Celebrating 1000 downloads!

So I finally finished the editable expansion pack for my Teacher Binder FREEBIE!  It includes common core standards checklist journals for first grade reading and math, editable binder pages (divider pages, roster, schedule) and reproducibles for meeting notes, student information, and parent contact.

To celebrate my first 1000 downloads (YAY!!!!) on TPT I'm listing this product on sale at 20% off!  Let me know what you guys think and what you would like to see next!

You can view it here (preview available): http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Editable-Teacher-Binder-expansion-pack-750016

New Blog Look and a FREEBIE!

Sooooo in love with my new blog design!!  Dreamlike Magic Designs worked a miracle on this thing!  Now its worthy to be shared :) If your blog is in need of a face lift, then you have got to go check them out. I'm in love with anything cutesy so it took several text messages to my sisters and some serious thought to decide which template to choose because they're all so beautiful!  Thank you Dreamlike Magic!

To celebrate this momentous occasion I have decided to give away my very first FREEBIE from my brand new store on TPT! When I started thinking about this upcoming year I decided that the first thing I needed to do was to get organized.  I've been obsessed with organizing recently; closets, dresser drawers, bathroom cabinets, meal planning, summer activity calendars......you name it and it's been organized!  I guess it's just that idle teacher syndrome setting in.  Anyway, I felt like a teacher binder would be a perfect way for me to stay organized this year.  (I always wind up with 3 or 4 different binders floating around my classroom.)  After getting some inspiration on Pinterest, I made a new binder to help keep everything in one place.  I hope that you enjoy it!  Let me know what you guys think :)

Taylor Mali: What Do Teachers Make?

If this doesn't pump you up, I don't know what will.  I've watched this video 100 times and it still gives me chills!

Getting Inspired

Teachers are good people.  They work to the point of sheer exhaustion (on and off the clock), are underpaid, and still take the time to share their wealth of knowledge with the world.  

This year, my school set a goal for teachers to share and collaborate like never before.  Our inboxes were flooded daily by lesson plans, activities, games, and ideas.  It was an overwhelmingly beautiful thing!  It’s easy to get into a teaching rut and find yourself “going through the motions”, but this sharing project forced us to seek out better ways to reach and teach our students.  Teachers come up with some of the most original ways to do things and sharing those ideas can help others to do the same. 

After stalking  reading several teacher blogs and being inspired by their AMAZING ideas, I decided that it was time to start my own to share what I've learned. I've always been one of those teachers who beg, borrow, and steal and it’s time to start contributing. 

So let’s get INSPIRED together and put the FUN back into teaching.  It’s only been 2 weeks into our summer break and I can’t wait to get back to school!!