Cool Tool

I've been slaving away in my classroom for the past three weeks, and I am just now feeling like it is my classroom! I inherited a room from a teacher who retired after teaching 24 years, and she was sick the last three weeks of last year. She left EVERYTHING!!! Rather than this being a blessing, it was almost a curse. I did manage to save a few great things, but a lot of what she had was not useful to me. I've emailed back and forth with her, and she seems very wonderful, but she kept everything! It took me almost two full weeks, five carloads to Goodwill, and countless trash bags and trips to the dumpster to clean out the classroom before I could even begin to put my stuff in it! I am kicking myself for not taking any before pictures, but I think I was just too overwhelmed at the time. Teachers would come meet me, look at the disaster in my room, and take a small gasp of air... it was THAT bad! All that aside, with the help of my fabulous husband, my wonderful friend, Shawna, and my ah-maz-ing mother, my room is almost ready! I am still waiting on a few finishing touches, and then I will post pics.

I wanted to share one of my absolute favorite things right now with you... if you are a teacher, you NEED one of these! Even if you aren't and you love to laminate labels and things for your home, it is great!

I found mine at Walmart for $24 and have already gotten my money's worth! It is so great for laminating small items and is super easy to use. The Scotch brand laminating pouches are pretty expensive, but I found an off-brand at Sam's Club that gives you 200 pouches for $20, which is a much better deal. They work really well and are totally worth it. I've used mine so much this week, and I'm so glad I bought one!

Happy Sunday!