Summer Essentials Goodie Bag & tag

Spring is among us!  Although here in the PNW you might think it's still winter with our 32 degree weather this week.  After being down in Mexico [Puerto Vallarta] last week for Spring Break, it's been quite the contrast to the 85 degrees and sunshine we were soaking up.  

Returning from Spring Break always marks the countdown! AKA the end-of-the-year at school. I can't believe it's already time to start counting down!  

I've been working on updating an end-of-the-year teacher gift that I originally created for a teacher friend that was retiring.  Back in 2012! Here's the original post if you want to check it out:

Teacher Retirement Gift. 

Here's what the OLD 'Summer Essentials' tag and gift looked like:

I needed to bring it 'up to date' with a digital version to say the least, but I'm excited with how the NEW one turned out!  

I created two versions of the tag to better meet everyones' needs.  The first 'Summer Essential' tag works perfectly for a teacher, volunteer, student-teacher, or even that favorite colleague!  The second version is specific for that retired teacher! 

What better way to say THANK YOU and send them off to summer vacation than some fun relaxing treats!  Plus it all looks pretty cute when it's tied together or put into a fun beach tote or bag! 

These are just suggestions for items to pair with the 'Summer Essentials' list, but I know you're all SUPER creative and will make it your own and tailored for those that you appreciate!  I hope it makes that transition into summer vacation just a little sweeter. 

Here's items I put together as an example:

I bought the items from Dollar Tree, Target, and a local grocery store.  Super quick to put together too!  See here:

Find the Summer Essentials resource here:

Summer Essentials Gift tags

Of course it's not summer vacation yet, I know I still have 10 weeks of teaching before the break, but it's never too soon to plan those thank you gifts!

Hang in there teacher friends, there's light at the end of the tunnel.  We'll get through this school year and onto a MUCH NEEDED summer vacation.  In the meantime, just keep swimming! You got this! 

Find your balance,

Shelby 

Motivational Testing Treat Tags

Looking to help MOTIVATE and INSPIRE your students for an upcoming test?  Look no further!  These simple, READY-TO-PRINT treat tags will do the trick!

I always LOVED creating treats for my students.  Both as an outlet for myself to do something creative, as well as helping to encourage my students too.

Whether it's just an end-of-the-unit test in class, or the ACTUAL state testing, little treats like these help to disguise the stress and anxiety of the situation and make it a little more memorable instead! 

When I started my TpT store I knew I wanted to recreate these fun tags that I've used for so many years in my classroom.  They're updated since my original versions of course.  Thank you modern fonts and electronic backgrounds!  I had fun creating the clipart for each of these tags too.  Thank you Procreate app and my iPad!  Making these designs is SO MUCH EASIER than it was before... or maybe I've just learned how to use these apps more efficiently?  Either way, I'm excited to be able to share them with others online too! 

If you're interested in creating these fun testing tags too, check out my resource here: 

Motivational Testing Tags

These are the 8 Ready-to-Print designs: 

Good luck as you continue to MOTIVATE, INSPIRE, and ENCOURAGE your students to do their best! 

We teach them to work hard without needing to earn a reward, but having a fun treat always makes it THAT much better right? 

Find your balance,

Shelby Oas 

Food Group Activities

It's been all about the FOOD GROUPS in PE this week so I decided to create some resources to help my students better understand each food group and a chance for some hands-on learning.  Yes, even in PE they can do some 'actual work' to help review the health concepts they're learning. 

With it being my first year in PE I wasn't sure how it'd go if I incorporated some 'actual work' into my teaching and was a little nervous to see how it'd go... 

Surprisingly, the kids left saying "That was so fun!"  Who knew?  

It gave me hope that I can create and include more content into my PE lessons.  Obviously, I need to get them moving as much as possible when I only see them for 30 minutes, two times a week, but I'm excited to see what else I can create! 

 

Download these resources here:

Food Group Posters

Food Groups Flipbook

Find your balance, 

Shelby Oas 

Spread some encouragment

Who doesn't need a little encouragement every now and then? Every week. Every day.  Every hour on recent days?  I hear you.  Me too! 

Just like this note says:  Sometimes we just need a LIFE SAVER to help keep us afloat!  [Use daily or as often as needed].

Can I have the whole bowl?

Sometimes just hearing the simple "We got this" from a colleague is enough to keep pushing through.  It helps to know that others are right there alongside you in the arena.  Especially with our current 'pandemic' situation it makes teaching VERY different to say the least.  EVERY. SINGLE. DAY.

I originally made these treats 10 years ago [I know right?] at the end of a trimester as we were all preparing for parent-teacher conferences.  Teachers, staff, anyone working in the building needed a little life saver to keep us afloat! I took this as an opportunity to put aside all things teaching, which ALWAYS means I work on some kind of craft.

See original post here:  Sometimes we just need a 'Life Saver'

Like everything, I made the old new again! Thank you modern fonts and paper backgrounds to give the 'crafty' look without having to layer papers and require all the tedious cutting.  Since I'm also keeping up with the times and creating my designs to be digital and accessible online, it's in my TpT store.

Download the new tags here: Encouragement Tag with Life Savers

I'm excited to revive an oldie but a goodie.  I also enjoyed a nice laugh at the old design and appreciated how far my 'crafting' has come along.  

Teaching warriors out there, keep showing up each day!  Despite the daily challenges you constantly face, you got this!  And just remember, sometimes we just need a LIFE SAVER to help keep us afloat!  

Find your balance,

Shelby

Fraction Flip book

Fraction flipbook!

I 💗 fractions! As a classroom teacher I loved teaching fractions.  Maybe it was the hands-on learning of folding the paper strips into equal parts (although they were RARELY equal) or coloring and labeling all the unit fractions.  I don't know?  It was a straight forward concept of equal shares and what kid doesn't get 'making it equal' between 2, 3 or 4 kids? Am I right? Especially if it's a chocolate bar we're sharing you'd better bet they'll make sure it's being shared equally! 

Anyways, as I'm recreating resources for my TpT store I just KNEW I had to redo my old favorite.  The Fraction Flip book!  Back before the days of flip books and fancy fonts, or at least before I knew how to create a flip book, I did the only thing I knew how to do.  Copy and paste! I printed all the labels, cut everything out, and created one flip book with my grade-level colleague to use as our 'master copy'.  

You can check out the OG Fraction flip book we created on this old post of mine:

Old School Flipbook

I used this same flip book for MANY years and had no interest in creating a new one until this year because I'd need to be able to share the resource digitally with others. Funny thing too, I'm no longer teaching in the classroom this year so I can't even use the resource with my own students. Ugh! I'm now teaching Health & Fitness and obviously won't need to teach fractions anytime soon.

After a lot of problem solving and figuring out how to create pages that would print back-to-back and up side down.  No really!  There were A LOT of papers recycled throughout this process to say the least.  All in all, I was able to create the new and improved Fraction flip book! I LOVE how it turned out.  I was so excited to have tackled 

Check it out here in my TpT store: Fraction Flipbook

As always, feel free to share feedback if you use this product or if there's something you'd change or like to see.  I'd love to see how you use it as well!  Tag me in your photos @find.your_balance on instagram! https://www.instagram.com/find.your_balance/ 

Find your balance,

Shelby