New Decor Coming to A Classroom Near You

Well...if you live close to me that is!  HAA HAA!!

So far I have a new love seat cover that is being tie dyed with purple dye by The Math Fairy.  She is my partner in crime!!  I have my eye on a new carpet for my classroom because I figured the other one has LITERALLY seen enough blood and guts and it is time to move on.  I just need to find one cheap enough for me to afford and that will accommodate about 24 or 25 second graders.  If you know of any sites that I can look at, PLEASE leave me a link in the comment section!!

This past week I printed off and laminated my new classroom decor that incorporates all of the colors of the rainbow since the teacher that had the room before me painted the coat rack a bright green and the shelves the color of 'strawberry fields' which I translate into a hot pinkish color of red.  Very odd.  And then, the trim is all done in purple.  I was able to repaint the shelves a pretty teal color and had planned on painting the coat rack, but I just ran out of steam.  So I just gave up and I throw all of the colors together!!

We went to the hardware store today to get 3 new cinder blocks so that I can add another shelf to my classroom library.  My husband is busy painting them outside as I type right now.  At one point I had the cinder blocks wrapped with material to look like presents, but have no desire to go through that process again....so my daughter and I picked out a beautiful purple color.  I kept sending my daughter outside to take pictures of the blocks being painted with Kilz and then with the purple paint, but my husband and son just never seemed to really get started.  Men!  What do you do with them?  We finally just gave up. So, here is a picture of them ready to paint with just a smidgen of my daughter's finger.  Great eye candy, I know!

I've spent a LOT of time browsing the web looking for neat ideas....living on Pinterest.  (I'll let you in on a secret--I have 2 Pinterest addresses.  One for Best Practices and one that I am reformatting for Charts N Chit Chat and you are welcome to follow both!)  My other favorite of course, is Amazon, because if you've read any of my blog posts you know that I hate to go into stores and shop.  By the time I get done going through a store my anxiety level is up, my back and legs hurt because the Fibromyalgia, and I've usually had to wrangle a couple of kids, too.  So...Amazon, in my point of view, is the bomb!!  Here are some of the things I am looking into and remember you can always click on the pic and go read more about the products I found:

I am REALLY interested in this because my dry erase boards are REALLY scratched up and you can't erase the marker residue off of them anymore.  Does anyone have any experience with this kind of paint?  Does it work??

I love the idea of incorporating this and wish I had enough energy to try it on some cabinets at school.  I think that would be a great way to organize memos and such that I need to be able to grab on the run.

I've seen this around for years and know of teachers that repainted their chalkboards, but I had no idea that you could use it to paint on the regular wall!  Pretty cool!!

I already ordered 2 cans of this glow in the dark paint after seeing the picture on Pinterest showing the glow in the dark planters. To be honest...I am REALLY wishing I could figure out how to use the planter idea in my classroom for days when our power goes out at school <someone is always running into a transformer it seems> or just to turn the lights off and have some ambiance!!  If you have any ideas on how to incorporate some glow in the dark features, leave me a comment and let me know!

Also, just a reminder...don't forget to go by our newest collaborative blog for 2nd and 3rd grade teachers--or if you don't teach those grades, send the link to a friend.  There is a huge giveaway going on right now and there will be about a month of freebies given away, too!  You won't want to miss it.  Just click below to to check it out.

Thanks for coming by!!

Post your freebies!! Get some freebies!!

Early on in my teaching career, I knew that I wanted to be able to shape the education my students were getting through my teaching and through the teaching of others.  Developing curriculum and making games came easy to me, so I was always sharing with my co-workers and friends.


As the idea of blogging came to me, I saw it as a way to share theories, ideas, and training that I had learned, with teachers across the country.  In fact, one of my dreams was to be able to host a site in which other teachers teamed up with me to share their ideas and talents.  I am proud to say that I have been able to do that!!


In January, I began building the Best Practices 4 Teaching Freebie Site and began inviting friends of mine to help supply other teachers with free ideas, downloads, and suggestions to help improve education.  I am proud to say that I have a large team that I am able to work with and they make me so proud every time I get another email telling me that another lesson has gone out!  They are dynamic, hard working, and enthusiastic.  In fact, we are so dynamic, hard working, and enthusiastic that most of us are taking some time to gather our breaths and get posts ready for the new school year that is coming up faster than I would like to admit.


Don't fret though....there are plenty of freebies on the website, and best of all, the website is broken up into subject areas to make it easy to find the perfect lesson or idea that you need.  So feel free to go to one of the pages and browse.


I am also looking for additional writers, developers, and curriculum 'ar-teests' as my 7 year old would say that can help provide additional help to teachers.  So, if you are interested in coming aboard and becoming a member of our freebie team, feel free to go to one of the pages and click on the tab to submit your information. We could use the help...we all know that teaching is a hard job and there are those times in the year when it is just simply hard to get a post up.  So, the more team members we have, the easier and more fun it will be to get those freebies out to hardworking teachers!  So, if you are a blogger or you want to learn how to blog, come on and sign up.  Summer is the perfect time to learn something new and we are all here to help you!!


So...look below to click on a button that can take you to a page where you can join in on the fun or just download what you see....your choice!!  PLEASE share this with your co-workers and friends!!  They deserve a little help, too!

Also, I just uploaded a new Scoot game.  I love it!!!  

Enjoy!  By the way, what do you think about my new button???  Pretty snazzy, huh?

P.S.  If you are on the Best Practices Freebie Team already, please leave a comment below so that others know who you are!  We need to let everyone know how talented you are!!

To Like, Or Not to Like....That is the question! (With Freebies!)

As I sit here with my sciatic nerve misfiring <at least that is what the doctor said> and trying to keep my hip joints from rubbing, I am contemplating life.  I am realizing that there are a lot of things that I like and a lot of things that I don't like.  And, me being me, I thought I'd share them with you.  I thought about doing a Top 10 like David Letterman, but ALAS, I am no David Letterman.  So....I figured for each thing I dislike, I will also list something I do like to make it sound all positive like. LOL  It is what politicians of America do every two to four years and we barely seem to notice.  So....here goes....

1.  I DO NOT like 8 inch needles that hold Cortisone.  I found that out this afternoon while visiting the local doctor at the 'Doc in a Box'.  The doctor and his nurse were very nice....the needle wasn't.  I was told it would feel like a bee sting.  But, what I felt was like a daggum hornet taking a dive into the upper part of my bohunkus.  That is code in my classroom for 'buttocks'.  Right now my bohunkus hurts more than my leg!

OUUUUCCCCHHHH!!!

I DO like watching my daughter and son learn how to fish and I am thankful I could hobble around enough to  sit in the chair by the lake and take in all of the beauty and watch their excitement.  But, with that beauty comes mosquitoes, ants, bird droppings, and ticks.  They all caught me more than my kids caught fish!  But, those are dislikes and I am really not supposed to be listing them here.

They have been fishing for a total of 5 mintutes.  At this point, their lines ARE NOT tangled.  Didn't last for long though!

2.  I DO love my kids so much and am so thankful that God sent them to me.  I can definitely say that he knows a good fit.  I love the fact that both of my kids are caring and loving....so much so that they spent the weekend 'building' a bird nest for the 'birds in the neighborhood'.  They surrounded a hole that is being filled in from last year's tornado with cuttings from shrubs and asked for birdseed so that they could have a snack before going to sleep at night.  How much more love could I possibly have for them?

Psalm 139:14-16

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

I DO NOT like it when my children disobey.  Everything they get in trouble for has a life lesson behind it that will help them become well-rounded adults. I am really struggling to teach cause/effect to them. Also, the thoughts of them being hurt causes me to hurt.  I love them so much.

Easter 2012.  Over 7500 attended our service in the park.  Here are ours and our godchildren.

3.  I DO NOT like big scary dogs that chase the cats and scare my kids.  The big pitbull down the street has turned out to be kind of nice, but when you meet her, all you see are those big point teeth and a big sloppy tongue.  Sort of reminds me of the Big Bad Wolf.

I DO love my cat, Theodore <but we call him Teddy>, because he loves me so much.  When I am upset, he always knows, and will come and climb up into my lap to lick my arm.  And, at night, he sleeps beside me and keeps my legs warm.  Now, I love it, but my husband does not like the fact that he sleeps between us and says that I choose Teddy over him.  He may right, just a little bit.  Teddy doesn't snore!

Bless him....he kept the kids from stealing my remote!

4.  I DO NOT like the fact that there are parents all around who mistreat their children and do not take care of them properly.  I know of one family where the mother went to school to be a medical assistant but has been unable to find a job.  But, she never takes her children to the doctor.  And, if someone in the family takes them to the doctor, she never gives them their medicine.  Something is incredibly wrong there.

I DO, however, love that teaching allows me to help those children make the most of their lives.  Nuff said or I will start blubbering all over my keyboard.

5.  I LOVE my Whiteboard...I don't know how I taught without it!  I love the annotated part which allows me to write over documents which saves me oodles of copies!

I DO NOT, however, like the crazy stove back splash thingy that the system installed as a white board.  I can't get it clean!!!!

6.  I LOVE Teachers Pay Teachers because it allows me to actually do something with my knowledge of curriculum and my creative side.  I've enjoyed learning software and 'meeting' the other bloggers that I work with  It is a true learning process!  It also helps me build up my kids' college fund.  Without TpT, they could quite possible go to the School of Hard Knocks when they graduate!  Even the sales from the Amazon widgets on my site go to their college fund.  I also like my freebie website because I now it helps teachers!! I also have to say that I love my pinning group on Facebook!  Bloggers unite to take over Pinterest!!

I DO NOT love my blogging disorganization.  I can't seem to figure out what I should do and when I should do it.  I just can't fit it all in and pop out the freebies that I want to pop out.  =(.

7.  I LOVE this blog post at Mrs. Miner's Monkey Business.  It is FULL of Best Practices and I think you really should check it out!  I know it is Kindergarten and I have admitted before that Kindergarten isn't my thing, but I know good stuff when I see it!  You could pin for hours from this website!!

I Do Not like that fact that I don't have enough time to read all of her posts!

The post highlighted here was written by Marsha Moffat from A Differentiated Kindergarten.

8.  I DO NOT like feathered, flying fowl of any kind.  I know some of you may like chickens, geese, ducks, etc., but I do not like them.  I think they can smell fear!  My fear started when I was two.  It is one of the only memories I have of my grandmother who died that September.  I had gone with her to the chicken coop and this BIG HORRIBLY MEAN ROOSTER pecked my knees.  My grandmother wore what my mama has always called 'circle tail' skirts....just like June Cleaver.  I can remember running to hide underneath her apron and when that wasn't enough I just lifted up her skirt and dove to try to hide from that rooster.
When I was a teenager, our neighbors went out of town and asked my brother and I to feed their chickens.  I said I would because I liked the sound of the money.  I was so scared that I DROVE the whole 300 feet down their driveway so that I would not have to walk straight into that gang of chickens.  I got out of my car, and sure enough, here came the rooster.  I ran back to my car and shut the door right as that BIG HORRIBLY MEAN ROOSTER flew up to the hood of my car and looked at me through the windshield!  I blew my horn.  I think he had a heart attack.  I'm not really sure because I was flying back down that drive way to get away.
That brings me to my latest encounter with fowl, yesterday while my kid were fishing at the lake.  It started out pleasant enough with them swimming by and all leisurely.
Then, of course, they sensed my fear and out they marched over to me.  It is like I am a magnet  for miscreant fowl!!  Below is a picture of the CHICKEN DUCK who kept walking toward me.  My husband was laughing at me because he could see the panic in my eyes.  Maybe this is pay for the time I stole a Canadian Goose from the riverbank to get 100 points in a scavenger hunt in high school???  All it takes is a loaf of bread and a nice big box.  They walk right in.  Not my fault that the goose climbed into my box and it mistakenly got put into the back seat of my car.  By the way, DO NOT try to do that.  It costs $500 and they can impound your car. For REAL!!  By the But, if they know that your dad knows the County Commissioner, you might get off a little easy.  My father didn't know that I had been in trouble for that until I was ready to graduate from college!  Just so you know, it is hard to deny to the police that there is a Goose in the box when the goose honks and sticks its beak out for fresh air!  Honestly, no geese were hurt.  It was returned to the riverbank where it waddled down to the water and swam away and was never seen or heard from ever again.  We all lived happily ever after.

Doing their own thing....and then they came in for the kill.

Yes folks, this is a chicken duck.

I DO love Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Hughey, Dewey, and Louie,  Hughey Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn, Baby Hughey, Scrooge McDuck, Ludwig Von Drake, doing the chicken dance, Tweety Bird, Woody Woodpecker, the Road Runner, Woodstock, Camilla from the Muppets, and Kentucky Fried Chicken.  I truly love them all.  I am not a hater!

Nice girl, but she is about as sharp as a sack of wet mice.--F.L.

Well....it took me a while, but I got to number 8.  I thought about a number 9, but I got to laughing about the goose incident and forgot what it was.  My daughter is correct.....I am getting old!  Guess there won't be a Top 10 After all.  But......let me think a minute.....How about 2 or 3 freebies that I love????  Will that count???  Enjoy!

Here is a couple more of the behavior punch card that I am using now that Spring has sprung and I need a little more 'ummph' in my behavior plan.  I hole punch these at the top and the kids put them on yarn or cording <according to whatever I have>.  At random times through the day I will  punch the cards of students that are working hard or following directions.  You could also mark them out with a marker.  When they get all 10 <or in the case of the bees 12> pictures punched, they can get into the treat box.  Some weeks some students will finish the card by Thursday and they can start a new card, but it must have all of its punches for them to get back into the treat box.

Enjoy!!