You're a Top Banana {A Student of the Week Pack} & Back to School Sale!

Happy Sunday! I just finished a new little pack just in time for the big back to sale! I wanted to pop in and tell you about it. Last year I decided to feature a student of the week each week. This student got to shine for an entire week. Each day they had something special to do and they also got to be the line leader and my special helper for the entire week. This was super easy for me to keep up with and I didn't have to worry about changing out a helpers chart, etc. on a daily basis... which I LOVED! You can read all about what I did last year here! Since I'm not doing a rock star theme this year I decided I better tweak what I was doing for my student of the week. This is where my newest little pack "You're a Top Banana" comes in!







This is a fun activity pack to help celebrate a student of the week. In this pack you will get directions on how I use this pack in my classroom plus the following:
-Parent Letter
-Mail from the Jungle book cover, writing paper, and directions
-Top Banana all about me poster
-Top Banana display monkey craftivity with 12 all about me circles to be stapled to the monkey to make a keepsake book
-2) I'm a Top Banana writing prompts
-All About Me writing prompt
-We're Banana's About _____sheet for display
-Top Banana sheet for display

This fun pack would tie in perfect if you have a monkey/jungle theme in your classroom or you could also use it without having a monkey/jungle theme.


Here is a pic of my Top Banana display I have in the hallway. Each week I will add the poster or the all about me craftivity to this display so our "Top Banana" can shine!



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I'm joining some fabulous tpt sellers for the big B2S sale on tpt! For the next two days you can snag everything in my little store for 28% off! Don't forget to use the code BTS13 to get the extra savings!


I borrowed this adorable sale button from the sweet and talented Amy Lemons! :)

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I can't wait to make my purchase! I have my cart full and still deciding on a few more things. Well that's all I got for today! Have a great rest of the weekend!

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Taming the Wild! {Teacher Week}

Hey blog friends! Just popping in real quick to link up with Blog Hoppin' for Teacher Week. I wanted to share a few of the ways that I try to "tame the wild" in my classroom.

First up is my "Behavior to Roar About" Clip Chart. I've been using a clip chart for the past few years and really like it! I think it works well and I really like that it rewards those who are making above and beyond choices instead of just focusing on all of the negative behaviors. Since I changed my theme this year to a monkey/jungle/safari theme I wanted to change my clip chart to match my theme. So I traded in the guitar for a palm tree! :)  I found the cute sayings for the clip chart from Kathleen Regan on tpt. 


Next up is my compliment palm tree... In the past I have used a marble jar and added marbles for compliments and we have worked towards an ice cream party, popcorn party, free day, etc. when we met our compliment goal. This year we are going "bananas" for compliments and I am adding a banana each time we get a compliment. The picture isn't real clear but it says at the bottom "we go bananas for compliments!" The bananas and monkey hut at the bottom of tree are from Creative Teaching Press.


please ignore the star border in above pic... I ran out of monkey border and until I get some more I just left up what was already there.....
 t-totally-tacky and it doesn't match I know! HA

 Next up is my classroom economy system. I have used this system every year that I've been teaching and really love it. My first three years I used behavior bucks, then I changed to "warm fuzzies" for a couple of years and this year I changed it to "monkey tokens." Students earn monkey tokens for making good choices, being quite, answering a really tough question, using manners, helping a friend, etc. Each monkey token is worth a $1 in our classroom. They can use the monkey tokens to cash in on Friday at our classroom store. It costs 5 monkey tokens to get something from the candy-treat box and 10 monkey tokens to get into the treasure box. Students also have the option of saving them up for something larger that costs 50 monkey tokens. Some examples of this are a Sonic slush, a Blizzard, sit by a friend for the day, sit at the teacher's desk for the day, lunch with the teacher and a friend, etc. Usually the monkey tokens are burning a hole in their little pockets and they cash them in as soon as they can! My kids are going nuts over them and working super hard to earn them and I'm loving it!!

This is what I'm using for my monkey tokens... these are the Monkey 1" Mini Designer Cut-Outs from Creative Teaching Press. LOVE!!! :)


Click here to view larger image


Lastly... This year I decided to try something new with the way we line up. In an effort to cut down on line chaos and too much chattiness I gave everyone a line number. They line up in the same order everywhere we go. We practiced it several times the first day of school and now they have it down pat! So far our line has been super quite and we are getting lots of compliments, which makes me one happy teacher! :)

 I had back to school open house on day 2 of teacher week so I didn't get a chance to show off my classroom digs for teacher week. I will be back soon to share some pics with you of my classroom!


Well that's all I got for tonight!




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Let's Talk About Me! {Meet the Teacher!}




I'm linking up with Blog Hoppin' for Teacher Week! Here are 10 random things about me. 

1. I am currently obsessed with fishing!!!! If it isn't raining on the weekend... which lately it has been ALOT.... you can find me on the pontoon boat at Dale Hollow Lake! This girl can catch a blue glue and sometimes a catfish with the best of them! :) Eric and I compete in weekly tournaments {our own against each other} and not to toot my horn or anything..... but I totally dominate them! HA  Most recently I won the "Blue Gill Classic." I take this fishing business serious. haha

But..... if the tournaments were based on baiting the line... Eric would beat me every.single.time. Night crawlers don't go so well with my bathing suits! HA
 






2. I love NASCAR! Mainly because I have a big ole stinkin' crush on Jimmie Johnson! Jimmie if your reading this... call me! hahaha  Just Kidding! And Dexter dog is even a fan too! :)




3. I love music! Currently on my playlists are anything by Luke "you can crash my party any ole day" Bryan, Maroon Five, Florida Georgia Line, Randy Houser, Jake Owen, Eric Church, and Jason Aldean.

4. I worked at a recycling center {Cooper Recycling} when I was in college. That is where I met one of the bestest pals a girl could ask for. I thank God daily for this sweet lady and friend!

Me and Cindy this summer in the Bahamas.. love her!!!


5. I love brownies.... So much that I fix a batch almost weekly so I can eat them with ice cream. :)

6. I played on the golf team when I was in High School.

7. I am a proud dog mom to the cutest and sweetest "baby dog" Dexter. He melts my heart. 



Can you say stud puppy??? 


8. I collect Kohls Cares stuffed animals for my classroom. I get super excited when new ones come out! One of the kids that comes to my room for the after school program said today "what's up with all these stuffed animals??" And I overheard him saying to one of my kids when I thought I wasn't listening... "do you guys like play with them or something at recess?" HAHA  Apparently he doesn't love them as much as I do. So I may be nicknamed the weird stuffed animal lady at school for all I know! haha  You can catch a little glimpse of some of them below! 



9. When I was growing up my dad nicknamed me "Boog." And he still calls me that to this day. 

10. I love my little family! These sweet boys make my heart happy! :)


11.  I have the best mama a girl could ask for. She is super helpful with my school projects!


Well there ya go.. 10 Plus 1 random things about this little Tennessee gal. 


Don't forget to link up with Blog Hoppin' this week for Teacher Week!




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