When We Grow Up...

I've successfully created a "When We Grow Up" poster of my class again this year (without the fuzzies and "When We Grow Up..." at the bottom)!  I absolutely love making these.  Especially when you look back at them at the end of the year.  The kids change so much!  If you want so tips and tricks, I take the pictures with my iPhone, edit them with Instagram (just be careful not to post them for the world to see), and use Picasa to make the collage.  It turns out perfect and the resolution is large enough to make posters using the poster printer! :)

Ready or Not...

This last week has been more tiring than when I set up my classroom!  We have had a few meetings, but mostly the planning with my team has been tiring.  I hate sitting for hours on end.  Well, I suppose I should say I hate sitting in hard, plastic chairs for hours on end.  I have no problem sitting on my couch all day. :)  We spent Wednesday and Friday planning.  We have pretty much mapped out our year.  It's nice having a guide!

Thursday was Open House.  I thought it was a pretty relaxing, easy day until I found out, 15 minutes before Open House, that I had two new students.  Earlier in the week, I put together folders with all the information that I wanted parents to have at hand.  I thought about making a couple extra folders and didn't do it.  I was kicking myself Thursday afternoon!!  With that being said, Open House went really well.  18 of my 23 students showed up.  Last year, I think I had a total of 5 students come.

Exciting news: The Time Warner Cable news crew was at our school Friday doing an interview.  They spent a good bit of time on our end of the hall.  I'm excited to see what they put together!!  {I'm not sure how I'm going to see it, though... I don't have Time Warner Cable.}  The newspaper will be at our school on Monday taking pictures.  My principal said she didn't know what they would be taking pictures of but to not be surprised if they came in our rooms.  Cool, huh?! :)

Anywho, most of my work in the classroom this week has been making copies, straightening, etc.  Nothing big.  I took a couple pictures before I left last night:

I made charts to graph CFA data and district ClassScape benchmarks.  The CFA's will have pre and post tests, so hopefully, the students (class average) will be able to see growth.  I also added Revised Bloom's posters below the bulletin board.  I don't really like to buy things I can make myself, but I got really lazy about the time I was thinking about Bloom's! :)

Our district provided us with really good math posters last year, but they weren't very kid-friendly.  These posters use kid-friendly language and they're in the form of "I can" statements.  My teammate, Greta, made these.

Finally, what's missing??  The TV!!  I put in a work order to have the TV removed from my classroom.  You might think I'm crazy, but it was never used.  I didn't even have it plugged in last year.  It was just a big black box that took up a lot of wall space!  I put my rules over the spot where the stand connected to the wall, but I'm not sure I like them there.  I might move things around.  We'll see!

School starts Monday!  I'm not sure I'm ready!  Waking up Friday morning was painful.  Literally.  My body told me no! :)  BUT, ready or not, here it comes!

Rita Pierson: Every Kid Needs a Champion

A teacher friend posted a video on facebook today with the preface that his principal had showed it in their first meeting of the year.  After watching the video, I felt the need to share it with you all! It is very inspirational.  Enjoy and pass along! :)

Last Monday Made It Before School Starts

I have a few "Made Its" to share from the last couple weeks.  You might have seen pictures from my Classroom Tour post.

Monday Made It #1: Happy Birthday Fun Straws

I copied this project from one of my co-workers, Ms. P, but I made my own birthday balloons.  I've used these chevron colors in other places in my classroom, so I thought they would match quite well.  I'm pretty thrilled with how they turned out.  Right now, I have 22 balloons stuffed into that class vase.  It's a little tight!  I haven't decided if I'm going to share these on TpT.  When I save them as a PDF, the center of the "p's" are colored in.  We'll see...

Monday Made It #2: Popcorn Labels

Last year, I used the ones that were all over pinterest.  This year, I wanted my name to be on the popcorn label, so I decided to make my own.  I am in love with how they turned out.  I posted a picture of these on Instagram and several of my teacher friends asked me to make a personalized label for them.  Life would be so much easier if fonts would go with documents when they're emailed.

Monday Made It #3: Class Rules

I decided to overhaul and simplify my class rules this year.  Katie, taught 4th grade last year and is our newest Lead Teacher this year, had these rules in her classroom.  I just like how simple they are.  My class and I can list rule after rule but really it all boils down to these two rules.  I'm going to have this blown up with the poster printer.

Monday Made It #4: Happy Birthday Fun Straws

Again, I got this idea from my friend, Ms. P.  I'm going to use this during guided reading.  It never fails that students come up to me asking SOMETHING when I am trying to focus on my group.  We'll see how this works out! ($1.00 at Dollar Tree)

Monday Made It #5: Ticket out the Door

This was posted on my Classroom Tour post, but I didn't really say much about it.  Again, my friend, Ms. P, helped me with this one.  She made a cute TotD several weeks ago.  I have pretty severe OCD at times, and it took me forever to figure out how to do these pockets.  There were only 3 of each color, so it made figuring out the pattern difficult.  This is what I came up with and I'm happy with it.  I LOVE the title!

Monday Made It #6: Dismissal Checklist

I posted a picture of this one the other night, too.  Last year, dismissal was pretty hectic at times.  Hopefully, starting this from day one, things will be different this year.

That's all I have pictures of to post!  Please give me feedback! :)

OH!!  I've discovered a great store that has things from $1-$5.  It's called Five Below.  You have to check it out if you have a store near you.  I'm thinking about trying stability balls after Christmas (I really want to try now, but I'm very unsure about this group of students.).  They're only $5 each!!  I got a couple games for indoor recess days.  I also got these two things:

I'm a little bit of a punk at heart and I absolutely LOVE plaid shoes!  I have a pair of blue plaid Vans. (The students think I'm cool when I wear them.)  I also found this duct tape.  I have been obsessed with sheep since I went to Ireland.  (They are everywhere in Ireland).  I don't know how I'm going to use the tape, but I couldn't pass it up! :) *Update: I decided to use the sheep tape to edge dry erase boards like the boards for earlier this summer (Monday Made It - Dry Erase Boards).  I only edged 6 boards and they will be used in my guided reading groups.

If you missed my Classroom Tour Video, I'm posting it again below.  Please give me feedback!  I love hearing it!

Classroom Tour {Video}

Just a quick entry with little text... I'm tired.  I'm considering this my "classroom tour."  I've included more picture and an actual video of my classroom.  Enjoy!  Please provide feedback and/or suggestions!! :)

I am in love with this set up.  I took the extra pieces of wood from the shelves and stacked them in the middle.

My desk/guided reading table.

Math manipulatives and general supplies.  PS the crayons are not missing a label - I just can't remember to turn the container around.

I made the labels using PowerPoint.

Reading area - the bulletin board will be for book recommendations.  All of the book baskets now have labels. :)

Pennant banners for science and math bulletin boards.

Data bulletin board.  We will graph class averages for common formative assessment.

Jobs chart on the door. 

Ticket out the door - it is hanging below the jobs chart.

Dismissal Checklist - I forgot to get a picture of it on the wall. :)

LadybugsTeacherFiles' alphabet on the wall.

Cups velcroed to the desk for pencils, expos, highlighters.  I've changed the seating arrangement.

Side of my file cabinet.  I'll post class pictures...when I can remember to take them!

 Again, please give me feedback! :)

Kids Discover Magazine!

I found another great magazine deal!!  Right now, at Plum District, you can buy a one-year subscription (12 issues) to Kids Discover for only $9.00 with Promo Code: PDDISKIDS10.  The promo code ONLY WORKS TODAY!!  This is a great source of non-fiction materials!  Follow my link and don't forget to enter the promo code today!! :)

http://www.plumdistrict.com/three_for_free/e3352ee028/click

More classroom pictures to come tomorrow! :)

Day 1 in the Classroom

Today was the first day we were allowed in our classrooms.  I was super excited when the email from our principal was sent out this morning.  SUPER EXCITED! :)  Today, I got all of the furniture in place.  The desks may change depending on how many students I have (I probably won't find out until Meet the Teacher night.), but everything else is where it is staying.  I decided to move my guided reading table from the window area to the counter area.  It is just going to be a lot nicer having that storage space behind me.  I've mentioned before that we are not allowed to have "teacher desks" so we have to get creative with storage.  New in the classroom this year is an actual "teacher desk" that I am using as my computer/SMART camera desk.  I had a huge table last year that just took up too much space.  The teacher desk is the perfect length, plus it has drawers to hide all my junk when visitors come.  We were observed by other schools/teachers quite a bit last year.  I also have a tall filing cabinet this year.  I feel like it will help me better organize student papers, as well as the papers I need to keep from year to year.

Click on the pictures below to see them larger.  In the third picture, I'm not sure about the placement of the rug under my guided reading table.  What do y'all think?

Just a little bit of info about a few items...  the orange polka dot rug came from Ikea.  It was only $19, so I highly recommend it.  The storage ottoman came from Hobby Lobby.  It was on clearance for $16.  

The next big accomplishment will get getting all of those little things in place... that takes an eternity!! Alright, that's all I can think to talk about right now.  What do you think??  Leave a comment with any questions you may have! :)

B2S Must Haves:
1. A Plan - you never feel good when you're not prepared!  Plan for it!
2. Organization - self explanatory!
3. Lamps - I don't use my overhead lights EVER.  Lamps are easier on the eyes and they make the room feel homey.  If your fire marshall allows, I would definitely invest in lamps!

Link up with Farley and the August Currently!