Let the fun begin...

Tomorrow begins the first teacher day of my 26th year as a public school teacher.  The day will be filled with meetings and training.  Last week I attended three days of voluntary Professional Development on the Common Core Standards within a rigorous curriculum.  Somehow that felt different.  I guess it was the fact that it was still July.  As we know, tomorrow August arrives!

I put the FINAL touches on the classroom today.  As I look back over the first day of this blog to now, I see much has changed.  Last night I finished the clipboard bin.  Love the purple!

The circular shape works perfectly for 16 clipboards.  I am looking forward to having them organized and portable should we need that option.

Yesterday I saw a teacher in my building had used this technique for her small teaching supplies.  I liked the idea so much, I knew I had to create my own.  I purchased a screw/nail holder from Walmart and printed the labels.

I also used one of the the cute free fonts from the link on the left.

I have heard such positive feedback from throughout the community about the postcards I sent home.  Parents, teachers, students, and administrators have all commented on how meaningful it was for the incoming fifth graders to receive them.  That made me feel GREAT!

I chose to move my family photo wall up next to a small empty space next to the Smart Board.  It makes it easier for me to see there, and also opened up the area by my bookshelves for Reading anchor charts.

 I decided to use another idea from Pinterest for storage at each table.  From Big Lots, I purchased 2 crates for each table.  I zip tied them together.  As you can see, they are the PERFECT height to slip right under the front edge of the tables.  In these areas will be each students binder and book.  Also in addition to their supply tray, the bucket is an individual trash can for each table. That way they won't have to leave their areas to keep the room neat.  In each blue table top tray will be 12 sharpened pencils at the beginning of each day. Students will turn in their pencils to me each day for sharpening by my 7th grade peer tutor.

This is the view from front center near the Smart Board area.

The picture frames are backed with scrapbook paper.  Our CFA/Core standards will be written on the glass with dry erase marker.  I found this idea on Pinterest, as well.  It takes something that is boring and ugly and simply makes them look nice.  Below the frames is a plastic drawer up cycle using the scrapbook paper with mod-podge technique.  Very easy to do, and WHAT A DIFFERENCE it makes.

Who Dat? banner over  the fan's desk!
I also purchased a battery operated fountain this week.

The birthday door entrance area.  I'll wait until the class list is complete before adding those.  We lost one student and gained three since the initial list was distributed.

 Here you can see where I moved the family photo area right in that small space next to the Smart Board.  Also notice the scrapbook paper jazzing up those plastic containers.  So festive!





This is the finished view of the bookshelf area.  I am very pleased with the organization.  I have some extra bins to shelve the remaining books by genre, but there is no rush to get that going.

The power has just seen fit to go out...so I guess that is a sign that I need to head on to bed.  I always have trouble sleeping the night before school begins.  Let's hope I can get this posted.  Until next time, peace be with you.  Bonnie