First Linky

  I have two weeks until we have to be back at work - holy goodness!  So, today I thought I'd do my first linky party to semi kick off the end of summer.  That being said, I'm linking up with Tara for my very own Monday Made it! This is a huge step for me as my blog has always been something I do for me and I never really thought I'd turn it into anything, but I realized over the summer how much I loved making my own classroom products and how I thought it would be fun to join the blogging world.

The first is simple and really came out of a whim after a day of Pinterest & iced coffee.  A clothespin with colored masking tape and some clear matte modge podge. Last year when it came to behavior, I didn't really have any idea of where I wanted to go with it.  I first started with a simple "take a break" chair which actually worked really well at first but pretty soon my sweeties really didn't care so I had to try other things.  I really needed to switch up my management as the year went on.

I've seen TONS of clip charts on Pinterest and have always kind of been against them.  Mostly because I don't really want my students behavior "displayed' and I didn't feel like they would remember what color they were on if it was only in one part of the room. So, this year I decided I'm going to try this little "clip chart" that my kiddos will have on their desk.  I'm just going to simply velcro them down and then they'll move a clothespin to mark their spot on it.  This way it's right there for my sweeties to see and it's not a big disruption when someone has to "clip down".  We'll see how it works - I'm sure I'll have to supplement as time goes on but we'll start this way (and I'll always have a Take a Break chair) and hopefully my kids will always want to get on purple! :)

My second thing is not really "made" but more put together.  I went to an incredible professional development class earlier this summer on writing workshop.  I decided at the end of last year that this and work work would be my focus for the upcoming year now that I had a grasp on teaching.  The one thing that I really want to implement this year are my writing toolkits. Last year pretty frequently I noticed around October and then again in February that my students markers and such were drying out, and their writing was getting SO wrinkly in their desks (or black-holes as I refer to them as).  We had implemented in our room that markers and crayons were only to be used if we were publishing.  Obviously, this needed constant reminders as I was trying to "break a habit" that I had let them form since the beginning of the year. Eventually with multiple reminders we got over that hump and got better at remembering when we could use our beautiful markers.  This year, I plan to have these writer toolkits on their desks during writers workshop that my students can use when they are writing.  They'll get a published piece from me the day after we meet in group, and then they are allowed to use the markers and crayons.  Right now, they just have markers, crayons, and erasers in them but as the year gets going I want to add some mistake tape, scotch tape, glue sticks, colored pencils, etc.  Each of the tools will require a mini lesson in itself so for now, these are things I think they can handle until we introduce the rest.  I made the signs myself, and then just used plastic cups for the containers inside.  That way if they break it's not big deal. The shower caddis were purchased last year to hold water bottles and to prevent them from spilling.  They needed a good cleaning but they are going to do wonderfully! Their writing folders will be kept in a separate location to get rid of the wrinkly, messy, and forgot about pieces of writing.

Last but not least - a little organizer for myself. This year one of my goals it to be more organized and to put things away and in their place instead of stacks of papers on my desk or filing cabinet that eventually I forget about. I didn't really think this was necessary at first but after last year I'm super happy I went ahead and made it.  I just used some cool stickers for scrapbooking that I already had, some scrapbooking paper, double-sided tape, and a container that I gained from a fellow teacher last year.  It sits on my countertop by my desk for easy access.  Inside the "Grade" bin, there's little class lists that I always attach to assignments so that I can simply write their grade in quick on the slip and have them for easy grade book access.  And, I felt this project had to be done after scrapbook paper was 50% off at Hobby Lobby and it's SO cute.

Super excited about my first linky and what this could mean for myself as a blogger and a teacher.  I'm off to enjoy some time in Colorado with my husband for a few days to celebrate two years of marriage together - can't believe it's already been 2 years - and then excited to get back into the classroom!

Until next time.

Teacher Binder & Little Things

  I can't believe the summer is almost already over.  I am in shock of how fast it is going.  I remember at the end of our Cancun trip thinking "this summer is going to go by so quickly" - and then I blinked and we were going on a camping trip for the fourth of July. Crazy I tell you!  I'm planning on getting back into my classroom next week sometime - it should finally be clean so I would like to spend a few days in there before they wax the floors and I have to be off of it for another week.  We are going to Colorado at the beginning of August for our anniversary - tradition is still going strong - and then we are contracted back on August 12.  That night we have open house & meet the teacher night, and the rest of the week will be swamped with meetings and curriculum updates so I know I won't have much "work time" in my classroom before my new pumpkins arrive on the 17th. I'd like to start putting stuff together now before our trip!

  Today, I was going to share my teacher binder that is pretty much done and a few things I've made for my classroom in the fall. Last year I had a "teacher binder" - but I really didn't do the whole teacher binder/planner justice.  I used it to hold a few calendars and lesson plans, and I would lug it around for meetings but I didn't utilize it - my things got put everywhere and I was constantly losing notes and handouts. So, on Thursday I went through my old binder with my trusty Starbucks at my side. I am currently obsessed with their Peach Green Tea Lemonade. So good and refreshing.

Thats my old binder on the left.  I took a picture of it from the side so you could see how inefficient I set it up. I can't even see my tabs on the side and stuff is just piled on that clipboard piece in the front. Frustrating. The binder just wasn't efficient for what I needed. So, I sat down with my print offs from Brigid Ann on TPT and went to work to create something that I truly needed for my classroom and sanity next year. Got my trusty cutter and label maker, sheet protectors and a brand new binder on sale at Office Max in a bright Aqua color. Hooray!

As I started putting everything together, I realized that I would need to actually cut along the edges of my binder inserts and then I double sided taped them to the dividers. I wanted something that I could look at the front of a divider and know what was behind it, instead of the piece of paper in a page protector behind it. I labeled on the sides of my binder into 5 parts and then added each individual items as I went (calendars, student info pages, notes pages, etc.)

My favorite thing about these are that they are chevron (duh), and they're super simple and so nicely put together. I do still like to carry around a separate planner to record meetings and appointments, and then I do a separate "weekly to-do" list that I put inside by my lesson plans or hang up by my desk. I'm loving how it turned out and how I can utilize it this year. My goal is to stay on top of handouts and paper! Put them where they go or throw them away :)

I also finished up my kiddos writing folders this week - I just took two, 2-pocket folders and bound them together at school. One of the folders is turned inside out so the folders have 4 pockets. We'll go through as a class and put labels on them so the students know what each pocket will be used for.

AND in order to keep my chevron theme going, I ordered this shelf paper from Amazon to put over my white guided reading shelf in my room and my trapezoid table to make them POP - $10 on Amazon and I couldn't pass that up! So excited to get it on and put everything together.

Hopefully next week I can cure my itch to get into my room and start putting everything together. Today's agenda consists of cleaning the house, running some errands, and reading Allegiant - with the happy husband by my side.

Until next time.

Classroom Library

  Last year with it being my first year in the classroom, I feel like I have quite a few things that I want to do better - or organize better in my classroom.  My library is one of the BIG things I wanted to change and make better.  I didn't feel like my students used it, or really enjoyed the books in there and granted I didn't have much of a choice when it came to the books in there.  The teachers who I'm teamed up with were wonderful and gave me books that they had in their classroom that they didn't use so that I had a little bit to start with, and throughout the summer at garage sales I bought some more. But, those books that the other teachers had given me were older and I noticed throughout the year that my students just were not into them - they didn't enjoy reading them and were not taken from the library very often.

  I picked way too many genres for my library, and it was kind of closed off in our classroom instead of the "open" feel like I wanted it.  For a while, my kids would have to be reminded to book shop instead of begging me to do so. Don't get me wrong - they loved to read, and we built up a ton of stamina when it came to reading. They progressed wonderfully throughout the year.  But, I wanted my library to be an inviting place that they begged to go to or sit in.

At the end of the school year, I packed up all my library books and put it on my "Summer To-Do" list to re-categorize, label, and go through all the books in my library. It took me two days - which isn't so bad honestly - to go through all of the books that I had taken home with me.  I ended up with this big of a laundry basket full of books that I didn't want to use anymore.

I was incredibly surprised with how many of the books were so outdated and old. I was extremely happy that I was able to get rid of so much.  I felt like this was something I could finally do this year as Scholastic Book Orders and Book Fairs helped me build up my classroom library a ton last year.  My little peanuts raised so much money for both of our book fairs for our classroom and our wonderful PTA was able to give us some money as well. I am grateful for my go-getters last year and the parents that make our school rock. I'm planning on letting the new first grade teacher look through the basket and then I'm not sure what will happen to them. They're not a part of my library anymore, so I don't particularly want to keep them around.

After the sorting of good vs. bad books, I had to put them into categories.  I don't level my classroom library by level - I want my kids to love to read and learn to pick books for themselves instead of going simply by a level.  This year, I plan to have 3 baskets that are labeled by color that will have leveled books in them. The kids will get a color on a card in their book bin, so that they have a basket that they KNOW are good fit books for them. My kiddos last year were awesome at choosing good fit books for them and I'm hopeful that this year will be the same.  I did the rest of my labeling my genre or topic. I made my own library bin labels because I couldn't find any I liked that I could customize to my library and my style. Here's a picture of what those look like.

I really like them - and I don't feel like there's too many of them for the kids to get overwhelmed by.  Once I picked my topics, I had to go through all of my books and categorize them which left me with a back bedroom that looks like this - yikes.

The books have notecards on them to help me remember which group is which.  I ended up with 19 genre groups, and then 3 leveled baskets, and 1 magazine basket. I took the picture and the label from the basket labels that I made, and put them into smaller avery labels.  I printed them onto avery labels and then plan to stick them onto the books.  This way my kids will know which basket they belong in for easy storage after they read them.  I put the books back for them last year, but I'm planning on doing a system where they put them back themselves after they read them.  Crossing my fingers it works.  All I have left to do is laminate the book bin labels, and place the labels onto the books and my library will be complete and turn into something that I love.

Onto the next project next week - haven't picked one yet but I'm guessing it will be finishing up my substitute and teacher binders.  Also, good news! The Kids Inc summer program is moving out of our classrooms next week and moving to the other side of the building which means that my classroom will be open for me to go and work in it in around 2 weeks. I am excited and I  know the husband is too so that I get all the stuff our of our back bedroom. :) It's sooner than expected and it will be nice to start playing around with the set up and organization.

Until next time.