Sweet Deal from Erin Condren

Well! This week (and weekend) totally got away from me! On Thursday night I remembered I had a training to attend on Friday, and I had to wake up at 6:30 am to be there on time. I've been sleeping in until 9 (and sometimes 10!) this summer, so it was a struggle to drag my butt out of bed that early!

Today I'm going to head up to my classroom to work, but before I go I want to share a sweet deal that the lovely people at Erin Condren are offering you all! I contacted them when I was doing my giveaway to see if there was a discount or something I could offer y'all because I felt so bad that not everyone could win a planner! They responded with this:

We currently are running a promo the whole month of August for our teacher planners... Teachers can order their planner and then enter the code SCHOOLDAYS at check out to receive $10 off their planner AND a free set of Erin Condren pens - a $18.95 value! Feel free to share with all on your blog.

We also have the following contest running, especially for teachers too:

To honor all amazing educators, we are having a Teacher Planner Giveaway!

Nominate one of your special teachers and she/he just might win the opportunity to personalize a lesson planner for FREE! There’s something in it for you too…as we s

elect at random a special teacher each day, we will reward YOU with a $50 shopping code too! Be sure to share with your friends too!

https://www.facebook.com/

erincondrendesign/app_


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(Note: the planner I gave away was purchased by me; it was not given to me by Erin Condren to give away.)

So, if you are still in need of a great teacher planner, this is the perfect time to purchase one! Three of my co-workers saw my planner on Friday and they all immediately purchased one for themselves - even my principal said she wished she still had to make lesson plans so that she could have an excuse to get one for herself! (I bet she could benefit from the Life Planner, which is the next item on my Erin Condren wishlist...)

Anyway, I hope y'all are having a great Monday! I'll be back soon with a more substantial post, but right now I've got to put first things first and get up to my classroom!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

Hey y'all! Happy Wednesday! I was having internet issues yesterday, but I wanted to pop in real quick to announce the winner of the Erin Condren teacher planner:

Congratulations, Karyn! I also want to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who entered - I'm thrilled to have had so many entries, and to have found so many great new bloggers in the process!

Later this week I will be back with a post about the remaining 4 habits - I know I said I'd be doing that Monday, but my boyfriend's parents ended up coming to town last weekend and then I decided to hitch a ride with my aunt up to Dallas to see my Granny and my dad, stepmom, and little brother, and I didn't get back home until yesterday. So, that post is still in the making.

For those of you who are already back at school, I hope you're having fun getting to know each other. For those of you who are just a few weeks away from starting (like me), I hope you're not spending too many of your last days off in your classroom (like me). But, I'll be out of town next week from Thursday - Sunday, and then school starts for teachers on Monday, August 20th, so I want my room to be ready before I go out of town.

Since I don't have much else to share today, I thought I'd end with a picture of me and my little brother. He started school last week (on my birthday, actually), and even though I call him my "little" brother (I'm 17 years older than him), now that he's in the 4th grade, I realize he's not so little anymore.

♥

Currently Linking Up

Hi friends! Today I'm linking up to a few blogs to share some things I've purchased and created, and to also share my August Currently.

First, I'm linking up with Christina to share some of the things I recently ordered from Vistaprint. I bought a Groupon for $17 of $70 worth of products, and I'm pretty excited about what I made! First, I made behavior punch cards out of business cards.

In one of my very first blog posts, I wrote about my rewards system, and this year, since we're going to be a Leader in Me campus, I decided to change the phrase from "________ does great things" to "________ is a great leader"! I'm hoping the business card size won't be too small, especially because I ordered 500 of them!

Next, I ordered these oversized postcards to use on our back to school night, which for us is the Thursday before school starts. I left the closing blank because I'm planning to share these with the other teachers on my team, and that way we can each sign our name on the bottom.

I made these postcards, too; they're blank on the back and I used a rocket because my class is the Rockets!

The last thing I made was this banner, and while it wasn't part of the special deals offered with the Groupon, I only needed to spend $25 over my $70 total to get free shipping, and I figured it'd be smarter to make something else than just pay for shipping! I love this quote, and I'll refer to it to help my students remember to be proactive (habit #1).

I'm also linking up with Elizabeth's Fabulous Find Friday linky party. My birthday was yesterday, so I did a little shopping (although I bought nothing for me personally; everything was for my classroom!) and this is what I found:

I got this wonderful organizer at Michael's for around $30. I found it in the plastic scrapbooking storage section, and right now everything in that section is 40% off (the sale ends tomorrow, so if you want one for yourself, you'd better go quick!). It was originally $70, and I had a coupon for an additional 20% my entire purchase, including sale items, so it ended up being more than half off! I'm not quite sure what I'm going to use it for, but it makes me happy just looking at it - these guys have so much potential!

I found these felt crowns at Hobby Lobby for 80% off -  they were in the summer section, and with the discount, I paid $1.30 for BOTH! I'm planning to use them for birthday celebrations in my classroom! The small plastic containers came from HEB (a grocery store), and they were only $1! As soon as I saw them I knew they'd be perfect to hold dice - I pinned this awhile ago, and have been on the look out for dice rolling containers ever since, so I'm very happy to have these.

Finally, I wanted to link up to Farley's August Currently - head on over to her blog to grab your blank copy and link up!

I used my Boxy Print font for my answers - if you like it, you can find it in my TpT store here!

For my back to school must haves, I need to find a new pair of black leather flip flops. We're allowed to wear flip flops at our school as long as they're not like shower shoes, so I'm on the hunt for a new pair since I literally wore the soles out of my other pair last year! I also need a new lanyard for my keys and ID, but I've already purchased my eraseable pens! If you've never heard of these before, they're called FriXion pens, and they're made by Pilot. I had a student last year with sensory issues, and his therapist recommended he use these pens instead of pencils because they were easier for him to hold. You can buy these pens at all office supply stores, but they only have red, blue, and black. Well, after some searching, I found a website called JetPens, which sells the FriXion pens in tons of colors! These particular pens are imported from Japan, and they work beautifully. In fact, I am so obsessed with these pens that I just ordered myself the FriXion markers too! I'm mostly excited to have these for my gradebook - now if I need to change a grade, I don't have to scribble over it or use White Out; I can just erase it and write it again!

That's all I've got for today! I'll be back on Monday to finish up the second half of my Cliffs Notes version of the 7 habits (and don't forget, my giveaway for an Erin Condren teacher planner ends Monday night, so if you haven't entered, you have a few more days to do so - click here to go to the giveaway page!). Have a great weekend, y'all!

Habits 1 - 3 (and a Giveaway!)

Good morning y'all! Today I'm going to give you a bit more information on the first three habits - they are the foundation upon which the habit system rests, so it's very important to work on these first. I know some of you may be interested in lesson plans and/or activities to help teach these habits, and I've already begun drafting those posts, but I want to give an overview of all the habits first before I get into those - I just want to make sure I give y'all enough information on each habit so that you can more easily use and understand the lessons and activities that follow!

Habit 1: Be Proactive (You're in Charge)

I am a responsible person. I take initiative. I choose my actions, attitudes, and moods. I do not blame others for my wrong actions. I do the right thing without being asked, even when no one is looking.

This habit is so, so important for kids, and I saw my third graders become more responsible and self-aware after they learned about what it meant to be proactive. This habit will teach children that their circumstances don't make them who they are, but their choices do. While all the habits are obviously important to model for kids, this is one that might take some practice on your end. An easy way to model this habit is by simply changing your language - no longer can you say "I didn't have time to..." or "I had to...". Instead, you must take ownership of yourself and the situation, and say things like, "I didn't make the time to..." or "I chose to...". When you use this kind of language in your classroom and even in the hallways when you're talking to other teachers, your students will observe you talking the talk and walking the walk, and they'll quickly begin to use this habit effectively thanks to your example. At the beginning of the year when I'm tired and stretched thin, I am going to make a very concerted effort to not make excuses or complain; I will actively work to change my thinking and my language, and I'm positive my attitude will change, too. If I find myself struggling to take charge of myself, I can always remind myself to not be like the people in this video:

Habit 2: Begin with the End in Mind (Have a Plan)

I plan ahead and set goals. I do things that have meaning and make a difference. I am an important part of my classroom and contribute to my school’s mission and vision. I look for ways to be a good citizen.

Basically, this habit can be summed up in this quote: Failing to plan means you are planning to fail. As teachers, planning ahead is definitely one of the biggest job requirements. While my district requires us to turn in lesson plans every week, it doesn't cause me any added stress because I've already made those plans anyway! I think the majority of people who become teachers are inherent planners, so this habit probably won't be so difficult to model or implement in your classroom. Creating a mission statement aligns very closely with this habit (see last week's post here for more on writing a mission statement), and keeping a planner or calendar that outlines specific deadlines and schedules will ultimately help you become more efficient. It is very important to think through things first before creating anything, and this is why the mission statement was such a big part of our training - everything we plan for should parallel the goals and results we desire and/or need to achieve. 

Habit 3: Put First Things First (Work First, Then Play)

I spend my time on things that are most important. This means I say no to things I know I should not do. I set priorities, make a schedule, and follow my plan. I am disciplined and organized.

This habit means you must begin to put the things that are actually important first, even before those things that may seem urgent. It is so easy to get distracted by emails, phone calls, TV shows, Pinterest, etc., and while making some time for yourself to relax is definitely okay, you will be more likely to truly enjoy your time to relax if you have already given your attention to the things that really needed it. Of course, there are certain urgent things that will demand immediate attention - getting sick, for example - but for the most part, you should focus your efforts on accomplishing the things that will help you in the long run. Muriel shared this video with us, and it summarizes this habit wonderfully:

 

I hope this little Cliffs Notes version of the first three habits has been helpful! I know y'all are smart and probably already had a good grasp of what each habit meant, but I am just so excited about this initiative that I can't help but share (as my boyfriend says, I drank the Kool-Aid!). Now, I bet you're wondering about why the title of this post also says giveaway. Heck, you're probably thinking, didn't she hint at a giveaway way back when she hit 100 followers? Yes, I did, but I wanted to wait on purpose because my giveaway parallels so perfectly with habit #2! I'm sure I'm not alone in my love for planners, making lists, color coordination, and organized spaces, so that's why I've decided to give one lucky reader their choice of an Erin Condren teacher planner! I ordered myself one at the beginning of the summer and I can't even tell you how IN LOVE with it I am! 

My planner - I chose the zig zag cover (I blurred out my last name and school name). 

Year at a glance - oh how I LOVE!

STICKERS! Are you kidding?! 

To win a planner of your own, there is only one required entry - you must follow my blog - but there a few other ways to get more entries! I'll pick a winner next Monday, so you have plenty of time to enter! My birthday is on Thursday, so I'm planning to put that as my first thing first and celebrate with my friends at my apartment's pool, but I'll be back soon with a post about habits 4 - 7! Have a great day, friends!

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