Five for Friday & a FREEBIE alert

I can't believe another Friday has rolled around. That puts me about 2 weeks away from the beginning of school. This is about the time that I begin to feel anxious about school. Monday I freaked out because I realized I hit the 3 week mark. I slept for about 3 hours! Arg! This happens every year as I think about the looooong to-do list. This year is especially nerve-wracking as I will be moving across town to a new school and a new grade. I know it's only a single grade level switch, but it's still different. Different abilities, different standards and expectations. Well, enough complaining. I'm linking up with Doodle Bugs' Teaching to share about my week.

Since I've been freaking out I made sure to head to my school to pick up my keys and measure some walls. I was not pleased to learn that our rooms are nowhere near being ready. The printer, document camera and computer seen on that cabinet belong on the opposite side of the room. My floors are carpeted and they still need to be shampooed, so everything has been shoved along the walls.

I have begun working on my to-do list, which includes creating some items for my room. One of my classroom management strategies includes posting tools students will need for the next lesson. It allows for smooth transitions (as smooth as can be in a second grade classroom). When I walk to the board, students' eyes usually follow and they begin taking out the materials as I mark them. Many times the students who are paying attention begin telling their group members to get their materials out. I'm also corrected when I mark an unnecessary tool. "We don't need our pencils for spelling!" Oops! #sillyteacher In the past, I have written the materials in two columns. This year, they'll be posted with cute Melonheadz graphics. Yeay! 

This is one of the goodies you'll find in your TpT mailbox this weekend if you follow my shop. If not, go follow before it goes out.#freebiealert

I am such a sucker for school supplies. Even the ones I don't need. I couldn't resist seeking out the back-to-school aisle at Target. I was excited happy to see that the bright supplies and notebooks were out! I found a cute sparkly folder I didn't need. 

Speaking of shopping... I've been finding some good deals online! I LOVE shopping for my classroom. Are you an online shopper? Amazon is my favorite place to shop. The only down side is waiting for purchases to arrive. Don't they know this teacher is impatient? I ordered some good stuff this past Monday and my order is supposed to arrive some time next week. My order was definitely over the $35 minimum for free shipping. I kept thinking of other things I wanted needed.

I plan on using the sleeves for math stations, rather than the sheet protectors I typically use. I'll be using the geometry set for building 3D shapes with my firsties.

I've been updating some of my Common Core Checklists and gradebooks this past week. I was able to add text fields to some of the pages. So excited about that! I've also added pages for note-taking and performance task planning. Click {HERE} to see the Third Grade checklist and check out the preview. 

If you're not interested in using your color ink, this prints nicely in grayscale.

I think I can say that I have had quite a productive week. Well, for a summer week at least. Have you started getting ready to head back yet?