A Bright New Year

I am slowly but surely slipping back into reality. I still have until Wednesday and believe me, I am soaking up every last second of this wonderful break! {a.k.a. stayed in my pajamas all day long!!!!}

Even though I stayed in my pajamas, I still managed to pull myself up for a while to get some work done and try to start preparing my brain for the 5 a.m. "WAKE UP CALL" on Wednesday morning! {That one's gonna hurt!} Although I do not love mornings, I am excited to get back and see my 16 little darlings. I really like to get them excited for second semester so I have a few things that I am going to use to get them back in gear! If you haven't started back...maybe you can use these little gems as well! If you are already back in school mode, it's never too late to "pretend" that it is on the lesson plan! :)

My kids love glow sticks. I have them in a cup and pass them out to "shining authors" during writing time. They are really something serious in our classroom. I thought about giving all of my kids one for Valentine's Day, but then I saw this little number on Pinterest.

So, why wait? Maybe this will cause some "bright" thoughts to process through their brains since they haven't done anything have studied and read ALL break...right?!? {Please tell me I'm right} Ha!

Here are the tags that I am going to attach. I have made several versions just in case anyone else would like to encourage bright thinking! You can download the tags {HERE!}

If you are looking for a New Year's Resolution writing, I posted this freebie a few days ago. You can click on the picture below to check out that post!

And if you need some engaging centers to whip those little brains back into shape, you can check out my Winter Wonderland Math Centers on TPT. These are wonderful for the month of January because they require minimal prep. work for teachers {Do I hear an AMEN?!?} and they review all of those basic math skills. You can check out my post {HERE} or you can check them out at my TPT shop!

Wishing you a wonderful return! Oh yes...and don't forget to enter in my giveaway for your chance to win 11 time savers wonderful units that will totally engage your students during the first few months back to school! It will end January 6th! Click on the picture below to check it out!

Now, I must prepare for The Bachelor. Is anyone else excited??? Are there any Ben fans out in the teacher blogosphere???