Back to Work and TPT Sale

My maternity leave is coming to an end, which makes for an emotional week for me. I've been dreading this. I've been brainstorming how I can stay at home and quit my job. Downsize? Cut our cable and sell a car? After all of this contemplating I came to the conclusion that I need to go back to work. This isn't just for me, but for my daughter as well. I want her to look up to me and see the difference that I am making in children's lives everyday. As fellow educators, you know that this is one of the most special jobs one can have. We don't make a lot of money, so sure, I could probably survive after quitting. At  this point in time, I don't think it's the right decision for me or my family. I've spoken to many friends and family as well as cried to my husband how I can't leave my baby girl. It's a hard decision, but this teacher has got to get back to work :) Once we get into a routine again I'm sure I'll be okay! All mothers go through this, right? :)

I love my job and am excited to get the new school year started. I'm nervous about coming into my classroom after other rules and routines have been established. I will do another post a few weeks after I go back and give you all an update on how it went and tips for returning after maternity leave.

So because this is my last week on maternity leave, I'm throwing a sale for fun! My entire TPT store is 15% off. Click HERE to get there! I hope you find something that you like :) Check out the freebies, too!

*The sale will run from October 3rd through October 5th

 

Here is my daughter, Bailey Rae. She was born on July 26th, 2015.

 

Have a good weekend :)

My Classroom Tour!

Phew! I made it through the first week of school! I am now as ready as I'll ever be to reveal my classroom for the 2014-2015 school year!

 

This is my reading focus wall. I don't have that many bulletin boards, so I used contact paper to create a board behind my guided reading table. I then hot glued clothes pins to hold up my laminated paper. I put Velcro up as well so that I could change out the labels if I ever wanted to. The pocket chart in the center is for my vocab words for each group!

This is my FAVORITE spot in my room. This is my reading corner. I haven't finished the bulletin board yet. I got the purple rug from Wal-Mart for about $15. The cute chevron table was $10 from Ross and the rest of the furniture is old. I covered up my wooden doors with contact paper to create a super cute and bright Word Wall. The shelf on the right has all of my book baskets that are sorted by genre.

It's kind of hard to see, but the banner that I made says "Math is a Hoot!" Looking at it now, I'd like to have lighter paper so that the letters could be more visible. I do not have the time or energy to fix it at the moment :) My bulletin board paper is actually wrapping paper that I bought from the dollar section at Target.

I found this awesome idea on Pinterest! Like I said previously, I don't have much bulletin board space, so I created this one with contact paper. I hot glued clothes pins to the wall so that I can swap out student work. This also shows my mailbox system which is a hot mess with all of the first day packet stuff :)

Try dressing up your door or bulletin boards with mix/match borders! I love this!

My job board is on a door that leads to the outside. I covered it with contact paper and it looks so much better. I love this!

I'm going to end my classroom tour with my favorite desk skirt that I made a couple years ago. This was super easy and didn't take much time at all. If you like that big chunky letter on my desk, they are 50% off at Michael's Arts and Crafts! :)

 

I'll post more classroom pictures very soon! :) Leave a link to your blog so I can check out your classroom!