My Class is Eggstraordinary! FREEBIE

The past two months I have decorated my door with reasons why my class is amazing.  My students have absolutely LOVED it, so I have decided to keep the tradition going!

I placed a sign up on my door that said, "My Class is Eggstraordinary".  Then I printed out egg templates on pieces of card stock and cut them out.  In prior months I wrote out various shout-outs for the class as a whole.  This month, I decided to create an egg for each student.  

Every day I added a few more eggs.  I let them know that I would be adding an egg for each of them.  The excitement was high as they checked each day for their egg.

They even made one for me!

I have made a freebie for you just in case you wanted to try this project out with your students.  You can download it here.

If you do decide to do this project, I would love to see pictures!  Please email me at kellys3ps@sbcglobal.net or tag me on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter!

If you would like to see the other months' projects you can find them here:

February

March

September

And... before you go, make sure to visit my Giveaways page to enter our weekly giveaway to win a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card!

Currently - January 2016

It seems like as I get older, each year seems to go by faster and faster!  Can you believe it is already 2016?  2015 was a really good year for me, and I am hoping for the same this year as well.  It is not just a new year, but a new month, which means it is time to link up with Farley for Currently!

We finally broke down and got a second game system which has helped eliminate quite a few power struggles and fights.  If I could eliminate the fighting altogether I would be a happy Mama!  If you have any ideas I am open to suggestions!

I am sipping my tea from a brand new Disney mug - my souvenir from our Christmas trip to Disneyland. We had so much fun!

We even got to spend some time with one of my older sons and his girlfriend.  They live in Los Angeles, so they met us at the park.

We definitely had a good time, but it was also exhausting!

Vacations are never long enough, are they?

Being a mom of 6 boys, I am always making sacrifices and buying things for them, but I never do things for myself.  That is one of my goals this year, to do a little more for me.  On the top of my wishlist is a new purse.  I have only bought Wal-Mart purses, so I am planning on getting myself a nicer one.  Any suggestions?

I head back to school on Monday, so it is time to get my head back into the game and get some lesson plans done.  I did get next week's plans completed before vacation, so I am hoping to stay a week ahead of myself.

Which brings me to my word for the year.  I need to be more intentional.  I often do things as they come up, sort of like a firefighter putting out fires sometimes.  This year, I would like to be more intentional with how I spend my time.

Hoping you have had a great New Year, and I look forward to sharing with you in 2016!

Christmas Present Ideas for the Classroom

Are you looking for Christmas Gift Ideas for your students?

'Tis the season for gift-giving, and the classroom is often no exception.  With everything you have to worry about this time of year, I have taken the worry out of coming up with ideas for gifts for parents, students, and teachers!

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission each time someone makes a purchase using one of my links, which helps to support the blog.  All opinions are my own and I only promote brands and products that I have used myself and truly love.

Student Gift Ideas

1. Scholastic $1 Books -

 I love everything about Scholastic including the fact that they have got you covered when it comes to gift giving!  They always have a variety of $1 books which make the perfect (and affordable) gift for your students.  This year I purchased these books for my students:

2. You're Worth a Million (or hundred in this case) Bucks! 

What kid doesn't love getting money?  The best part about this idea is that they will love it even more with their own face on it!  You will love it because it won't cost you a ton of money!

Created at Photofunia.com

You can upload your students' pictures to this website to create $100 bills just like the one pictured above.  I am printing mine out in the size of bookmarks to go along with their books.  I can't wait to see their faces when they see them!

You can create other pictures/posters on the site using their pictures and print them at Wal-Mart or Walgreens for another inexpensive idea.

3. Take Home Science - 

I also love this idea from Rachael Parlett of the Classroom Game Nook of sending home a science experiment as a Christmas Present as well!

Parent Gift Ideas

I always like to have my students create presents to give to their families.  I think it helps them to see that Christmas is as much about giving as it is receiving, and parents LOVE getting presents made by their children.

1. Create photo greeting cards.  

One present that we always give out is a class picture photo greeting card.  I send home one to every family (all of the students sign the backs of every picture), and we hand deliver them to the special people in our school (specials teachers, principal, janitors, etc.).  Here is this year's class pic.  It is darn near impossible to get a perfect picture of everybody, so sometimes you just have to go with the one that is closest - even if it includes bunny ears!

2. Put a Kid in a Snow globe  -

  This year we are making these.

I will be having the students write about how they got trapped in the snow globe using this freebie from my TpT store.

3. Stained Glass Art -

 We have made these in the past, and both parents and students loved them!  You can find the complete directions here.

Teacher Gift Ideas

If you are a parent as well as a teacher, you may want a few ideas for showing your child's teacher your appreciation.  Or maybe, you might want to share a gift or two with your favorite colleague or team member.  If you are stuck, you may want to check my Pinterest board below for TONS of ideas!

Follow An Apple for the Teacher's board Teacher Appreciation on Pinterest.

Happy Easter!

Just wanted to pop in and say Happy Easter to you!  Also, don't forget to peep into my store on Teacher's Pay Teachers where I am having a one day only Easter sale!

Mother's Day Coupons - Mother's Day Present Made Easy

Today we worked on making Mother's Day Cards with Mother's Day coupons.



One of my students lost her mother two years ago, so I knew I had to handle the situation of Mother's Day carefully.  I created these coupons that don't specifically say Mother's Day so that she could choose to give them to her dad, grandma, aunt, etc. instead.  

These Mother's Day coupons can be made for any special grown-ups in the child's life without mention of the relationship.  

You could use them now for Mother's Day or later for Father's Day.  They would also be great for Valentine's Day or Christmas as well. 

My students had a great time coming up with Mother's Day coupon ideas filled with chores to bless their families with.

This creative student thought out of the folder and made a cone shape to fit her coupons in.

We folded large paper to create "folders" to house the coupons.

This student personalized her coupon book for mom with the following message:

"Take the coupons and use them any time you want. I love you so much. P.S. No one can replace you."


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I'm thinking this one has a hard time with his siblings!

You can find these printable Mother's Day Coupons here. 

5 For Friday April 18, 2014

Happy Spring Break to me!  Officially 3 hours in and I am loving it!  Time to share the week with Doodle Bugs Teaching Five for Friday!

This post will be a lot more pics and a lot less text because...

I fell, crashed into my bedroom dresser.  Luckily just sprained.

Random gifts from my students like this one helped me feel better!

Today was our annual egg drop.  ALL of our eggs survived this year!

We also had "wood shop" class as we made reading chairs.

We still need to finish covers.  I will share pics when they are done.

And last but not least, I just wanted to let you know that many sellers are celebrating Easter with a sale at Teachers Pay Teachers!  I am offering 20% off on both April 20th and April 21st at my store..