Classroom Reveal 2103

Phew! I can't believe how fast this week has gone. I am in full-on classroom readiness mode. Like everyone else, we have had all kinds of Professional Development this week. I am pretty much done with my classroom so I figured I would link up with Courtney from Swimming into Second and Jessica from Tales from a First Grade Teacher to show you my room.

If you follow me on Instagram @msrichardssmusings you have already seen most of these pictures.

Numbers, Bucket Fillers, coat hooks

From my kidney table

"Carpet" area. I hate this rug but it will have to work for now.

Classroom Library

Reading Genre Posters

Teacher area

Small Group

I still need to find a spot to put the objectives. Any suggestions?

It's a S-A-L-E!!!

Hey all!

I writing this quick post just to give you a friendly reminder of the humongous sale that is going on over at Teachers Pay Teachers today and tomorrow. I have spend the last hour and a half checking out all the wonderful discounted products. I can't wait to see what everyone brought.

I will post classroom pictures tomorrow. I promise. I have a couple more things to put away and then I am ready to go. Whoop whoop!

Don't forget to leave feedback on products you buy so you can get all the additional discounts. Happy shopping!

What's On Your TpT Wishlist?

Hey all!

It's that time of year again for Teachers Pay Teacher's Back to School Sale. I can't believe how fast summer went this year. Phew! My room is about 85% done. Whoop whoop!

I just found this linky today. I thought it would be perfect in preparation for the TpT Sale Sunday and Monday. All you have to do is link up with 2 products from your store and 1 product on YOUR wishlist.

1. My most wishlist-ed item is my Measure Madness. I love this unit because it has a variety of activities for the students to do that will get them up and moving. Including...racing marbles down a ramp made from toilet paper, paper towel, and wrapping paper rolls. How fun is that? It is one of my student's favorite activities.

Another activity where student measure how far their cars go.

Click the picture to go to my store.

2. The next product is my 2-D and 3-D Shape book. This book acts as a great way to introduce 2-D and 3-D shapes. Students will be able to draw each shape, as well as, identifying attributes of each shape. The book can be used for review through your shapes unit.

3. Now it's my turn. I swear my wishlist is pages and pages long. The one product that I can't wait to have is...

Interactive Vocabulary Notebook by Abby Mullins. Doesn't this look amazing? It looks perfect for helping my students with new words.

I will also have my store on sale on Sunday and Monday. Don't forget to get your wishlists ready.

Back to School Exchange

Good Morning!

A couple of weeks ago I participated in a Back to School Exchange hosted by Jessica from Covered in Glitter and Glue and Katie from Adventures of Ms. Smith.

I was given the task of buying some gifts for Tania at My Second Sense that would welcome my buddy blogger back to school.  I was so excited to pack her box with lots of goodies she would need for back to school. Take a look...

Then it finally happened! Yesterday I received my care package. I was so excited to open it up. I can't remember the last time that I have gotten something in the mail that wasn't a bill.

I got all kinds of goodies that I can't wait to use in my classroom. I buy a new set of pens every school year so I was really excited when I saw this new set. Tania also customized some giant colorful binder clips for me. (I forget to take a picture of them before I took them to school.) Hopefully those will help me keep my stacks of paper together.

I really enjoyed participating with this exchange. Don't forget to take a look at everyone else's packages.

Let's Talk About Me: Meet the Teacher

Hey all!

I am linking up with Blog Hoppin' for Teacher Week 2013. I am so excited to be participating this year. This is my first time joining in.

Today the topic is all about ME! Don't forget to link up with Blog Hoppin to read all about your favorite bloggers. I am loving reading all about the people behind the blogs I love so much.

1. I grew up in the wonderful state of Washington and I have lived here most of my live. Until I made the random decision to fly 3,000 miles across the United States to go to college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. (Random, right?) In my  defense, I was 18 and my boyfriend at the time was moving to Washington DC for college. Oh the decision we make when were young and in love. Haha

UMass Amherst

Where I live now.

2. While I was in Massachusetts, I met one of my really good friends. We actually ended up being roommates while we were going to school. She is also the reason why I am a fan of the Patriots and Red Sox. Let me tell you, my boyfriend is already grumbling about what football games we will be watching this fall.

Katie and I. 

3. My entire family is HUGE Seattle Sounders fans. We go to as many games as we can and watch all the away games on TV. During soccer season, our weekends are spent with 60,000 other Sounders fans. It makes for a really great time.

My family before the game.

Can you see me? Haha

4. This is only my 4th year of teaching. All my teaching has been in 2nd grade. I spent a year subbing before I was able to get my own classroom.

5. Speaking of my first teaching position....my 1st 2 years of teaching was in Forks, WA. For you Twilight fans, I did not see Edward or Jacob. However, I did see hundreds of people looking for them.

Forks, WA

6. I have the best boyfriend in the world. While life is crazy with school he never looses his cool. It is really nice to have someone that is not fazed by all the craziness.

Don't mind my half open eyes.

7. I am really close with my family. We always have so much fun together. Which was a great thing when I was with them 24 hours for 2 weeks when we were in Europe.

Goofing off

8. I love reading mindless books to help me unwind. The cheesier (is that a word?) the better. After reading so many educational books for my Master's degree, it was really nice reading books where I didn't have to analysis every word and subtext.

One of my favorite books. Too bad the movie was awful!

9. I have a Bucket List of Things I Want to Do Before I die. I have had it for almost 10 years. I keep adding and crossing off things from my list. I think I have over 200 things on there. It has really random things on it like living in a different country to renting a house boat. (Random, right?) A couple of years ago I crossed off skydiving. I was glad I did it but I don't have any desire to do it again.

10. Last but not least, I love to cook. My wonderful boyfriend has been doing most of the cooking lately but I love getting in there to make different recipes that caught my eye on Pinterest. I think my food board and my educational boards have the same amount of pins in them. Haha

That's it for me. I hope you enjoyed reading my post. Don't forget to check out all the other wonderful bloggers out there at Blog Hoppin today and the rest of the week.

Five for Friday--August 8

Hey all! I can't believe it is already August 8th! The summer needs to s...l....o...w down big time. I know some of you are already in school which is what really kicked up my stress and anxiety because that means I only have a few short weeks left. Thankfully I have not had of nightmares yet, but I know they are coming soon. (Sorry for my short freak out.)

In happier news I am linking up with Kacey at Doodle Bugs Teaching for her weekly Five for Friday.

1. This week I had my first training of the summer. All in all it was pretty interesting. My district is jumping all the way into the common core this next year. This training was supposed to help us teach students to analysis more complex text.

2. Did you get into Target to get this sweet deal? One of my co-workers told me about this deal. So I rushed into Target and bought a binder for all of my students. $.99 per binder! I have NEVER seen binders that cheap. I think the sale is on for a couple of more days if you haven't checked it out.

I will be using these binders as an organizational tool for my students. I absolutely hate those backpacks that are stuffed to the brim with papers. I'm hoping this will help to prevent this. (Fingers crossed.) Becca from Simply 2nd Resources has a wonderful blog post about how she organizes her binders.

Becca's, from Simply 2nd Resources, binders

3. Did you know I have a Facebook page? I recent added a couple of freebies on my Facebook page for people that like my page. If you are wondering how to set up your freebie button on your Facebook, The School Supply Addict Ashley Hughes has a great how-to video.

4. I made these adorable classroom job cards. They have chevron with the chalk font. I painstakingly printed, cut them apart, and laminated them only to find that I did not consider how big they would be.

I was planning on attaching the cards with a ribbon and hanging them on the wall like this post I found on Pinterest. Now it's back to the drawing board. (Ahh I hate when that happens.)



5. I am participating with Polka Dot Kinders for her 400 follower giveaway. Head on over there for the chance to win some pretty awesome prizes.

Also, the lovely Lacey from The Fabulous Life of an Elementary Teacher also has a humongous giveaway going on right now. She just posted her very first blog post and giveaway on her brand new blog. Head on over to send her some love and welcome her to the blogging world.

Enjoy your last couple of days, weeks, hours before school starts.