I Heart Scholastic Book Club

I just finished looking at the September Lucky, Click, and Reading @ Home offerings from the Scholastic Student/Teacher Flyers <drool> !I would have to say that Scholastic rates right up there with Staples, Dollar Stores, WalMart, Really Good Stuff, and Oriental Trading Company in the teacher-candy-store department. LOL  I was a little put out though, because they seemed to have reduced the number of flyers in each bundle to 24 (the exact number of students I have) leaving no EXTRAS for me to circle all my if I could buy whatever I wanted book choices!  So now, I have to wait until next week to scrounge up an extra flyer for myself...DENIED!!

If you've been following my blog, you've probably realized that I have a 'thing' for books.  I've often said that if I wasn't a teacher, I'd be either a librarian or own a bookstore.  I like the Scholastic Book clubs for two reasons:

1. It's an avenue for students/parents to access books at a decent price...I love their $1.99 book offerings
2. As a teacher, you get bonus coupons to spend at Scholastic (which essentially means you get FREE stuff)

I spend my bonus coupons usually in two ways:

1. I buy books through Scholastic (using my coupons) so that every student will get a book to take home at the end of the school year.
2. I buy classroom supplies (desk name plates, theme pencils, birthday stuff, bookmarks) for the start of the following school year and usually one or two new resources...and maybe a couple of books to add to the library. :)

If you don't think it's worth the effort to do it...think again!  This past year, I bought books for 22 students and managed to accumulate $200 in bonus coupons by the end of the year.

I LOVE Scholastic!  Do you?

Out of the loop!

Wow, I've just spent the good part of the day catching up on all the blog posts I've missed while I was on vacation!  There were A LOT! And it was a good activity for me to do because, I don't know about you, but when you've been on vacay, it's sometimes hard to go from this:

 At Castle Herrenchiemsee in Bavaria, Germany

to this:

So, now that I've got my teacher MOJO back in drive, I'm planning to go in to school for the first time since the end of June to finish up the stuff i didn't get to AND to prep for the first week of school which is in a week.  (YIKES!)  I will confess I did make a To Do List while i was in Europe and then revised it to include a Things To Do at Home and a Things To Do at School list because it got WAAAY too long! LOL

So now, i just need to FIND the darn list amidst all the luggage, souvenirs, dirty laundry...

Summer Shopping Linky Party

I am linking up to Kristen over at Lady Bug's Teacher Files for her July edition of Summer Shopping Linky Party! I'm surprised that I am even doing this, considering this is my second post in a day and I have half a million other things I could/should be doing before I leave on my trip!

But I couldn't NOT link up because I am so psyched about some of my purchases!  If you've read my previous post, you'll know that I went out and bought a laminator. . . LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it!

While I was at WalMart, I also picked up this accordian file, which matches my new teacher notebook! I plan to use the file to hold student work or other papers that need to come home with me.

 I also picked up, what will hold the substitute work for the week.  I only bought one, just to see if it was what I wanted to use. . . it is, so I'll have to go back and get another one. :)

 And last, but certainly not least, I scored this very cute Toucan at my local thrift store for $3.  She hangs, so I'm not quite sure where I'm going to hang her, but isn't she cute!? LOL

Well, those are my shopping buys.  Hope yours were as good as mine! :)

Laminating, Processing, Packing...Oh My!

This week I have been frantically trying to get as much school stuff done at home as possible before I leave this Friday for a 3 week vacation to Europe! (yeah!) And I am feeling the pressure...I had a binder bulging with 'to laminate' stuff that I was going to leave until I got back to school in late August (no, I don't have a laminator...well, at least, I didn't <grin>) but I know I will have so much to do AT school that I broke down and went to WalMart yesterday to buy a laminator!  Not sure why I waited as long as I did to buy one...??? I bought the Scotch brand one for $30!

Anyway, I have been busy today laminating my little heart out.  (Still need to trim.:P) Here's what I've done:

Laminating...very first one!

Shape of the Day Cards. . .  There were a lot!

Thanks to Criss Cross Applesauce in First Grade

Rainy Day Mats.  These are from Teaching in Room 6. . . another freebie! :)

Hand signals...courtesy of Clutter-Free Classroom. . . freebie!

Boggle Letters...courtesy of Create•Teach•Share•. . . freebie. . .again!

With trying to pack and cleaning the house, it has been HECTIC to say the least!  But I got all my laminating done, all my class library books that needed new cards or labels have been processed, my Penseive and Substitute binders are as organized as they can be, I've got a handle on how the Daily 5 and Math structures will look like, along with ideas for Science, SS, & Health units. (I won't finalize those until I get a chance to talk to previous year teachers...with a split gr. 3/4 this year, I have to try to teach units that won't be total repeats for my gr. 4's).

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about not thinking about school for the next 3 weeks.  Of course, I will most likely NOT be blogging, either...:(( well, maybe once or twice if I'm not busy...ha, ha, ha...right!

Well, I'm off to finish packing...au revoir!