Back to School Bash...the brainstorming begins

Alright!  I'll stop placing guilt upon myself and get on here and blog for a minute!  That long awaited I Teach 1st post will have to wait.

Today I've also been drooling over Reagan's Back to School Open House ideas. I started texting my grade-level team-teachers before I realized they are probably trying to enjoy their summer OFF! Oops!  I have a very difficult time turning off the teacher-brain.  Having my classroom decorated and in order, long-range planning ready to go, and a good idea of the big events I will be working on this year is just so, so, so tempting for me.  Of course, today was a sick-day, and even though I got a few little jobs done around the house and played with my kids, I really needed to also have a creative outlet and study time to help direct my focus off the sore throat and nausea. I probably picked up the cold from my sweet little niece I had to snuggle with up in sunny St. George, Utah this week.  It was worth it, but my fingers are always crossed that these things don't last long.

Anyhow, back to Tunstall Tidbits...did I mention that I went to her Guided Math Guru session during the I Teach 1st conference last week, and talked with her afterward, AND took a picture with this great teacher who I admire?!  More later, of course...I recreated a couple of her BTS ideas to be a good fit for my class (and hopefully our grade level). See my station cards and parent labels.  And, get this, I am getting ready to post my first TpT store products.  I was going to post these, but like Ericka Bohrer says, that is so NOT COOL to copy other's ideas and post them as your own. I hope to use creativity and post 5-10 products this year, half of them being paid products.  You gotta start somewhere, I guess!  I'll keep you posted!  For now, here is a pic of my station cards.  These will be in different areas of the classroom for parents and students to walk around, view and follow instructions for things I want them to do at Back to School night:

Also, I watched a video tutorial of a sweet cleaning gal who gave the following 4 ways to remove white board marker (you know those low-odor type we are always writing with that smudge so much!):

1. Water/vinegar mix (3:1 mixture)

2. Nail polish remover 

3. Baby oil

4. WD-40

My hubby bought me a whiteboard, but it was not really dry-erase...long story, but I did manage to remove all smudges and marker from the porous surface.  Happy to have these solutions.

Now I'm gonna go chill with my babies and Big Hero 6!