Summer To-Do List Update and an Award!

Before I share my progress from my previous post about my Summer Project To-Do List, I want to give a BIG THANKS to Patti at One Class, One Sound for sharing the Liebster Blog Award with me. This award was created to give recognition to blogs with 200 or less followers. I am a newbie to the blog world and definitely appreciate this! Thanks again Patti!

Here is what you do if you receive this award:

1. Copy and paste the award to your blog.

2. Thank the person who gave it to you, and link back to them.

3. Nominate 5 other bloggers and let them know by commenting on their blog.

So here are my nominees…

Teaching Third

Third Grade Grapevine

Psyched to be in 2nd

That’s So Second Grade

Forkin’ 4th

Make sure you check out these super cute blogs! I’m excited to find 5 new blogs to follow!

So I was checking the calendar a few days ago, and realized that I go back to school in less than a month. (!!!) So much to do- so little time. But half of me is so excited for the first day in my new school with my new class. A while back I posted a Summer To-Do List, and I want to check on my progress.

Classroom Projects

1. Crate Seats- DONE! See how they turned out here. I absolutely LOVE them!

2. New Book Boxes- making progress… I have my student book boxes ready, but I am still trying to DIY my classroom library boxes. I went ahead and used some magazine files that I hadn’t used yet for my student book boxes this year. They are colorful and brand new! Stay tuned for the others…

3. Teacher’s Tool Box- DONE See how that turned out here. It’s already set up in my classroom!

4. Move in to my new room- DONE! Still working on bulletin boards and organization, but all of my boxes are unloaded and furniture is all arranged! Pictures coming soon!

Total- 3/4 complete! Not bad!

House Projects

1. Clean/Organize Garage. DONE! As of 11:00 this morning! I definitely put that one off, but it is finally done and lookin’ good!

2. Finish building the deck- DONE!!!!! This one is so exciting. My father-in-law and husband put in so much time. My F-I-L gave up more than a week of his vacation time to build this for us. Check it out. We are so thrilled! Here is the Before and After!

    

3. Paint living room and hallway- DONE! I got this done a few weeks ago. I really do not like painting. I think I am going to retire from it as of now. It looks great though, and now I can get some pictures on the walls!

4. Window Treatments- halfway there… Clint and I took a trip to IKEA on our anniversary and I found two sets of curtains that I have put up in the living room and master bedroom. But I am still looking for something cute for the kitchen and family room. Guess I need to do more shopping!!

Total- 3/4 complete!

Other Projects:

1. Teach Meatball to skateboard- Major FAIL! He is still afraid and wants nothing to do with it! I tried picking him up and putting him on it, and he just ran away. :(

2. Relax- Well, to my standard I would say yes. I have enjoyed quite a bit this summer. But summer’s not over, I will keep working on this one!

How To Get FREE Stuff!

I’m sure everyone has cashed in on numerous “teacher discounts” offered at tons and tons of stores and suppliers, but I have a new tip that you may not have thought of. On Friday, my hubs was at Kroger and heard from a fellow teacher that our Blockbuster was going out of business and GIVING AWAY bookshelves to teachers. I was thrilled because on our trip to IKEA, we couldn’t fit bookshelves for school in the car so we had to say no. I am in BIG need of book storage. So we made a quick trip to borrow a truck from my dad and got to Blockbuster just in time. The rumor was true- absolutely FREE to teachers! (and no assembly required!) Clint and I each got two for our classrooms, and we helped a friend get 3 for her classroom. It was crazy! I guess I am shocked about this because we tried the same thing when Borders was closing. They were getting rid of all their furniture. You had to get on a waiting list, and if you got called you still had to buy it! No deal there… I am sure every business has their own policy, but the manager at Blockbuster said she was going to have to put all of the furniture in storage. All it took was a teacher (thank you whoever you are) to ask if they would be able to give away the furniture.

Here they are: almost 5 feet tall and double sided! (I’m going to take that blue strip of paper out of the one on the left.)

So if you haven’t thought about it already, when you notice a store closing in your area, be bold and ASK! What can it hurt? You could end up with FREE stuff! All it took was a little man power and time. Totally worth it! I can’t wait to show you how I am going to get my tubs of books on these things. They are a perfect depth for chapter books, but I need more picture book storage. Today while I was in my classroom unpacking (YAY!) I thought of an idea. I’m going to see if it works first though! To Be Continued…

The never-ending list

I have realized this summer that I am terrible at being on vacation. I cannot relax. I cannot sit and watch TV. I cannot even sit for more than an hour to read. All I can think about is school projects and house projects. After pinning all school year, I have a few big projects and lots of small projects I want to get finished this summer. And Clint and I bought our first home in September and have many things still awaiting our attention. I have always been a “list person”. It just makes me feel better to brainstorm it all out no matter how long the list ends up. And nothing feels better than crossing them off one at a time! So here is my “Summer Projects To-Do List”.

Classroom Projects:

1. Crate Seats. If you are on Pinterest, I am sure you have seen them. I want them, too! I already bought the fabric and the crates, but I need the rest to finish these up.

2. New Book Boxes. My book tubs/baskets are getting a facelift this year. I want a more uniform look. My oldies are mismatched and starting to fall apart because I tend to over-fill them. I saved about 30 Scholastic boxes this year and will be posting this project soon!

3. Teacher’s Tool Box. Again, thank you Pinterest! I am going to go “NO DESK” this year as my new room is a little smaller and my class size is a little bigger. (EEK!) I am going to use my guided reading table as my teacher table with storage behind it.

4. Move in to my new room! This is still on the to-do list because I am waiting for my boxes to be moved from one building to another. It is very kind of our staff to do this for me, but I don’t know when it will be done. There will be many before/after pics to come!

House Projects:

1. Clean out/organize garage. We have been using it as a catch-all since September and I am getting really annoyed with it every time I get out of the car.

2. Finish building the deck. I (fortunately) am not working on this project. My husband and my very talented father-in-law are in the process right now.

3. Paint the living room and hallway. We have stripped wallpaper and painted two rooms since September (one on Fall Break, and one on Winter Break). I swore to hire the rest of the house done because of my lack of patience with wallpaper. However, the living room doesn’t have any and the hallway is not too long. So I think I will try to tackle this one.

4. Window Treatments!!! Our house luckily came with every window covered and we didn’t have to worry about this right away. They are unfortunately not our style and have been bugging me since we moved in. So we are planning a trip to IKEA! Any other suggestions on cheap treatments?

Other Projects:

1. Teach Meatball to skateboard. He is starting to warm up to the actual skateboard indoors (sniffing, licking…) but he has yet to actually get on the thing. I will update you!

2. Relax! I really want to enjoy this summer. I know the feeling of accomplishment is great, but come on- I need to take a “chill-pill” (as my mom would say it).

Any other non-relaxers out there? Or am I the only one?

I DID IT!

I am so proud of myself- my blog actually works! I have spent most of the day tweaking, fixing, researching, etc… I think I will call it a day. Still work to do…

Anyway, here’s my story if we haven’t met-

My name is Allison Mathews. I am married to an amazing man, Clint, and we live in Peru, Indiana (my hometown). I have been teaching for four years now. I taught first grade for three years. At the end of the year I was asked to move to third grade. Not only am I moving grades, but I am also moving schools! My new school is the elementary where I attended K-6 as a kid, and is where Clint teaches 6th grade (this will be his second year). Not only that, but I will be teaching in my old first grade classroom! I am so excited and blessed to have great opportunities and adventures in my life right now. So even though I will be busy enough with a new grade level, I have been wanting to start a blog for some time now. I became very obsessed in love with Pinterest this year. It has saved me so much time coming up with ideas and resources for the classroom. Pinterest led me to teaching blogs. I became glued to the computer checking blogs all evening. I decided if I have time to do this, why not start one myself? I would like to use this blog to share my experiences of setting up a new classroom, learning and creating new curriculum and resources, and figuring out a way to manage my busy life! I hope you stick around and share the next school year with me! Thanks for stopping by!

My loves: Clint and Meatball (our English Bulldog)