Giveaway Party!

Brinca Into Bilingual is hosting an awesome giveaway! There are tons of different prizes available. I totally wish I could enter this one, because me-oh-my are there some great items to be won! Make sure you enter--you have until Tuesday, September 22nd!

(Also, you'll notice my Science Tool Exploration packet can be found in the 2-3 English bundle!)

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!

ALL GIVEAWAYS WILL RUN FROM SATURDAY 19TH (6AM CT) UNTIL TUESDAY 22ND (12AM CT)


Mrs. Nicolau is giving away TWO DIFFERENT items of your choice!
Here are your choices (click on the link to see the dimensions and more details):

Let's giveaway a gift card!! Enter the Rafflecopter for a chance to win a $25 TPT Giftcard! Remember the more entries you have, the more changes you have to win!!!









While we are throwing the house out the window, let's also celebrate with a $21.00 gift card from the AMAZING Melonheadz!

Last, but definitely not least! I have many blog friends that have joined me to celebrate this amazing event! They have all joined me to giveaway bundles by grades!!!

The first bundle is for our Bilingual teachers!

Next is the K-1 Bundle in English!

Last is our 2-3 Grades Bundle in English!

Are you excited enough?! We sure hope so! Stop by Mrs. Nicolau's blog to enter on all these great prizes!!!

While you are there, drop a note to her. She LOVES hearing from her readers! :)

Click on Brinca into Bilingual

#2getherwearebetter CLASSROOM REVEAL!

I am SO excited to show off my classroom in this awesome link-up with Ashley from Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd & Angie from Lucky Little Learners! 

 I am in the third week of school, and I have not posted once since school started. I've been working like crazy in my classroom and working even more when I get home. Writing a blog post got pushed to the back of my priority list these past few weeks! I always seem to forget how exhausting the first few weeks are. We all know that feeling--- #teachertired! So, I can't wait any longer--here's my room for the 2015-2016 school year! 

Inspirational poster set from Hope King's Dare To Inspire Subway Art Set.

Pennant Flags by Amy Groesbeck, Editable Subject Banner

 I made these poms this year and just LOVE how they turned out! 

Book Bin Labels by Learning in Wonderland, Label It! Set

I can't remember where I got the visual directions from--please comment if you know who made these so I can give them credit! 

Schedule Cards Freebie! by Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd

And there you have it, my classroom of the 2015-2016 school year! 

When You Don't Have Bulletin Boards--Fake 'Em!

I love my classroom for lots and lots of reasons. It is huge, it has a bathroom, I have an awesome amount of cubby space for my library. I could go on and on. However, my biggest complaint is that my classroom lacks easily usable wall space. I have two small bulletin boards at the front of the room, and that's it! The rest of the walls are ugly, white, and cinder block.

I'm pretty convinced that the people who decided to create classrooms with these walls and without any bulletin boards thought to themselves, "Let's make teachers crazy by giving them rock solid walls that everything falls off of once the AC turns off for the night and the South Florida humidity kicks in!" I was that teacher going crazy--putting up displays, student work, or anchor charts, only to find it on the floor in the morning when I returned. I'd stick it back up just to fall off again that night. Pause, rewind, repeat. For 3 years in a row. IN.SANE.

But this year, I decided to beat the system and create displays that actually stay put! It adds functionality to my room since I can finally hang my anchor charts without them toppling down hours later and it makes my room look a whole heck of a lot better!

Check it out below:

Interested in doing this in your room? Here's the steps below.

 Only tape the top of the paper at this point, you want the bottom unattached at this point. Don't worry too much about taping the paper up perfectly. You will be perfecting it later.

Use painters tape--this stuff sticks the best but comes off easily! I did this while the paper was still taped to the wall. I literally pulled the bottom of the paper up from the the bottom, got underneath with my tape in hand, and placed the tape along the perimeter (using the paper as a guide). Anywhere you tape is where you will be hot gluing, so make sure you put it in all places you think need to be glued tightly.

Also, notice the strips of tape on the inside of the perimeter. I knew that I was going to add clothespins for hanging my anchor charts in that area, so I wanted to add some hot glue there for reinforcement

 I start by hot gluing on top of the the top edge. Then I slowly work my way down the sides, a little at a time and making sure the paper is flat as I go. (Don't forget about any tape inside the perimeter!) Once the top and sides are glued, I glue the bottom edge.

 This part is easy, but make sure you are careful hot gluing the borders down--it is a pain to try to pull the borders off of the butcher paper if you make any mistakes!

I glued clothespins at the top of the bulletin so that I can easily add and remove work from the wall. Since it is cinder block behind the 'bulletin' I can't actually staple anything to them. In my 'after' picture up top, I actually have clothespins hidden behind the bunting so that I can hang anchor charts, you just can't see them! I suppose you could also add command hooks, but you'd have to make sure that the paper is hot glued down anywhere you planned to use them.

And voila! In 5 steps you can have faux bulletin boards, too!

Setting Goals!

I feel like I always have a trillion things on my to-do list. I'm constantly writing new ideas and tasks down on any kind of paper I can get my hands on at the moment (read: sticky notes, scraps of paper, napkins, etc). I realized that more often than not, I misplace these scraps of paper and won't find them until later, usually too late to need them any more. So I decided to do something about it and and create a system of note taking and goal-setting that works wonders for me!

I created a system of Goal-Setting. At the beginning of each month I create a list of my 'Monthly Goals.' I include everything from personal goals, TPT product goals, and school tasks. Any and everything I can think of goes on the list. I will come back to it and add more throughout the month, if needed.

At the beginning of each week, I pull back out my Monthly Goal list. I choose 4-6 monthly goals and add them to my Weekly Goals list. I then create my Daily Top 3 list. I try to include 1 Weekly Goal in my Top 3, and then 2 smaller tasks that have to be done that may not be on my big to-do list (usually household chores!)

Every day, I check in to my Daily Top 3 and complete each task. When they are completed I check them off. This is the best part--I check it off in my Top 3, Weekly Goal list, and in my Monthly Goal list. Talk about feeling productive! 

I'm telling you, these have been a huge help in my sanity and productivity! I have these Goal Setting Organization templates for FREE in my TPT Store. I'd love for you to grab it and hopefully find it as useful as I do! 

Leave a comment letting me know any tips or tricks you may have in keeping up with your goals, or staying productive! 

How Did I End Up Here?

For quite a while I have immersed myself in the world of teacher collaboration. I've loved following the blogs of teachers, spent hours scrolling through Teachers Pay Teachers, and following the Instagram pages of other teachers. I loved getting to peek into other classrooms and would get inspired by the creativity of the teachers who ran them. All of these online collaborative sites encouraged me to create materials for my classroom. Then, I started posting a few of these materials in my own Teacher Pay Teachers store. I figured if I am making them for myself, I may as well put it up for others. And that's where my teacher collaboration ended.

And then....

Enter periscope:

Graphic Created by Glitter Meets Glue

All of these amazing teachers that I followed through IG, TPT, and blog-world were now live broadcasting themselves in a format where anyone following can interact through comments and hearts. And I was just taken in by the possibilities of the whole thing. So, I was inspired to create my own Instagram (separate from my personal use IG). Immediately I began to feel connected to other educators with the same philosophies as me. What a cool feeling!

And then something crazy happened...

Little, shy, scared me decided to do my own broadcast. It was TERRIFYING. I had no idea if anyone would watch, what they would think, and really what I would say. But I did it. And the feedback I got was in-cred-i-ble! Never before in my life have I so quickly felt connected to others in a way that was so genuine and real.

I realized there are so many teachers like me--new to the TPT, blogging, collaborative world. Wanting to dive in, but not sure how. And suddenly, there became this whole small-fish movement of small time teachers like me wanting to fully immerse themselves into the teacher-collaboration-world. There were so many in support of this idea, big fish, small fish, and everything in between--Christina from Hanging Around in Primary, Angie from Lucky Little Learners, and Janice (@1islandlover on periscope) are just a few who hopped right on board. Then Katie from Pop into Primary created the picture below,  and I was hooked (pun fully intended)!

Which brings me here. Blogging. Another time that I am jumping into something new (and maybe a little overwhelming and scary), but I know I'm surrounded by this wonderful school of people (fish of all sizes) and couldn't be more excited!

A quick Introduction

Hello!

My name is Erica. I am second grade teacher from south florida. I love everything about 2nd grade--the cute missing teeth smiles, the amazing growth they make throughout the year (physically and academically), and the jokes they make up--gosh, don't you just love kid jokes?! (My personal favorite: "What do you call a vampire in the oven? A vam-pie!" I mean, c'mon it's just so ridiculous you have to laugh!)

I am married to my high school sweetheart, Justin. We met at 13 years old and started dating when we were 15. Justin is my absolute best friend and I am so lucky to share so many life experiences with him. At this point we've known each other for over half our lives. Crazy, right? Though we don't have kids, we do have a big baby, Logan. He's a rescue mutt and spoiled rotten.

This is my first attempt to enter the blogging world--so please bare with my not so pretty blog. I've got lots to learn!