Super Summer Sale

It's so hot here! When I got in my car today, it was already 102. Ugh!
And it's supposed to get even hotter. I don't think it's been this hot in a while. We could definitely use some rain. I've been spray painting in my yard and it kinda got all over the grass. So I have blue grass in one spot that I would like to go away.

Anyways, I am having a sale in my TPT and TN stores until Saturday. So beat the heat by shopping for your classroom. Have a great day! I hope you stay cool!

Summer Shopping Linky Party

I am linking up the the amazing Kristen and her Summer Shopping Linky party. What a fun idea!

It seems like one of the big things that I do during the summer is shopping for my classroom because who has time during the year. Here's a few things that I have purchased for my new owl classroom:

 Colorful baskets for my classroom library from Really Good Stuff

Stuffed owls for my new owl theme -- the one on the left is from Polka Dot Market and the one on the right is from Kirklands

 Adorable owl storage bins from Target

 Hanging lanterns from Polka Dot Market

 Adorable owl burlap door hanger from All Unique Things on Etsy

 Two books that I need to read -- "Mentor Texts: Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature K-6" by Lynne R. Dorfman and Rose Cappelli and "Math Work Stations" by Debbie Diller

My amazing plan book from Erin Condren -- my life planner should be here soon!

Thanks for hosting Kristin! I can't wait to see what everyone else has purchased this month.

Ice Cream Pie Recipe + Updates

Today I thought I would share another one of my favorite dessert recipes with you and this one is perfect for summer.  It can be made with a ton of different combinations but my favorite is the mint chocolate chip version. It is a hit at parties and is usually gone very quickly.

Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Pie

Ingredients:

 1 pack of Oreo cookies

 3 Tb. butter or margarine, melted

 1 quart of vanilla ice cream

 1 quart of mint chocolate chip ice cream

  2 cups of whipped topping

  hot fudge ice cream topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine about 20 of the Oreos (2 cups) with the butter. I usually find 20 isn't enough so I do about 25. Spread in the bottom of a round, oven-safe pan. This pan needs to be at least 2 quarts deep because this pie is thick. Spread the Oreo/butter mixture into the bottom of the pan. Bake for 10 minutes and cool completely. Freeze this until ready to fill.

 Scoop vanilla ice cream into crust and press to form an even layer. 

 Chop up some of the Oreos (about 10 or so) and sprinkle on top of the vanilla ice cream. 

 Scoop the mint chocolate chip ice cream onto the top of the Oreo layer. Press down to form an even layer.

Spread about 2 cups of the thawed whipped topping onto the top of the ice cream. 

 Heat up the hot fudge and pour a little on the top of the pie for decoration. 

Freeze the pie for at least 30 minutes or until ready to serve.

I'm linking my ice cream pie up to two fun linky parties. Check them out when you get a chance.

I am working on updating many of my earlier Treasures units. I have already finished the one for "David's New Friends" and updated it on TPT and Teacher's Notebook. I will be finishing the rest soon and updating the bundled packs too.  I will also add the new anchor charts to my anchor chart pack. After I get a few more of these done, I will be changing the prices. If you already bought these packs, you will be able to download them for free from your "My Purchases" tab.

Here's a few images from the updated David's New Friends unit.

Click on the image to view this unit.

I will also probably be pulling out the superhero games and charts and making a separate pack for those of you who don't use Treasures.
 

Back to School Bash

Hello everyone! I am exhausted today after moving all my stuff to my new classroom. It is super hot today in Knoxville and my old classroom decided not to have AC today. Ugh! But I got pretty much everything moved. I'll be heading back tomorrow to do a couple of other things.
 I have been getting many questions and seeing lots of pins from my blog for a "Back to School Bash" unit. This is actually not from my blog. It's from Lesson Plan SOS.  I can't seem to find it on my blog anywhere so I'm not sure how it got pinned from my blog. It is excellent resource that I have purchased so I may have shown some things that I purchased from TPT. Anyways, to answer all your questions, here is the correct link to this packet:

Click on the picture to view the unit.

I hope that helps you all! Have a good night!

I'm Ashamed to Admit It

I have a big confession. This is what my extra bedroom looks like during the summer.

I brought tons of stuff home for school this summer. More than usual because I was waiting to hear if I had to move classrooms. So this is the big mess that I am dealing with in that room. I try to walk by it quickly so I don't have to look at it. I was planning on organizing my office this summer but it's kinda impossible with all this stuff in the way. Plus I keep buying more things for my classroom. See those stacked baskets -- a purchase from Really Good Stuff when they were on sale. See all those binders -- I'm trying to organize some of my things by months and subjects.

Tomorrow I am officially moving classrooms. So I am heading back to school and I can't decide if I should take some of this stuff and contribute to my mess at school or just move it later.  Please tell me I'm not the only one who has a mess like this during the summer.

Here's what I've been working on today. I saw the teacher toolbox on Pinterest from Create Teach Share.  I made a version for my new classroom theme. That's right..I'm switching to owls.

I just love those little owl stickers. I found them at Hobby Lobby in the scrapbook section. I'm not exactly sure what I am going to put in all the drawers so I haven't added labels yet.

Hope you enjoyed the first day of summer!

Amazing Sharpener

I don't know about you but I hate sharpening pencils. There's always one kid in the class who can't keep his pencil sharpened or needs a new pencil. I just find this incredibly irritating when I am trying to teach. My classroom manual pencil sharpener hasn't worked since I've been in the room so I have to rely on electric pencil sharpeners. I just hate how loud those things are and they don't last long at all. I have been quite protective over who can use it since the year that I had to buy three of them.

I was so excited to see this new pencil sharpener that has been popping up on other people's blogs. I decided to check out the website to see what the buzz was about -- especially since it claims to be the quietest sharpener.

Troy at Classroom Friendly Supplies sent me a pencil sharpener to try out and I am completely impressed. First of all, I got the pencil sharpener in two days. Who doesn't love fast shipping?

It took me a while to figure out how to work the pencil sharpener but then I found a great video on Troy's website that explains how to use it.

This sharpener was so easy to use. I love how the front pieces slides in as the pencil sharpens.
And when it's finished, it stops. No more sharpening with the pencil breaking because you don't know it's done. It seemed much faster to me than even using an electric sharpener.

The hardest part for the kids to do is to remember to squeeze the clips in to place the pencil in the sharpener. Once it has been taught to them, they will get it easily.

Best of all, this sharpener is super quiet. I don't think you'd even have to stop a lesson while someone is sharpening their pencil.

Go visit Troy at Classroom Friendly Supplies and check out this great sharpener. He really invented it with teachers in mind because he is a teacher himself. I'm so excited to use this with my students next year. I know it will save me some of my sanity that is usually lost with broken pencils and the electric pencil sharpener.  Thanks Troy!

Let me know what you think about this sharpener. Do you have one? Why would you like to have one?

Easy Summer Recipe, Giveaway, and Common Core

Today I thought I would share an easy summer recipe that is always a hit at cookouts and parties. Best of all, it's super easy! Have you ever had grape salad? It's like grapes mixed with cheesecake! A few years ago, I had grape salad at someone's party and I fell in love with it. There are different versions of the recipe on the web but this is my version.  I made it for my cousin's 30th birthday party today.

Grape Salad

3-4 pounds of green grapes

1 package of cream cheese - softened (8 oz.)

1 package of sour cream (8 oz.)

1/2 cup of sugar

1 tsp vanilla

 3 tbsp. brown sugar

(1) Wash and dry grapes. 

(2) Mix the cream cheese, sour cream, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the grapes and stir till the grapes are coated. 

(3) Add the brown sugar to the top and mix together again.

(4) Refrigerate until ready to serve. I like it pretty cold.

While you are checking out blogs, check out a new blog called "Teaching Maddeness." Amanda's blog is super cute and she is having an awesome 100 follower giveaway. She reached 100 followers in a week! 

I just finished my common core packet for fourth grade. I had many people request it because they are changing grades or teach split classes. I have all the grades done except for fifth grade. It will be finished very soon!

Click here to view the 4th grade standards.

Well, I am off to the lake for my cousin's party. Have a wonderful day! Happy father's day to all your dads out there!

Birthday giveaway

I am helping one of my favorite bloggers, Mrs. Bainbridge, with her huge birthday celebration giveaway.  Many other bloggers and helping out too and you can win some awesome prizes. Click on the image below to find all the awesome prizes you can win!

I will be giving away my top-selling Common Core set for whatever grade you teach.

Be sure to check out Mrs. Bainbridge's blog to enter.

I'm Back

Hey everyone! I got back yesterday from my vacation to Charleston and Savannah. I am so glad to be back. We were on the go so much that it wasn't very relaxing. We even went out on our first day there in the pouring down rain and I got soaked. One of my pet peeves is wet socks so it was not a great way to start vacation. It was nice though because it is usually sweltering there and it didn't get too hot.
My camera also decided to quit working while I was there. Here are a few pictures from my cell phone.

 One of the flooded Charleston streets after the rain

 Beautiful houses in Charleston

This is one of the most unique buildings I've ever seen

 The Pirates' house in Savannah

Another gorgeous house in Savannah

Where are you going on vacation?

I'll be working on some things over the next few weeks as I try to get back in the swing of things.