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Back to School

Monday Made It

Back to School, First Day of School, Last Week of School June 23, 2014

So excited to link up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It. Be sure to link up with her here.

Now, originally I was going to work on my teacher toolbox to use for today’s Monday Made It, but I realized this project needs more time than I had, so stay tuned for that next week.

My project this week was a fun first and last day memory.  These frames can be used to take a picture of the kiddos on the first day of school and the last. They hold up the frame and it makes a cute keepsake for parents. I made a large frame a few years ago for my first graders that they held up and their head was inside.  I liked that, but since I changed grade levels I decided to make a new one and do this.  I got my frames at Target – size 8 x 10 and just used scrapbook paper I had around the house. 

 
 
Thanks for checking this project out. Be sure to link up with Monday Made It!
 
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It’s Finally Ready!!!! – Classroom Pictures

Back to School, Classroom Set-Up, Organization August 25, 2013

I was so glad to see Swimming Into Second’s linky party to Show Off Your Space because as of yesterday at 5:15 pm – my classroom is finished and ready for kiddos on Monday.  Make sure you link up with her – I love getting ideas from everyone!
And in advance, sorry for all of the pictures…I got a little excited about finish and a little carried away with picture taking.

 
Classroom Library and Math Manipulatives Area
 

Small Group Table – still a work in progress
 

Board for Literacy Vocab and Bucketfilling beneath
 

Clip Chart and Bathroom Pass and Sign-out Area
 

Supplies for kiddos and the All Star Work Wall
 

Desks are all grouped into 4. So far 24 students so it works out perfectly!  The folders on the desks will eventually be their privacy folders for test-taking.  On the first day, while I’m taking care of first day things- attendance, supplies, etc – they’ll get to decorate their own privacy folder.
 
 

Sorry for the glare in these pictures. I’m keeping my basketball theme and these are the kiddos nametags for their desks.
 

Desk Supply Caddy – love how clean and organized it looks at the beginning.
 

Labeled supplies – helps keep everyone organized!
 

MVP (Student of the Week) Board and Core Learning Skills and Values board (part of Edison school)
 

Classroom Leaders Board – this is where I have class jobs. Kids can be the leader of clean, leader of lunch, etc.
 

Student Computer Area – this area needs some work and some replaced screens lol
 
 

Teacher Computer Area for Smart Board
 

Teacher Desk and Area (sorry it’s kinda blurry)
 

View from my desk
 

View from the class library
 

View from the front door
 

View from the back of the classroom
 

I Can’s are up and ready for the first day!
 
 
Thanks for checking out my pictures – sorry for the multitude of pictures, but had to celebrate finally getting it all done!  Hope everyone has a good weekend! 
 
 

Lesson Plan Binder

Back to School, Organization August 21, 2013

If you’ve read a few of my blog entries, you know I love my binders for organization. Each year I get so excited to get a new lesson plan binder. It’s almost like when I was a kid and I was so excited to pick out my new backpack for back to school.  Well, binders are now my backpacks.  The Pinterest person in me can’t just have a plain binder, I have to make a cute cover.  See below..

At my new school, we have some extra programs that I need to keep info on and be organized about.  I decided on 8 tab dividers to help keep not only my plans organized, but also school info. Here are my tabs below:

  • Lesson Plans
  • School Info
  • Student Info
  • Behavior
  • Schedules
  • Common Core
  • Core Values
  • Core Learning Skills
 
Hope everyone has a good night!

Voice Level Chart – Early Monday Made-It

Anchor Charts, Back to School, Behavior System, Classroom Voice Level, TPT August 12, 2013

Since tomorrow is the first day I get to start working in my classroom, I decided to post my Monday Made-It a little early!  I’m linking up with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics for another round of Monday Made-It!

Today I made a Classroom Voice Level Chart. Normally I just do an anchor chart, but this year I decided to make it a little cuter and then I’ll put a clothespin on the Level that I want kiddos to be on.  I’ve put my chart signs on TPT as a freebie here.  It is pretty simple, but I like to back things with scrapbook paper which is why I don’t tend to do a ton of clipart. 

Here is the finished product:

 
Thanks for checking out my Monday Made-It! I’m excited to see all of the other awesome projects in the linky party!
 
 To get the freebie Classroom Voice Level Chart signs, click here.
 
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TPT 

Finished Classroom Product

Back to School August 20, 2012

So school has been in full swing for 2 weeks now and I’m just now getting my classroom pictures up. These pictures were taken before Meet the Teacher (kind of the calm before the storm). Needless to say the room doesn’t look this organized still, but it gives you an idea of how it looked and how things were set up.  Hope everyone is having a great start to their school year!

New Bathroom Sign

Back to School July 29, 2012

So, I’m going to start off by saying this might be the strangest post I’ve had yet.  But, mainly I’m just excited about how this turned out and I’m aware it’s a little weird to post pictures of my bathroom sign.  I am very lucky and have a bathroom in my classroom for the kiddos to use. Since we have a classroom bathroom it is important for the kiddos to know when the bathroom is available and when it is not. I’ve had a sign made on the computer that I’ve used for a few years, but it was looking pretty ratty so I decided it was time for a new one. Instead of one on a string that they flip back in forth I decided to use velcro. I’m going to put velcro on the door and on both sides of the sign once it’s laminated so the kids will know when the bathroom is free and when it’s occupied. Below are pictures (I mainly was super excited about the cute glittery paper)

The paper is 6 inches by 6 inches. Not too big, but big enough kids will clearly be able to see what the bathroom availability status is.

Vistaprint

Back to School, Meet the Teacher, Vistaprint July 24, 2012

Sorry for the number of posts today. I moved last week so I got behind in blogging and decided to catch up today.

Vistaprint is one of my favorite teacher shopping sites. I originally heard about it on Proteacher and instantly became hooked. The cool thing about this site is you can create your own products and they often offer great free deals for things and all you have to pay for is shipping.  Every summer I put in an order during one of their big summer free sales.  The order that I got today only cost $30 and that was all for shipping.  The items were free (I’m sure not totally free, but who doesn’t love getting “free-ish” things).

Here are some of the items I purchased:

Magnetic Business Cards – every year I get a set of 25 magnetic business cards. I have these out at Meet the Teacher. I love them because parents can have all of my school contact info at their fingertips and on the fridge.

Rack Cards – I’m using the rack cards as Computer Information Cards.  First graders have a lot of computer log-in things to remember. They have their own username and password and then there are also a few usernames and passwords for different games and programs that we use at school.  My goal for these cards is to put labels on the back with each kids specific information. Then, I’ll punch a hole in the top and put them on a binder ring. This will go with us to computer lab and will be located by the laptop storage unit so the kids can access their info whenever they need it.
Car Magnet – I’m using the car magnet as just a magnet for my white board. We do “I Can” statements at my school and I thought this magnet would be a cute way to display the “I Can” part and then I will write down the “I Can” statements of the week below it.
Posters – I made a poster for my student work.  These are the perfect size for bulletin boards. I’ve made a few of these in the past two and they hold up really nicely for boards you want to leave up all year long.
I also got, but didn’t get a picture of…
-a lawn sign that goes along with my basketball theme
-thank you notecards
-a notepad for my teacher candidate/student teacher
-stickers to remind students that they need to read each night to go on their weekly homework.
Overall, I feel like I got a lot of great items for the classroom and I’m so glad Vistaprint runs great deals!
 

Classroom Update – Still a work in progress

Back to School, Bulletin Boards July 17, 2012

Today was a day I got quite a bit done in the classroom to set up for the upcoming year, which is fast approaching.  Too fast if you ask me. It feels like summer just started.  Today’s goal was to get the bulletin boards ready. While nothing is done, and please be kind as this is still a work in progress, below are some pictures from today.  I love the new borders I found at Lakeshore. They have some pretty cute stuff out there! 

Calendar Area.  The blank spot will hold the Math Stations Anchor Chart that we’ll make together the first week of school.
Love, love, love this striped border. My favorite Lakeshore purchase the other day.  This board will hold our reading charts and sound/spellings.
Also love this border. This will soon have the letters “Slam Dunk Into Reading” (still need to punch the letters out).  This will hold reading anchor charts.
This is my bucket-filling board. This is a major work in progress as I need to fix the ribbons a bit.  I covered the clothespins with scrapbook paper and used cute purple ribbon.  Above it I plan to put a chart with “Bucket Fillers” and “Bucket Dippers” that we’ll also make together that first week or two of school.
Stay tuned for more set-up pictures to come….


Oh How I Love Labels and Organization

Back to School, Organization July 6, 2012

Today was my first day back in the classroom since it’s been cleaned by the cleaning crew. That first day back is always the most difficult because there are so many projects to do that I never know where to start. Often I start like 10 projects and end up finishing none.  Today I decided to organize my student supplies and teacher supplies and re-label them.  Something about fresh labels just puts me in the best mood.  This is a random post, but I just wanted to show off my clean, organized, and labeled cubbies. Thanks for listening to me ramble :-).

Here are the kid supplies

Here are my supplies

Here’s a close-up of my labeling. Trust me, I’m aware I’m a nerd about organization lol.