Checking Things Off of the To-Do List!

I've been busy today "creating" things for my classroom!  

These are my turn-in bins for classwork, homework, and notes from home.  I got the plastic tubs from Target out of the Dollar Spot butttttttttttt they were $2.50 each.  I wanted to do yellow letters originally because our school colors are purple and yellow but I couldn't find yellow stickers at JoAnn's.  It's hard to see in the picture but I used yellow permanent marker to put polka dots on and outline the letters.

I also got these cute cardboard tubs out of the Dollar Spot at Target and printed my own labels.  I used Mod Podge to attach the labels to the boxes.  I'll be using these to keep my pencils organized as I quickly found that pencils are the bane of many teachers' existence!  I think I had a pretty good system for pencil management last year with my 2nd graders.  I didn't let the kids sharpen their own pencil unless they had a personal sharpener in their desk.  I made sure that I had at least 20 sharpened pencils each morning.  In order to get a new pencil, kids either had to put a dull pencil in the "unsharpened" cup or throw away a pencil that was too short to write with.  They weren't allowed to keep more than 3 pencils at their desk or else I dubbed them "pencil hoarders!"  I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to approach this with my 5th graders but it will definitely be a similar system.

The "no name" clothespin board has been floating around Pinterest.  This is my version.  I'm not super crazy about it.  I think it might be too much yellow.  I might add some white polka dots or something to help break it up.  This was a pretty simple and cheap project.  It cost about $3 or $4 in supplies from JoAnn's.   (BTW, I buy gift cards to JoAnn's and Staples at Giant Eagle to earn Fuel Perks!)

The last thing I did today was create these cute printables based some ideas I got from Pinterest.  I use Power Point to create PDF files as it is much more user friendly than Word.  The files are going to be posted in my Teacher's Notebook store for free!  I bought the black frames from the dollar store.  I think this will help add uniformity to my classroom.

I'm also working on a cute incentive for class discussions.  I bought glow bracelets at the dollar store (5/$1) and I'm going to put little flags on them that say "What a Bright Idea!  Thanks for Sharing!"  I also want to make an organizer out of a cereal box for putting my absent folders in but I didn't have a cereal box like I thought I did!  What have you been working on?

New {School} Year Resolutions!

Amanda at Teaching Maddeness is hosting a Linky Party to discuss our resolutions for the new school year. I joined thanks to Hilary at Fifth Grade Fancy!  *BONUS!  She is celebrating 100 followers and doing 2 giveaways.  You should totally go follow her blog now and enter!*

Now back to those resolutions...

Resolution #1:  DOCUMENT! I know I do a good job at keeping materials and supplies organized in my classroom.  I keep my classroom looking organized but I feel like I don't do a good job at organizing my documentation for parent communication & interventions.  I have several ideas for making a binder just for these purposes and I really want to commit to doing a better job in this area.

Resolution #2:  COMMIT!  I'm terrible about deciding I don't like the way something is working or looking after a few weeks.  This goes for my lesson plans, desk arrangement, newsletters, and more!  I waste so much time changing things around.  I need to be better about deciding to at least stick to it for a full quarter or semester!

Resolution #3:  TAKE PICTURES!  I have this fancy new camera I got for Christmas and I rarely use it for the sole fact that I just don't think "oh, this would be a great thing to take a picture of!"  I don't have any pictures of just my classroom from last year.  Sure, you can see it in the background of the 2 or 3 occasions I remembered to take pictures of but I didn't take a picture of my reading corner, my desk organization, or desk arrangement. I also need to do a better job of taking good pictures of student work.  Most of these pictures are from my cell phone because I didn't think about taking my camera to school.

Resolution #4:  BLOG!  I want to write for my blog at least 3 times a week.  I know it will help me do a better job of documenting what I've done and force me to remember to take pictures.  It won't necessarily help me commit to things because reading blogs is part of what makes me want to change things around! I'm planning on doing interactive student notebooks for math and possibly science so follow my blog for more on those!

So what are your resolutions?  Leave a comment, join up, and let me know!

7 Habits

I think it is SUPER important to set high expectations at the beginning of the year.  Students need to know that you expect the world of them and that you have faith in them!  I'm going to be doing this "7 Habits of Highly Effective Students" presentation at the beginning of the year.  If it works out to do it during orientation when I'll have parents, I might do it then so that they can benefit from the message.

This presentation will help let your students know that you don't care about what happened in the past; you believe that they can be successful THIS year if they put their mind to it!  I based the Power Point presentation off of Stephen Covey's 7 Habits and I believe that it applies to us teachers, too!  One of the habits is beginning with the end in mind...totally applies to assessment!  Another habit is being proactive...this is so important as a teacher.  Keep yourself organized to prevent messes in the future!

Click the picture below to purchase this presentation from my Teacher's Notebook Shop.  It is on sale through Monday for $2.40.  As a reminder, ALL items in my shop are on sale for 20% this weekend in celebration of my new blog!  I've also added my science Cranium Club cards.  Check it out!



Do you want this 7 Habits presentation for free? The first 3 people to comment with their email address will get it for FREE!

"To Do" Linky Party

Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies started a linky party to share your "to do" list for things to accomplish before the start of the school year.  I know that I have a lot of things to get done; the scribbled list on the yellow legal pad on my kitchen counter is a constant reminder of that!

1) Settle on a design for my plan book.  I HATE the lesson plan books you can buy in a store.  It took me until November to come up with a plan I liked last year and it won't work for me this year because of changing grades and teaching multiple sections of only 2 subjects.  Bummer!
2) Get my parent communication binder in order
3) Make my "no name" claim board (as seen on Pinterest!).
4) Plan lessons for math & science!  I'm doing interactive notebooks for both subjects.
5)  Meet my colleagues!
6) Move into my classroom!
7) Finish my "back to school" activities for the first few days.  We'll be doing a split start where the first half of the alphabet comes on the 29th and the second half comes on the 30th.  I won't have all of my students together until August 31st.
8) Make my Class Handbook
9) Find more time to spend poolside with my Kindle!
10) Watch the Olympics!

I have a lot more to get done than these 10 things but this is a start :-).
What do you need to get done?  Join in and share!

First Day Jitters Blog Hop

Ashley at Fierce in Fourth started a blog hop to share 3 "first day jitters."  As I am starting a new year in a new district and new building, I definitely have some jitters!

1) I'm moving up from 2nd grade to 5th grade.  I'm pretty sure most of the kids are going to be as tall, if not taller, than I am!  This is a huge change in curriculum and the state is changing over to using Common Core for math and ELA in addition to new standards for social studies  and science.  I have so many ideas that I'm not sure where to start!

2) I don't know anyone in my building yet except the principal!  Is my teaching team going to like me?!? Are they going to care about my ideas?!?

3) I hate not having a plan.  I wish I could meet with my team NOW and find out what they do for reward systems, homework policies, etc.  It would really help me with all of my planning.

Do you have any advice for me?  Link up and share your jitters!

Giveaways

#1)  Check my post below for a giveaway!  I've only given away 1 copy of my math All About Me Poster instructions and I'm prepared to give out 2 more.  Just comment on that post & tell me how you would use it in your classroom.

#2)  I want to do a bigger giveaway but I'm going to wait until I hit 50 followers.  I'm so excited that I already have 10 followers after just a few days.  Let's see if I can get to 50 before my students come for orientation on August 23rd...invite all of your friends!

#3)  I was inspired to do a giveaway like this because of a new follower I have!  Kathy at Kathy's Coordinated Class invited me to check out her blog and she's doing a giveaway for a $20 TpT gift card in celebration of reaching 50 followers.  Go follow her blog and enter for a chance to win!

Celebration!

First item of business, you can now follow my blog through email by signing up with Feedburner on the right sidebar.  I think this is the easiest way to follow blogs; it helps me keep track of what I have and haven't read.  If there is something I want to save for future reference, I keep it in my inbox until I have time to Pin It!

 I'm slowing getting the hang of things with my new blog!  In celebration of starting a blog and updating my Teacher's Notebook shop, I'm having a sale beginning now and going through Monday!  I only have 10 items listed at this moment but there will be more posted this weekend.  Consider this a preview of the great things to come!

One of the things you have to check out is my newest item.

I'll be having my math students complete this assignment for the first week of school.  It could be applied to several grade levels as you can require your students to make it more complex by using equations rather than  simple numbers.  I got the idea from Pinterest and made it my own.  The first 3 people to comment and tell me how they'd like to use this in their classroom get this for free!

Start Your Own Shop!

Teacher's Notebook is a great tool for teachers to share and find resources.  I highly recommend starting your own shop...it's better than the *other* website where you can sell your own materials because you get 100% of your sales!  You do have to pay a small, one-time set up fee but I made that back in no time!  Plus, you earn reward points!