Five for Friday with a little bit of everything (and a quick giveaway)!

It's so hard to believe that it's Friday!  This week has been a blur!  Seriously, I can't even remember what I wore to school on Monday.  I'm not complaining!  I'm happy it's Friday and to be linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching.  Here are five things I do remember from this week!

1.  Have you ever noticed that as a teacher you look at things differently than the average person? Especially in the dollar store!  When I go shopping there I'm always on the look out for odd items.  I was at The Dollar Tree this week and this was my odd find. 

To the average person, these are just weird useless coasters.  To a teacher... a writing prop!  As soon as I saw these coasters I thought of this awesome set from Michelle at The 3AM Teacher!

I mean, these were meant to go together!  I can't wait to do a lesson on adding details or paragraphs and use the two together!!

2. I have been cranking out products since my last Five for Friday!  I have an idea list that is a mile long.  This week I listed three new items and I have one more that is almost ready.  How often do you have creative spurts like this??  I'm taking advantage of it while it lasts!  Here is my newest product...

You can preview it here or here

I'm eager for Spring to get here and so are my students!  My students will start using these writing prompts during workstations next week.

3. Last week we finished our first round of state testing.  Each morning my students walked into the classroom to see a motivating message and a treat on their table.  This one was my favorite.

It's really hard to read but the message says "You can do it!  This is your time to shine!"  My students each had glow bracelets on their table.  They were thrilled!  Note to self though... buy extra glow bracelets in case some do not glow!!

4.  This has been a tough week for me mentally.  Very soon I will have to decide between two completely different teaching positions for next school year.  There are pros and cons to each.  At this point I'm not quite ready to reveal my options (I'd hate to jinx it) but I was just wondering if any of you have been in the position where you had to decide between to two different teaching assignments.  How did you choose and do you feel like you made the right choice?  I'm a firm believer in things happening for a reason, so I know the right choice will soon be clear to me (let's hope!).

5.  I love March Madness and my Indiana Hoosiers!!  This will be a basketball filled weekend with the Big Ten Post Season Tournament taking place.  My 3rd ranked Hoosiers (1st in my book) had an easy win today against Illinois!!  Bring on the Badgers tomorrow!!

In honor of today's Hoosier win, I would love to give my Spring Writing Prompts Jar away to the first person who comments with the correct year that IU won their last NCAA championship.  Good luck!!