Monday Made it - A Day Late!

Sorry to be late joining the Monday Made It party this week - I didn't think I had anything to share as I was away all weekend but them remembered I hadn't shared my teacher jam jars completed and in all their glory!

I think I've shared before that I wanted to make back to school gifts for all the new members on my team and the start of this project but here it is from start to finish... 

I had seem lots of great teacher survival kits on other blogs and wanted to do something similar. I was browsing around for ideas and I came across this:

Click on the picture to take you to the site for lots of great ideas!

As it happens, I can't bring myself to throw jam jars away and I have a whole cupboard of them sitting there waiting to be used for something amazing! This was their chance!

I went shopping and picked up lots of little bits for not very much money (I had 6 to make after all).

I swashed it all (bar glue stick and Haribo) in:

I made some labels and attempted to mod podge them to the jars. It didn't go so well and I have since learned that laserjet printing will be fine for mod podge but inkjet not so much:

I don't have a laserjet printer at home so I printed off another set and was hoping that if I was a little more careful, it would be ok. 

A bit of pinterest browsing helped me find the perfect saying for the front of the jars. So true!

My second attempt was not perfect but a definite improvement! I did spray with hairspray and put them the labels in the freezer for a few hours (some tips I read online) before trying again. I think it was more the ONE thin layer to start with that worked and not these other things though!

Each class has an animal name at my school (I am Otters) which is why I chose those pictures to go on my lovely Collective Creation backgrounds.

A bit of ribbon and they were done! Cute teacher gifts for my new team!

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Who I am!

Hello!

I'm excited to join Blog Hoppin' for Teacher Week and will try my best to join in each day even though we are not back at school quite yet!

Today is:

I know I just linked up for Meet the Teacher Blogger so will just give the basics here then try to share some lesser know facts! Here we go...

I am a teacher in the South of England (about 20 minutes from Windsor) am am about to start my 10th year of teaching! This will be my second year in the infants teaching 6-7 year olds and I am excited to start in September actually knowing what I am doing (more or less) after having taught at the top of the school for most of the years previous. I have been at the school I teach at since I started teaching and have some wonderful friends there who I couldn't be without and are a big part of the reason I stay! I spend way more money on my classroom and teaching resources than my house or myself!

I have lived with my love and best friend for the last 11 years and we have 2 gorgeous cats called Pomme and Oak (I try to sneak pictures of them into blog posts whenever I can!)

Pomme

Oak

Cuddle Cats

Thank you Mrs Lemons for this template so I can share a few more facts with you!

Thanks for stopping by to find out a bit more about me - I've been loving reading all your posts!

Giveaway Winners

Thank you to everyone who entered my giveaway!

I'm away in Cardiff for the weekend but will send out prize packs to the winners below when I get home tomorrow evening!

Congratulations!

Five for Friday!

Hello! 

It's Friday again and that means Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching!

Jam Jar Gifts!

I gathered some bits together today to make back to school gifts for the 6 teachers on my team this year.  4 of them have just finished training and this is their first post, one is starting her second year of teaching but is new to our school and one is an experienced member of staff who was already at our school. It's going to be an interesting year!

Here is what I found to include:

And I managed to squash everything in to my jam jar except for the mini glue stick and the Haribo (so I was forced to eat them all!)

Printing and Mod Podge

I was very excited to get my printer working after years of it taking up space in my house doing absolutely nothing! It meant I was able to print the pretty labels I had made for the jars!

I planned to use Mod Podge (believe it or not my first time) to stick them to the jars. However, all did not turn out well...

The ink ran and I have blurry labels! 

I've printed another set and am ready for my second attempt - any advice on how to stop this happening again?

Word Wall

I've seen so many great word wall displays and searched for something with the letters in the handwriting style we use at school but had no luck. I've been working on this and am nearly finished!

I plan to print, cut, laminate and then write the letters on using a permanent pen myself - that way the style will be the cursive script we teach the children!

I found some great fabric when I was out at a craft village with my Mum this week. I plan to use some of it to make a cover for my teacher diary/planner. Now I need to make decisions about the combinations - any recommendations? 

My Giveaway

It's the last full day of my giveaway today so don't forget to enter to have a chance of winning a set of these 5 products! You can find out a bit more about them if you click here.

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That's all for this week! I'm off to Cardiff for the weekend (and Ikea on Monday - it's sad that I am so excited about that - any advice on what I should buy for my classroom?!)

Have a great weekend!

Throwback Thursday

Hello!

I've only joined in with this link up once because I haven't been blogging for that long but as I see so many people are heading back to school right now, I thought I would re-post this Wordless Wednesday post from last month as it seems very relevant! It is all about New Beginnings!
Thanks you  The Teachers Desk 6 for hosting!

Don't forget to enter my giveaway at the bottom of the post for a chance to win a set of these vocabulary building products!

Here we go:

Hello!

It's been a while since I've linked up with Christina at Sugar and Spice for Wordless Wednesday so I'm excited to join in again this week!

While I haven't even started the holidays yet, I'm still thinking ahead to the new school year and planning what I will do the same and do very differently (must must must keep on top of my marking and tidy desk next year)!

I was looking through some old photos of displays and this one caught my eye:

It's linked to our New Beginnings PSHE unit. The kids write:

 - One actual thing they would take with them from their current school to their dream school on the green leaf

- One tangible 'dream' thing that would be in the school on a red leaf (lots of swimming pools and ipads on these!)

- One intangible thing we would see in their dream school on an orange leaf (kindness, honesty etc.)

- One thing that would not be in their dream school on a brown leaf 

We then take the leaves and add them to the tree to make a great display!

I've been thinking about what my dream classroom will be like in terms of these leaves. 

My question for you is - what would be in your dream school or classroom and what will definitely NOT be there?

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Wordless Wednesday - Favourite topics

Hello!

It's Wednesday so I'm linking up with Christina at Sugar and Spice!

I was browsing back through old display photos and saw this one. I loved the wallpaper I used on this display and I loved teaching about the Victorians when I was in Year 6. Unless I can twist some arms, it's not a topic I get to teach this year and is one I miss.

My question for you is - what is your favourite topic to teach in your class (past or present!)?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway!

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Go link up with Christina!

My Uncle is a Hunkle

Hello! It's Tuesday, which means it's time to link up with Mrs Jump's Class to share some great books!

I'm sharing this Clarice Bean book by Lauren Child today which I recently purchased for my niece 

(but ended up keeping for myself!).

When I was doing my teacher training, one of the first children's picture books that was shared with us was by Lauren Child and I've loved her ever since!

This one is about her Uncle Ted who has to babysit when Mum's other brother, who is a policeman in New York, has an accident (slipping on a doughnut).

Despite Mum leaving strict rules...

Clarice and Uncle Ted manage to get into a series of scrapes while Mum is away!

It's a fun story with lots of scope for children predicting what trouble they'll get in, how the problems will be solved and creating and writing trouble for Clarice and Uncle Ted to get in themselves! They could also write down rules in the style of mum, instructions on how to care for a hamster (and not lose it) and write character profiles.

I love the way the writing is set out on the page (very engaging) and how the pictures (which often have real photos mixed in with the illustrations) have so much going on in them. Kids love to spot little details!

You should check out this and other Lauten Child books if you haven't already.  

You should also go and check out the other books people are recommending over at Mrs Jump's Class!

Don't forget I am giving away a copy of each of 5 products from my TpT store (there is bound to be something there you will find useful). 

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