Manic Mondays

I'm just curious, but do any of you have days as crazy as mine?  I'm pretty certain you do.  Today was a great day!  I am feeling MUCH better, I had my T.A. back, and I can honestly say I felt like we accomplished so much.  I love days where you feel like you were your best :)  After all of that, I built a beanstalk going into my ceiling - yes, I really built a beanstalk.  I mean, who wouldn't want to visit a class with a beanstalk?  Then, I prepped for a meeting I have tomorrow and finally got in my car at 6:00.  That's not all though - then, I ran to Target.  Why?  Because of PINTEREST!!!!  Seriously, like I have all the time in the world to go indulge ideas I saw on the Internet.  I did grab a few bags of candy other items and surprises for the hubby, but... that is not the end.  Then, I ran to the store!  At this point it's 7:15, I haven't eaten dinner, and I am running into the store and it isn't to buy dinner.  It's for Lima beans because if you are going to build a giant beanstalk in your classroom you should definitely plant mini beanstalks, too.  Once I got home, I tossed my bag (with the Macbook) into the house and went to get Mexican with the hubby.  Mmmm.... cheese dip and tacos is great after a long day!  Heaven for me will definitely include Mexican food!  Finally, at 9:10 I walked in the house, unpacked all the random items, and here I am.  So, knowing my friends, I'm pretty certain if you are a teacher (without a baby with a bedtime) your schedule is probably as randomly crazy as mine.  I wouldn't trade it for the world, but definitely keeps me hopping.

Okay, now, I'm guessing you want to see my beanstalk.  I have to say, ANYONE could make this.  It didn't take long, was simple, and didn't cost a dime.  I took lots of green bulletin board paper and I twisted it.  Once it was twisted, I got a ladder, took rubber bands, cut them, and used the rubber bands to tie it to the ceiling.  Then, I took a container and draped the bottom of the beanstalk into the container.  You could use a box, chair, can, really anything.  After all of that was done, I cut out a bunch of leaves and attached them to the beanstalk using tape.  I also put a cloud around the top of the beanstalk using bulletin board paper.  Last, but not least, I tracked down a little man figurine (Jack) and covered the container at the bottom with brown paper.  It took around 45 minutes to make and honestly, I can't wait to see my kids faces tomorrow.  

Here's the other thing I am REALLY excited about for tomorrow.  I have this little gadget that allows me to plug my projector into my iPad.  Well, last week I was looking around and discovered that MeeGenius has Jack and the Beanstalk for free.  So, this afternoon I connected my iPad into my Activboard, so tomorrow when we read Jack and the Beanstalk, my kids are going to hear it read to them through my iPad/Activboard :)  If you are a teacher and don't have a MeeGenius account and you have an iPad, you are definitely missing out.  Here's a picture of the screen.  This is something I haven't done yet this year, so anyway - very excited!  I know, I say that a lot, but if you know me, you know it is true.

 As you can see, not only is Jack and the Beanstalk there, but also a lot of other Fairy Tales and cute books.   I'm telling you, you won't regret it.  Eventually, I want to run my listening centers solely off of Storia, MeeGenius, and Nook Kids.  Click here to find out more info and get this app.

Alright, need to go to bed!  My teammates have requested a few things, so hopefully I will be posting a couple of items in the next few days.  Speaking of which, if any of you guys ever have any quick requests, please comment and let me know.  I love doing one sheet freebies :)

Have a Terrific Tuesday!