Monday Made It and Must Haves Monday {Double Linky}

Just a quick post because today is the {{FIRST DAY}} I get to set foot in my new classroom since the last day of school. I have been waiting and waiting for this day to arrive! Now if only I had more than two weeks to get it all organized and pretty... Oh well! Gotta start somewhere.

So I'm doubling up on linky parties today. A quick "Monday Made It" with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics.

I finished up my PVC pipe pocket chart stand. I ended up spray painting it with a glossy black paint and added some polka dot duct tape at the top. I might add somemore duct tape to the sides... haven't decided yet. I think it looks pretty cute!

And my second project was to make dice bottles! I first saw this idea from Shari Sloane and she has some printables to go with them... Shake and Share Addition and Shake and Share Subtraction. Simple project to make.... I got some small Dasani water bottles, threw in two dice, sprinkled in some glitter (I matched my glitter to the dice... I'm cutesy like that!), add a few drops of dish soap to stop the glitter from clumping, put the lid back on, and glue shut with some E6000 glue. Voila! A fun way to spruce up your dice games. Plus.... they are a lot quieter than rolling dice on the desk!

Now before I get into the second linky party, I just wanted to share with you a brief family history. I come from a very close family of teachers. My mom is a teacher. Her mom is a retired teacher. Her dad is a retired teacher. Her sister is a teacher. My brother is a computer tech. for my mom's school division. Even despite my mom's warnings school stories, I always knew I wanted to be a teacher. The reason I bring this up is... having a mom who is also a teacher is pretty much the most awesome thing ever. Why you ask? Because she gets me. She understands my love of post-its and picture books. She knows I can't walk past a book store or dollar store without going in. Plus she buys me the BEST birthday presents... :D Look at my fabulous new Skippyjon Jones bracelet from Sophie's Beads. I am in love!! I plan to wear this bracelet every single day this year.

Thanks, Mom!!! (Oh, and if that wasn't enough... she also got me a Pete the Cat shirt & bag and a Classroom Friendly Sharpener. Love!) Ok, onto my second linky party... Is that allowed? Two in one post? Oh well, no blog police around... Here we go! It is Teacher Week over at Blog Hoppin' and today is "Must-Haves Monday".

Here are my top five must haves for back to school:

{1.} An organized teacher binder! I like to keep my lesson plans, parent contact info., classlists, calendars, etc. all in one binder. I'll take pics of binder once I get it up and running. I also keep a second binder for my assessments and student info.

{2.} A desk calendar. I am a visual person so I like to see everything  all laid out in front of me.

{3.} Good read alouds. I have said this many times--I love books! Big books, small books, funny books, sad books. Here are some of my favourite back to school books:

{4.} My laptop. I blogstalk, I create, I buy, I share. I need my laptop. And it's purple. My favourite colour.

{5.} A cute back to school outfit! (Or five...) I bought this cute shirt from Old Navy. It has tiny green apples all over it! Paired with a demin jacket... looks adorable!

What are your back to school must haves? Link up with Blog Hoppin'!