Fun Back to School Chalk Portraits

Looking for a fun and creative way to capture your students' or child's First Day of School?  Try these chalk portraits for a bright and cheery memory keepsake!

I started with a couple of boxes chalk from the Dollar Store...  I got a few extra boxes just in case!   Next, look for a clear spot of sidewalk; I took my son's picture so I used the sidewalk near our home.  But if you're using this method for your school students, your playground should have a big area you could use.

Next, think of what kind of text you'd like to have on your portraits:  Back to School, First Day of ______ Grade, Happy New School Year, etc..  There's a gazillion things you could use for these.   My son is in third grade this year, so I chose the saying, "Hello 3rd Grade".

Now, I have to start with my son HATES to take pictures.  And I'm a perfectionist that loves to take photos, so I have to keep taking them until I get just the right one!  So here's some of the 12 or so I took...

Then he started to get tired and just went wild...

Finally, we ended up with the Back to School portrait for the year...

I would recommend you plan out first where you want the child to sit and when you have your "masterpiece" drawn on the sidewalk, have them sit right in that place and no where else.  Otherwise, like my son, they'll want to touch and play with the chalk and get it all over their new white shirt we got for the pictures.  So plan out the entire picture taking experience in your head first!

Start the Discussion:

• What did you do for your first day portraits?
• What did you use... a printed poster, chalk, handmade sign?
• What are your suggestions for taking perfect Back to School portraits?

I'd love to hear you comments to the questions above or about anything you'd like!

Until Later My Friends,

Yay! Or Yikes! Honest Feelings About Back to School

You know it's Back to School time when you have to buy supplies for 19 students and everything is sold in packs of 18.   Or how about when you realize the school's most "notorious" student has finally managed to get up to your grade level and is on your class list...

Hello Friends!   Today we're talking about our honest feelings about Back to School.  It's ok; we're all going through it and have those love-hate feelings about all the different aspects of finally saying goodbye to the last day of Summer and walking back into the classroom.

Here's my thoughts about Back to School:

Reminds me of...  Back to school always reminds me the week before school started like when I was in Elementary School.  I was SOOOO nervous!  Isn't that strange how after so many years in school (both as a student and teacher) we STILL get nervous about that first day of school?  Does that ever go away?  I don't think so.  I know picking out that first-day outfit is always the hardest for me... Am I the only one that just can't decide?

Makes me want...   Back to school makes me want to pull all my hair out.  The worst part is all the professional development meetings we have to attend as teachers, when we NEED to be in our classrooms putting up bulletin boards and setting up desks.  But, no!  We need to sit through meetings that really sometimes don't seem that necessary; or the information could be passed along through an email.

Drives me to...  Back to school drives me to drink more Diet Coke.  Friends, I'm addicted to Diet Coke.  I admit it.  I need a group to join or something because when school starts, I swear, the first thing I do is fill my mini-fridge with Diet Coke.  My students look at me drinking it with this stare like... "Please let us go get a drink" and I'm like "Not until Bathroom Break time!"  Sometimes I feel bad, but they drive me to drink it.

Makes me need...  Back to school makes me need to drive to Target and Walmart to go get a gazillion more supplies because they added a student to my list.  Then took one away.  Then added two more.  Then took three away.  Long story short... I still need more darn supplies because the package only has 32 and I have 34 students!  I HATE that!  Does this happen to you too?  Or you need to make yet ANOTHER name tag for the student they added and you ran out of name tags.  OMGosh!  Or you use yellow notebooks for your journals and no store in your city has yellow notebooks anymore because they're sold out.  So you have one student with a purple journal and the rest are yellow.  I will stop right there because I could go on and on...

Causes me to...  Back to school causes me to learn how to get up before the sun comes up.  What?  It's pitch black outside and I have to get up?  What's wrong with this picture?  We're so spoiled in the Summer when we can sleep in.

 Makes me think...  After all is said and done, when those cute little faces walk through the door on the first day, back to school makes me think I'm so lucky to be their teacher.

I'd love, love, love you to take a little time and share your Back to School feelings!  If you'd like to link up, please use the image below.  Save it with your information and use it in your own blog post.  Make sure to link back to my blog and then come back and join in the link up below!

An InLinkz Link-up

Until Later My Friends,

Rid Your Students of Tattle Tongue

Do you ever wish you could wave a magic wand and your students would lose their voices for a few minutes?  I actually have a magic wand pointer I wave in class when I have a secret wish I'd like to come true.  The kids wonder what I'm doing when I come over to them and wave it over their heads, but the physical waving of the wand seems to make things a little better for me to handle...

One of those times I need my wand is when little Keisha comes over and needs to tell me what Marisa is doing wrong.  Or when Jamal has to tell me that Ethan took his pencil and won't give it back.  Oooh, those are magic wand moments for sure.  But now, in those times, I simply say, "I think you're growing a tattle tongue!" and the students get the picture.

Read on to learn how to 

Do You Suck as a Blogger?

I suck as a blogger...  

I'm too embarrassed to list all the reasons why, but trust me, I know there's room for improvement in my blogging know-how and habits.  Do you feel me?  Am I the only one out there that could learn some new blogging tricks and tips?

After my last post on Unwritten Linky Rules, I made a pledge to myself to learn more about how to make myself a better blogger.  I've decided it's time to ROCK MY BLOG!

Do You Know the Unwritten Rules of Linky Parties?

Now that most of us are heading back to school, you might be heading back to that thing you call a blog and getting into the groove of posting regularly again...  That includes participating in Linky Parties!  If you're a new Blogger or a seasoned one, keep reading to discover all the "unwritten rules" of Linky Parties.  You might just discover you're not giving all the Linky Love  you should be!

 This topic is an important one, especially if you're a new Blogger.  Let's back up and define a Linky Party...

Linky Party (noun):  A Linky Party, or Linky, is when the author of a blog (Host) invites other blog readers to "link" up their blog posts that relate to the same topic as the Hosts.

BUT...There are basic procedures and manners to follow that you're not told and just expected to know.  Today, I'll share these 7 "rules" so you're not the Broken Link of the party!

 The first step is to link up your own blog to the Host's post.  But what do you link up from your blog?  You're related post or your blog itself?  Forget your Homepage!!!  Readers hate nothing more than to click on your link, expecting a specific topic, and they're lead to your Homepage instead.  So take the time to get the URL of your specific blog post and link that!

 You need to mention the Linky Host at least twice in your own blog post!  The Host will probably have a button (image) for you to include in your post AND you should mention them by name.  You really should link their name back to their blog also.  So mention them thrice, not twice.

Please make sure your blog post matches the Linky theme.  You'll look desperate for readers if you don't.

You shouldn't just link your blog and that's it.  If you don't do the next step, you won't get many readers to your own blog, which is the purpose of participating in the Linky in the first place.

Pay close attention to this unwritten rule.  If everyone did this in the Linky, they would all benefit extremely!  After you link up and post your own post, you're not done there.  If the Host doesn't give any direction to visit anyone in a certain way, than come up with your own method of visiting the other blogs in the Linky.  Maybe you want to visit all the even numbered blogs, or all the blogs that link up after yours.  Whatever method you choose, please make sure to visit the other blogs because that's what makes the Linky successful!

This rule is probably the most important for you personally.  When you visit the other blogs, you have to give them some Linky Love!  By that I mean you have to leave a comment that is meaningful.  Don't just say, "I'm visiting you from Cara's Creative Playground Linky..." because that doesn't show that you really read their post.  Leave a comment that will BRING readers to YOUR blog because of your sincerity or relevance of your comment.  If you're successful with this unwritten rule, you've mastered the entire purpose of the Linky Party!  So make sure to give some Linky Love...

Don't get discouraged if no one visits your blog or comments.  You just make sure you're following the Golden Rule and doing what you're supposed to.  Eventually, others will notice in the blogging community and visit your blog, which is what you want!  Right?

I hope these unwritten rules have helped and you learned something new from at least one of them!  If not, you're a Linky Party Love Giver and pat on the back to you!

I'd love to hear if you have any other Linky Party unwritten rules or pet peeves that really irk you.  Leave them in the comments below!

Until Next Time My Friends,

What Happens in Vegas... Ends Up on My Blog!

This year's TpT Conference theme, Come Together Go Further, is an understatement of the feelings that happened throughout the week!  I didn't think this year's conference in Las Vegas could top last years, but I was wrong for sure!

I'd like to spread out my trip over a couple of posts so I can truly give those of you reading the same enchanting time I had while in Vegas.  So today, I'd just like to share with you some of the wonderful teachers I met while there during the conference itself and just out and about in the hotel!  Some I wasn't able to capture on camera, but the memories are there just the same.

 These are two lovely ladies I met for the first time...

Stephanie Stewart & Hadar Maor (Miss Kindergarten Love).  Both of them were gracious enough to take the time to take a picture with little ol' me!

You never really see this artist's face much... But this is Kimberly Geswein from KG Fonts!  Love, love, love her fonts!  Kimberly has to be one of the funniest people I've met.  She has a wonderful personality and had me smiling with all her jokes.

 For some strange reason I feel a connection with this teacher author... Hee, Hee.  This is Cara Carroll and she is just the cutest little things ever!  She was also very nice and gracious.

Love her name by the way!

 One of the things I love most about this lovely lady is that she is so REAL and down to earth.  Not to mention her southern "twang" makes me smile.  This is Jennifer White from First Grade Blue Skies.

Last but not least, is Deanna Jump.  This woman is just amazing!  I don't have all the words to describe her, but she is very, very sweet AND humble.  She is and has been a great friend to me for a few years now.  I really look up to her for how she's stayed true to herself even though she's literally a star to many of us.  She's also down to earth and has a beautiful personality.

This picture was HER idea, not mine!

I also had the chance to meet a great supporter of mine, Cheryl from Southern California.  She always gives me the sweetest feedback on my TpT products and I was grateful to meet her as well.

As you can see, I had the opportunity to meet some very talented and sweet ladies.  More later about all I learned from the conference!

If you went to Vegas, who was the person you enjoyed meeting the most?  Or if you didn't go, who would you love to meet?  I'd love to hear in the comments!

Love You Friends,

Need an Awesome End of the Year Student Gift? Kids LOVE These!

As the end of the school year approaches for most of us, it's always sad to see them go.  But it makes me happy to see how they've grown!  So this time of the year is bitter-sweet for me.  Would you agree?  I like to send them off with a little gift and today I have an awesome student gift to share with you!

These are very easy to make and don't really cost that much, which is nice if you have a class of 30!  These splash balls are fun in the tub; my Son loves to play with his splash balls during his bath time.  They're also fun when playing with the hose on a hot Summer day!  So I know your students will just love them.  

Here are the steps to making your own splash balls:

I got my sponges at the Dollar Store so they weren't as expensive.  Try to get the sponges that come in a variety of colors if you can.  This is make the splash balls more festive!  You'll also need some kind of string... fish line, twine, or even dental floss might work in a pinch!

Cut the sponges into strips going along the longest side of the sponge.  I cut my sponges into 4 strips per sponge.

Gather the strips into your hand.  I used 5-6 sponge strips per ball.  Don't forget to gather different colored strips!

Tie the strips in the middle; tie them very tight and in a knot.  Cut the ends of the string, as close to the knot as you can.

Fluff out the strips to make the "ball" shape.  And there you go!  You've made a splash ball!

Repeat the process with the rest of the sponges, until you have the number of balls you need.

To make them extra special, I wrapped them in plastic bags (also bought at the Dollar Store) and tied them with curling ribbon.  I attached a tag, signed with my name and it looks great!

If you'd like to make your own splash balls, you can download the tags I used here.

I'd love to hear what your favorite end of the year student gift you like to give... Are you the type of teacher that prefers to make your gifts, or save time by just purchasing something?  I tend to swing in the middle of the two!  Let me hear from you and have a wonderful day friends!