Sunday, March 22, 2015

Teacher Tool Gift Exchange


Last weekend, I had the most amazing weekend!  I spent the entire time with over 100 teachers!  I loved being in a room full of like minded people!  Relationships are easy to form with this group!
One of the events I was looking forward to the most was the Teacher Tool Swap!  
We played a left/right game written and read by the amazing (and my roomie) Amanda Pauley  at Mrs. Pauley's Kindergarten!
We divided into grades so we could have more manageable groups.  Here are my first grade comrades!
This is the gift I gave!  It is paper by the wonderful Blair Turner!  She has the cutest paper and calendar products!

Jessica Tobin was the winner of my gift!  She is from Second Grade Nest.  She teaches first grade now and has great ideas on how to incorporate close reading into the classroom!

The gift I got was the talk of the meet up!  It's a laminating station!!!  In my opinion...best gift ever! Before this meet-up I didn't own a personal laminator (which I found puts me in the minority).  
This awesome gift was from Abbie Jinnings at Tales from the First Grade!
Abbie said that she sets this up as a station for her firsties to do!  What a great idea!  For now, I'm being selfish and playing with it at home.
Who would have thought that laminating at home could be so fun!  I seriously haven't had this much fun since paper trimmers were designed for the home as well!  (Teachers know how to have fun huh?)
I did have to get a plastic dessert lid (See!  Desserts are good for you!) to put behind the laminator so the paper doesn't bend (fall) when it comes out.  It worked perfectly!!!
My guided reading groups will be so excited that I have finally laminated our Quarter 3 sight word lists!
I just have one really big question...Where can I get more laminating paper?!?



10 comments:

  1. Love seeing your gifts!!! :) Such GREAT ideas!! Can't wait to see you again soon!

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  2. It was fantastic to meet you and hang out. You are so much fun! And the laminating station...you will wonder what you did without one. I loved how Abbie had it all set up and ready to roll. Have a fantastic week!

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  3. Totally setting this up in my home office, luckily I already have a laminator! Now you'll have to check Amazon obsessively for deals on laminating pouches like I do :) So great to meet you!

    Mrs. Plemons' Kindergarten

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  4. Love the laminating station idea brought by my roomie at the meet up!
    ilive2learnilove2grow 

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  5. Love it! What a great gift idea!! Enjoy, enjoy!
    Em
    curious firsties

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  6. Only teachers totally understand the excitement I got from reading your post!!!!! I am setting one up in my home office!!! I find the best deals at Sam's Club and/or Amazon!!!! So sad I missed the meet-up, but am ready for next year!!!

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  7. That laminating station is such a great idea!! Isn't funny we think laminating and paper cutters are fun! :) It was so fun meeting you this past weekend!!
    Tickled Pink in Primary

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  8. What a great kindergarten event!! The activities are way too interesting. You can use these activities to teach the kiddos. I will definitely try out these activities in my Phoenix preschool but I would add some twists to these games.

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