August Currently.....

I love when Farley over at Oh Boy 4th Grade does her "Currently" at the beginning of the month! I came across it last month and it was so much fun, that as soon as August 1st rolled around, I started looking for it. I finally found it this weekend, and decided to make it my post for Tuesday since I am working on a big "Technology Tuesday" for next week and that is my usual Tuesday post. SO I skipped it this week and I am joining in on Farley's linky fun!

So about my B2S (Back To School) must haves....

1. Sharpies----I am a bit of a Sharpie Whore...I admit it . I loves me some Sharpies. I have all kinds in my classroom and even have a special bucket of them just for me.  My kiddos have their own in the cute table caddies I have for them. They also know not to touch MY Sharpies without permission. I can't even go into the Dollar Tree without buying a few (they only have the black and blue ones). Last spring my student teacher bought me  these...

They were in a basket full of school supply goodies (including a $15 iTunes gift card)..but all I saw when she gave it to me was these sticks of amazing writing AWESOMENESS!!!!

2. A Classroom theme----My room would feel so weird without a theme. I have done frogs, pirates, a space theme, and also a beach theme.  This year I am torn between 3 themes--baseball, peace sign and Hollywood/movies/popcorn.  I have to have a cute saying or tagline to go with my theme too. For the three I am considering for this year:  Welcome to the 5th Grade Dugout,  Peace, Love and 5th Grade, or Looks What's Poppin in 5th Grade.  After a quick trip to the Teacher Store, I discovered that they did not carry baseball border (they have sports balls....but nothing just baseball) for my bulletin boards but they did have lots of cute peace sign and popcorn themed stuff. SO I guess I am down to 2 themes.....

3. Welcome Back Gifts for my Kiddos---- I spend an ungodly amount of money on school supplies each year since a lot of my kiddos come to school with nothing (and I do not know a single teacher who doesn't). Because let's face it, we all want to make sure they each have what they need to be successful, and I know in these tough economic times, it is hard for parents to buy supplies. I am fortunate to get a supply stipend from our school district so I buy a lot of of it initially using those funds. But as the year goes one, I dig into my own pockets to replenish rather than sending notes home (it always seemed that kids ran out of stuff just as we were sending them home for Christmas break--and I would rather my kiddos have Christmas gifts...I can buy a few glue sticks and pencils). Okay, so now that I went off on that tangent....I remember how excited I got to have a new pencil case, or book covers, or a cool notebook to start off the new school year when I was a kid. Nowadays, parents can barely afford the essentials so I like to get some of those things for my kiddos as a welcome back gift..I also throw in a few treats like some cool erasers and of course CANDY! It makes me feel great to see their faces light up when they discover a present waiting for them on the first day of school!

Well that's it. If you would like to hook up with this Linky....head on over to Farley's post, HERE.