Teacher Week 2014–Meet the Teacher!

It’s Teacher Week 2014 over at Blog Hoppin’, and I’m excited to join in on the fun!  Take a peek at the linky’s we have in store for you!  (I’ll actually get some blog posts done this summer! haha!)  I still have 2 weeks until school starts, but I am happy to play along – or at least TRY!

So, up first on the agenda is meet the teacher.  This is me! (You can see a cheek of my amazing niece who is starting college in just a week!)

This is my family:

My husband and I celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in Las Vegas this summer.  We dined at the Eiffel Tower in the Paris Hotel – it was AMAZING! I highly recommend it!

We did A LOT of travelling this summer.  Way more than we were planning on! We went to Florida, Las Vegas (just the hubs and I), and New York! It’s been a whirlwind summer, but we made LOTS of memories!

  

 

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

My kids.  My husband.  My family. 
Movies. Target. Brandi Carlile. Traveling. Watching my girls dance. The Beach.  Pizza. Ice Cream. Being at home. 

IF YOU WEREN'T A TEACHER, WHAT WOULD YOU WANT TO BE?

I would probably be a stay-at-home mom!  I was lucky enough to be able to spend a year and a half with my oldest daughter and it was amazing to spend that time with her.  I would love to own my own business – like a tea shop or a bakery.  Love those things.

THREE LITTLE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU.

Quiet. Hardworking. Dependable.

FINISH THE SENTENCE, "________,  SAID NO TEACHER EVER!!"

“Yes, I would love to go to another meeting!”

Q: IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY AND YOU CAN INVITE ANYONE {DEAD OR ALIVE} TO THE PARTY. WHO ARE YOU INVITING?

Hands down, my daughter Nora.  Birthdays have always been hard since she passed.  Wish I could spend another birthday with her.

Q:YOU GET TO PICK ONE SUPERPOWER. WHAT IS IT?

The power to go back in time.

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE OR SAYING?

I love the Brave Girls club.  They always know just want to say at just the right time. This is one of my favorites right now.

Q: IF YOU HAD TO SING ONE SONG ON AMERICAN IDOL, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Oh boy, that’s a hard one…

Q: ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL?

Definitely a night owl! I get my second wind around 9:30!

Q: WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE RESOURCE THAT YOU'VE CREATED IN YOUR TPT SHOP?

Although I won’t be using them this year (since I’ve moved to First Grade), I LOVE my ABC Centers for the Frugal Teacher alphabet centers pack(s).  The activities in this pack are all super easy to prep and you most likely have some or all of the items in your classroom.  They are perfect for the beginning of Kindergarten and for RTI groups throughout the year! I hope you check them out!

 

Q: SHARE SOMETHING WE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU!

I’m a pretty private person.  I don’t often share a lot about myself on my blog.  I am quiet and often keep to myself :)  I suppose you could call me an introvert! I am happy cuddling up on the couch and watching a movie!  Most people don’t know that I’ve been documenting every day of my family’s life on my personal Instagram page.  This is a daily “journal” of sorts for me that I call “Pedersen Project 365”.  My kids affectionately call it the “picture of the day.”  I love looking back and remembering exactly what we did each day of the year! I  can’t wait to look back on everything we did in 2014 at the end of the year!

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Now it’s your turn!  Share your Meet the Teacher post and link up with Stephanie @ Falling Into First and at Blog Hoppin’!

 

Lakeshore Learning + Classroom Timer + Giveaway

Tonight I want to tell you about a fun new product from Lakeshore Learning that you might want to consider adding to your classroom management tools!

From the 2014 Back to School Catalog, introducing the new…

Giant Classroom Timer

You are going to LOVE this! It has a huge magnet on the back so you can attach it to your magnetic whiteboard.  The display is large and easy to read too!

If you don’t have a magnetic whiteboard, you can use the attached kick stand to display it on a table or shelf. You could even hang it on the wall.

I think you will find this super helpful in your classroom! My kiddos don’t start until September 2 this year and I’m anxious to try it out on them!

We all know that Lakeshore is SO amazing – they offered to give away one of these giant classroom timers for your classroom!

Psst – Don’t forget to enter Lakeshore Learning’s classroom setup contest!!  Holy smokes, you can win a $1000 e-gift card!!

To win the Giant Classroom Timer, enter in the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Design Your Life #daydesigner

Do you find that your desk/home office looks like this?

{Source}

Are you finding yourself struggling to get things done throughout the day? Are your to-do lists, dr. appts, meetings, carpool days getting all jumbled up and mixed up? Are you beginning to feel like you are missing out on those little, important things in life?

I stumbled across something earlier this spring that I think will help you out if your struggling to keep up with all of the “to-do’s” of daily life. {I know it’s going to help ME!!}  I think you’ll especially love it if you are a blogger, a TpT seller, or have any other sort of business.  But, this isn’t just for entrepreneurs – this is equally amazing for everyone – yes, that means moms and teachers too!!
I know you’ll love it because….

A well designed day is a well designed life…

Introducing:

 The Day Designer by Whitney English

Well, who is Whitney English??

Whitney is the creative genius behind the Day Designer.  She designed the Day Designer to help people focus on the most important things in life.  She believes these things are: 

• The things that make your heart sing (your passions)
• The things that you are great at (your powers)
• The things that are non-negotiable (your principles)
• The light that you were meant to share with the world (your purpose)

Doesn’t that list make you just want to go and get one for yourself? Don’t you feel empowered just reading it?  But wait, there’s more…
The Day Designer ultimately is here to help you work on your big picture, your plan, and your vision, by helping to keep you aligned and focused on each day.
I’ve only had my Day Designer for about a week now, but I am seriously obsessed.  I don’t get everything done on my to-do list, but I love how I can write down my top 3 and really focus on getting those three things done.  I can continually add to the longer to-do list as well (as teachers and moms we know that our to-do list is never ending!!) I still use my Google calendar on my phone -- I have 4 calendars to keep track of between my girls, my husband, and myself – but this lets my plan MY day.  I feel in CONTROL of what I need to get done and what I want to get done.

I also love the 4 boxes at the top of the page where I can write what’s due, what is on the menu for dinner, how much I’ve spent (this is REALLY helpful for me since I tend to overspend..), and what NOT to forget.

Each page has inspiring quotes at the top, and a spot at the bottom for my daily gratitude.  I love that it gives me a space to reflect on one my many blessings of the day.

The front of the Day Designer is full of worksheets to help business owners define their vision, their goals (business & personal), and their brand. They are very detailed, and allow you to really harness your vision into something realistic for the year ahead.  If you are a blogger or other small business owner, you will especially love these pages!

Are you thinking you want one of these for yourself?  I know you do! This one is a GAME CHANGER.  Well, I have good news and bad news….the bad news is these bad boys sell out rapid fire fast!  Whitney makes a limited number of them because she is still a rather small company.  The August 2014 edition is all.sold.out.  Sad. 
But, here’s the good news – she is launching a BRAND NEW collection TOMORROW!!  I follow her on instagram, and she’s given us some sneak peeks … and boy are they cute! You are going to have to follow her @thedaydesigner to see the sneak peeks tonight :)  These new editions are a pre-order and will have a start day of January 2015.
Don’t want to wait until January to start designing your day?  Guess what….. see this?

This one is going to belong to ONE OF YOU!!  AND it’s an August 2014 edition!!!!
Remember the January 2015 Day Designer planner will be launched bright and early tomorrow morning! Stop by and take a peek by clicking {here!}
It’s going to be simple to enter to win one…
Just enter in the Rafflecopter below! a Rafflecopter giveaway

#CreatetoEducate–Easy Peasy Calendar!

I wanted to quickly share with you the project that I made for Michaels Stores #createtoeducate sweepstakes this year. 

I grabbed a frame, some gift tags, and some washi tape from Michaels and came up with this:

I have at hanging right by more door.  I plan to add in dates that children may be picked up early, are being picked up a different way, for staff meetings, or anything else important. 

I am all about simplicity and efficiency, so this bad boy is dry erase.  I can change the calendar each month super quick!

  The sweepstakes ends August 15th, so you still have some time to create something and upload it to Instagram!  Be sure to use the hashtags (#) #createtoeducate  and #sweepstakes.  Be sure to tag @michaelsstores ! You could win a $50 gift card for your efforts!

Have fun crafting!!

Last Day of the Sale!

Today is the last day of the TpT Back to School Sale! I know some of you have already started school, and some are still on vacation (me!), but now is a great time to stock up on some items that will help you with back to school!

We don’t start until after Labor Day this year, but I am moving grade levels, so I have quite a few items in my cart!

I haven’t started creating new things for 1st grade yet, but I will as soon as I finish getting my classroom ready.  I’m still trying to wrap my brain around everything!

Here’s what I have in my cart right now:

These are my absolute favorite resources from my shop that I would use to start off the year in Kindergarten!  I am certainly going to miss using them this year! 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve recently updated my best selling Fix-It Up Packet – I wouldn’t use these in the beginning of the year for Kindergarten, but I would definitely use them in first at the beginning of the year!

Be sure to use the code BTS14 at checkout for an additional 10% off from TpT!  Now, I’m off to sew some curtains for my classroom!!