I've Hit 100 Blog Followers! Time to CELEBRATE!

          Happy 100 blog followers to muah! Yes, I finally made it to the 3-digit mark and boy does it feel good! To celebrate, I am having a 50% off everything SALE in my TpT and TN stores! Yup, you read it right, 50% OFF! You can't get a better deal than that unless you were shopping at Kohl's (which I love)! This sale starts NOW and ends Friday! If you have had your eye on something in my store then now is the time to clear out your cart! My Nonfiction Animal Reading Passages which are regularly $14 are now at a slim $7! My There's No Place Like Space cross-curricular 169 page unit is down to $6! (You can't even get a Big Mac meal at Mickey D's for that!) Hehe! ;-) Also, be sure to check out my Instagram to enter the giveaway that I am having as part 2 of my 100 blog followers celebration. My username is meetmissparker if you are new to the Instagram world! All you have to do is like the pic (same as the one above) in order to enter! I love giveaways and am loving all the reasons to throw them!   

            Well, either way, all jokes aside, I just want to say how amazingly thankful I am for all of you! I have really learned so much from each and every blogger and pinner. You have really shaped me as a new, up and coming educator! Having started on this social media and lesson plan/resource selling journey, I can honestly say I have learned more than I could have ever imagined! I mean, who would have thought that I could turn a plain silver pizza tray into a memo board, or that you can save a whole lot of time and patience by hot-gluing pom balls to the end of white board markers (still love that one). Those are just two of the hundreds of amazing things I learned! I just look forward to the future as I gain more and more knowledge from you awesome educators! I think I am really starting my teaching journey off right having entered the online teaching life and I am very thankful! Well, everyone have a great night and smile because tomorrow is already Thursday! Woohoo! Another weekend is already close! Talk to you all soon! ;-)  

        

Pizza Tray Gone Memo Board!!!

         

          Ok, so it all started when I went into the Dollar Tree (my favorite place if you haven't figured that one out yet), and was looking around for anything and everything, when I turned down the house item aisle and saw a pizza tray. Now, while some of you might see a pizza tray and think of it as simply a pizza tray, I looked at it and it screamed craft! Having spent many, many hours on Pinterest lately, I was inspired to turn this ordinary pizza tray into something useful! So, after a trip to Michael's for spray paint, I got to work on making myself a new memo board!

 

 

Here is what you will need:

1. 1 pizza tray (Check your local dollar store for the best bargain!)
2. Painters Tape
3. Scotch-Brite pad
4. Spray Paint (2 colors, I used Krylon semi-gloss enamel spray paint)
5. Elmer's Super Glue ($3 at Wal-Mart)
6. Ribbon (Don't overpay for ribbon! Look at Wal-Mart for a great deal!)
7. Small Magnets

 

          First things first, I used a Scotch-Brite pad (can be purchased at Home Depot) to rough the surface of the pizza tray and help the spray paint stick. Simply rub the pad all over the pizza tray and then wipe clean after.

 

 

 

          You are now ready to spray paint. I purchased Krylon brand semi-gloss enamel spray paint in white and black from Michael's. It can also be found at Wal-Mart and actually for a bit cheaper too (I found that out after the fact :-( ) I spray painted the pizza tray in coats so that the paint didn't bubble or take long to dry. Lightly spray a thin first coat that just tints the silver tray to white. After 10 minutes you can spray again. Continue this process until your tray has completely turned to white! Just like this...

 

 

 

          After letting the pizza tray dry overnight you can begin the taping! Depending on the pattern you want to do, this part can be easy or a bit more tricky. I decided to do my fav pattern, chevron! This wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. I simply used a pencil to organize my tape lines and VIOLA chevron pattern!

 

 

          Before starting the spray painting of the black paint, be sure that your painters tape is pressed firmly down! Spray paint the black the same way you did the white paint. Coat it until it is completely black! After about 45 minutes you can start peeling back the tape. Peel slowly!!!

 

 

 

 

          Here comes the fun part! You now get to assemble your memo board! Take your ribbon spool and cut a piece your desired length (I cut mine about 2 feet long). Flip your pizza tray over and apply two large spots of Elmer's super glue to the back of the tray. Place the ribbon over the spots and press flat. Let the ribbon dry to the glue for a couple hours to be sure it is dry. Once dry, grab yourself some small magnets and start hanging your notes and photos!

 

 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions! Now go ahead and start creating your memo board! ;-)

 

End of the Year Extravaganza GIVEAWAY!!!

 

          Yay!!! It is giveaway time! Giveaways are so fun and they become oh so much better when you do them with someone else. I have teamed up with the awesome Deirdre from A Burst of First for a giveaway full of amazing resources to get you through the end of the year and prepped for next year! (I wish I could win myself!) Check out all of the amazing contributions we received for this giveaway! A HUGE thank you to all of the teachers that donated! We couldn't have done it without you!

1.  Apple Pocket Math Cards by Sallie Borink
2. Writing Prompt Collection by Bex Mawn at Reading and Writing Redhead
3. Summer Math Centers (Common Core) by Tiffany Teaches
4. Last Day Blues (A Common Core Book Study) by Jenn Holley at 2nd Grade Snickerdoodles
5. I Conquered Kindergarten by Heart2Teach
6. End of Year Gift: Summer Journal by Jenn Meighan at the The Teacher Gene
7. PigPen Code Breakers- End of Year Activity by Amber Haslag at Sparkles Smiles and Successful Students
8. 3 Digit Addition Task Cards with Regrouping by Lacey Ridley at The Fabulous Life of an Elementary Teacher
9. Surfin' Into Summer by Karen Jones at Mrs. Jones' Kindergarten
10. Stayin' Sharp in the Sunshine by Molly Lynch at Lucky to be in First
11. End of the Year Printable Scrapbook Project by Christine Cadalzo at Making Meaning
12. Lemonade Craftivity by Jen Lium at Teaching in the Tongass
13. Helping Hands by Becca Foxwell at Foxwell Forest
14. Back To School Sentence Scrambles by Katie at KTP on TPT
15. Super Sight Words! by Kayla Parker at Meet Miss Parker
16. Happy Summer by Deirdre Eldredge at A Burst of First

          There will be 3 lucky winners who will receive all 16 of these products! Yes, 3!!! Be sure to get your entries in over at A Burst of First! I can't wait to see who the lucky winners are! Crossing my fingers for you all! ;-) Happy giveaway!

I LOVE Sight Words!

I can officially say the end of the year is feeling close now! Today was my last instructional day of the after school program! Our official last day is Thursday and we are having a pizza party. Of course it has to be right when I decide to start eating healthy (I have said that before though!). Well, with the after school program coming to an end I had to go out with a BANG! They worked so hard for months on end and have learned so much! I am so proud of them! They deserved the extra fun this week! Check out what we did!

 

 

We played SIGHT WORD MUSICAL SPOTS, yes musical spots! I purchased these flower cut-outs from Michael's for $2.99 (plus the 15% teacher discount that I never knew we got! Ahh!). So, here is how you play...

 

• It is played much like musical chairs, but in a less, well, aggressive way! We all know how intense musical chairs can get sometimes. Anyways, the amount of spots or flowers you need depends on the amount of students in your group. My after school group only has 8 so I needed 28 flowers. I wrote "about" on 7 flowers, "any" on 6 flowers, "every" on 5 flowers, "just" on 4 flowers, "our" on 3 flowers, "could" on 2 flowers, and lastly, "then" on 1. This made it so one student got out each round. The students were very great sports about getting out! I just let them help me control my Pandora radio and call out the next word!
• I randomly laid out the flower spots all over the classroom floor. Like this...

• I played the music and the students began dancing around the room! They loved this part and the fact that I had Alvin & the Chipmunks on my phone!

 

• When the music stopped I called out the words in order (about, any, every, just, our, could, then). This way one student got out each round. As a variation, you could do enough of the same word so that no one gets out, however, the students enjoyed the excitement of the elimination.

 

The kiddos had soooo much fun! It was a great last day!

 

 

As for other fun, our group did sight word discovery bottles with glow-in-the-dark rice! OMG, it was a BLAST!!! Check out the pics!

 

 

I got white rice from Wal-Mart for $3.50 for 5lbs of rice. One bag was plenty to make 8 discovery bottles. I purchased glow-in-the-dark paint and simply mixed each color with some of the rice. I found that using zip-loc baggies was nearly mess free! I added a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol to each color bag to help the paint dry faster. After letting the baggies sit and dry overnight (with zip-loc open), I mixed all the colors together in one bowl. Lastly, let the rice charge in the sun and then there you have it, glow-in-the-dark rice!

 

 

 

After making the rice, I purchased glow sticks from the Dollar Tree (15 for $1) and added one stick to each water bottle. Then I filled each water bottle with 3 sight words (Be sure they are double-sided so they can be read regardless of which way they are shaken.). Fill the rice about 3/4 of the way full to allow the rice to move around the water bottle.

 

Let me just tell you, the students LOVED this! The students had to find the 3 words in his/her bottle and use the words in sentences before getting a new bottle. The children were so motivated and wrote some great sentences using their words! You better believe I saved that rice too! I plan on doing this activity again sometime!

 

Even with the lights off, the glow was enough to see the words. Being that the classroom isn't pitch black, it was perfect! I HIGHLY recommend a black light if you can get one! The rice glows so much more with the black light. I know you are probably thinking who really has a black light lying around?! Well, you probably don't! But, no worries because a black light can be purchased for a cheap $11 at Wal-Mart!

 

Okay, okay, I have rambled enough! I hope I didn't overwhelm you too much?! Either way, thanks so much for stopping by! I have some more exciting things to share with you tomorrow! I can't wait! Talk to you all soon! ;-)

 

20% OFF END OF THE YEAR SALE, Bargain Shopping & Teacher Budget Creations!

          Time is ticking and the countdowns have begun! Most of you have less than two weeks left! Good for you!! Up north we are in school until June 25th! I am already thinking about next year, job applications, resumes, School Spring, and Teachers Pay Teachers! I am crossing my fingers and hoping for a full-time job for the fall! Rhode Island is just such a tight market! I can’t complain though, I graduated college last May and haven’t been looking too long compared to most subs here. Many will sub for 3 and 4 years before getting a full-time job! I just tell myself when it is meant to be it will happen.

 

          So, in my little bit (yes, little) of down time, I have been bargain shopping (you all know I am great at that!) and getting creative! I might have been watching a little too much of HGTV’s Design on a Dime and Flea Market Flip (guilty). Either way, I have found the best bargains lately and I would love to share them with you!



          I finally got off the island the other day and did some shopping! While my intention was to get new spring clothes, I couldn’t resist stopping by Savers. OH MY GOSH, I love Savers! Basically, Savers is a chain store that takes donations of all kinds from local people and resells them. When I go in I go for the children’s books! They have like new and slightly used books for .69 cents! Yes, so darn cheap! Not only that, but for every 4 books you buy the 5th is free! Take a look at the books I rummaged through and found!



 

I got 30 books for $17.72! Can you say a steal?!

          Also, I love the Dollar Tree! I mean, who doesn’t?! I pretty much go in weekly to hunt around. This time I came across foam dice at 2 for $1! Bye bye loud dice, hello foam dice! I bought 18 of them because I couldn’t resist. All of these shopping deals has my spare bedroom filling up with random teaching stuff! Hey, well at least I can say I will be somewhat ready for when my full-time job comes around!

 

I am so happy I found these foam dice!

  

          When I went Dollar Tree hunting I also came across some clipboards. Yes, ugly, boring, brown clipboards. Well, the teacher in me inspired me to doll them up! So a trip to Michael’s and about 30 minutes later, I had a new clipboard that is just perfect for me! I LOVE it! I think clipboard making is my new obsession! Check it out!

 

 

 

 I LOVE how the clipboard came out!

 

          Well, last but not least, I wanted to let everyone know about my END OF THE YEAR SALE!!! Everything in my store is 20% off from now through Saturday! If you need anything to get you through the end of your year or something you might need for next year, be sure to swing by my TpT store! Thanks everyone for stopping by!

100 Follower Insta-Giveaway & Happy Mother's Day!!!

 

          Happy Mother’s Day to all you wonderful mommas out there! If you are anything like my mom, you are an amazing mother who deserves nothing but the best on your special day! I hope you are all being spoiled! I spoiled my mom with some gift cards and a little trip to the nail salon! She loved the gifts! As for the Mother’s Day plans, I think the typical going out to eat is in order. Fine with me though because I can’t cook to save my life! (I have mastered pasta though). Either way, I am looking forward to a nice meal out! Between blogging, instagraming, Teachers Pay Teachers and just day to day craziness, I haven’t done much of “meals” lately. I can’t wait to just spend the quality time with my mom and family! I hope all of you are enjoying your Mother’s Day just the same!

 

 

Here is a picture of my sister and me with our beautiful mom!

 

 

 

          In other news, I have reached 100 followers on Instagram! Woohoo! In celebration of my 100 followers, I am having an Instagram exclusive giveaway! Follow me @meetmissparker to enter! I am looking forward to seeing how this goes! The lucky winner will get to pick a product of their choice from my TpT store! Crossing my fingers for you all!

SALE! SALE! SALE! Woohoo! Teacher Appreciation Time!!! Who's Ready?!

Thank you to Graphics From the Pond

          Yay!!! Teacher Appreciation Sale starts tomorrow! I am so excited about the site-wide sale! I have been looking through my wishlist and counting down the hours (yes, hours) until the sale starts! This sale is very important to all of us teachers because it is recognizing all our hard work! To show just how much I appreciate all of you, I am participating in the sale and ALL of my items in my store are 20% off! TpT will also be giving a discount using the code TAD13. Be sure to enter the code for a total discount of 28% off my store!

 

          Also, I wanted to fill you in on my Instagram adventures so far. I am pretty much obsessed! All day my friends were telling me I was talking in hashtag and not using complete sentences haha! I can’t help it! Instagram has taken over me! I am constantly thinking about different ideas and lessons and just random day to day adventures that I want to share with everyone. It is so fun to see other ideas from the teachers that I follow too! You can follow me @ meetmissparker. I would love to follow you back also! I swear without social media and TpT where would we all be?

 

           Well, now that I have rambled on enough, I am off to add more items to my TpT wishlist and get ready for tomorrow. It is going to be so hard to concentrate tomorrow in school because I am going to be so tempted to check my phone for cha-chings! I swear I am going to be having TpT dreams tonight! #Imightneedanintervention

 

 

Thanks everyone for stopping by! Happy sales! ;-)

Instagram....Here I Come!

Just when I thought I was all caught up with social media.....NO, WRONG! Instagram here I come! I just registered for my new account and I am really excited! I only have 8 photos and 6 followers, but hey it is a start! So far, I am LOVING instagram! It is so fun to share pics with other teachers and look at their ideas too! I especially like instagram because of the ease and convenience of it all! I find that it is so hard sometimes to find the time to sit and write a blog post, so instagram is pretty much my new best friend!

 

My username is meetmissparker.

 I look forward to sharing pics with all of you! I will be sharing teaching ideas, activities, new products, exclusive giveaways for instagram only, and random pictures that I just feel like sharing! Please leave your username if you instagram! I would love to follow you too! ;-)

I am sorry for the short post, but I am out to enjoy this Saturday sun! Hope everyone is having an amazing weekend!



Kayla