In most areas of my life I am pretty good at winging it.
Teaching and grocery shopping.....not so much.
I had been
plotting, planning and pinning all year long but our second son was due in March, so I wanted to see what kind of baby he'd be before I set ANYTHING in stone. After enduring 2 years (and counting) of my first son's horrible sleeping habits, God knew we needed a chilled out kid. By May, it was pretty evident this kid was laid back and would be able to handle a few hours away from mom/milk source for a few hours.
Our newest sweetheart, Griffin ❤
Here is just a sampling of the all prep work that goes into summer classes.
The books:
Not gunna lie. I could spend thousands on teaching idea books. I love Pinterest but there is something about flipping through, dog earring, circling, feeling those pages, that a screen will never do for me.
period.
Since I didn't have to buy near as many supplies as I did last summer, I splurged and bought several idea books. Here is a few of my favorites!
A great resource for books you should check out is
paperbackswap which is an online book club that is
free and super easy to use. I've traded easily over 50 books the last 3 years. All you are out is postage which the last time I checked it was around $3 with USPS to ship a book.
And who doesn't love getting fun mail?
I sure do!
Heck of a lot better than getting bills!
The notes:
I have a basic class idea note ongoing in my phone at all times but when I want to get a "lesson plan down" I scribble, jot, cross out, draw arrows, over and over and over.....
Then the inner elementary school teacher comes out in me and types it all up with small sample pictures and supply list for each day. Thankfully my days of turning lesson plans in to a principal has halted for the time being :)
The pins:
Digital hoarding is what my good friend Natalie calls it lol
The supplies:
Michael's runs a
great sale on their canvas packs a couple times a year in their stores and I load up my little car when they do. Most of the other supplies I get through
Blick, which as a mom with two little kids it is pretty nice just having all those goodies delivered instead of hunting all over the city for them or waiting on sales.
The shirts:
After having shirts made through vistaprint last year and not being pleased with the quality, I swore I'd stay local. I found a design I liked but it needed modifying to make it more artsy. After giving my sketch to one of my good friend's husband that works for
Graphics Services Inc. in Fort Smith he came up with a design and had them ready for me in no time!
The helper:
Don't know if helper is the right word....but he sure is handsome!
