They're BACK! ....(The teachers that is!)

Wow! What a whirlwind the past two days have been! We started school yesterday and boy do I wish we had nap time built into our professional development! It was so exciting going back and seeing all of my "friends" from last school year! The past two days were FULL of activities that were very PURPOSEFUL and INTERACTIVE, ie. Fun! How many of you can say that about your professional development? :) Our school is focusing on relationship building and really getting to know each of our students so that we can teach with their needs and interest in mind... I CAN'T WAIT! Today we 'played' team building games that allowed us to learn more about each other and laugh. Boy did we laugh! Have any of you ever played "Fork & Spoon"? It required listening to directions, each other, passing a fork/spoon, asking more questions and ultimately racking your brain! It really helped me realize how my little ones feel when they are overwhelmed or dont understand the directions fully!

On a different note, things are already looking WAY busy and anyone that knows me, knows that I procrastinate! I take on so many different tasks, can NOT tell people "no", but then struggle to meet deadlines with a PERFECT product (cutesy clipart and over-the-top clip art is a MUST...DJ Inkers is my all time fav.!) This year....I'm gonna get it together! To help me, I SPLURGED...consider it a "Back To School" gift to myself. I ordered a custom (way cute) ERIN CONDREN Life Planner! If you don't know who or what I'm talking about and you CRAVE organization, you must visit her site! UH-Mazing!

This is the style planner I ordered (but with my pictures of course!) I can NOT wait for mine to get here! I promise to post pics as soon as it is in! The site is also running a great promotion for the month of August. The Teacher Planner is $10 off AND comes with a pack of colorful pens (you can't fill in your planner with boring ol' black or blue ink!).

As if I had nothing else to do, I have been busy with my "pinterest projects". That site is extremely addictive but has the BEST things on it! Today's projects included reading center storage/seats and "tacky, yet cute" ribbon wreaths!

The kids are going to love storing their "old school" walkmans and books on tape in here!

**UPDATE!** I decided to add a lil' something more to the under side of the storage seat... I hot-glued a dry erase board to the bottom! The kids can now flip the seat cushion over and use it for a lapdesk with a built in white board ($3 from Target)! 

I bet a lot of you have been "pinning" away your summer! What are some things that you plan on doing/making that you found on pinterest? I would love to try them out too! Well, time to rest my brain....this waking up with an "alarm-phone" is tough business after a nice summer break! I'll leave you with this point to ponder:

" Life is ten percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it."- Coach Lou Holtz   

            (even a Clemson fan can appreciate a great coach with great points :)  ) Enjoy the journey!