FREEBIES and GIVEAWAYS!!!!

It's the last few hours of my three week winter break. Oh I spent so much time in my classroom this weekend! And what's the first thing I did (after stuffing my face)? Perused Teachers Pay Teachers for freebies about our new unit starting tomorrow. Oh, did I not mention I am the President and Vice CEO of The Procrastinators Club? I would've been the CEO, but I waited too long to apply.

What I found was Uh. May. Zing.

There are SO many free things on TPT that I had yet to find! I've been so wrapped up in my mothering, and juicing, and creating, and mothering, and blogging, and mothering, and stressing, and potty training, and...well, you get the idea. I simply forgot that there are other things on TPT besides borders and clip art!

My absolute favorite find of the weekend was a "Weather Mini-Tool Kit" by Erin Palleschi.

In this tool kit, students tally the weather daily and then graph their results at the end of the week all on one sheet! There is a separate sheet for the weather person of the week. SUPER cute!

But the BEST part of the kit is a Weather Caterpillar! SO stinkin' cute! After downloading, I immediately went over to my cupboard and pulled out my stack of paper plates to create one of my own. 

Here he is!

He wraps all over the top and right side of my dry erase board. My kids are going to be surprised to see him tomorrow! Hopefully he'll take the sting out of Felf being gone?

Speaking of free...did you know that Jessica over at Covered in Glitter and Glue is have a giveaway to celebrate 100 followers? Click her button below to enter!

And if you haven't heard, Teacher's Notebook is having a pretty sweet giveaway too! They are going to be giving away your choice of an iPad mini, a Kindle Fire HD, or a Nook! You can enter once per day. 

My Sunrise & Sunset giveaway ends in a few hours, but I'll be posting a new giveaway soon (I like to have a giveaway for each new item in my TN store I post).

Whew! What a weekend! And what way to end my three week winter break! Happy Monday!

Felf the Elf on the Shelf

Here's what Felf the Elf on the Shelf has been up to while I was in a training today...

Can you see him? 

If not, I took a closer pic...

I also caught him hiding in the ocean diorama of one of my students. This sneaky elf really enjoys his job!

Be sure to check out Surfing to Success' HUGE Giveaway for reaching 200 followers!

A HUGE Giveaway!!!

Whew! It's Saturday! FINALLY!

Anyone else feel like this past week has been one of the craziest yet? Between holiday program practice, birthday celebrations, a change in schedule, an elf appearing in my classroom, and rain all week, I feel like I've been picked up in a whirlwind and set down with a thump!

I changed my calendar yesterday after school. Sigh. Come Monday, I know that the Christmas excitement will take over and there's no turning back. Hopefully Felf will report back to me any upsetting news...I won't be there on Monday!!! *insert evil laugh here* 

 Hooray for curriculum training!

And hooray for giveaways! My friend Mercedes at Surfing To Success is have a HUGE giveaway to honor reaching 200 followers on her blog. That's quite an accomplishment, since she's only been blogging since the summer months!

She is offering quite a spread of freebies from her store and her followers (myself included)! I just counted and there are 38 different items to be won!!! Please stop by her blog and check it out!

Elf on the Shelf in the Classroom

Last week my son was visited by an Elf on the Shelf. We adopted him and my two-year old so lovingly called him "Happy Face". We call him "Happy"...because his full name is a little weird.

Happy the Elf just hanging out in my guitar!

Growing up, we didn't have an elf visit us. I didn't even know this type of thing existed until last year while I talking with my aunt (who babysits a family who has a yearly elf visitor). As we were chatting it up, my sister told us how her best friend in middle school had one. It creeped out my sister because she realized it had moved during the night. But her friend loved him! My sister doesn't like that we have adopted an elf for my son.

This, in turn, has caused me to start "Operation Creep Out Auntie". I post pictures of our elf so that my sister can see what she is missing out on. I don't think she would be creeped out by him if we had grown up with one. It would just be an accepted tradition...like a grown fat man shimmying down your chimney late at night while you sleep to eat your dessert and leave you gifts in return.

Honestly, that should creep her out even more, because I grew up in a mobile home and didn't have a chimney! My parents gave Santa a key to our front door! That's right, a complete stranger with a key to my home! Luckily, Santa is a pretty honest man, and didn't steal anything. But then again, most of the good stuff he himself brought.

A parent donated an elf to my classroom today. Brand new, in the box, ready for a name. This got me to thinking...could it actually help my students behave better when that calendar switches over to December? Every year I dread that switch. As soon as they see Christmas on the calendar they think tomorrow is Christmas. They're first graders, can we blame them?

So...with my brain in the elf craze, tonight it has me looking up lesson plans on Google. Yeah...good luck with that. Seriously, try it.

But, Teachers Pay Teachers has once again made me a happy girl! When I typed in Elf on the Shelf, I got some great resources and many of them are free! Mrs. Goodwin from her store/blog I Live 2 Learn, I Love 2 Grow has a super cute activity where the kids create their own elf and the shelf he sits on!

Mel D from Seusstastic Classroom Inspirations has an Elf on the Shelf Classroom Management System freebie that I adore!

And my last freebie find is from Kinderpillars. They have a writing activity where students get to analyze the elf's daily behavior as well as their own!

I love that what I couldn't find on a well-renowned search engine, I was able to find on Teachers Pay Teachers. What a great community!
If you use Elf on the Shelf in your classroom, I'd LOVE to hear about it! Pros? Cons? Helpful hints?