussion is going to be casual and fun in a private Facebook group that makes it easy to check in each day to comment or post your own reflections and questions. It will be co-moderating by the author, Angela Watson and Frankie Robinson: she’s the teacher who runs the wonderful Educator’s Book Club. Frankie and Angela will be posting about the 20 ways to enjoy teaching, sharing one idea per day. They will also be sharing helpful articles, funny teacher memes, and all kinds of great things to help you get motivated and excited for the fall. There’s no commitment if you join–just pop into the group whenever you have time!

Click here to join the Unshakeable online book club on Facebook. Memberships will be approved starting June 15th. Your request will say “pending” until then, and you will get a notification from Facebook when you’ve been added. Please contact bookclubhelp@yahoo.com if you have questions or problems. You can get the Unshakeable book/eBook here.

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Summer Book Club and a Giveaway!

I am super excited to share with you information about a summer book club that I'm joining and offer you a free copy in my giveaway below!!

If you're looking for some positivity, inspiration and excitement for the upcoming school year, then this is the book club for you! 

When: July 6th-31st, Mondays-Fridays

Where: Online via a private, closed Facebook group

Cost: Free

This is online book club is for a brand new release called Unshakeable: 20 Ways to Enjoy Teaching Every Day…No Matter What. We’ll be exploring the 20 ways in 20 days, Monday through Friday for the last 3 weeks in July.

The discussion is going to be casual and fun in a private Facebook group that makes it easy to check in each day to comment or post your own reflections and questions. It will be co-moderating by the author, Angela Watson and Frankie Robinson: she’s the teacher who runs the wonderful Educator’s Book Club. Frankie and Angela will be posting about the 20 ways to enjoy teaching, sharing one idea per day. They will also be sharing helpful articles, funny teacher memes, and all kinds of great things to help you get motivated and excited for the fall. There’s no commitment if you join–just pop into the group whenever you have time!

Click here to join the Unshakeable online book club on Facebook. Memberships will be approved starting June 15th. Your request will say “pending” until then, and you will get a notification from Facebook when you’ve been added. Please contact bookclubhelp@yahoo.com if you have questions or problems. You can get the Unshakeable book/eBook here.

I'm also offering the book for free to THREE lucky readers!! If you are interested in joining us and also want a free copy of the book to follow along, be sure to enter my rafflecopter giveaway below!!

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Rocksbox Review

Guess what! I found out about an amazing new jewelry box program and I tried it out on using a code for a free month! It is HEAVEN!



Seriously...this is perfect to pair with my Stitch Fix boxes!!

So...what is Rocksbox?! It's a subscription jewelry box that costs $19 a month. However, I have 3 free month subscriptions to give out if you use the code "MyrandaBFF."

For the $19, they'll send you three pieces of jewelry.  You can keep and wear the jewelry for as long as you'd like. Then, you can either send it back in exchange for new items OR you can purchase it and keep it forever!

You'll get $10 of your monthly membership to use in credit toward anything that you purchase!

All of my items were super gorgeous and very high-quality! Check them out below!!

How gorgeous is this packaging?! I love the personalized card too!

I LOVE this bracelet! I think that it's going to be a "keep forever" item. It's so pretty and dainty. 

These earrings are also really dainty and pretty. I love how they're understated but also offer a ton of class.  

This necklace blew me away. It is so insanely gorgeous. Plus, the weight of the necklace really showed me that it's not cheap and flimsy. This is a gorgeous, quality necklace!

June Currently

Listening:

First of all, can I start with how awkward it is to even admit that I've been having some serious Omarion marathons lately? It's true. It's awkward to admit and it has been happening. I was listening to the R&B station on Spotify recently and they were lovin' Omarion that day and then I've just had my app on the Omarion station ever since. 

Any other Omarion fans in here?!

Loving:

I know that I am like 10 years late to the scene but I just started watching Entourage from episode #1! I started it last week and I'm on Season 3 right now. If you've watched Entourage, do you know how Vince feels about Mandy Moore?! Well, that's how I feel right now. When he says that he never wants to leave her side...not even for a second...that's how I feel. Can I just watch Entourage endlessly and forego any and all adult responsibilities? I can't...? 

Thinking:

Alright, thinking about oxygen sounds super weird because who really thinks about that? However, I was reading about the declining percentage of oxygen in our air and how having plants in our homes really helps to balance out the loss of oxygen in our air outside and that really got me to start thinking about using plants in my bedroom to improve the air purity and air quality in the room where I spend the longest amount of uninterrupted time breathing. So, this weekend, I am on a mission to get some "bedroom plants." Do you have some recommendations? It also made me start thinking about oxygenating my classroom but I'll save that for another day!

Wanting:

Normally, my wants are less materialistic as I've been on a journey to de-consumerize my life. Is that a word? If it's not, just pretend with me that it is. However, mantra bands are killing me. I love them. All of them. I want them.

Needing:

Yep. Still exhausted. Nothing has changed here since last month.

Summer Lovin':

Yes! Yes! Yes! I am so excited to go to Greece in a couple weeks! Do you all want some pictures?! I will also get to go meet my new nephew in California! Plus, my birthday is during the summer and that's always a good time!  What are your summer plans?

Thanks for checking out my June Currently post! Make sure you come by Oh Boy Fourth Grade to link up with us!

Also, consider joining to the awesome cause that Farley has going to support Wimberley Animal Adoption and Rescue in Texas!