Story Stones

I came across the story stones online last summer and I fell in LOVE WITH THEM! These stones are created by a wonderful lady. She makes them and sells them on Etsy. I got in touch with her and she made some beautiful stones for me AND she included a cloth bag to store them in. The stones are two sided and contain images on both sides. I honestly did not use them in my classroom this year. My students were a challenging group and I was afraid that they would not be responsible with them. I plan on trying to use them this year. Here is a pic I found online of her stones:

The lady's name is Poppit and her website is www.poppitscupboard.com. She talks about the story stones on her website and their is a link to purchase the stones.

Teacher Planners

It has been so long since I have been here! I was afraid for a moment that I forgot my password to log in! :) I hope that everyone is having a great summer. I sent my children to visit their grandparents for a week AND my husband took the youth to camp. It was QUIET in my house. I kept myself busy curriculum writing. I am just like my precious first graders, I learn when I get myself involved. I have helped my district out the past four years working on math curriculum during the summer. The district is nice to pay teachers extra for doing this. I am hoping to purchase a Nikon D3200 with the extra money!

Anyway, my babies are back and we are enjoying the days sleeping in, going to the beach, lounging by the pool, and doing absolutely NOTHING!

I wanted to tell you about a great find that my co-workers shared with me this year. Two of my co-workers were given teacher planners from the Erin Condren website. I fell in love with them. I bought one and it was a life saver all year! I used it for notes, monthly calendar dates, MAP scores, and so many other things. I bought my intern a gift card so she could buy herself one when she finds a job. They are expensive BUT you will use it the entire school year. I purchased my new one during the month of May during teacher appreciation and I received 25% off! Check out the website. I saw online that several teachers were making their own planner this year. It is a great idea for those crafty teachers!

Here are my teacher planners. The one on the left is the planner that I used this past school year. The one on the right is the planner that I will be using this upcoming school year. When you check out the website, you can see up close images of what is included inside the teacher planners. Check out the website at www.erincondren.com