It’s been a bit since I have shown up in your inbox, right? This year has been quite an adjustment for me! Going back to work full time when you have been your own boss for 10+ years, has proved to be an adjustment. Something had to give – I guess Teaching Heart gave!
Anyhow, I finished the year with a long term subbing position in third grade! I LOVED having my own classroom again – even if it was short lived. It was nice to know what I was going into each day! Plus I loved the group of kids I got to work with. I know we finished the year strong and they are prepared to move on to fourth grade. I got my feet wet again and got some knowledge of PowerSchool Gradebook (which I did not have before) and I gave Dibels for the first time. So I got a great amount of new experience to add to my resume. Now I need a real job – otherwise, it is back to subbing again in 2015-2016!
I thought I would share a hodge podge of pics. and some free printables…
I introduced myself and got to know the kiddos with this fun math activity I created and that is free to download here! 
The kids seemed to enjoy this activity!
I even tie-dyed shirts with two classes of third graders for our ABC countdown to the end of the year T is for Tie-Dye Day!!! They turned out so pretty! It really was not too hard. We let the kids tie-dye their shirt picking 2-3 colors. 
Then we wrapped them in saran wrap. I then let them sit for 24 hours. The most time consuming part was rinsing 22 shirts by hand. After that I threw them all into the washing machine together and dried them together. Above you will see I laid the finish product all out to take a pretty picture. Want an alternative, less messy way to tie-die? Check out this post on sharpie tie-dye!
I am going to do a separate post on these babies… because they are the bomb!!! You have seen the commercials for the Bunch-O-Balloons right? Well, you have my word – they work wonderfully!!! You can get them at Amazon!!!
Time is money and you will save time with these! I used this for “W” day at an end of the year countdown in the school I was teaching in. Originally, I was going to have to fill up 50+ balloons by hand. I have done that before and it takes at least a few hours. I took a chance and ordered these! Oh my goodness was I in heaven when I hooked these up to the school hose and like magic they filled up, tied, and fell into the pool of water I had prepared in advance. Seriously took 1 min. to fill 100. My third graders couldn’t believe how fast these babies filled up. I am sure many were asking mom and dad for some! I read the reviews here before I filled my balloons and some had bad luck. I think maybe 4 did not work in the group of 100 I bought. Just make sure you have a bucket of water before you fill the balloons up. Follow the directions that come with the pack. Let the balloons rest in the water as you fill them up and it will work beautifully! I am so impressed with these!!! Once filled the kids had so much fun playing games with these. I think they are a little bit stronger than your average water balloons. Some even landed in the grass and were still intact. If you want to save time and aren’t concerned about paying $20.00 for water balloons than these are your new favorite water balloons. If you don’t mind spending hours filling and tying balloons, head to the dollar store and pick up a back of balloons and plan on loosing at least 2 hours of your life. 🙂
We made the free Bucket Glyph and writing activity free from Teaching Heart. I think it will be something the kids can keep forever. You can download my free printables here!
Summer Bucket Lists are the best!
Click here to get the free printables to match this activity!
Center Time fun seen above… I made magnets of the layout of the classroom to make it easier to manage centers. It worked wonderfully!!! 
Cannot forget the teachers that touch my own children’s loves everyday. I love coming up with creative end of the year treats for them. This year it was beach towels and lip balm! 
My son requested a special gift for his band teacher this year. Post it notes and a starbucks card…
Teachers know how much other teachers love new pens!!! 
And a treat to send home with my students!!! You can see the printable for this here! 
How do you keep third graders on task the last day of school? Zap the last day!!! I told them that I was going to pick the star students of the day to pop a balloon periodically through the day. Each balloon had an activity in it that we completed once they had popped the balloons…. Hula Hoop Contest, GoNoodle Marathon, One last Game of Around the World, One last Game of Sparkle… They all wanted me to pick them to be a balloon popper. Smooth sailing last day thanks to five balloons!!!
I got lots of end of the year goodies from my students… Gift cards and lots of cups filled with things. The cup below came in handy since I had exactly five hours left of paid time to finish report cards and pack up the room!!! The chocolate made it easier.
But what is my most favorite gift of all??? Homemade cards from the kids. Love them!!!
I hope your year ended as grandly as mine! Who knows what the 2015-2016 school year will bring!
I plan to post this summer – so stay tuned to some added resources.
Happy Summer!!!
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