Favorite Pins

Hi Friends!  Welcome to Favorite Pins Friday hosted by The First Grade Parade.  For this linky post, I'm going to share a few personal and professional pins.  Five for Friday will return in August.  For now, we will bring in one of my obsessions, Pinterest!

1.  Make Yourself Epic!  Within this board you'll see a common theme more recently, ANYTHING mint!  The Mr. is certain I need to be committed.  I have a confession, I'm a Shopaholic and it's mintastic!

2. Oddities and Fascinators!  I found an uber exciting pin which allows you to take your Instagram photos and turn them into magnets.  This past year I created a separate Instagram account for my classroom.  With privacy setting in tact and an anonymous name, I was able to create a place for parents to follow daily images without the fear of the pictures being exposed to social media.  This year, I'd like to make each child a magnet photo collage of images as an end of the year gift with Sticky Grams.  

3. Reclaimed Designs.  From the side of a barn, an old milk crate, or the haul of a boat, old reclaimed wood will catch my eye with any design or decor.  Aged and imperfections show character and beauty.  I found a neato pin in which I'm inspired to create and bring to my classroom as a chart stand. 

4. Geekery.  I'm a geek when it comes to apple technology.  I love purchasing books through various apps: books from Barnes and Noble on the Nook app, books from Amazon on the Kindle app, books from iTunes on the iBooks app.  I visually display the books in class through a previously purchased adapter.  Recently I discovered a visual projector that can click to my iPhone or iPad.  

5.  Everything In Its Place.  Before the school year ended, one of my teaching partners took her old 3 drawer bin and spray painted it hot pink.  I was surprise at how well it revived an old, spent 3 drawer container to a fresh, vivacious storage component perfect for a new school year.  I wasn't as keen on painting the drawers too.  She did, it looked great, but worried it wouldn't last.  Then this past week, I stumbled across this cute freebie.  I'm currently tackling a new fun crafty project that with this freeie from Fun in 4b. 

6. Pimp My Classroom.  I find myself looking to outdo each year with classroom design and decor.  With a degree in design, a passion to shop, and a fondness for Pinterest, I'm forever looking for fun and cutesy ideas for "Pimping My Classroom".  I found a great way to display book on Pinterest.  Two looks, same concept AND one will, for sure, make it's appearance in my first grade classroom.  

7.  Cavity Caper.  Oh boy, this board is sure to send you to the dentist.  Each year I host a Camping with Book for the final week of school.  I'm always looking for unique camp snacks to share with the kids.  S'mores can be so messy!  ...Until now!  This brilliant pin gives a fresh new spin on the classic snack!

8.  Sub Tub. As I prepare for the upcoming year, I am restocking each of my sub tubs with activities for each month.  I stumbled across this pin which will help the substitute tremendously.  Now she will have a name for each face.  I modified a bit to include a little about each student.  Class Helper, Technology Expert, Proximity Needed, etc.  The joy of looping is that I know and have pictures of each kid.  I will have to insert a few newbies when I get my new roll. 

9.  Erudite Enthusiasm.  Shared wisdom, profound statements, or just downright witty are the preferred pins in this board.  I'm sure some random funnies made their way too.  This next image speaks for itself...

10.  Brilliant Units. A reward system that I will incorporate this year is Amy Lemons' Wear it Proudly unit.  It's just darlin'!  She has dedicated an adorable post here on the entire file.  I'm going to share the pin first then a few additional pictures next!

Here are a few sample of rewards included...