Crazy Crayons!

A couple years ago I needed to make use of small Rubbermaid drawers so I started implementing a crayon "Lost and Found".  It's worked great!  It's one of the procedures I  go over in the beginning of the year, and  so far so good.

If the student's don't have a black, they go the lost and found.  If the student's find a random crayon on the floor, it goes in the lost and found.  Blah, blah, blah...you catch my drift.

Fast forward two years and those little pieces of blacks and browns add up!  LOL! Case and point last week, when I had an early finisher who loves to help clean out the little pieces and it resulted in a huge gallon sized bag filled with half used yellows and broken purples.  My "Wanna-Be-Pinterest Queen" mind started turning and I immediately jumped on Amazon and ordered 2 of these babies:

 And this Saturday I got to work!  My husband and I's fingers got sore from ripping off little pieces of Crayola (it's got to be Crayola, because you KNOW this Kindergarten teacher is a crayon snob!)...once I realized you could soak them in warm soapy water (thanks Google!) and they'll come off like a charm!

End result was after 16 minutes on 250°F and 1 hour to cool with a 15 minute end cap in the freezer!

Love them!! Just hope the Kindergarten kids give me the excited reaction I'm looking for!!!

Centers Centers Centers

Centers are one of those teacher things that every year I tell myself I need to be better at.... you know, kind of like organizing my classroom library, keeping my desk cleared, not bringing work home blah blah blah  The never ending teacher to-do list. But this year I am determined. (Just let me keep repeating that, right?)

Speaking of things I'm bad at...lol I've been terrible with Pinterest lately! I started off strong. Trolling, pinning, staring aimlessly and ever gawking, etc.  But I faded.  Well that changed today when I spent too much time on my old faithful friend.

Anyway, enough of the pointless memes and onto the subject at hand- Centers.  I need a successful implementation method.  Not another pocket chart...I have no room!!!  But this, this I have room for!  Through my troll on Pinterest, I cam across this gem: Teacher By The Beach. This part specifically:

How genius, right????

It's available in her TPT Guided Reading Bundle

It does your rotations for you and there is even a clean up slide in between the rotation that counts down for 30 sec.  I can't wait to implement it into my class this year.  So pumped!!

Teacher Printing Life Saver!

Hey there!
I just got an exciting package in the mail!  I FINALLY signed my home printer up for Instant Ink...

In case you’ve been living under a rock and haven’t heard the latest buzz in the printing world, I’m here to fill you in on HP Instant Ink! If you love printing like me, but cringe when you see the dreaded “low ink” message- then I’ve got big news for you!

First step is seeing if your HP printer is eligible…
Click here to go to the direct HP list of printers!

• HP ENVY 4500 Series
• HP ENVY 5530 Series
• HP ENVY 5660 Series
• HP ENVY 7640 Series
• HP Officejet 4630 Series
• HP Officejet 5740 Series
• HP Officejet 8040 Series with Neat®
• HP Officejet Pro 6830 Series
• HP Officejet Pro 8610 Series
• HP Officejet Pro 8620 Series
• HP Officejet Pro 8630 Series

If you need a recommendation I have the HP ENVY 4500 Series at school and the HP Officejet 5740 Series at home.

Next step is following the link (this particular link will get your first month FREE!)
Click here to get one month free!

Look for coupon codes!! There’s a bunch out there. There is 3 plans to choose from…(I chose the big mama plan LOL! for both. I was skeptical with being wasteful, especially during the Summer month but pages ROLL OVER!!!! So you can use them later)

Simply Kinder has a great post about it, you can find here...

Installing my instant ink! @hp makes printing to easy for teachers! Do you use Instant Ink? (Link on my bio to read all about it.) #iteachk #teachersfollowteachers #teachersofig #teachertalktuesday #igteachers #teachergram #teacherfriends #teacherspayteachers #simplykinder #earlyed #iteachkinder #iteachkindergarten #kindergartenrocks #kindergartenlife #kinderchat #kindergartenteacher #firstgrade #iteachfirst #teacherprobs #teacherproblems #preschool #preschoolactivities #iteachpreschool #neverrunout #instantink #hpprinter

A photo posted by SimplyKinder (@simplykinder) on Jan 1, 2016 at 2:26pm PST

Trying to make myself read...

First off, I swear I'm not getting paid to post back to back from The Kindergarten Smorgasboard.  But I'm constantly trying to force myself to read in my down time.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  But after seeing constant posts about The Kindergarten Smorgasboard's and Kindergarten Choas's book study on Mindset by Carol Dweck, I'm forcing myself on the bandwagon.  I have 3 chapters to catch up on.  Check out their recent blog post on Chapter 3 here.  There's also Facebook Live discussions and Periscopes done weekly on each chapter.

My husband and I leave for vacation tomorrow, so I can't wait to be a horrible passenger, ignore him the whole drive and read my new book!  haha They even have it on Audible, if you're into listening to books on tape.  They have a 30 day trial I might take advantage of this Summer.  

My favorite F word....

Love Kindergarten Smorgasboard!  Love Greg!  I've only been following his blog for a short while and I have already learned a TON.  I share his frustration in hearing people gripe about how Kindergarten isn't fun anymore, or all teaching is following standards, "I hate Common Core!" blah blah blah!  

No excuses people.  It is what it is and it's our job to make it fun and engaging.  Dance parties, sing a longs, Kidz Bop all day errday! haha No, but really....

Please read this if you find yourself or people you know falling into that negative rhetoric about countless mandates, standards and curriculum. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Here Goes Nothing...

First off, welcome! I came up with (what I think to be) SUCH a clever name about 2 years ago...and well...did nothing. Well, no, that's lie. I posted, deleted, got called corny by most of my friends, but recently finally decided to take some action! So, here I am! I contacted The Cutest Blog on the Block to help with my super cool layout and Hey Hey Designs! to come up with a graphic (is it possible to be jealous of a graphic? because I wished I looked that cool in real life?!) and here I am!

By the way, if you need recommendations for custom iStock images or blog layouts, Lauren from Hey Hey Designs and Corinne from TCBOTB are your girls!

Thanks for wasting time on my blog!  Here goes nothing....