Five For Friday: The Weekend is Here!

Hi friends! It has been such a long time since I have joined in the Five for Friday linky party--goodness! Well, now I am back and ready to share. I have a spare moment!  Thanks Doodle Bugs Teaching for hosting this each week! Let's dig right in!

Last night was open house at our school! This is an informational night for parents to inform them what papers are for, what our schedule is, guidelines, dress codes, all of that jazz. I thought it went very well!  All of our parents seem to be very supportive and I think it will be a great year with them! I always get so nervous talking in front of adults. Anyone else? My cheeks get so hot and my tongue gets flustered. I would much rather speak in front of a group of first graders like I do everyday;)

I just gave my second giveaway on my instagram account! I was a tad bit disappointed with the turn out but I have to keep reminding myself that I am not one of the big dogs yet! Slow and steady wins the race, right?! I know I will be there one day, one follower at a time. I have grown tons and learned so much since I have started the blogging world at the end of June! A small milestone is just ahead! I now have 450 instagram followers whom I love dearly! 500 is in the making:) I'm looking forward to making more teacher friends and reading all of your great ideas throughout the year!

I have been busy, busy, busy creating since I have last chatted with you! I think I am addicted and although there is not much time after school, I usually try to create one product each weekend. Here's what I have been up to!

Number puzzles are numbers 1-20 that show different ways to represent each number! There are also blank template puzzles for differentiation as well as puzzles with the number typed on top with blank puzzles for them to draw and represent each number! I think they turned out very cute! 

These are one of my favorites! Students match capital and lowercase letters with the ice cream match edition! I just LOVE these:)

I have had a lot of absences this week from school. The weekend could not come soon enough! This will give students the time they need to get better so they do not keep giving it to one another! Luckily, I have not gotten any sicknesses as of yet---KNOCK ON WOOD! My husband always tells me that I strengthen his immune system because who knows what I am bringing home!

My plans for this weekend are absolutely NOTHING. I am going to sleep in, relax, and  spend time with my husband. I cannot wait. You should do the same! :)

Don't forget to check the rest of the linky party to read about what's going on in the lives of teachers!

Have a great weekend!

XOXO

Five For Friday: What a Busy Week!

Are you tired? I have been so excited all week and it is finally catching up to me! I am getting the back- to- school- teacher -tiredness. I know you can relate! There has been a lot going on this week and I am excited to reflect back on it and share it with you! This Friday I'm linking up with  Doodle Bugs Teaching for yet another Five for Friday:) Enjoy!

Things are slowly starting to fall in place in my room! I have been up there everyday all day since Monday! Laminating, arranging, picking up, cutting paper, doing bulletin boards, organizing EVERYTHING, and making sure things are in place. I know this does not show you very much of my classroom but that is because a large classroom reveal with lots of pictures and ideas is coming! Stay tuned because it will be here very soon! :)

My husband and I were able to attend a family friend's wedding  this past weekend. Isn't she gorgeous?! It was a simple, yet elegant wedding which fits her personality perfectly. I thought she did a great job planning and organizing everything:) I just love everything about weddings and to tell you the truth, I really miss planning my own! I planned for 14 months and then POOF. You have no more need to plan! Don't get me wrong, I love being married:) Anyone have a wedding coming up that I can plan for them?! ;)

My husband and I are gearing up to take part in this wonderful class. I am a super budgeter, list making, Nerd. I can manage a budget and know all about getting out of debt, however, I'm taking it because I have not actually sat in on an actual class before. My husband's parents know all about Dave Ramsey's course and have taught us here and there the basics. Since we have not yet paid off our loans (hopefully there by May!), we have not gotten into any of the investment things and I am very interested in that! It's a very good program and I am so excited to learn even more about it than we already do!

Because I don't yet have to be back for staff week and am not yet on contract, I have been trying to get as many last minute things done as I can! Boy, why do I always wait until the last minute? Both of our family cars have gotten oil changes, renewed registries, inspections, and fixed. I've made dental appointments for both my husband and I the Saturday before I go back to work, and the house will be deep cleaned this weekend. The only thing left on the list is to get a haircut! Whew. I think I can manage that! 

I'm also trying my best to fit in time to read in the small cracks of time I have! I know the movie is coming out soon and I would like to have read this by then! Anyone else read this? I'm only a few pages in so I have lots to go! Eeek. The race is on!

Thank you so much for stopping by! Have a great weekend:) Check out what happened in everyone else's lives this week back at the linkup!

Five for Friday: jittery!

Hello all! Happy Friday to you! I know right now most of us are still on vacation so Friday doesn't mean what it usually means for us, but still--there is just something about Fridays that are awesome, right? For me, I know that I will get days off with my husband, that is exciting within itself! I'm linking up withDoodle Bugs Teaching for yet another Five for Friday! I will say this has been so exciting and each week I look forward to reading what you have been up to:)

You have no idea how long it took me to get this picture! Our secretary asked if we would send a passport like photo to her for school. She said they will be using them throughout the year.  Let's just say my face muscles were twitching by the time I snapped this one. I think this one turned out okay?

This was my welcome wall from last year. (Names were placed on the dots) I did a safari/jungle theme and tied it in with everything. I am looking into doing something similar, but obviously not jungle theme and I don't want to do "look who's been spotted in first grade" again. I loved this and I wish I was the type of person that would be okay with doing the same thing again, but I like to impress people with them! Still in the process of looking for an idea. Any thoughts? No theme this year, just bright colors!

How great is God? Seriously? I needed to pass this test before this upcoming school year but I was in a little bit of a time crunch. I was so so so nervous because I had heard what a doozy this test was. Don't get me wrong Texas teachers, this is still a doozy of a test! I just studied 15+ hours and read every single word in the handouts! I could not be more excited about this! God really had his hand over me while I was taking this! I guess teaching is where he wants me to be:)

I am so bummed because I took a picture of my empty classroom to show you all the before picture, but it has been deleted from my camera:/ Well, anyway, I was able to get into my classroom this past Monday and work for a couple of hours. Then we got news that we wouldn't be able to come at all the rest of the week because they were behind on waxing the floor. I was sad, but then I was also glad I came because not everyone got to work in their rooms. You can't be frustrated at the custodial staff because they don't get summer breaks, they work all the way through summer and are doing a very excellent job. So with that, I just used this week as another week to be lazy, relax, get things done at home, and of course, GO SHOPPING! :) 

Stay tuned for a classroom reveal coming your way soon! 

This was my very first sale to ever participate in! Although I am not in the big leagues, I did sell quite a bit! I was very proud of myself and I will celebrate mini milestones! I am still needing followers on my TpT store. If you click on the TpT tab at the top of my blog, it will bring you straight there to show my little store some love! I would greatly appreciate you! I have some awesome bundles and things in my mind to make as I approach them this school year! I think I have 12 followers right now whom I love, but they could use some friends:) Store Name : Kayla Coutouzis

Give you a hint, if you type Kayla COU my name will already pop up because who has a last name like that?! 

This is by far my best seller in case you were looking for something like this to add to your writing center focus wall. I'm very excited to use this in my own classroom. No pressure, just adding this in case you have been searching for something along these lines! :)

Thank you so much for stopping by and reading what I have been up to this week. I love having you here and sharing it with me! Have a great weekend:)

Five For Friday:Stress Free and Excited You See!

Hello all! Happy Friday:) I'm linking up for yet again ANOTHER Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching! Hope you enjoy!

I am headed for my FIRST EVER trip to Lakeshore (right after this post) I am so excited! I know that I am entering a very dangerous place for teachers, the kind of danger that can hurt a girl's wallet! Can you all believe that it is my first trip to Lakeshore like….ever?! Me either. Here goes nothin'!

I also made my way to Dollar Tree earlier this week. Did you know that they had these cute Non-Fiction books?! I was so stinkin' excited when I found these babies! These will be great for teaching non-fiction text features. Score! They also had some very cute primary journals with lined writing paper and a place for the students to draw a picture. They were in the form of a composition notebook. You have to check them out! :)

Okay friends..I'm really stepping up my game this month! Now that it is August (so crazy) I really need to hit the gym hard. I have not been doing well at all! I keep finding excuses and I can definitely tell in the way my clothes fit! I am thinking about actually incorporating more weights. Usually I do about 40-60 minutes cardio and lift just a little bit. What workouts work best for you?

I just got done deep cleaning the downstairs portion of our home. That has got to be one of the best feelings in the world! I feel much less stress now that this is done. I also got to sing Beyonce while scrubbing my floors. That was fun! Sorry this picture is so dark. That's how our house stays cooler here in Texas! :)

I signed up earlier this week for my very first SLANT box:) I am so excited to get to know these new teachers! This month's theme is Hometown Pride! It is put on by Lessons With Coffee and she does a great job organizing all of this! Each month, you get a partner to send a box to. You get to know them and send them things that are specific to them while maintaining a theme. There is a minimum spending cost and there are rules to what you can and cannot send. You also get to know the person who is sending you the box. This forms 2 new teaching friendships each month! How fun:) To those of you who did not yet know about it--signups for August have already come and gone, but you can always join in the fun next month! I will blog about my goodies that I get from my partner. So Excited! 

Thank you for stopping by and spending a little bit of your Friday with me! Have a great weekend:) Click to get back to the Linky Party:)

XOXO

Five for Friday: Getting Closer By The Minute!

Happy Friday ya'll! It has been an interesting week over here in Houston! I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching again for yet another Five for Friday! Let's get started!

This past week I did my first ever giveaway! I reached a mini milestone on my instagram account and I did a giveaway for my sight word sticker book! I am happy to announce the winner is Jennifer Kelly! I will e-mail you:) This was so much fun, I look forward to doing my next giveaway on my next mini milestone! 

I started reading The Positive Dog this week by Jon Gordon. I must say that it was quite inspiring just to read the phycological effects of negativity on your brain and body. I think this was just the thing I needed to remind myself to stay positive no matter what. Especially right before the kiddies come back!

This year will definitely be different because as of yesterday we received word that not only are we receiving a new assistant principal, but our principal is leaving as well. I'm reassured because I know a few people who have worked with our incoming principal and they loved her. That's good news for us! I am looking forward to this year, but for now, I am just wanting to get into my room and start the process! 

I made a trip to the Post Office this past week to grab a few boxes! I'm making something with them for the classroom that is turning out quite cute!I am very excited about it and it will be ready just in time for Monday Made it! Stay tuned to see what it is:)

I'm also working on a writing center that should be ready later today. I will post more about it when it is finished! This will be my biggest TpT Bundle ever! Very exciting! 

Question: What types of folders and journals do you implement into your classrooms? Ex: poetry journal, writing journal, spelling folder, do/done folder, portfolio, etc. I am interested to hear your thoughts, ideas, and implementations! Please share:)

Now back to the linky! Have a great weekend!