Black Friday Sale and Throwback Thursday

Everyone in my family are all still asleep, as I sit here thinking about all that I have to be thankful for.  I am thankful we are all together for today.  I am thankful that I have a wonderful husband who loves to cook, a beautiful daughter who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to speak her mind, and a handsome son who has grown into a charming, responsible adult.I can't forget our two dogs who bring joy to our lives daily.

As I sit here sipping my coffee and reading the sales ads, I realize that I hit a major milestone for my little blog.  Sometime last week I had reached 1 million page views.

I am very thankful for my blog and all that it has brought me.  I've made many wonderful friends through the blogging community.  I have an opportunity to meet many of my favorite teacher bloggers in real life as well. My blog has given me an outlet to share my life and what goes on in my classroom with others.  My blog has helped me venture out into the world of Teachers Pay Teachers.  It has also helped me to check off an item on my bucket list.  Years ago, when I was working on getting my masters degree in curriculum, teaching and learning, I knew that I had wanted to move into curriculum development.  I never dreamed that I could still be teaching and developing curriculum at the same time. TpT has made all of this possible.

So, as I sit here and my family- dogs included- are all snug in their beds and I read through all the Black Friday sales ads I bring to you my Black Friday Sale a day early.  YOu can enjoy 20% off of everything in my store and never have to fight the crowds, long lines or rush through your Thanksgiving dinner.

Being that it is Thursday I thought I'd add a little throwback to last years Elf on Shelf posts- to get you started for your Elf adventures.

When we return from Thanksgiving break, I will be bringing out the Elf on a Shelf.  Last year was my first year to use the magic this little miracle brings to a classroom.  Forget the clip chart and other behavior tracking systems, just tell the kids Elf is reporting to Santa and you have a very well behaved class (well, most of the time).

Our Elf arrived from the north pole in a white paper wrapped box that had been placed in the freezer.  The box was nice and chilly when our secretary brought it down.  We passed the box around to feel how cold it was.

 When the class opened the box, they found another package wrapped in Christmas paper.

Inside that box was a letter from Santa telling us he had left us an elf.

The kids spotted the elf hanging out on on our easel.  We brainstormed some names and then voted.  My kids came up with some interesting names.  Not sure what made them suggest Bear, Heart or Party???  Finally they decided on Ginger Sparkle, however, Manny, Elfie or Sparkey wouldn't have been too bad.

For the next few weeks, Ginger left many gifts, peppermints that grew into candy canes, pencils to help them with their handwriting, books to help them become better readers and an occasional after lunchtime snack.  On the few days that the class was a tad naughty, Ginger let them know she had reported their shenanigans to Santa.  It didn't take long for my kids to know Ginger meant business and anything they did, would be in her report.

This year I have a few new ideas in the works.  I will have the package delivered from the north Pole again, and re-use a few of the activities I did last year.  This year however I have created some Elf stationary to use and an Elf Adventure Journal for my class to write in.  You can find this in my TpT store.  There are pre-designed letters and editable stationary.  If my letters don't work for your classroom situation, you can create your very own.

I have been scouring Pinterest for some new and clever ideas.  I have been saving all of them to my Pinterest Board. Visit my board and make sure you follow me.