Monday Made It: SS Timeline Spin-off, Early Finishers Board, & More

Hey y'all! I'm back for another edition of Monday Made-It, hosted by 4th Grade Frolics. This is such a neat link up! I worked in my classroom for a few hours today, so I have lots to share! Kick back, grab some tea, and enjoy seeing what others are up to today!

The first thing I made today was my new Social Studies timeline for my classroom. Let me explain what I mean by "timeline". My timeline consists of 7 posters that are titled with each history topic that we cover in 4th grade Social Studies. To make my timeline, I used my standards to get the key terms that the students will need to know during that unit of study. Each poster will be displayed in the order in which we will study them for the entire school year. This seems like such a simple thing to do, and it is, but it also has an impact on the students. I used a timeline of my Social Studies key terms in my 5th grade classroom for the past 3 years, and it really helped the students see where we were going, where we had been, and it served as a visual reminder of the events, people, etc. that went along with each unit. As soon as I get these beauts laminated, they will go up on my wall! Check it out below:

My second project for today was a "I'm Finished, Now What?" board for my classroom. I used some adorable KG fonts to create these cards. I plan to laminate these jewels and place them on one of my bulletin boards for my students to choose from when they finish their work ahead of their classmates. I researched several different ideas for this display, and knew that I wanted all of the activities to have some tie back to ELA (after all, who has time to waste?!) I'm super excited to get these displayed and ready to go for the school year!

My third project for today was this hanging basket display. My new classroom already had the command strip hooks hanging on the wall, so instead of taking them down, I decided to put them to use! I used a curtain rod, book rings, and dollar store baskets to create this little display. I plan to use the baskets to put pens, dry erase markers, pencils, etc. in them. My smart board computer and document projector are located right below the baskets, so storing some pens, etc. close by could potentially be a time saver for me! (I bought these baskets on clearance at my local Dollar General; I got them at a crazy price too! .75 for 2, yes TWO, baskets! I just had to paint them black to match my room this year!)

As I said, I worked in my classroom today, so not much more has happened at my house project wise today. I do have something I want to do later on tonight with the family though, so there may be some family project creating tonight! I'll have to share it next week, if it happens. :)

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you feel inspired by something you've seen!

Elaine, Teaching Lane

Plan With Me Sunday: All About Lists!

Of all the planning and organizational strategies out there, making a list and sticking to it, it probably the thing that I'm the strongest at doing! I'm so excited that this week's Plan With Me Sunday is focused all on lists. Meghan from Keeping Up With Mrs. Harris and Robyn from Kreative in Kindergarten are planning gurus, and their Plan With Me Sundays have taken flight among the blogging world. Be sure to click through other posts and see what everyone else is doing to plan this week!

So, back to lists. Nearly everyone makes them. I have to say that most of my lists are made on my phone. Now don't get me wrong. I make a handwritten to do list at work nearly everyday that I have to work at school; however, for the bigger things like planning a new product or making a shopping list, I tend to use my phone. I'm going to list 3 reasons I use my phone to make 90% of my lists.

1. One of the biggest perks to using my phone is that it is nearly always with me, so it's one less thing that I have to keep up with while I'm tending to children and trying to shop. Can you imagine lugging your purse, three children, a list, a buggy, and everything else that you need in a store? The list would get torn or lost for me. By using my phone, I can take a glance, get what I need, and then double check my list on my phone before checking out. Again, a list is just something else to keep up with, and if the list is on my phone, then woo-lah! Two birds are killed with just one stone. Hey, it saves trees too!

2. Another reason that I prefer to make lists on my phone is because I can use Siri as I'm driving down the road to capture thoughts about new products. Does it always come out exactly like I've said it? Absolutely not. Does Siri ever type the exact words for anybody? I often crack up at the substitute words Siri puts in place of what I really said, but in essence, my thoughts are captured and I don't have to remember it.

3. The third reason I like to use my phone for making lists is because I am a chronic list maker. From product ideas to back to school ideas for my classroom to ideas for church. I make lists all of the time. By using my phone, I don't have to worry about where each list is or if a list is going to get torn off of my notepad. They are neatly organized on my phone and easy to access. One click and they are all listed at my fingertips. Once a list is complete, then I can simply delete it to "clean up" my phone.

I know using your phone to keep a list may not be new to many people, but it's what works for me. Y'all, I even keep a running Christmas list on my telephone! Seriously, I have a list that is titled, "Christmas". When opening said list, you will find everyone's name listed that I currently know we will be needing to purchase a Christmas gift for this upcoming year. As I get ideas about what to buy each person, I quickly open the list and type it beside the person's name. This has been a huge help over the past two Christmases because in the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, it can be overwhelming trying to get your friends and family gifts that they will like and actually use. My Christmas list is truly a lifesaver for me! 

Remember to check out other posts about lists by returning back to the link-up on Meghan or Robyn's blogs. 

Thanks for reading!

Elaine, Teaching Lane

Monday Made It! New Recipe, Planner Stickers, & Teacher Intro File

Hey there y'all! I'm linking up for Monday Made It for the very first time today (well, tonight...)! I'm excited about this linky because it is open to so much more than just products! I guess I'm looking at it for a way to get to know other bloggers on a more personal level, and not just as TpT sellers.

Today I tried a new recipe that is, er, not so healthy, but oh SO delicious! If you like Reese Cups, you'll LOVE this tasty treat! First, I'll share a picture:

Then, the ingredients and recipe:

1 cup of sugar, 1 cup of corn syrup, 1 1/3 cup of creamy peanut butter, 4 1/4 cups of rice krispies, 1 pinch of salt, 4-6 chopped Reese Cups, and 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.

You can thank me after you try it! These things will not last long around my house!

For my second Made It Monday feature, I am giving you a freebie! This freebie is only available to my blog readers, so lucky you! Thanks to Meghan from Keeping Up with Mrs. Harris and Robyn from Kreative in Kindergarten, I just learned how to make my own planner stickers! I stayed up really late last night playing around with creating my very first stickers. By the way, I have just started using a planner...I know, I know, it's sad. 

These stickers were made for use with Avery 8160 labels; however, I'm sure that they could be printed on other sizes if you played around with it. Click the image to download your free copy!

Last, but not least, my final Made It Monday feature is a product that I have recently made to help teachers with introducing themselves during Meet the Teacher or the first day of school. It is editable because teachers need to add their own personal information to the presentation. I look forward to using it myself this upcoming school year! Grab your copy in my TpT store if you're interested!

Well folks, there you have it! My very first Made It Monday! I hope you saw something that could be useful to you! Oh, and be sure to hop on over to 4th Grade Frolics to check out other amazing Made It Monday posts!

Thanks for stopping by,

Elaine, Teaching Lane

Plan With Me Sunday

Planning...it can be done in a variety of ways, which is the purpose of this awesome link-up, Plan With Me Sundays. My good friends from Keeping Up with Mrs. Harris and Kreative in Kindergarten worked together to develop this blog to help teachers in need of additional planning support (or teachers who like to get crafty). DISCLAIMER: I am being 100% truthful in this blog post. Is it going to be beneficial to you? I'm not sure, but I guarantee that you will more than likely enjoy reading it.

First of all let me start off by telling what I don't do. As of right now, I don't decorate my planner. As of right now, I don't use pretty colorful pens to write in my planner. Honestly, as of right now, I don't even have an official planner. There. I said it. I don't have a planner. Although I don't exactly have a cutesy, decorative planner to record all of my plans for the day, week, and month, that doesn't mean that I don't plan at all. After all, I'm a mother of three small children (ages 6, 3, & 1), a wife, friend, daughter, teacher, etc. I plan. I have to. Continue reading to learn about how I currently go about planning the events of each week.

When I plan, I usually get out my phone so that I can see the dates for the upcoming week. I usually create an event for anything my family has to do outside of our home (birthday parties, sporting events, church trips, etc.). Then I usually talk with my husband to see if there's anything I've left out. Now let me clarify something; notice that I said "usually" in the above statements. Yeah, that's because I'm not very OCD about recording things that I need to do. Sometimes I enter it into my phone, other times simply saying out loud is enough for me to remember what I need to do or where I need to be.

I bet many of you are cringing at the thought of me not using a planner, much less not even writing it down sometimes. Well, let me explain something to you. I have one of those personalities that immediately tries to jam pack as much as I can into one day. Even if I had a nice little organizer, I would look at it, and then immediately decide that I could do x amount of things before and after the scheduled event(s). It's crazy, I know. It causes me to be late...a lot. I don't like being late, I really don't, but sometimes the only way I feel like I can get something finished is to be a few minutes late.

Now, for the good news. As I'm beginning to prepare for the upcoming school year (I know, let's NOT talk about that yet!), I have begun looking online for printable planners. Why printable? Because I am a cheap-o, and I want to make sure that I am going to use the planner (and stick to using it) before I invent a lot of money into something "cutesy". Once I have found the planner that's right for me, or at least pieced together a planner based off of the various ones I'm finding all over the internet, I plan to use it to record everything from sales to blog posts to personal events. I feel like I definitely need to move on from just using my phone...sometimes...and begin writing everything down in one central location. Will I stick to it? I'm not sure. Am I going to try? You bet ya!

Now, I'm pretty sure I know what you are thinking..."This lady's post didn't help me at all." I'm sorry if you are thinking that; however, I know that there are others that are just like me. Link up next time to see how my planner usage is going.

Oh, and don't forget to enter the giveaway!

Thanks for stopping by,

Elaine, Teaching Lane

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