Table Caddies {with a promo code}

As most of you know from experience once a school year has come to an end you start planning for the next.  I, too, am guilty of this.  I still enjoy my summer and take breaks from school work, but I truly enjoy what I do and find it hard to let it go for so long in the summer.

Next year I'm doing a polka dot and apple theme.  Everything will be black, white, green, and red.  I wouldn't normally go for red, but the tables and chairs in my classroom are red so I needed it to all match.  I'm quite happy with my progress so far.  {I'll post my apple decor unit as soon as I'm finished with it.}

Ok, now on to my new table caddies... the whole purpose for this blog post.  Thanks to the wonderful folks at Mardel.com I now have the perfect table caddies to keep my kiddos organized at their tables.  I always have trouble finding just the right basket to fit all of the materials in a useful way so I was super excited to find these utility caddies from Mardel.com.  What I love most about these baskets is that there are two big open compartments vs. small divided areas that don't fit anything.

The awesome thing for y'all is that Mardel.com is offering 15% off all plastic storage by Romanoff with the promo code 'StorageSpecial15'.

I've dolled up my caddies to go along with my theme and now I'm trying to decide exactly how I want to organize the materials in them.  I know for sure that each student will store their crayons in a small food storage container like pictured below.  I have used this for a few years now and it's been amazing.  I just print out an address label with each child's name and stick it on.  Last year pencils were quite the battle so I'm trying to figure out exactly how to deal with that.  I'm leaning towards little tape flags in different colors on each pencil so kiddos know exactly which is theirs.

Win a File-tastic & more!

Remember this great product I shared with you awhile back?  Well, you could win one for your own classroom along with 2 other products of your choice by participating in my giveaway!

All you need to do is select 3 products from the Education department on Mardel.com and blog about how you would use them in your classroom.  Seriously, how easy is that?!  The winner will receive the 3 products that they blogged about!

Reusable Dry Erase Pockets

I have just discovered a huge time {and paper} saver... reusable dry erase pockets!  Many of you probably remember a post I did awhile back about my amazing Filetastic.  Well, I'm back with another great product from Mardel.com.  The wonderful people at Mardel have sent me a few different products to use in my classroom-- one of those products is their reusable dry erase pockets.

These pockets are amazing!  All I have to do is print out 5 copies of the recording sheet for any station, stuff it in the pocket, and it's ready to go.  {It saves me time and paper!}  Some of my kiddos get so upset when our station time is up and they haven't finished their recording sheet.  Then, we have to deal with them storing the paper and attempting to do it on their own at another time... what a mess!  That problem was eliminated this week since I was using my new reusable dry erase pockets.  When the timer went off they simply showed me the work they had completed and then erased it.  {By the way, these erase so nicely... you don't even have to rub super hard and it actually comes off!}

I'm super excited to put these to use in my classroom in the fall.  I have enough for each student to have one so at the beginning of the year I'll just print out a tracer sheet with each child's name and they can go to town practicing!  This will save so much time and paper.  Yes, please!

Mardel is so wonderful that they are offering 20% off any of their reusable dry erase pockets with the promo code DRYERASE20.  The code is good until June 24 and is good on all four reusable pockets they offer.  They even have individual pockets for sale so you can just get enough for your small group or get a box for your whole class!  Go check it out and don't forget to use the promo code DRYERASE20 at checkout to save 20% on your reusable dry erase pockets.

I'm also working with Mardel to bring you a great giveaway opportunity for fellow education bloggers!  The best part about this giveaway is that you get to pick your own prizes from the Education department on Mardel.com.  Click the image below to learn more about this amazing opportunity.

Classroom Products Giveaway

UPDATE 6/25/13- This giveaway has ended.  Entries will be reviewed and the winner will be announced by the end of the week.

I'm working closely with Mardel.com to bring you this amazing giveaway opportunity.  All you need to do is choose 3 products from the Education department of Mardel.com that you'd like to have in your classroom. Simply create a blog post about how you would use those products and email me the form with your information.  The winner will receive the 3 products they featured in their blog post!  How awesome is that?! I know we all love new products for our classrooms.... especially for the start of a new school year!

After blogging about the 3 products of your choosing,
email me this form to officially enter the giveaway contest.
{Contact Me to Enter}
Email to teacheristatales@gmail.com.

Giveaway Winner

Check your inbox for my email!  :)

Teacher Appreciation Giveaway

I just love that teacher appreciation week is here... it's always a nice little push to get through all of this end of year testing and craziness.

I am so excited to be sharing this giveaway with you!  Here's what one of you wonderful teachers can win this week... a Target gift card, cute tote bag, and 5 great books for your enjoyment.  A.W.E.S.O.M.E.  :)

*Do you see the bag?  "We like BIG BOOKS and we cannot lie."
LOL!  I know you're singing that song now in you're head.

I'm currently reading "Love and Other Subjects" by Kathleen Shoop.  I was immediately sucked into this book and look forward to any free moment when I can pick it up again.  It's about a young teacher trying to navigate through the struggles and experiences of that first year in the classroom and find love at the same time.  Good read!  I'll post more once I finish reading it.  You can follow Kathleen's author pages here: Twitter and Facebook.

Enter the giveaway here.....

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Don't forget to enter my Secret Stories giveaway! ~~~CLOSED~~~

I just wanted to remind everyone to enter my giveaway for a Secret Stories kit, which includes a book, cd, and color posters!  The giveaway will run through Friday night.  Don't miss your chance to enter {on the previous post}!

Secret Stories is a great program and the creator, Katie Garner, has some really great resources available online.  If you 'LIKE' the Secret Stories Facebook page you can leave a comment on my previous post to enter the giveaway. This will keep you up-to-date on new ideas, research, and workshops related to Secret Stories.

I also just discovered the Secret Stories YouTube channel.  Oh.My.Word.  It is so cool to watch the stories being implemented in a classroom by the creator herself.  I just subscribed to the channel so I can stay updated on any new videos.  You have got to check it out!

-Mrs. Pollard

And the winners are.....

Winner #1- Mrs. Richling (Bunny Bonanza & April Showers)

Winner #2- Meredith Gilbert (Bunny Bonanza)

Winner #3- Cathy Irwin (April Showers)

Congratulations, ladies!  Check your email for your new Spring units!!  Thank you to everyone else for your support.  Be sure to check out my TPT store if you are interested in my Spring units!  I also just uploaded a Cinco de Mayo unit this past weekend.  I'm so excited to use it with my kids... they love anything related to Mexico.

Did everyone have a good first day of Spring?  We had quite the discussion about pollen in my classroom yesterday.  I'm originally from Michigan so I have never before experienced the pollen that invades North Carolina this time of year... it is UNREAL!

--Mrs. Pollard



Spring Giveaway! ~~~~CLOSED~~~~

I don't know about you, but this early springtime weather is quite enjoyable!  To help celebrate the official first day of Spring on Tuesday I'm having a giveway with 3 winners!

It's easy as 1-2.... here's how to enter:
1. Follow my blog and leave a comment saying you do {with your email address}.
2. Follow my TPT store and leave a comment saying you do {with your email address}.

The giveaway will end on Tuesday night at 8:00 PM {eastern}.  I will use a random number generator to choose the winners.

The first winner will receive both of my Spring units- Bunny Bonanza and April Showers Bring May Flowers!

The second winner will receive my Bunny Bonanza unit and the third winner will receive my April Showers Bring May Flowers unit.

Don't miss your chance to get some new Spring items for your classroom!  Enter the giveaway here by following my blog and TPT store.  :)

--Mrs. Pollard

Giveaway Winner

Congratulations to my winners!  Thanks to all who participated.  I just love sharing ideas and activities with all of you!  The winners were chosen using a random number generator on http://www.random.org/.

If you weren't a winner, be sure to check out my items at my TPT store!

--Mrs. Pollard

TPT Giveaway-- 3 winners!

It's my 3rd wedding anniversary today!  3 years ago I married my amazing husband and we've been living happily ever after since!

To celebrate this happy day, I'm having a giveaway!  And what better than to have 3 winners for my 3rd anniversary?!

There are two ways to enter:
1. Leave one comment saying you follow my blog.
2. Leave one comment saying my blog is on your blog roll.
(Be sure to leave your blog link in the comment!)

That's it... easy as pie!

The first winner will win.... all 5 of my short vowel word family sorts!

The second winner will win my 1 More and 1 Less Math Station!

And the third winner will win my Number Matching Math Games!

You can check out all of these items now at my TPT store.  The giveaway will end Wednesday at 9:00PM and winners will be announced shortly after!

--Mrs. Pollard 

Giveaway Winner!

Thank you to everyone who participated in my first giveaway!

--Mrs. Pollard

Woohoo... 100 follower giveaway!

I am so excited and thankful that my blog experience has been so successful!  I love creating, posting, and sharing with you all.  To celebrate my first 100 followers I am hosting my very first giveaway!  :)

Here's what my giveaway will include:
1.  Anna Brantley at Crazy for First Grade is letting me giveaway an item from her TPT store... winner's choice!  Have you seen her stuff?!  It is awesome!  I have her Fun in the Sun Math & Literacy Stations and her Pirate Math & Literacy Stations.  Love her!





2.  My giveaway will also include the cutest little polka dot file folders!  I really mean little... they're 4x6!  I just had to have them.  They are the perfect size for index cards.

3.  And finally, my giveaway will include a new book that I have discovered titled "I'm Your Bus" by Marilyn Singer.  We just had a book fair at our school and I saw this book.  I bought a copy and read it to my class.  They loved it!  I will definitely include it in my back to school lesson plans in the fall.... and maybe you will too!

You have 5 chances to win....
1. Follow my blog.
2. Show that you follow my blog on your blog's sidebar.
3. Leave a comment telling me how you would use the miniature file folders in your classroom.
4. Follow Anna's blog at Crazy for First Grade.
5. Follow Anna's TPT store.

Be sure to LEAVE A COMMENT FOR EACH ENTRY.  The giveaway will end at midnight on Saturday.  The winner will be announced on Sunday!  Thank you to Anna for helping out with my first-ever giveaway!!

Thanks again for supporting my blog!

--Mrs. Pollard