I have posted a new item in my TPT Store!  Go check it out!  If you teach 2nd grade, you will love it!  It is a "Mama Mia Pizza Math" Activity Pack.  It includes 9 different activities encompassing several of the 2nd grade CCGPS. Here is a sneak peek at the unit!

Loving the chevron patterns right now!

 

 

 

 

 





 This activity involves adding within twenty.

 

You can go here to purchase this pack in my shop!

 

 

If you purchase this pack, I would love to see it in action in your class!  You can post pictures on my Facebook page, The Tidy Teachers Talk!

 

Please let me know if there is anything I can create for you!

 

Have a Tidy Day!

 

Amanda 

 

 

 

Shape Smorgasbord Unit - Just added to my TPT Store!

     Go check out my latest unit, "Shape Smorgasbord", over in my Teachers Pay Teachers Store.  This unit includes everything you need to teach 2-D shapes. 

     I am hoping to add several more items within the next couple of weeks to my store.  Please let me know if there is anything in particular that you'd like to see or are in need of for the coming school year.  Most of the items I create are geared towards K-2, but I can also create items for the upper grades as well.

     Here are a couple photos of some of the activities you will find in the "Shape Smorgasbord" unit.

 

Everything included in this unit is very colorful and vibrant.  The kids will LOVE it and I hope you will, too!

 

 

 

 

This is one of the thirteen color posters that are included in the unit.  Each shape poster includes basic facts about sides, vertices, and the type of shape it is.

 

 

Here is a listing of all that you will find in this unit!

- Standards covered in unit
- 13 color posters of common 2-D shapes (square, triangle, rectangle, trapezoid, circle, oval, star, heart, diamond, pentagon, octagon, hexagon, crescent)
- 13 B&W posters of common 2-D shapes (same as mentioned above) These posters also include fill in the blanks for student input
- 2 Shape Finds (Color and Count shapes)
- Shape Hunt (Includes directions and game sheet)
- Shapin' Up (Comparing real-life objects to common shapes)
- Locating Shapes (Identifying shapes using positional words)
- 5 Sizing Up Shapes (Distinguishing a particular shape, color, and answer questions)
- Shape Match Game (2 different versions for differentiation)
- 26 matching colorful shape game pieces (2 of each shape)
- 26 matching colorful shape game pieces (1 of each 13 shapes and matching shape names)

 

If you buy this unit, please leave me feedback! I'd love to hear how you use it!

 

Have a Tidy Day!

 

Amanda

School Supply Finds

     Any teacher will tell you that when it comes to school supplies, we know where to find the deals, how many we can get, and how many extra bodies we will need to get the amount we need!  Let's face it, school supplies are not cheap, especially when you are buying for 20+ students.  My teacher friend and I were discussing the other day that if it were possible, we would open a store in our area that only sold school supplies.  Nothing would be more than $5, and we would run awesome sales.  However, since that dream is not likely to become a reality, we just stick to smart shopping at all the current stores.  The main stores we hit up are Wal-Mart, Office Depot, Office Max, and Staples.  I will sometimes go to The Dollar Tree, however, just remember, you can usually find everything you need for UNDER $1 with all the penny sales and other great deals at the stores I mentioned earlier.

So let's get into the deals.  First of all, I wanted to share with you some of the goodies I picked up last week.  

Office Depot
Office Depot had two sales that my friend and I were interested in mainly.  They had 10-count eraser caps for 10 cents a pack and folders with prongs for 10 cents each.  The great thing about Office Depot is that if you are a teacher, you can get triple the max for regular customers (at least at our home store).  So we could snag 30 folders whereas the general public could only get 10.  We were excited about the erasers, but alas, they were sold out when we made it over to that area. 

Office Max
The two deals here that we found to be great were 100-count index cards for a penny and 10-count Papermate mechanical pencils for 50 cents a pack.  At Office Max, you can get up to 10 of the sale items.  So I paid 10 cents for 10 packs of index cards!  We couldn't find the mechanical pencils here, but we found them later on at another store.

Staples
I really only needed one deal from Staples and that was the 2-count pack of black Sharpies for 25 cents.  So you would think being a teacher has its perks in every school supply store.  Well, Staples is one of the exceptions in my opinion.  Last year, we were able to get the quantity we needed no problem.  But this year, Staples has changed the rules.  Now you can only get a quantity of TWO, yes only TWO, of the sale item at the 25 cent price.  You can get up to 25 packs of the Sharpies, however, after 2 packs, you start paying the $1 a pack price.  The employee we asked about it assured us that if we had a "rewards card" (which, of couse, we do), that we would get the money back on it.  This is just me, but if I am going to get a deal, I want the sale price NOW.  I don't want to have to wait for a quarterly rewards check to get back my money and then I can only spend it at Staples.  How clever, huh?  So my advice, take your Staples ad somewhere else and price match.

Wal-Mart
So I saved the best for last.  I know a lot of people have qualms about Wal-Mart, but honestly, I save a lot of money there and it is where I do the bulk of my shopping.  The AWESOME thing about Wal-Mart, is that if you find a price cheaper somewhere else, they will price match it for you.  Remember the mechanical pencils from Office Max?  We were so excited when we were fishing through a bin and found the 10-count packs (buried under the 20-count packs, I might add)! They were $2.97 at Wal-Mart, but thanks to our Office Max ad, price matched to 50 cents!! :)

Here are a few tips to ensure that you find the best deals:

1. Plan! If you just show up hoping to get a good deal, you won't turn up as much as you expected.  Either subscribe to the Sunday paper to get all the ads OR do what I do, check them on-line on Sunday morning. Then you know exactly where to go and what you're looking for.  It will save you time and money... I promise!!

2. Make sure to ask each store what quantity a teacher is allowed to buy.  Every store is different, but teachers 9 times out of 10 can get double or triple the amount listed to the general public.

3. Bring a friend with you! Even if your friend is not a teacher, they can still buy the max quantity for you and you are still getting more for less.

4. Make sure to pick up a sale ad in each place you shop.  KEEP this ad all week if you do not get what you want at the beginning of the week.  A lot of times when the supply stores are out of stock of an item, I can just hop over to Wal-Mart and get everything I need and price match it.  And the wonderful thing about Wal-Mart is that there is no limit of what you can buy like the supply stores!

5. Keep your receipts! Anything bought for your classroom can be written off of your taxes!!! :)


Want to know what deals I'll be shopping for this week?

At Office Depot, I will be getting the 25 cent composition note books.  These are great for math, writing, or reading journals.  Take them to Home Depot or Lowe's and they can cut them in half for you! I will also be getting some of the colored reams of paper for just $2 a ream!  That's the cheapest I have seen it anywhere (including Wal-Mart).  Office Depot also has rulers and protractors for 25 cents each. Scissors, Poly 2-pocket folders, and individual Sharpies will run you 50 cents each.

At Staples this week, you can get bottled glue, 2 pocket folders, and pencil cases for 1 cent each.  Staples also has 2-pack Bic pens for 50 cents, mechanical pencils for 50 cents a pack, 2-pack Bic liquid White Out for 50 cents, and translucent pencil boxes for 50 cents each.

I did not really see anything at Office Max that I need this week.  More than likely I will go to Wal-Mart and price match some goodies!

I hope this blog will help you organize your shopping trips to the supply store of your choice and that it will be eaiser to find what you need!

Have a Tidy Day!

Amanda

Review of Erin Condren's Gold Edition Life Planner

    I hate to admit this, but I have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of these planners since the night I ordered them! I have been so excited to get them, that I have checked the tracking several times in the past week! :)  So I am going to show off one of the planners I bought from Erin Condren.  First let me say that I did order two planners, The Gold Edition Life Planner (reviewed here) and a Teacher Planner also.  If anyone is interested in seeing the teacher planner, let me know and I can do a separate post on that!

So here it is....

     If you are like me and love anything sparkly, then this planner is for you!  Erin has went a step further from the Life Planner and is offering a very high quality, luxury design. Now, I will admit, this planner is a bit more expensive than I was looking to spend ($75 to be exact). However, once I saw it, I wanted it.  And now that I have it, it was definitely WORTH it!!

     I absolutely love the front cover! I chose turquoise because it is one of my most favorite colors in the whole world! There are four colors to choose from including white, turquoise, pink, and purple for the Gold Edition.  Each of the selections do come with the gold foil stamping in the design shown on the front cover.  My cover is personalized with just my name.  You can have the year put on or any personalization you'd like.  The cover is a heavy duty laminate (10 mL) and is actually very durable.  I was skeptical about the lamination before I received my planner just because I have worked with a lot of different laminate before and was expected it to be at best, what I had experienced in the past.  This is some AWESOME laminate!!

     Let's journey inside the planner now! The back of the front cover is once again, decorated with the beautiful gold foil stamping.  This is a very tedious task, which is why it is a little more expensive and production time is about a week longer than the regular planners (I still think it was worth the wait and the extra moolah!). It says "This is my Life" on the inside cover.  It gives you room to put your name and personal information.  The very first page of the planner is a beuatiful vellum overlay with gold foil stamping dots on it.  Behind that is another page with the "On the go - life planner" saying.  I really think it was a nice touch to have the overlay.  It just seems to add that touch of elegance that you do not find in most planners.

     I definitely wanted to show y'all the beautiful gold coil that holds the planner together.  It is very heavy duty and is an aluminum plated coil that ensures that there will not be any bending of your planner! That is an important feature for me simply because I have had too many "cute" planners come undone because they were made cheaply.  Plastic coils that come undone and my pages flying everywhere is NOT what I wanted to deal with in the middle of the hallway.  This coil will take care of that! :)

     Another great feature that they tweaked this year was slimming the planner. Past Life Planners have been a little bit more bulky.  This planner fits nicely in my purse and I am able to pull it out at my convenience.

      I have a very outgoing personality and I truly appreciate all the beauty that color adds to my world.  I LOVE the paisley design and I love how colorful all of the inspirational pages are in this planner!  There are lots of great quotes throughout the entire planner!

     This is probably one of my favorite features in the Life Planner.  The "Birthdays & Anniversaries" page spreads are so nice to have in a planner! I like having them all in one spot so I can just glance at this section without having to search throughout all of the months.  I can always go in to the individual months and add the birthdays there as well.  It's just nice having them here all together!  The days of each month are even labeled for you under each month.  So all you have to do is add your names to them!

     After the birthdays and annversaries pages, you will find a 16-month spread of individual months.  This is a great feature just to be able to look ahead at a coming month and highlight any important dates.

      This is the beginning of the actual planner.  I chose to do a 12-month planner from August to August.  The reason I chose that option is because every summer, Erin Condren's team updates the Life Planners and I know I will want to get a new one each summer before the school year starts.  As you can see, more beautiful and colorful quotes.  Love it!

     At the beginning of each month there is a 2-page spread of the entire month.  I love this feature because it gives you more room to write in the individual squares.  This was an update from last year's planner. Each month has a different color scheme, which keeps it both colorful and differentiated!

     This is your individual week pages.  I love that there is a "goal & notes" area on each week! It is located on the left side.  The planner does not follow a traditional calendar in that it begins with Monday first.  Erin did this specifically so that each week was together instead of having to flip a page to see Sunday.  She also explains on her website that she did this because she likes to be able to see her weekend-days side by side.  Each day is separated by morning, afternoon, and evening.  I find this as a pro and a con.  It can be great if you already plan your days by morning, afternoon, evening style, but it can also be difficult for those of us who would just like a complete column.  I see the idea behind it, but I'd prefer to just have it one big column instead of broken up.

     Another added feature to this year's planner is the planning section at the bottom of each page throughout the weekly sections.  You can plan your meals, your exercise regiments, grocery lists, bills to pay, and so much more in this section! I really love this feature!

  

     I just love these note pages that are included in the planner! There are several different designs included. I am definitely a "list" kind of person. I find it helps me to stay on track to get everything done that I have to without being too OCD about my daily responsibilties.  These are just two of the designs included in the planner (there are several notes pages included!).

     I really like these two pages.  The page on the left is an area where you can put all of your important numbers (police non-emergency, fire department, grocery stores, hair stylist, accountant, lawyer - these are just some of the examples included).  The page on the right is an area for you to put important contacts that you need to have on hand (Work, parents, siblings, church, etc).  You can add whatever contacts on the right side that you'd like, but it is only one page.  I like the fact they didn't add several pages for contacts because it would bulk up the planner.

     I apologize for the blurry picture on this, but these are one of my favorite features! There are sheets of stickers already customized with important sayings on them for you to use throughout your planner! This sheet is all "birthday!" stickers (60 count).  They also have doctor appointment, hair appointment, mani/pedi, dentist appointment, party, vacation, concert, game, day off, and sale stickers.  You get a total of 240 stickers with your planner!

     In addition to the stickers with the sayings, you also get two sheets of plain stickers.  These are great because you can add whatever you need to, to your planner without having to buy the customizable stickers!

     After the stickers, you get a double sided pocket to store any important notes, papers, documents, etc.  Love the colors! It is called the "Keep it together" pocket... obviously! :)

     Printed inside the back cover is the following two years' calendars.  If you order a planner for this year, it will have 2015 and 2016 printed in the back of it.

     Here is the back cover! I just love it! I absolutely love the gold foil stamping.  It reminds me of a Moroccan influence! So beautiful and makes a statement.

     There are lots of extras that you can add on to your planner.  These do have an additional fee, but some of them are great to have.  I ordered two note pads to go along with both of my planners.  I am a really big note taker during meetings so it will be nice to have everything in one place.  Makes it easier for me to find! :)  These match the design of my Life Planner and they have sticky tabs on the back that you just simply peel off and stick to the inside of the back cover! :)

     As I mentioned before, you can get some extras added to your planner.  I added on 2 more sticker sheets (you can customize these on the website for $5.00).  I decided on just getting them plain.  You also get a laminated bookmark with gold chevron on one side and an inspirational quote on the other.  The other great sparkly you get with your planner is the gold stretchy band to go around your planner to keep it closed.  You do NOT have to pay extra for those two items, unless you just want extras of them in which case, you can add more to your order.

    You also get gift labels included in your planner in a pouch that is included inside.  It is nice to have those as well! They match your planner and then there are a few random ones with your name on them.  Still pretty and easily used!

   Overall, I am very happy with my planner! I cannot wait to start using it in August! I will definitely update with a blog explaining how I organize and use my planner!  I hope you found this review helpful! 

Please follow me and leave a comment if you have any questions or an opinion on your own Life Planner! I will try to help you as much as I can!

If you'd like to check out the additional items you can add on to your planner, visit Erin's website!

Go here to watch a video of the updates made to the planner for this year!!

Have a Tidy Day!

Amanda

The Tidy Teacher Talks!

     I am so excited to FINALLY begin my new blog, The Tidy Teacher Talks!

                                                                    My business logo!

     I hope to accomplish several things with this blog. But before I get into all of that, let me introduce myself!  My name is Amanda and I am, obviously, a teacher!

 

                                                            Me at Halloween last year :)

     I LOVE anything to do with school.  I am obsessed with school supplies.... sad, but true! I have a passion for creating lessons, anchor charts, posters, worksheets, and teacher crafts!  I am working on building my Teacher's Notebook and Teachers Pay Teachers stores.  I will be listing freebies on here as well as my Facebook Page.  I will post links to both of my stores and Facebook page at the end of this blog. (My TN store currently does not have anything in it as I just signed up there).
     I am a travel junkie! I have been to 16 countries and I cannot wait to see more!  I have thousands of pictures, but I'll only share a few (well, 9 to be exact...) to spare this blog from being too long! :) 

                                                                 My traveling buddies!
                                           Me, Monique, Ansley, Lindsey, and sweet Rose!

                                                  Palace at Versailles in Versailles, France.

                                                          The Louvre in Paris, France.

The Eiffel Tower at night!

Beautiful walkway at Parc Güell in Barcelona, Spain.

Neuschwanstein Castle near Füssen, Germany.

                                          (Disney fashioned their castle after this one!)

Mirogoj Cemetery in Zagreb, Croatia.

Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna, Austria.

                                               Beautiful view in Prague, Czech Republic.

     In addition to loving teaching and traveling, I am a HUGE animal rights advocate.  I try to donate as much as I can to Angels Among Us Pet Rescue, a local rescue group that I follow.  I also donate to the Humane Society of Forsyth County.  I have adopted pets from both of these organizations and I love that they work so hard to save and find good forever homes for a variety of animals.

My husband and I rescued Roxy in March. 

                                                  She is a Dachshund/Chihuahua Mix.

     In addition to my creating and animal loving hobbies, I also enjoy cooking and finding new gadgets and gizmos to use at home and at work (school).  I love to cook just about anything, but I adore baking.  It makes my heart happy! ;)

                                                        Made from scratch yellow cake
                                                     with homemade buttercream icing!

                                                             My blackberry cobbler :)

     I am always looking for the latest and greatest products to use at home and in my classroom. I will be adding product reviews and give you my absolute honest opinion. Honesty is the best policy and I also want to show off some of the goodies I have found along the way!

                                                 Be on the lookout for my first review:
                                 Erin Condren's Gold Edition Life Planner

And last but not least, let me introduce my other half, Kyle.  We just celebrated our one year anniversary in May. Here are some of our fantastic engagement and wedding photos! :)


    

These pictures were taken at the old school house
at our church.  Our dear friend, Michelle, took these shots!
She is amazing! :)

 

 

These four pictures were taken at our venue, Waters Mill, 

in Dahlonega, GA.  Our photographer, Jim Sheppard, was so much fun!

 

These are just a few of the many shots I adored from our wedding!

Well, I hope y'all enjoyed my introductory blog! Please follow me because I will be doing give aways and updates on traveling tips, recipes, teacher products, reviews, and much more!

Here are the links to my Facebook Page and TPT Store:

The Tidy Teacher Talks



Teachers Pay Teachers


Have a Tidy Day!

Amanda