Friday, August 31, 2012

Five years ago today my mother lost her very, very long battle with breast cancer.  She never complained and was honestly the bravest person I ever met right up until the moment she closed her eyes.  I share this with everyone today to remind you to get checked every year.  Early prevention can safe your life! 

I miss you everyday day Mom and cherish every memory we shared as a family XOXOXOXO

Well it has been a long week getting ready for back to school.  I am happy to say that my room is 98% ready.  I still have a few things left to finish up but nothing major.  We have teacher in-services on Tuesday and Wednesday so I will have sometime to finish up before the kids start on Thursday.     I took lots of pictures to share...and left my camera at school.  I will have to post them next week when I can get my camera back.

In honor of all the hardworking teachers out there I am having a Labor Day Sale in my TPT store.  All items are 20% off.  Enjoy the long weekend!!

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Now I would like to share my new Classroom Community Jobs Board.  For the past few years I had changed how I assigned classroom jobs but I was not really happy with it.  This year I'm going back to my old way of assigning every child a job each week.  I made new cards with additional jobs.  You can see velcro dots in the center which I will use to place their photo each week.

You can find these cards in my TPT store.  The packet includes 32 job cards in two different styles.  The second set of cards are smaller and can be used in a pocket chart or magnetic board. 

The children are always so excited to find out their jobs for the week and I didn't like the faces of those who didn't have one when I changed my routine.  I really stress the importance of community and working together and this is going to be a great way to get every child involved!!





I have been very busy the past few days getting my room ready.  I started taking pictures today to share my classroom with you.  Here is my hall bulletin board with my new scrunchy border.  This was another great idea from Pinterest!  Thank you to Laura at Peace, Love and First Grade for sharing this great idea!! I have already had a ton of compliments :) 

The bulletin board has large picture frames that I made for the students out of construction paper.  After I cut out the frame shapes I laminated them.  I left the lamination in the center for the illusion of glass.  I only staple the frames in the corner so that I can slide their work in and out of the sides.  I hang name tags with a fancy font and scalloped borders under the frames.   (The black boxes under the pictures frames are to cover up the student names.)



 

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Last week I posted about an idea that I found on Pinterest from Maria at Kinder Craze.  She used scrapbook paper to dress up the Sterlite containers that so many of us use in our classrooms.  Here is a look at my new containers.  I'm so happy with them!  Thank you Maria!!!



 


Friday, August 24, 2012

I had lots of fun the past few days in my classroom getting ready for the first day of school.  It is so nice to see everyone and catch up.  I want to share my excitement with you by having a SALE!  Everything in my store is 20% off this weekend.  I hope you can find something helpful to start off  your new school year!!

Thursday, August 23, 2012

I have spent the last few days in my classroom getting ready.  I can't wait to finish up and share some pictures of my room!

Saturday, August 18, 2012


The second great idea I found on Pinterest is called the Teacher Toolbox.  I knew instantly I had to make one for myself.  (I also made a second one for my daughter's new Kindergarten teacher!)

I purchased the 22 drawer storage cabinet from Lowe's for $17.00.  They had several varieties to choose from if you prefer a smaller or larger organizer.  This box is dark blue with 14 small drawers and 8 large drawers.





The labels can be printed on regular paper or cardstock and taped to the outside of the drawers or inside the drawers.  I used cardstock and taped mine inside hoping to keep little fingers from touching!

You can find the labels at my TPT in several designs.  The bee themed toolbox is for my classroom and the polka dots are for Sophia's new kindergarten teacher.


I am a big fan of pinterest and have recently found some cute new ideas to organize and brighten up my classroom.  The first idea is to use scrapbook paper to brighten up clear Sterlite drawers. I have several sets of Sterlite drawers in my classroom and I plan to bring them home this week to get started.

Here is a link to  Maria at  Kinder-Craze who made some helpful videos to guide you through the process (including easy template instructions!) You will also want to check out her FAQs at the bottom of the post for any additional questions you may have.
http://kindercraze.blogspot.com/2012/07/sterlite-drawers-revisited-follow-up-to.html#



 I will post some photos later this week after I have finished dressing mine up.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Thank you to everyone who visited my new TPT store over the past few days.   I really appreciate all the kind words and compliments!!

Sunday, August 12, 2012


I'm so excited to offer you all 20% off at my TPT store August 12-13. In addition to my sale, Teachers Pay Teachers is offering you 10% off of your total by using the code BTS12 when you checkout! This is a great savings!
 
Here are some of my products perfect for the beginning of the year!








 

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Hello and Welcome to Hedrich's Hive!  My name is Antoinette Hedrich and I am thrilled to finally join the blogging community.  My friends and family call me Toni and I hope you will too.  I am a first grade teacher in New Jersey.  I have been teaching for 15 years and I am getting ready to start my 13th year in first grade.  My mother would share with everyone that I wanted to be a teacher since I was four years old.  She was definitely right because I have never thought about doing anything else.  I consider myself so lucky to be a teacher and I enjoy it today just as much, if not more, than when I started.

I have been married to my husband, Bill, for 6 years and we are blessed to have a beautiful daughter.  I like so many of you that I follow am a very proud Mommy and look forward to sharing my family life as well as my teaching family.  My daughter will be starting Kindergarten in September and we are all so excited.  Her classroom will be just down the hall from my classroom.  I am so fortunate that she will come to work with Mommy everyday and I will have the opportunity to share her Kindergarten experience so closely.

Last year as I was searching the Internet I came across several teacher blogs.  After viewing a few I was instantly hooked and it did not take long for me to have a list of favorites.  I knew from the first day that I would someday start my own blog.  I have enjoyed reading your experiences and ideas from teachers all over the country.  There have been so many times that I have read a post from someone in Texas, South Carolina and Georgia, just to name a few, and laughed out loud or said to myself that was just like my classroom today.  No matter where we live we are all sharing the same wonderful experience of teaching.

In New Jersey we start school just after Labor Day each year.  Like so many of you I have worked on new ideas and projects at home all summer.  Over the next few weeks I will start by sharing pictures of my classroom and how I prepare for a new school year.

I am so excited to start this new journey and hope you will BUZZ on by to share it with me!

Monday, August 6, 2012


Hooray! My new blog design is ready and I can't wait to get started.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

Test Post

This is a test to see if everything is functioning properly.