July 2014

Inspired Owl's Corner July 30, 2014 1 comment

Sweet Meredith from Creativity to the Core is celebrating an Instagram milestone! am so excited for her! Instagram is my favorite form of social media. There is so much positive energy and passion for teaching on Instagram. I love it!

Thirty-four sellers have donated products for this giveaway! Look at all of the goodies you can win! Back to school such a perfect time to win this bundle!

And that's not all...

You will get one entry for every blog/store/Facebook page listed in the rafflecopter. The more times you enter, the greater your chance of winning! Good luck to you!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Inspired Owl's Corner

Inspired Owl's Corner July 28, 2014 No Comments

The mother and daughter duo over at Coast to Coast Kinder are in charge of Tips and Tools for Back to School this week! They have some great ideas for organizing center time. I am going to be utilizing center time a lot this year since I will be teaching a 2/3 combo! Be sure to pick up your center freebie on their Tips and Tools post. Click on the picture below to go check it out!

I have finally finished a project! My Word Work cart is complete! (Please forgive the less than perfect photo!) This cart is from Big Lots, and I love that the pastel colors will match my classroom!

If you can use the labels, I have them in my TpT store for free. Just click on the picture below to check them out! I have a few other freebies that match as well!

I have 3 more days of freedom before I have to go back. My classroom is ready (for the most part), so that is a great feeling! I am going to try to relax until the chaos begins, LOL!

Have a great week!

Inspired Owl's Corner

Inspired Owl's Corner July 26, 2014 No Comments

This is the last week for NC Teacher Chick 's Hot Summer Giveaway! This week you up for grabs are $20 gifts certificates from my two favorite places- TpT and Target! This Rafflecopter begins soon! Good luck to you!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Inspired Owl's Corner

Inspired Owl's Corner July 25, 2014 No Comments

My sweet and very talented friend Laura from A Grace-Filled Classroom is celebrating a Teachers Pay Teachers milestone with a giveaway! I am excited to be a part of this giveaway!

And look at the prizes you could win! I could really use that TpT gift certificate right now!!!

And there's more!

Be sure to hurry to head on over to Laura's blog to enter this giveaway! It ends in three days! Good luck!

Have a great weekend!

Inspired Owl's Corner

Inspired Owl's Corner July 20, 2014 6 comments

I'm linking this post up with Tara's Monday Made It in since I haven't created anything spectacular this week! I want to share this first day of school freebie with as many teachers as I can!

I can't believe it's week 6 for Tips and Tools for Back to School- and that I have two weeks before I have to report back to school! I'm not quite sure where the summer went- I think I spent most of it attached to my laptop, printer, and laminator while trying to get ready for my combo class!

This week it's my turn for Tips and Tools for Back to School! For the past 5 weeks, my Peeps have been sharing their tips and freebies with you. This is an amazing group of bloggers that I am lucky to call my friends! Luckily, we have a few more weeks left of the freebies left!

Since bts is right around the corner for me, I wanted to share a fun idea (and freebie pack!) that I have done on the first day of school for the past 19 years! My mom was a teacher, and this idea comes from her! (Thanks, Mom!)

On the first day of school, I throw a party for the students to get them excited for their new year. We throw parties at the end of the year, but shouldn't we celebrate the start of a new school year, too? Making school something fun that the students look forward to benefits us because the kiddos want to be there! I decorate the room with balloons and sprinkle confetti on the desks, and I bring in cookies or cupcakes. I also have name tags, treat bags filled with goodies, and fun first day of school assignments to keep them busy while you take roll and take other managerial issues. I have included a sign for your front door that says "Welcome to the Greatest School Year Ever!", name tags, treat bag toppers, candy bar wrappers, balloon toppers for pencils, Pixy Stix, or Crazy Straws, and homework passes. There are invitations that you can send in the mail if your administration gives you student addresses a few days before school starts. Otherwise, you can pass these out at the door when the students arrive, or leave them on their desks. This first day party is the perfect icebreaker for the students (and teacher)! Below is a peek at what is included in this file!

And a few of the page enlarged...

Click on the picture below to download the file for free this entire week!

I hope you are able to use this little pack and I hope you and your students have fun with it! The beginning of the year is such an exciting time for the students and us, too. These are the memories they are always going to remember!

I hope you enjoy your last weeks of summer before the craziness begins! And be sure to check back next week to see Tips and Tools Week 7!

Inspired Owl's Corner

Inspired Owl's Corner July 19, 2014 No Comments

It's time for week 2 of Monica from NC Teacher Chick's giveaway! This week you could win a $20 TpT gift card and a $20 Staples gift card! Both would come in handy right about now for me!

Click on the picture below to head over to NC Teacher Chick's blog to enter this giveaway!

There is one more giveaway next week as well! I can't wait to see who wins! Good luck!!!

Inspired Owl's Corner

Inspired Owl's Corner July 16, 2014 1 comment

I'm excited to share with you another giveaway! Jessica from The Teacher Talk is hosting her 2,000 Instagram Follower Giveaway! Check out the prizes below. I love that there are a lot of winner's choice prizes- my favorite! You have one more day to enter!

Inspired Owl's Corner

Inspired Owl's Corner July 14, 2014 3 comments

I'm linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for her weekly summer edition of Monday Made It!

I was hoping for a more impressive Monday Made It, but Amazon didn't cooperate with me! I ordered this organizer below a few weeks ago, but it decided to arrive after my trip to Lake Tahoe, not before...so, I will have to save the freebie tool kit file that goes with this for next week! Click on the picture below to check it out! I plan to use this as an organizer for my classroom coupons. They barely fit in there, but I think I can make it work!

I have been working on few things for my classroom, and thought I would share this cute reminder poster. I actually made a few different versions of it, with and without banners, with two choices of owls, and even a set with kids, so hopefully you can find one that you like and can use. Even at the end of the year, my students still need this reminder! Click on the picture to get your free copies!

Have an awesome week! Make the most of these last weeks of summer. I can't believe I will be back in the classroom in just two weeks! :)

Inspired Owl's Corner

Inspired Owl's Corner July 13, 2014 No Comments

I cannot believe it is week 5 of Tips and Tools for BTS! This week sweet Amy from Learning Lessons with Mrs. Labrasciano is sharing some great tips for frugal classroom set up with us! She has included step by step photos, tips, and printables in this freebie pack! Click on the picture below to read more!

Be sure to tune in next week and I will be sharing an idea with you that I have done the first day of school for almost two decades! (Wow, I guess time really does fly when you are having fun!) :)

Inspired Owl's Corner

Inspired Owl's Corner July 13, 2014 2 comments

Monica from NC Teacher Chick's Hot Summer Giveaway is live! Below are the teachers participating in this giveaway!

Today will begin the first giveaway, and it will run until July 20th! I love that you can choose what you want to buy! Gift cards from TpT and Amazon will come in handy at the beginning of the year!

Good luck to you!!!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Inspired Owl's Corner

Inspired Owl's Corner July 11, 2014 No Comments

I'm excited to be a part of another amazing giveaway! This one is hosted by Monica from NC Teacher Chick! What's exciting about this giveaway is there are three chances to win, and each giveaway will last one week! You can win $120 in prizes!

Come back Sunday to enter!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Inspired Owl's Corner

Inspired Owl's Corner July 07, 2014 No Comments

It's hard for me to believe that my summer is over half way gone! I report back August 1st! The summer has flown by as usual!

Julie from A First for Everything is sharing ideas for using task cards today. Her post includes a freebie task card set for first grade! I love using task cards in the classroom. I think they will be a lifesaver next year when I teach my 2/3 combo! Click on the picture below to head over to Julie's blog and check out her blog post and freebie!

Below is how I organize my task cards. I have seen this idea all over Pinterest! I bought my baskets at Big Lots, and I have seen similar baskets at Big Lots this year as well. I bought the coupon holders in Target's Dollar Spot last year. I see them there often. I made labels on 8 1/2 x 11 sticker sheets for each set. Some sets don't have a lot of cards, so I can keep two or three sets in one coupon holder. I have each basket labeled also- Reading, Language, and Math. I keep a binder with the response sheets, but I usually just have the students write their responses on binder paper. It's easier and I save on copies!