Teachers Notebook

Ever hear of Teachers Notebook?  I stumbled across this site while searching something on pinterest.  I saw that it was similar to TPT and this past fall I uploaded two-three of my items.  I realized that I did not utilize it as much as Teacher Pay Teachers and therefore stopped posting.  However, recently at my TPT Meet-up last week, I was told that by uploading your products on Teachers Notebook, people still find and buy your products.  Therefore, I decided since I am updating my blog and included my TPT Store, I too included my Teachers Notebook Store.  I am surprised to see that my store was viewed 9 times already.  In addition, I created my own teacher instagram and already have 50 followers.  I am thinking that if I can get 100 to have a huge TPT sale!

Any other tips or tricks to get more followers and bring more traffic to my store and blog?  

Have a great week!

Update!!

Last week was extremely busy!  I signed all final paperwork at my new school, was able to spend time in my classroom, get my teaching manuals, participated in my first TPT Meet-up, and took my boyfriend on his first camping trip.  Once back from camping, I had time to work on things that I learned from my TPT Meet-up.  This is all new to me and I want to make sure that I create my own images.  I had to do lots of research on how to redesign my website through other blog posts and YouTube videos.  

The first thing I did was create a new button.  

I wanted something large, easy to read, simple but makes a statement.  I wanted to make sure that I stayed with my colors of gray, blue, and yellow!  I tried to choose fonts that were statement fonts and were large enough to read.  One change I made was changing from three students to three owls.  I mean, how cute!!  :) 

Once I created my button, I knew I instantly wanted to update my TPT Page.  Of course it is still a work in progress, but I began by creating a new TPT banner and side banner.  I then took that work into redesigning my blog.  I wanted to create a header that had links to my various sites (TPT, Instagram, Pinterest) and to my various pages.  I also wanted to create a navigation bar that was included in my header.  After much research, I was able to complete this.  I am still unsure how to create a header and about me section with clearer options and am open to how this is possible.  

TPT Meet-Up

This past Thursday, I had the privilege to meet up with about a dozen other teachers from around the area at TJ Rockwells.  These people are amazing individuals that each brought their own flare to teaching, blogging, and TPT to the table.  Our afternoon included lots of laughs, great food, honest sharing, and amazing conversation that allows us all to grow in what we do.  A huge thank you to Becky and Greg from The Class Couple for organizing this meet up and Go Noodle & TPT for all the lovely goodies!  

Molly from Sassy Sub was one of the amazing teachers that I met at this meet.  

I am linking up with her for this fun Summer Recap Party.  I hate that summer is coming to an end.  Therefore, I am going to recap three major things that happened to me this past summer.  

Vacation Trips

This past summer, I was blessed to enjoy my vacation weeks with my amazing boyfriend.  We went to several different places, and still have two more weekends of fun lined up.  We began our summer with a week trip to Cape Coral Florida.  This was my first time going to the Gulf side of Florida.  We enjoyed days of jet skiing, kayaking, beach laying, fourth of July bash with a concert from Chase Rice, and a trip to Miami to visit his father.  This past weekend I took Joe on his first camping trip.  It was quite an amazing time.  We hiked 12 miles our first day there.  Other fascinating camping events included getting lost in the woods, Joe cross the river on a tree trunk, hearing a bear in the woods, and bear spotting in our campsite.  In the weeks to come we have some day trips planned to Music Fest, a weekend trip to Rochester NY, and a trip to Baltimore, MD.  

TPT Meet-Up

This summer I participated in my first TPT meet-up.  It was something I always wanted to do since I started creating projects for my TPT Store.  I was very nervous and scared at first to meet up with random teachers and exchange ideas.  However, after halfway through it, I felt comfortable discussing my ideas and products with others.  I learned so much to help improve my store and blog.  During our meet, I set a goal of improving my store, products, and being consistent in product making.  I am hoping that I can achieve this goal with the motivation from this meet-up!

Blog/TPT Update

As you see, I have updated my blog and redesigned the header and side column.  I am not completed yet and hope to work on it throughout the school year with my boyfriend is away on the weekend at baseball tournaments.  

August Currently

Hey everyone!  

Sorry for being a little late with the August Currently.  I spent the weekend away at my old college watching my boyfriend win gold in the Keystone State Games in baseball.  

Congrats Babe on a fantastic win!!

I am linking up with my friend Farley from Oh' Boy 4th Grade for the August Currently.  

Listening:

This whole summer I have been getting back into country music.  I find myself listening to country during the summer months.  It must be that light country swag that gives me that summer, relaxing feel.  This current song from Jana Kramer is absolutely addicting to listen to.  

  

Loving:

I am loving this beautiful weather outside.  This summer in PA has been very different this past year.  We started our summer off with tons of rain and storms.  We experienced a tornado and lots of flooding.  The past two weeks we went from wet days to hot, sticky, and dry.  The past several weeks we have been experiencing a heat wave with days feeling like triple digits.  Today is a beautiful summer day.  A cool breeze with sun.  The humidity is not too bad which makes it a perfect day for laying out.  Something I really have not done that much this summer.  I do need to tan up a bit before school starts.  

Thinking:

Each morning I wake up, I keep thinking that the first day of school is getting closer and closer.  This year I transferred to a new school within the same diocese.  There is so much I need to learn and do.  We are not allowed to enter our classroom until mid-August.  This has been driving me crazy because I am very OCD about everything and usually have my classroom set up by now.  I have been trying to take lots of time at home to make all the things to make my room perfect this year.  However, I am not sure what my schedule is, what exactly I am teaching, what textbook I will be using.  It is so hard to prepare for the year when I feel like I am so behind.  Now that we are in August, we start school in three weeks and I have not set foot in my room yet!  YIKES!!  

Wanting:

I am wanting some more time for vacation trips with my love.  I am so glad that we have things planned every weekend in August to celebrate our last month together before things start to get crazy at my new school.  This past weekend he coached the Junior Division at the Keystone State Games for baseball.  He was gone most of the week and I decided to go out to see his medal game.  I was happy for the game to be at my old college.  Nothing like stepping foot on your old undergrad campus.  The memories came rushing back.  I was able to then show him and his assistant coaches what the night life was like back when I was a student there.  This upcoming weekend we have a camping trip planned since I have not been able to camp yet and not sure if I will be able to this fall due to his baseball schedule.  The next weekend we are going up to Rochester, NY to hang out with his old college roommate.  I have never been to Rochester and am excited to go up.  On our way up we are going to stop at the Finger Lakes and tour some of the wineries.  A dream come true for me.  I always wanted to go up there!  Our last weekend we will be celebrating our 6 month anniversary.  We have been wanting to go to one of our favorite breweries, Du Claw, which is located in Maryland.  We plan on going down to the Baltimore Aquarium for the day, stop at the Brewery, and then enjoy a night out on the town before heading home.  I cannot believe that we have been dating for 6 months.  The summer just flew by with him.  Our last weekend before school starts will be a relaxing one with wine, dinner with our families, relaxation, and end with a day at the spa.  

Needing:

I am starting to panic that I have not yet been in my classroom to set up.  I am in need of getting in there and start setting up.  I also want to meet my new team so that I can learn the procedures and rules of the school.  Waiting all this time is beginning to drive me CRAZY!!  I hope my principal calls this week telling me that I can start setting up.  My parents would also like me to get rid of all my school stuff off the front porch.  It has been all cluttered during the transition.  

B2S RAK:

My B2S RAK is a small gift bag/basket for my new team members.  I want to make sure that I make a great impression.  A small basket/bag filled with post-it notes, pens, pencils, and stress reliever chocolates is always a great way to start.  I believe highly on a good team, and want to establish one at my new school.