Classroom Reveal 2014!!!

Y'all! School is in session! I am two days into the 2014-2015 school year and I am officially in love with my Kinders this year! We are still learning routines, procedures, and rules but I just love them! I think over the summer I forgot how quickly and easily 4, 5, and 6 year olds can love! We were no more than 4 hours into the first day of school and I had one little student wrap his arms around me and say something like this, "Mrs. Nihart, Thanks for letting me have the best day of Kindergarten ever!" My heart just melted right there on that cafeteria floor!

 

I have been awful at taking pictures but I have snatched a few and would love to share them with you! This is the flipbook that I made for my parents for Meet the Teacher Night! This was the first time that I used a flipbook and have gotten really good feedback on it so I think this is officially a must for next year!

 I woke up at 6am the morning of Meet the Teacher with the idea of using Krista Wallden's Candy Clipart for my "wishing wall" for extra supplies I needed! I absolutely love how it turned out! Like I said, because I didn't have too much time to put it together, I didn't get to cut out all the pieces of candy to make it perfect but I still think it is just precious!

 I love teaching children about gratitude and being thankful! I try and do this in many ways but one of the first and smallest ways I teach them is by the gifts I give them on Meet the Teacher night! I don't have a picture of their gift but I gave them a glow stick with a tag saying, "This year is going to be bright! Welcome to Kindergarten!" I also gave the parents a banana with a tag saying, "We are bananas for Kinder Parents!"

 

On the first day of school, I gave my parents this little note below. I wrapped it around a little pack of tissues and tied it with twine! I hope they loved it!

 

And now for the Classroom Reveal! I had a few more pictures than what I am posting but the lighting is horrible so I nixed those!

This is the view from my door! My school's PTA bought the chair pockets for my class at the end of last year and I just love them! They are from Really Good Stuff! I love the little green pouch that is on them!

 Here is my whole group instruction area! I was totally inspired by Maria from Kindercraze! I bought the bench from Ikea and you can also see my classroom rules posted underneath my whiteboard! My calendar is a growing calendar so I started the year with the basics: the date, weather, and how many days we have been in school. I am going to add skills to it as the year progresses!

 This is my Guided Reading/Small group area! I have my reading strategies on the bulletin board behind my table for easy access.

On a side note, if anyone has a monkey, fish, or frog beanie baby that they are willing to get rid of, I would love you!!!!

I just love the way paper lanterns and tissue poms look in a classroom but our fire marshal says that's a no go so I found a way to get around it(atleast a little bit)!

 Here is my word wall for this year as well as my computers and listening station. I haven't completely decided what I am going to put in the bins on the edge of the computer table but I am thinking possibly center storage!

 Here is the view of the back of the room! I have a bathroom in the classroom which is just amazing! The bags above the cabinets say Welcome to Kindergarten! On the far left you can see the clip chart from A Cupcake for the Teacher!

 This is the hallway outside the classroom! I display student work on these. I made them at the end of the year last year. We made the cutest Kissing Hand Craft on the first day of school so I hung them up on Monday! I found the idea from The First Grade Parade! How sweet is that Chester?

How is your week at school going?



Teacher Week- Who Monday/Meet the Teacher

Is it against the rules to do two linky parties in one post? I surely hope not because that's what I am doing today! I'm linking up with Stephanie at Falling into First for her Meet the Teacher Blogger linky and the ladies at BlogHoppin' for the Back to School linky!

 

So here's the back story! I am a wife to Ben, a teacher to Kindergarteners, a Jesus lover, and of course a blogger! I just recently celebrated my one year anniversary to this handsome man!
 

 

I am originally from Georgia but moved to North Carolina when I got engaged! Back home, I have two awesome step siblings. Hope, my sister, just started kindergarten {ummm} middle school and my brother, Hudson, is in 4th grade! They are getting so big! This is us at our wedding last year!

 

I also became an Aunt for the first time this summer! My nephew's name is Jude and he lives in Portland, Oregon. My sister-in-law and Jude are making the big trip over in September and I am so excited to meet Baby Jude in person! Love that little guy so much already!

 

 



 

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVORITE THINGS...

Sweet Tea, Porch Swings, Peaches, Muscadines, Tervis, Fleece Leggings, Caramel Apple Spice from Starbucks,  Desserts, Coke Floats, Flair Pens, School Supplies, Fixer Upper on HGTV, my husband, and all things Southern.

 

IF YOU WEREN'T A TEACHER, WHAT WOULD YOU BE?

I would just love to work in a bakery! I have even filled out an application but was too chicken to submit it! One day!

{or}

If I could decorate classrooms for a living, that would be amazing!  I live vicariously through Melanie and Schoolgirl Style!
 

THREE LITTLE WORDS THAT DESCRIBE YOU.

Southern. Loyal. Blessed.
 

FINISH THIS SENTENCE, "___________ "SAID NO TEACHER EVER!

 "I definitely don't assess my kids enough," said no teacher ever!
 

IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY AND YOU CAN INVITE ANYONE {DEAD OR ALIVE} TO THE PARTY. WHO ARE YOU INVITING?



George and Laura Bush, Bill Cosby, my Grandfather, and Bill Gaither.
 

IF SOMEONE WROTE A BOOK ABOUT YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD BE THE TITLE?  

 "One Glass of Sweet Tea at a Time"
 

YOU GET TO PICK ONE SUPERPOWER. WHAT IS IT?

Most definitely a cleaning super power! I would love to have a magic wand that I could wave and everything would clean itself! I'm a work in progress!
 

WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE QUOTE OR SAYING?

 I love encouraging quotes. I have a whole board on Pinterest dedicated to "sweet words." You can check them out here! Here are a few of my favorites!

 

IF YOU HAD TO SING ONE SONG ON AMERICAN IDOL, WHAT WOULD IT BE?
Oh geez. Someone would have to pay me to go on that show. I definitely wouldn't get a golden ticket. I'll just go with the song that I have been singing nonstop for the past two days. It shows my true colors.
"Love is an Open Door" from Frozen.

 

ARE YOU A MORNING PERSON OR A NIGHT OWL?

 Neither, really! I am a 9-5 kind of person!
 

SHARE SOMETHING WE MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT YOU! 

 My husband and I met in the Dominican Republic on a mission trip our senior year of high school! Because of that, the DR will always be a special place for us! In fact, we went back on our honeymoon!

 

Click on the pictures below to see who else has linked up!

 



 

Five for Friday- Beach Style



Five for Friday is a weekly teacher linky party where you post five random things from today or this past week and on your blog. Then, you come back and link your blog post up at the bottom of this post in the linky tool.Grab the button above and link back to this post on your blog.

 I'm linky up Five For Friday- Beach Style! My husband and I have been on vacation for the past week in Emerald Isle, NC. It has honestly been so good because I am now so ready to start the school year! I'm all shades of motivated to get things done for the classroom!

 

While we were down here, we got to visit with my cousin and her two precious kiddos! Tanner is 3 and Tatum is 3 weeks old! They are the closest family I have geographically, and I love every minute I get to spend with them!

After we spent some time with them, we just had to go to Chuy's for dinner! Chuy's is by far our favorite upscale Mexican restaurant! The creamy jalepeno dip is to die for! I try and recreate it at home but it is never as good as the real thing! Here is my husband and I at Chuy's! Seriously good. Taco Salad for me and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom for the man!

Is it bad that we have discussed going again on our way home?  

 

Last year, I had planned on starting interactive journals but I just never fully committed to them so it sort of went straight down the drain. This year is the year! I bought these spiral notebooks 2 years ago when I was a long term sub. I got them long after school had started so I think I ended up getting them for like 20 cents or something ridiculous! I bought 20 thinking that would be plenty because who really has a class with more than 20 kids?! Answer: Me. (mostlikely) So this year, I found some of the same style at Walmart and bought a few extras just in case.

 

 

I wrapped the wire spirals with duck tape and then also used duck tape to add a Ziploc bag in the back of the notebook for any pieces that my kinders didn't finish. I got the idea to use duck tape from Kristen's Kindergarten and her science notebooks (here). I got inspired from another blogger about using Ziploc bags but cannot remember who! I tried searching and searching and just couldn't find it! If it was you, let me know! I would love to give you credit.

 

I have bought several products for interactive journals in the past so I plan to put them to good use this year!  Can't wait to get started!

 

 My creative juices have been flowing this week and I have been busy making one thing right after another. I made little gift tags for parent gifts for Meet the Teacher. I used Krista Wallden's precious monkey from her zoo clip art! I am going to get some ribbon and attach these to bananas! So easy and simple!

One thing that is tried and true that works like a charm in my classroom is line up numbers. Essentially they are just numbers that I tape down to my floor for students to put their toes on while we are lining up. It's a life saver because as soon as I say "check your toes" I immediately have a perfectly straight line. My husband helped my cut these out last night and it might just be my opinion but man, he's even more handsome when he cuts out some of my teachers stuff! :)

A good book at the beach is a must and this trip I started reading  I am not but I know I AM. It is by Louie Giglio. Louie is the pastor of Passion City Church and the leader of Passion Conferences. I have been blessed to be a part of Passion City Church when I lived in Atlanta and attended Passion Conference in 2012.

 

Here is one of my favorite excerpts from the book, "Just because you are small, never confuse that with being insignificant to God. Coming face to face with your humble estate does not nullify the love the drove the Son to give His all for you. You are little. But you are intensely loved. You are not, but I AM thinks enough of you to organize a visit that divided history and forever defines your worth."

So good. So true.

 There is a little town about 45 minutes away from Emerald Isle called Beaufort, NC. It is such a neat town right on the water with tons of Southern and historic charm. Ben and I have gone there once before and we knew we had to go there again this year! One of the neatest things about Beaufort is that across the water there is a little island called Shackleford Banks that has wild horses roaming around it! We saw a few while we were there and they were just so cool!

 I would be just fine to live in a Southern home like this one! Love!

 

Happy Weekend Everyone! Last weekend of the summer for me! 

Monday Made It

It's that time again! Time for Monday Made It!

 

If you follow me on Instagram, you have already seen this but I made the BEST Lemon Blueberry Cheesecake Bars a few days ago! Y'all my husband doesn't like anything cheescakey or lemony so I pretty much made this all for myself! If you would like a slice, I'm sure I could arrange to ship some to ya. I found the recipe on Pinterest of course! You can find the recipe here!

 

 

I mentioned this in my last post but I am still so loving my new blog design! It was done by the one and only Megan from A Bird In Hand Designs. She is a miracle worker as far as I am concerned. Thanks for all you do Megan!

This Made It is a work in progress! Last night I made custom Pinterest board covers. I'm a little obsessed! I found the idea through the Monday Made It linky party. Kristen from Ladybug's Teacher Files started all the fun! You can find her tutorial here!  

What do you think? I still have a little bit of adjusting to do but it is definitely a start!

You can follow me on Pinterest here!

Cheers to a fabulous week!

Sunday Smorgasbord

Hey Y'all! Today I am linking up with Michelle from Fabulous in First for Sunday Smorgasbord.

I love the tag line for this linky because all I have for you is a whole bunch of random today!

{one}

If you are on your phone or tablet right now, run to your laptop or desktop and check out my new blog design! You can see some of it on your phone but you just don't get the same effect! Megan from A Bird in Hand Designs designed everything for me and she did such an amazing job! I cannot recommend her enough! I didn't have a complete idea as to what I wanted Chalkboard Charm to look like but she totally took the little bit that I did know and made it into this gorgeous design! I can't stop staring at it! If you are looking for someone to design your blog, there is no other choice than Megan.

 

{two}

The first day of school is three weeks away.

 

Typing it out does not even come close to helping me cope.

 

That means that teachers go back in a little over two weeks. {insert minor freak out here} One side of me is so ready! Who doesn't love all the school supplies, preparation, and excitement of a new school year? But then there is the other side that wants summer to last just a few weeks longer! I love not knowing what day of the week it is, how long ago I washed my hair (we're real friends here), and not having to set an alarm.

 

Regardless, I have decided I need to at least pretend that I am being productive for the new school year. I started by organizing some of my files. Y'all, I have collected so much stuff over the last year and a half. Here is a picture of part of the chaos.

I also cut out a few TPT products that I had purchased a while back.

 

Pictured is Cara Carroll's Number Anchor Charts, DeeDee Wills' August/September Writing Work Station, and Julie Lee's Muffin Tin Games.

 

{three}

I went into my classroom to drop off a few things the other day. WOAH baby. Let's just say I'm starting all over. I am thankfully in the same classroom and still teaching kindergarten this year but I think I am going to rearrange everything! Classroom décor and design are my faves so I can't wait to show you some "after" pictures. But first, let's start with the before pics.

 

Sorry about the lighting. For some reason, I didn't think to turn the lights on so we will just go with lighting au natural.

 

Here is the view from the front of my room.

 These two are from the back:  

 

How is your room looking?