Classroom Newsletter Writing Made Easy

Classroom newsletters can be a great way to keep parents informed about your classroom events and learning activities!  But... if the thought of creating a classroom newsletter makes you a little queasy, I have a few tips to make it easy peasy!

Step 1: Gather Important Dates and Deadlines

Make a list of all important dates in the upcoming month. Think of no school days, early releases, field trips, assemblies, test days, etc.  

Step 2: What Will You Be Teaching/Learning?

What topics will be covered in the upcoming month?  You don't have to write out complete details, but broad descriptions will be helpful. For example you might say "We will be working on place value in math, and character traits in reading."  Be sure to include any ways parents might be able to assist including reading with their child, practicing math facts, spelling words, etc.  If you have a weekly spelling list, you might want to include this as well.

Step 3: Reminders

What things have your students been forgetting, or what do they need to remember?  Ideas here might include: sneakers for PE, lunch money, book order money, picture order forms, etc.

Bonus Tip:

Create newsletter templates at the beginning of the year that can be easily edited and re-used.  This will save you so much time!  I have a set of ready made editable classroom newsletters that you can check out if you would like to save even more time!

I have even included a Meet the Teacher (and Meet the Teacher's Aide and  Meet the Student Teacher) versions so you can start off on the right foot!

Do you have any tips for making classroom newsletter writing easier?  Leave a comment below!

Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway August 14, 2017

August is already almost half-way over!  Whether you are getting ready for back to school or already in the classroom, I have good news for you!  It is time for our weekly giveaway!  

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)

Co-hosts:   An Apple for the Teacher, The Dennis Crew, LIVIN' IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER, It's a Teacher Thing, A Library and Garden, and Bravo's Brain Box.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter.  Giveaway ends 8/21/17 and is open worldwide.

Be sure to check out our Giveaway page and enter our other giveaways as well!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers! 

Celebrate 2017 Back to School Season with a $100 Erin Condren Gift Card Giveaway

 Some of my favorite Teacher Authors have gotten together to help you out with some great giveaways for Back to School!  This week we are giving away an Erin Condren gift card.

Once you have entered, be sure to click on my Giveaway tab to enter all of the other giveaways this month!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Prize: $100 Erin Condren Gift Card

Giveaway organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)

Co-hosts: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher),  Teacher Jeanell, Reading and Writing Redhead, LIVIN' IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER, Teaching Superkids, MM Bilingual, Mrs Hansens Helpfuls, Katie Roltgen, Carrie Comincioli, Think Grow Giggle, Heart-2-Heart Teaching, Kathryn Watts, "Dee Bibb - Teaching at the Beach", Kovescence of the Mind, Teach with Hope, Teaching Second Grade, A Plus Kids, 180 Days of Reading, Traci Bender - The Bender Bunch, It's a Teacher Thing, Southern Drawl, Love Luck and Laughter, Glitter is Everywhere, and Bravo's Brain Box.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter form to enter.  Giveaway ends 8/18/17 and is open worldwide.

Are you a blogger who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your blog?  Click here to find out how you can join a totally awesome group of bloggers! 



Erin Condren has so many amazing planners and accessories! Click on the link below to save $10 on your order!
Save $10 on your Erin Condren order


a Rafflecopter giveaway 

Weekly $25 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway August 7, 2017

It is time for our weekly giveaway!  Every week we give away a $25 Teachers pay Teachers gift card to one very lucky teacher!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $25 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)

Co-hosts:   An Apple for the Teacher, and Teaching Second Grade.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter.  Giveaway ends 8/14/17 and is open worldwide.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Monthly $75 Teachers pay Teachers Gift Card Giveaway - August 2017

August means that many of you are back in school, or at least getting ready for back to school.  It is also time for our monthly giveaway!  You have a chance to win a $75 Teachers pay Teachers gift every single month, and today is the day!

Once you have entered, be sure to click on my Giveaway tab to enter all of the other giveaways this month!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS:  

Prize: $75 Teachers Pay Teachers Gift Card

Giveaway Organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)

Co-hosts:   An Apple for the Teacher, Paula's Preschool and Kindergarten, MM Bilingual, Amanda's Little Learners, Debora Marines TeachMagically, Reading and Writing Redhead, Teach with Hope, 180 Days of Reading, Teacher Jeanell, 1stgradefireworks, Mickey's Place, PreK Kristin, Catch My Products, A World of Language Learners,  The Chocolate Teacher, Tried and True Teaching Tools, Pam's Place, Heart 2 Heart Teaching, It's a Teacher Thing, Teaching Where You're Called on, A Plus Kids, TeachKidLearn, Leah Popinski (SumMathFun), Digging Deep to Soar Beyond the Text, Right Down the Middle with Andrea, The Literacy Garden, Trending Technology in Tennessee, Teaching Ideas For Those Who Love Teaching, Peas In A Pod, Southern Drawl, La-Nette Mark, Amanda's Little Learners, and Kathryn Watts.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter to enter.  Giveaway ends 8/13/17 and is open worldwide.

Are you a Teacher Blogger or Teachers pay Teachers seller who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your store and social media?  Click here to find out how you can join our totally awesome group of bloggers! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Celebrate 2017 Back to School Season with a $100 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

For most of us, August means Back to School Season!  Some of my favorite Teacher Authors have gotten together to help you out with some great giveaways!  This week starts off the month-long celebration with an Amazon gift card!

Once you have entered, be sure to click on my Giveaway tab to enter all of the other giveaways this month!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

Prize: $100 Amazon Gift Card

Giveaway organized by: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher)

Co-hosts: Kelly Malloy (An Apple for the Teacher),  Teacher Jeanell, LIVIN' IN A VAN DOWN BY THE RIVER, MM Bilingual, Mrs. Hansens Helpfuls, Digging Deep to Soar Beyond the Text, Ms. K, 180 Days of Reading, The Best Days, Heart 2 Heart Teaching, Cathy's Cool Creations, Leah Popinski, Walk with Me a Second, Jackie Crews, Teacher Gameroom, It's a Teacher Thing, The Watermelon Teacher - Susan Krevat, Reading and Writing Redhead, It's Kinder Time, "Dee Bibb - Teaching at the Beach", KB3Teach, Kovescence of the Mind, Teach with Hope, Brynn's Teacher Bag, Growing Grade by Grade, Momma with a Teaching Mission, Cara's Creative Playground, Lockwood's Little Learners, Sliding Into 1st, Taking on Second, Southern Drawl, Love Luck and Laughter, and Pitner's Potpourri.

Rules: Use the Rafflecopter form to enter.  Giveaway ends 8/11/17 and is open worldwide.

Are you a blogger who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your blog?  Click here to find out how you can join a totally awesome group of bloggers!
a Rafflecopter giveaway  

Amazon has some amazing deals on school supplies teachers need and love!  Check out the link below to find them all!

Supplies for Your Classroom

My New Laminator - Swedex Smart Laminator

Like most teachers, I have a serious addiction to laminating!  Let's laminate ALL the things! I love that it makes my teaching tools last so much longer.  So, when I was given the opportunity to try out the Swedex Smart Laminator of course I jumped at the chance!

Disclosure: I was given a free laminator to facilitate my review, but all opinions are my own.

Isn't it beautiful?!?  

Just in case you can't see from the first picture, there are several size options that you can use with this laminator. The machine takes 5 different thickness pouches in sizes varying from a small luggage tag to a 12 X 18 pouch.  There are also pouches that have adhesive backing!

I was super excited to see that I could laminate larger things because I had an "incident" during the school year when I attempted to Jerry-Rig two laminating pouches to laminate signs for my Compassionate Confrontation Board.  Luckily my hubby is good at fixing my mistakes and he was able to un-jam my little laminator, but my signs were not laminated.

So, when my Swedex Smart Laminator arrived, I knew I had to fix that!

Not only was I impressed with the various sizes that could be laminated, but I was also impressed with how fast it warmed up - it was mere seconds!

Watch how fast this thing goes!

You can also check out a video from the company here.

I am going to absolutely LOVE having this in my own classroom, but I think it would make a great alternative for your employee work room - you might want to let your Principal know about this one!

Some info from the manufacturer:

* The machine comes with a 5 Year Warranty - so if it breaks, they simply swap it out - so essentially you will have this machine for life.

* They have 2 special promos going for An Apple for the Teacher reader: You can use the Promo Code: LOVE2TEACH to get a 30% discount on both the machine and pouches!

* They offer payment plans for those who need them, you can email info@arctec.us for more info about setting up a payment plan.

* They have a special deal right now where you can essentially get the laminator for free!  You pay $50 per month for the laminator, but you also get $50 worth of pouches for free, so, you essentially only pay for the pouches and the laminator is FREE! Click here to find out more.