I Spy Some Changes Around Here...

You may have noticed some changes here on my blog!  I decided that it was time, after a little encouragement from friends and a little online stalking, to open shop!

Not a in-real-life kind of shop.  An online shop!

Over the last year or so, I've become a stalker of a few kindergarten blogs and have been in love with some of the things they post that they have created.  I also enjoy creating things that people can use in the classroom. 

Last school year I saw several great ideas on Pinterest that gave me ideas for my own activities.  After trying my ideas out in my own classroom, I shared them with my team mates at school.  After a while, they started telling me I should sell them.  "Yep, sure, I'll get right on that!" was my usual sarcastic answer.

But then I started really thinking about it.  Slowly I began to look closely at the things people had listed for sale on Teachers Pay Teachers and Teacher's Notebook.  I started to notice how "cutesy" everything is and while that's nice, it gets a little over the top to me.  I think things should look nice for children but I don't think everything has to be matchy-matchy or cute, colorful animals to get their attention and I don't want to teach my students that it should be. So...I decided to create my shop with that in mind.  Don't get me wrong, I will use fun clip art pictures and backgrounds but I will not make everything so over the top.  And please don't misunderstand, I think it's great that people have the time and energy to devote to that sort of thing, I just don't think it's necessary for kids to learn so I will offer an alternative.

I have only added about 12 items so far to my store but it's a start.  I will continue to work on new products throughout the summer and as we head back to school I will be thinking about what I create for use in my classroom and what I think others would use too.  Those are the things that I will add to my store.  It's not a huge resource yet, but it will grow over time and hopefully someone will find something useful to them.

Because of all of that, I needed a picture/graphic for my stores.  I wanted something simple but something that would be easy to see and remember as well.  I played around with some graphics and created my new title/header.  It also works as my button and headers for my shops!  (Gotta love it when it plays double duty!)

If you are interested, I hope you will take a few minutes to check out one of my shops or tell a friend who might be looking for something.  (There are links to both shops on the top right hand side of my blog.)  And hey, if you have any suggestions for improvement on anything, let me know!  That's how we learn and grow, right?