Monday Made It- Bragging Rights and Birthdays

Hi Dear Friends!

As these Mondays come and go, can I say I get a bit more anxious and nervous?

Summer has almost come to an end for me and even though I've been

feverishly preparing for the start of a new school year, I STILL have so much to do.

Does anyone else feel that way?

I think we teachers could work every day all summer long and still never feel quite prepared for the start of a new school year.

Could it be that sometimes we  are just as nervous about that first day back as our students?

I SERIOUSLY cannot sleep on the night before school begins.  

I even have had nightmares of sleeping through my alarm clock or wearing pjs on the 1st day of school.  

Yikes!

I'm linking up with the amazing Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for another edition of Monday Made It.

  I did not reinvent the wheel but borrowed purchased this idea from some fabulous bloggers.  

1.  Behavior Beads and Award Recognition Tags

I used recognition tags with  my students last year.  I created a few of my own for 1st day of school, reading awards, attendance, and field trips.  My students loved them!  I had a special place for students to keep their necklaces.  They could wear them on Fridays.   This year I want to use these more often.  Miss Nelson from Run Miss Nelson's Got the Camera has these amazing behavior beads that I purchased and then copied, laminated, and placed in the container you see above.  I got the idea to use a plastic container for storage of these tags from  Tara at 4th Grade Frolics.  You can check out Miss Nelson's adorable Behavior Beads HERE.   

I also used Corinna from Surfin' Through Second's Award Recognition Tags.  These are so cute and colorful with a Hawaiian theme.  You can check out Corinna's Cute Award Recognition Tags HERE.

I purchased the bead chains from Hobby Lobby.  

2. Teacher Caddy

I  needed my own supply caddy to keep my pens, pencils, sharpies, highlighters, and etc.  I'm doing away with my teacher desk this school year, and wanted a place to keep my supplies in an easy to reach place.  This little caddy will be setting beside my teacher toolbox.

To make this caddy I used this little item below from Target's Dollar Spot.

And for the inside, I spray painted black several empty toilet paper rolls.

3.  Birthday treats and a Birthday calendar

I created "birthday treats" to give my students on their birthdays.  Last year I used a ladybug themed birthday set and pixie sticks with toppers for the treats.  You can click HERE to check this out.  This year I saw these ADORABLE cupcake toppers from Lucky To Be In First.  Click Here to check them out.  Then I found some fun plastic straws and attached the cupcake toppers to them.  Students can pick out their favorite color of silly straw on their birthday along with a birthday tag to put on their recognition necklaces.

By the time I hang up my alphabet, common core standards, reading genre posters, math workshop items, and so forth in my classroom, I have NO room  to display a cute birthday chart on my classroom walls.   So instead I created a birthday chart that I can place in a frame and put on a shelf in my classroom.  I used this last year ,and my students really liked it.  They checked on  this list often.    Here's the new birthday chart I made to sit beside  the bucket of birthday treats.

I just placed this in a 8x10 black frame.  Once I get my student list, I can write in their birthdays.  You can get a copy of this birthday chart printable for FREE by clicking HERE.

HaPpY BiRtHdAy to me!  Tuesday is my birthday ,and I wanted to celebrate by having a 20% off everything in my TPT store Monday and Tuesday.  You can check this sale out HERE.

I just posted a new Facebook Fans Only Freebie.
Here's a peek:

Stop by and check it out. Also, I've been busy updating some of my products on TPT and am planning some more FLASH FREEBIES later this week.  I won't post until after I tuck my little ones into bed.  You can follow me on Facebook HERE to find out about those FLASH FREEBIES and snag my new Facebook Fans Only Freebie.

Don't forget to check out everyone's amazing Monday Made Its by clicking on the link below.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  I'm off to check out all those Monday Made Its.  I can't wait!!!