Teacher Week '13 - Let's Talk About Me Monday

Happy Teacher Week! I'm SO excited to be linking up with Blog Hoppin for this fun-filled week of linky parties!

This week is our first official week back to school! Today and tomorrow are filled with teacher evaluation training (blah) and the rest of the week is reserved for team meetings, working in our classrooms, and of course, Meet the Teacher day on Friday! So obviously, this is a bit of a very busy week for me. Hopefully I will make the linky party each day this week, but I will definitely be back tomorrow to share my Classroom Reveal! And I am bursting with excitement!!!! Anyway, back to Teacher Week...

Monday is Meet the Teacher day. So here are ten random (hopefully fun) facts about me :)

1. I'm Hannah Burns. I am a first year teacher starting my teaching journey in fourth grade literacy. My first first day of school is a week from today! :)

2. Meet my other half, Josh. We met as partners in a World Lit class in college at Southern Arkansas University. We just celebrated one year of marriage last month, and will officially be together for three years this October. He is a computer science major and works as a computer technician for a bank. He is my source for all things computer-y :)

3. We live in South Arkansas and have a cockier spaniel puppy named, Lewis. If you've read any of my posts, you know he is my dog baby. 

4. I started blogging this past year during my student teaching as a way to share about my Teachers Pay Teachers products. This summer, I've fallen in love with blogging, linky parties, giveaways, pinterest-ing, and new bloggy friends. I can't wait to document my journey here as a new teacher. I think it will be a great way to share ideas, get more ideas, and reflect on what works and what doesn't. 

5. When I'm not teaching or blogging, I love to curl up on my couch with a good book, TV show, or movie. I'm definitely an "indoors" kind of gal. I love Gossip Girl (guilty pleasure), Downton Abby, Gilmore Girls, and Friends. I have too many favorite books and movies to choose! But you can't go wrong with romantic comedies, Jane Austen, or Harry Potter.

6. I listen to a very strange, wide range of music. It changes all the time. Currently, I am enjoying the sounds of: Of Monsters and Men, Hillsong / Hillsong Live, Ellie Goulding, and Demi Lovato. 

7. I love shopping. Many of you know that I call it my favorite sport. It's true. There's nothing like that "just scored a great deal" feeling. I have millions of awesome clearance stories to share, if you're ever interested. My favorite stores? Target (with an extreme, frightening passion), Hobby Lobby, Dillards, Cotton On, Forever 21, and Old Navy. 

8. I'm a perfectionist and clinically OCD (meaning, I take pills for it...) Not trying to scare you away, just sharing! I made straight A's through most of high school and all four years of college. I've gotten a lot better in the last year, but some of my "bothers" include dirty dishes, routines, and being extremely hard on myself. 

9. My families are the best. I grew up with two sisters (one older, one younger) and parents that are both teachers. I love taking the hour drive to my hometown of Texarkana and hanging out with my parents, sisters, and brother-in-law. And Josh too, I guess ;) I have also been blessed with an amazing family of in-laws. I have already shared some about about my amazing MIL (check out her blog here), but I also have an awesome FIL and three sister-in-laws. I could not have asked for a better family to marry into.

10. Current goals/dreams of mine: Have an awesome, successful first year of teaching; Go to Hawaii (and maybe just stay there...); Stay dedicated/involved in blogging and TPT; Be healthier. 

So that's a little lot about me! Make sure you link up your own Meet the Teacher post here. I can't wait to read all about my bloggy friends!

If you're stopping by for the first time, click on the About and Connect tabs above to learn even more about me and find me on Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest/everything else.

And make sure you come back tomorrow for (drumroll please) my classroom reveal!!! Finally! :)

 

Five For Friday - August 9th Linky Party

Happy Friday! I'm so glad Five For Friday is back from Doodle Bugs Teaching. I love this linky! Basically, you just share five random things from your week. So here are my five...

1. Today is my last day off before school officially starts! We had two days of professional development this past week, but we go back Monday for a full week's worth. Just 10 days until the first day of school! And only 7 days until I get to meet my kiddos! Can you tell I'm a little excited?? So to celebrate my last official day of summer vacation, I spent it being incredibly lazy. Slept in, watched excessive amounts of Gossip Girl (my guilty pleasure Netflix show, don't judge me), ate candy, and did some online (window) shopping. It was pretty perfect :)

Lewis enjoying a lazy afternoon with Mom.

I'm seriously crushing on this monogram phone case from Put A Case on Me!

2. Teacher Week 2013 Linky Party

Have you guys heard about the big linky party going on over at Blog Hoppin next week? I am so stoked! I'm planning my big classroom reveal for their Tuesday linky. My MIL took some adorable pictures this week and I am itching to share them!

3. And speaking of classroom pictures...here is the sneak peek I posted on my Facebook page last night. Excuse my dorky face...haha. What do you think? ;) 

4. Everyday Editing from Jeff Anderson. Have you guys read this book? We had a professional development meeting this week about it and I really liked what he had to say! One of his main points about teaching editing and grammar makes so much sense to me... Why do we spend so much time teaching our students grammar and editing by looking at incorrect sentences? Why do we spend so much time finding what's wrong with sentences instead of finding what's right? Anderson encourages inviting students to see what authors do correctly and then applying those same concepts to their own writing. I can't wait to read more from him and use this with my students. It was such a teaching "duh" moment for me. Don't you love those? ;)

5. And finally, a little inspiration for all of us that are heading back to school soon. 

Teach fabulous, my friends! :)

A Tale of Student Teaching - Linky Party

Hello all! If you've visited my blog before, you know that I'm a first year teacher. So when I saw this linky party over at The Polished Teacher about student teaching, I just had to join in. I loved student teaching, and since I just completed it, why not share? :)

I had an awesome student teaching experience. I was so so nervous going into it... What if my teacher was mean? What if I was horrible? What if I hated it? What if I got a bad evaluation? So many "what ifs". But after the first day, I knew I was going to love it. My teacher and I clicked immediately. She helped me so much. My principal, the other teachers, even the cafeteria workers and custodians- were all so nice and welcoming. My class was hilarious. So smart and fun. I wouldn't trade those months for anything. 

1. My favorite student teaching memory. 

Well, obviously, I couldn't choose just one. My last day was beyond perfect. My kids "surprised" me with an ice cream party and a basket of teacher goodies. They all wrote me the sweetest, cutest, most hilarious goodbye letters. I took them home, read them, and cried my eyes out. I still have all the gifts, notes, and pictures they drew me. Some of them are still up on my fridge. I could cry right now just thinking about how sweet and funny they were. They made going to "work" every day a joy. Truly.

2. My worst student teaching memory/learning experience.

This was hard. I definitely had days where I came home and crawled under the covers to hide from life (anybody else do this??) There were days that I was so frustrated and exhausted and just spent. The most stressful times for me were probably the three times that may professor came to observe me. I'm a perfectionist and I'm really hard on myself. I wanted everything to go perfectly and smoothly and magically come together into the most beautiful, well-planned lesson every time. This, of course, did not happen. We work with kids, duh. So while I loved my experience, those days were always crazy stressful.

3. My student teaching advice? Be a sponge. Soak up as much of your experience as you can. Love your kids. Go to everything. Make copies of stuff for your future classroom. Go visit other grade levels. Try new things. Make things for your kids. Teach lessons in your least favorite subjects. Work hard. Don't sit down. Ask questions. Don't get on your phone. Don't just sit there. Find something to do- whether it's grading papers, helping students, making copies, planning lessons, cleaning up, filing, anything. Make your teacher's life easier. Don't stress the small things. Enjoy truly being a "student" teacher. It goes by way too fast :)

Got some advice to share? Or just want to reminisce on your experience? Head over to The Polished Teacher and link up!

I'm off to work on posts for next week! Look for my big classroom reveal on Tuesday ;)

Monday Made It [August 5th] & A Classroom Sneak Peek!

Happy Monday everyone! I'm just stopping in for a quick linky for Monday Made It with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics. I have professional development meetings Wednesday, Thursday, and all of next week. So I am trying my best to relax (yeah right) and enjoy my last few days of vacation! So, naturally, I worked in my classroom today. Ha! But it's pretty much ready for kiddos! I'm so excited! Don't worry, I'll have a "classroom tour" post coming up soon. My awesome MIL is gonna help me out with some pictures :)

But anyway! Back to my Made It! I can't do anything "quick"... haha. 

Check out my Class Twitter that I made! My room has a bird theme, so it goes perfectly. It has three "profiles": 

Me, of course. Where I tweet messages about what's going on that day or anything, really. 

The 'Reminders' profile tweets messages about upcoming tests, projects, events, etc.

And finally the 'Special Guest' profile is reserved for the Student of the Month, someone that is super good, a student with a birthday, or other things like that. If chosen, they get to choose what message to share.

Our class twitter is made from laminated sheets of white copy paper (which makes it dry-erase!) and graphics/pictures modeled after the actual website that I just threw together in Word.

I have it stapled on the bulletin board outside my classroom, which you can see in this next picture. I plan on using the clothespins to display student work as the year goes on.

So what do you think? I can't wait to try this out with my students. If they like it, I may think of some other ways to "tweet" in the classroom :)

So that's your sneak peek of my classroom! A big reveal is coming soon. Make sure you go link up your Made It for the week here. Have a good week!

Favorite Pins Friday and a Freebie!

Happy weekend everyone! Today I am linking up with Favorite Pins Friday from Cara at The First Grade Parade.

I LOVE Pinterest. It's my go-to for everything these days...ideas, projects, school stuff, outfits, recipes, inspiration. I just love it. Speaking of, you should follow me!

Now for some of my favorites...

 

This pin is from Mrs. Tabb over at Another Day in First Grade. In this post she talks about how she decorated her classroom for under 25 dollars! WHAT. When I saw this pin, I just had to click on it. I wish I could say that's how much I spent on my classroom! However, I was really inspired by her ideas. For example, I love this statement from her:

"I have come to realize that if I have access to butcher paper and a color printer, I can decorate my entire room and barely spend any money."

And honestly, though I have of course spent more than 25 dollars on my classroom, this is so true. Though I did buy a few teacher-store items (Creative Teaching Press borders, Class Job Charts, Welcome poster, etc.), I have found that through blogging and TPT you can make most of the things you need for cheap! Seriously. Between my printer and a $10 pack of scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby, I have completed so many projects. Like my Chevron Classroom Numbers and Library Labels! Just $1 in my TPT store or free for Facebook fans that comment with their email ;) I also love love her idea about using scrunched up butcher paper as border. Genius!!! Why have I never thought of this? Since reading her post, I've already used butcher paper as borders for two of my bulletin boards in my room. So unique, easy, and of course, cheap! Check out how she does it in her post. Later on, when I post classroom pictures (hopefully soon...) I will show you guys how I adapted her idea.

Another favorite pin! This one's from Eryn at Elementary Organization. Or at least that's where it took me to. I couldn't find it on her blog, so if you do, help me out! I love the idea of Log-In cards for the computer, or even having a set for my own sanity! At my last school, passwords changed a lot, so I don't know if this idea would work. Maybe a dry-erase version? (See- any excuse to laminate!) I'm thinking of making a set for my "technology technicians" once the school year gets started.

And now for a completely un-teaching-related pin...

Otherwise known as confessions of a shoe-a-holic! Haha. And that i definitely am. These beauties linked to Red Dress Boutique. Although they apparently exist there no longer :( Oh well, I guess they'll just be eye candy! But their site still had some cute things to look at (and not very expensive)!

Ahhh. Don't you love that? It's like chapstick for your soul. What a great reminder. I think I pinned this back when I was on the job hunt (not that long ago!). And God certainly answered that prayer! I always appreciate a good reminder to trust Him and His plans. 

Aaaaaaand one final teacher-y pin for the day...

These are file folder lapbooks from Denise at Sunny Days in Second Grade (Super cute blog!) Her post explains them like this: "Lapbooks are file folders with informative minibooks and/or games pasted inside them. They are great for organizing information that students have researched, reinforcing skills taught in the classroom, as a portfolio assessment at the end of a unit, and so on."

How cute, right? It's like a mini scrapbook! What a unique way to combine so  many things...assessment, research, creativity, summary, vocabulary, art....I love this! I can definitely see myself using this idea for a unit or research project. And so much cheaper than posterboard, am I right?

So anywho, those are some of my favorite pins! It was really hard to choose though. I love my Pinterest. I guess I'll just have to link up again sometime! ;) 

Oh, and I almost forgot! I posted a freebie in my store last night! I love inspiring quotes for the classroom. Especially quotes about reading and learning. So I scoured the "interwebs" (as my hubs says) to find my favorites. I typed them up in some cutesy fonts (thank you, Jen Jones) and pasted them on some scrapbook paper and ta-da! They are ready to go! After I laminate them, of course, because I'm a mad woman. But, getting to the point here, I posted the file for free in my store! So go get them and do the same!

Have a great weekend!

Monday Made It! 7/15/13

Hello everyone! I'm excited to share my first linky for Tara's Monday Made It over at 4th Grade Frolics.

I love looking at all the awesome and creative "made its" each week, and I'm finally joining in!

My first post is not very original, and will probably be very short. I am trying desperately to rush through my to-do list for the day in time to get a little pool time in. We'll see how that goes ;)

So after much research and blog-hopping, I finally made my very own Teacher Toolbox! CreateTeachShare is the blog that started this teacher-craze, and I loved her Q&A post. It definitely helped me through the process. Check it out here.

I will tell you this about my toolbox project, it took quite a while to get started! Not living in a huge town with you know, brand name stores besides walmart (sigh). I ordered my Stack-On 22 Drawer Bin online through Walmart.com. When you do this, you actually order it from a place called Plumstruck. Anywho. The box came in (much faster than I thought it would)....but broken :( There was a huge crack in the top, one of the corners chipped off, and one of the drawers wouldn't open. I was pretty upset! So I emailed them, and they graciously refunded my money (which was about $30 with shipping). Thankfully, this past weekend we visited my family in nearby Texarkana (the big city, you know) and I was able to head to a store and get one in person! I tried Lowe's first, but the only one they had was broken. Apparently you have to be very careful with these! Then I tried Home Depot and found tons! So I would definitely recommenced buying there in person. Just to be sure it isn't broken. And it ended up being about $17, instead of $30. So I used some of that money to buy some cute spray paint, of course!

 Note: The Stack-Ons originally come in light gray or dark blue. So if those colors match your room, or you're pressed for time, spray paint is definitely optional.

I bought Rust-Oleum Painter's Touch 2x Ultra Cover in Key Lime Gloss to match my room for about $4. Sweet!

Here is my toolbox "before"....

(please excuse my lazy, unedited iPhone pictures ;) )

And here is my toolbox after! Completed and ready to be filled!

Some notes about my toolbox experience...

I used scrapbook paper and printed off labels for my drawers, then cut them to size as I glued them. I also laminated the labels, because I'm addicted to laminating and because I thought they would be easy to change out if needed. However, it was actually a little too easy! The laminated labels really did not want to stick inside the drawers. So I had to use a lot of hot glue. Hot glue is my first instinct for any project, but if I did it again, I might research I different label method ;)

Also, make sure you're very sure (if that makes sense) about what you want each drawer to be. I ended up switching out two of mine during the process (don't look to closely at the "tape" drawer...) and it bothers me that it doesn't match completely. While the larger drawers are awesomely big, the smaller drawers really are small! Smaller than you might think. So keep that in mind when creating your labels. Don't make a small label for something that's not going to end up fitting in there...like I did! Haha.

Also, I got that scrapbook paper on sale for $10 at Hobby Lobby! Don't you love it? I've been using it for everything in my room. I love the unique-ness of the papers. You'll see it pop up again in next week's Made-It, I believe :)

So anyway, there's my toolbox! I absolutely love the way it turned out. I love organizing and I love school supplies. So you know I am going to have tons of fun filling this thing up and using it in my classroom!

Off to read some "made-its" and hopefully head to the pool while there's still time! (where is summer going??)

Have a great day! And don't forget to link up your made-it here.

July Already? { "Currently" Linky Party }

I can't believe that July is already here! I love and hate the month of July. I love it because it's summer, my wedding anniversary, my Mom's birthday, the Fourth, etc. I dislike that it's the last (*sniff sniff*) month of summer before school! But I am looking forward to spending these next weeks working hard to get my room and myself ready for my fourthies!

So this is my first link up with Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade! Love love love her blogging style. Check her out here.

 

I'll admit it...Top Gear UK is pretty funny. I can actually watch it. And it's a show about cars. Crazy, right? But right now I'm too busy catching up on the blogosphere to really watch. 

Ahhh summertime...there's nothing like it! After a crazy week of VBS, we've had a pretty great summer weekend to wind down. We went swimming with friends yesterday (did a little work on my tan ;) and had a cookout at my parent's house. Today we had church, lunch with friends, and a whole afternoon of undisturbed laziness. There's nothing better! I am looking forward to a (hopefully) less busy week filled with my doggy, swimming, and working in my classroom.

I do a lot of thinking about things I need to do. First year jitters, I suppose? I've even had dreams about school these past two nights. Time for a chill pill, perhaps?? Haha. I just have so many, many ideas and am having trouble getting the ball rolling. This busy week was a bit of a setback so hopefully I can get back on track and knock out some of my bigger projects! Like my library...any volunteers to come organize that? I spent the whole afternoon lexile-leveling -_-

Don't even listen to me. I have more than enough stuff for my room. A generous teacher before me, my kindergarten teacher mother, Hobby Lobby, and a teacher trip store have all granted me plenty of supplies. I just need to get my life together and put them up! Haha. 

This is a real need. I've had the same tub of books in my living room for two weeks now. They are all contact-papered and lexile-leveled. If only I could say the same for all the books at school? I love books. I was so happy to see that the teacher before me had left shelf after shelf of books for my kiddos. I just need to get in there and organize them! Helpppppp :)

Oh, and dinner will hopefully be happening after this post. Haha.

Tips and tricks for TPT/blogging/etc. Well, I'm obviously  no expert. BUT. I know what I like. And I like practical stuff. Well, let me rephrase that. Practical cute stuff. Stuff you can actually use. Stuff I can see working for me and my kids. Stuff I have used myself or seen used or heard about being used. You feel me? Nothing appeals to me more than seeing a product that I truly can use! Not just download and forget about.

And that's my "currently"! Head over to Farley's blog and link up your own :)

 

Five For Friday! (On Monday)

 

Like I said in my last post, I have been a little lotta out of the blogging world for the past month or so. Student teaching/spring busy-ness got pretty crazy! But I am happy to be back and sharing five things from my last week in 2nd grade.

 1. Earth Day Cupcakes! I got the idea off of Pinterest to make little edible earths for my kiddos. They loved them! Just use regular cake mix (I reccomend white) and blue and green food coloring. Layer the two together (do not mix or swirl) and bake away! I also suggest using lots of food coloring to make the colors really stand out ;)

 2. Last Day Fun! After spending most of the day performing our fairy tales puppet shows (which were awesome), my second graders teamed up with their teacher to throw a little goodbye party for me on Friday. They were so excited about surprising me. We ate ice cream and partied by watching Magic School Bus. My kinda afternoon ;)

3. My kiddos and teacher also surprised me with a basket full of teaching goodies for my classroom! It was full of stickers, posters, supplies, and other fun stuff! I am so set to get a job and get to teaching ;) Big thanks to my class for their sweet gifts, hugs, and memories. 

 4. Last Day Letters. My kids all wrote me letters for my last day. They wanted to read them to me, but I waited until I got home so I could cry in peace ;) They were so sweet and thoughtful. I resisted (somewhat) the urge to correct their spelling/grammar/letter writing skills and just cherished their adorable words.

5. Weekend Fun! After a crazy last week of school, I celebrated being done with my husband and little sister. We rented Les Miserable, ate lots of cookie dough, and spent the weekend being incredibly lazy. Perfect end to an awesome week! :)

Anddddd those are my five!

hannah

Five For Friday Linky Party...On Saturday ;)

five for friday

1. We finished up studying the continents this week in second grade. I have LOVED this unit. Seriously. When we started, the kids had no idea what the difference was between a continent and a country. And now, they know all about the world! Well sort of ;) Grab my Learning the Continents Packet and teach your littles too!

2. Antarctica. When we first started this unit, I was kind of dreading Antarctica, honestly. I saved it for last on purpose. How do you explain this place to second graders?? BUT this website saved my life, which I posted the other day: www.discoveringantarctica.org.uk. Seriously. It is a British site, so it is a little more "out there" for second grade, but the vidoes/pictures are awesome. 

3. "The Job of a Lifetime". I am SO SO SO excited about this. I was inspired by some of the activities on the website above to make this extension packet for studying Antarctica. Suddenly, I am loving the place ;) In this packet, students learn all about what it's like to be a researcher living on this frozen continent! It includes a "Do you have what it takes?" checklist, a reading passage, comprehension questions, a writing prompt/printable, and even a pretend job application to be a junior researcher! I LOVE that. They never get to fill out "grown up" forms ;) I cannot wait to do this with my kids next week! Check it out here.

4. Yesterday we had our big Easter egg hunt with the kiddos! I was kind of dreading this day...crazy second graders, candy, egg hunts, meltdowns, bus rides...seems like a bad combo, right? It's so easy to get caught up in the stress of field trips like this that I miss out on the good stuff. Like my kids playing for an hour outside...completely free of technology/screens. They were climbing trees, swinging, running- I loved just watching them play with one another. And they were being so sweet! One of the students showed up late and missed the egg hunt. Five minutes later, his basket was completely full. The kids had shared their eggs with him- without being asked or prompted to at all! I love moments like that :)

 

5. And finally, Happy Easter! The hubs and I are in Texarkana for the weekend with my fam and I am loving it! But most of all, I am loving this time to remember the true importance of Easter- what my amazing Savior did for me and you. I am so overwhelmed by His sacrifice and His never-ending love. I am so undeserving. Take time to remember that during this special weekend :)

hannah