Five for Friday- Summer Shopping!

To celebrate my new job, I made a few purchases over the past week (aka, an excuse to buy cute new teacher stuff!).  So this Five for Friday is all about my summer shopping splurges!

I have been looking at these planners from C. Jayne Teach for a few months now, ever since I saw a review on Kickin' It In Kindergarten.  Well, when I found out I would have a classroom job again I looked these up hoping they had not sold out.  The binders are gone, but the planners were still available.  For $10 off, you can get a planner that is "slightly damaged" with a few scratches on the back.  Well, mine came and you can barely see any scratches!  I'm really happy with the spiral-bound notebook.  My favorite part is the standards in the back!  No more looking them up online, and I have been filling in lesson/center/game activities for each one so I can get my resources and planning better organized by standard this year.

P.S....I especially love the philosophy behind this company.  The trendy stripes and anchor are not just a super cute touch...the anchor is a double reminder that the planner helps me stay "anchored" AND it is based on a Bible verse ("We have this hope as an anchor for our souls, firm and secure." Hebrews 6:19)  Love it!  (No, I wasn't paid for this...I was just really excited about it)  :)

Another teacher splurge I made was this cute kindergarten Tshirt from Teacher Tshirts.  I agonized over which shirt and which color to get...they are all so sweet.  I decided to keep it simple.  I am planning to wear this at special events like back to school night/open house, field trips, field day, and more! 

Went to Walmart yesterday and made it past all the yummy new school supplies with ONLY glue sticks!!!  I'm stuck between wanting to prepare and stock up while the prices are good, or waiting to see what is in the room and what the situation is like.  I can't get in the room until the week before school starts, so I'm trying to control myself here.  :)  I did grab our supply list from one of the displays to take a peek at what the kids will be bringing in.  It asked for 3 glue sticks.  I just have a feeling that is definitely not going to be enough to last the year.  ;)  I found these bigger sized sticks for 25 cents each.  I've scoped out other glue stick prices and this seemed like a good deal, especially for the bigger size for little hands. 

Funny story...I pulled up to the checkout trying to keep all of my 25 individual glue sticks from falling out of the cart.  The woman behind me, with an amused look on her face, asked, "You must be a teacher.  Either that, or you like to eat glue sticks."  I almost said, "Yep, and I don't eat them, but kindergarteners do!"  Seems like I always get comments on my overflowing carts of school stuff.  Most people are shocked that a teacher is using her own money to buy things for her classroom! 

Saw these on a few other blog posts...Kohls currently has four of the Laura Numeroff book characters and books for $5 apiece!  I already have most of the books, but I couldn't resist the animals.  I bought all four.  I don't currently have any stuffed animals and figured they would add a little coziness to my classroom.  :)

Technically not a school purchase, but a Five for Friday post of mine wouldn't be complete without highlighting my current food obsession:  Individual Nutella cups with pretzels for dipping!  I took some of these on my recent road trip and decided I prefer the pretzels to the breadsticks.  The sweet and salty combination is delicious! 

Be sure to check out the other Five for Friday posts here!  What are your classroom MUST purchases, no matter the school?  What else should I definitely be doing to prepare for the year with my remaining month of summer?