Wordless Wednesday: Storing Extra Student Supplies

One year we did community supplies, a flop.  For many years they just kept the extras in their cubbies, desks, or backpacks, a mess.  Last year, they kept a few pencils, one highlighter, one glue stick, one Expo marker and their crayons in their supply pouch. Then the rest went in a large Ziploc bag with their name on it in the extra supply crate. 

When their supply pouch stash ran out, they went and got more from their Ziploc bag. Most of my kiddos were very respectful and didn't get in other students' bags. I only had to watch a few of them.


I hold onto my homeroom's extra supplies and my teaching partner holds on to her homeroom's extra supplies.  They can only ask to get in their extra supply bag when they are with their homeroom teacher.  

Here's my question for you: How do you organize your students' extra/surplus supplies? 

Monday Made It: Dismissal Board Edition

Good Evening! I know I'm a little late to the party, but I still wanted to show off my Monday Made It. 

My project was made last summer but I forgot to blog about it.  Oops! Back to school is so exhausting sometimes. ;)

Being departmentalized means that somethings that worked in my self contained classroom needed to be tweaked in order to work.  One of those things was my transportation chart. I loved it but I knew it would be hard to manage since I would not be taking my homeroom class to the bus.  We switch classes in the middle of the day, so I take my afternoon class to the bus and once we switch we only have a few minutes to unpack and fill out our planners before some of my students leave for intervention.

So I used some dry erase poster board, fabric (purchased at Hobby Lobby), border and Modge Podge to create a new dismissal board that would a bit easier to manage with two classes. 

My teaching partner and I collected any changes in after school routine notes from our homeroom students each morning and then we passed them off to each other.  

I would review the notes and mark any changes on the posters. I also put my non bus rider student schedules on the board as well.  So for example, if Noah was a pick up MWF but a Latchkey student on T/R that would go on the board and stay up all year.  I attached the rosters for chorus and basketball directly to the board as well, so I knew which students participated in these weekly activities.  A little bit of extra organization made sure everyone was always where they needed to be when school ended.

You can download the home to school notes we pass out to our parents here.  All they have to do is fill in the blanks for absences, tardies, and for the days their child's end of the day transportation changes. 

Since the boards are dry erase, they erase easily.  

So if Michael was only being an after school pick up on 8/11, you can simply erase it the next day. 

Many of the subs who worked with my class last year remarked how easy it made dismissal for them. Plus if I have to leave right after school, our office staff can refer to it if there is any confusion at dismissal. Our dismissal board is certainly one of our most used classroom tools. 

If you would like to see more fabulous Monday Made It Projects, make sure you visit Tara's blog for this week's link up! :) You might even see a product of mine in one of her Monday Made It Projects! :) 

Have a great week, friends! 

Wordless Wednesday: August 6th

Helo! I wanted to link up with my sweet friend, Miss DeCarbo, last night but yesterday was our wedding anniversary!  :) So I'm linking up tonight, I don't think she'll mind. :)

Earlier this year, I went to a painting class with some of my friends.  While I had fun with the girls, it was a horrible experience for me.  The teacher moved too fast, stood in awkward positions that didn't allow me to see what she was doing, and played music a little too loud so I couldn't hear her directions clearly.  Additionally, there were "helpers" that walked around and rather than help me, they deflated me by saying things like "Just what are you trying to do here?"  I felt extremely frustrated the entire time.  The pace of the class was way too fast and I couldn't keep up. I was constantly several steps behind. I couldn't wait for it to be over. 

On the way home, it hit me.  The frustration I felt must be how some of my students, especially my strugglers, must feel on a daily basis.  Since my painting is what you would say beautiful, I was tempted to throw it away.  Instead, I hung it up in my classroom as a reminder.  As a reminder to slow down, to give clear directions, and to be patient with my students.  It reminds me daily just how frustrating learning/trying something can be. Daily it inspires me to be a better teacher.  

I know this isn't a very Wordless Wednesday, so sorry Christina, but I DO have a question for you.

Do you have anything in your classroom, a picture, quote, or a special memento, that inspires you to be a better teacher?

Monday Made It: Storage Edition

Hi guys! How are you?  I had a very busy and productive in my classroom today.  This is the first year in three years that I haven't had to move classrooms.  It has been glorious.  Essentially everything is unpacked and ready to go.  Well everything except for my library, but I did put all my books in their new bins and my new bookshelf is built. It just needs a good sanding and staining job.  Special shout out to my husband for building it for me! :)

This evening I'm linking up with the lovely Tara today to share some projects I did today in my classroom for Monday Made It!

I have been in love with Catherine's {The Brown Bag Teacher} Literacy Center Storage since she first posted it but I just never had the time to set it up myself.  Today, I got busy though! :)  

I used food storage containers from Target because they were a lot cheaper and I was really looking more for a way to store my task cards.  So I purchased these small containers.  They did, however, have larger ones that would fit large envelopes and recording sheets. 

 Labels are from this decor pack from Hope King.

I have two more containers that I need to make labels for and a could probably stand to use another package of containers as well.  I just know I'll love having my tasks cards and center activities so organized this year!

 I also got to work organizing my seasonal centers and fluency games.  I use these containers and LOVE them. :) I glued some labels on them and sorted my seasonal materials into the appropriate bin.  

Look how pretty they are all in a row! I just LOVE it! :) 

Finally, I organized some of my small group materials.  Time is so valuable when it comes to small groups and I found my kiddos wasted a lot of time last year because they came to my reading table unprepared. So I shopped my classroom and found an adorable basket and some of these cute cups that I previously used for a book raffle.  I already had some IG friends ask me about the cups. I got them at WalMart around Easter time. :) Inside each cup I put materials I commonly have my students use during small groups. 

Inside each cup is a piece of felt, I use these for dry erase marker erasers, a reading pointer, two different colored highlighters, a dry erase marker, and a pencil.  I branded these supplies as mine with some Washi tape.  I plan on storing these cups in a cute basket I found in my classroom, that was originally from Big Lots, and passing them out at the beginning of guided reading groups.  

Hopefully this will cut down on our transitions during our guided reading groups and will help us get started right away! I'll use Clorox wipes a couple times a week to clean off the supplies to prevent germs from spreading around.  :)

So apparently TpT has a sale today and tomorrow. :) You can visit my TpT store by clicking {here}. 

I'm about to go shopping myself, so I can tackle my next Monday Made It...my library.  This isn't my new shelf, but my two current ones set up so I could get my library books off my student desks. :)

Thanks again, Tara for hosting us all! :) 

My Back to School Lesson Plans

Hi friends! I have received a few messages on my Facebook page from teachers who are moving from the primary grades to intermediate and were curious about my back to school lesson plans.  

So I compiled a post for you guys of my first eight days of school.  Make sure you scroll all the way and down read the entire post for links to the products and freebies included in my back to school lesson plans! 

Our first week of school is a three day week and our second week is a five day week.  

Products featured in my plans: 

• Fabulous Back to School Fun 
• Story of My Name 
• Cooking Up a Great Year Together 
• Types of Sentences Activity Pack 
• School Year Scrapbook 

As you can see, we spend a lot of time learning and practicing procedures, building community, and getting to know each other.  I feel this is SO important, no matter what grade you teach!  You might feel the curriculum crunch, but I promise you WILL make up that time.  Especially if you are doing the Daily Five.  Model and practice those procedures again and again until your students get it right.  Time invested in that now will pay off, I promise.  The years I jumped right into curriculum have been some of my rockiest years.  I certainly teach academics those first two weeks but my main focus is on rules, routines, and community building.  

My school year scrapbook is a new product, and one that I'm SO excited about! I always did a  scrapbook with my third graders and they loved it. However, as the demands of being in a testing grade increased, I stopped doing them a few years ago.  I forgot about them until I ran into one of my former third graders, who is now going into tenth grade, and she told me that she still has her third grade scrapbook and how special it was to her.  So I spent some time this summer turning our messy and time consuming scrapbooks into something more manageable! 

The new version has NO cutting or gluing! All you need to do is select one of the included cover pages and select a monthly page for your students to complete and assemble them before school starts.  I plan on using the stapler setting on our copier that puts a staple at the top and bottom of the page, this makes the packet into a booklet.  One of my coworkers is planning on hole punching the pages and putting them into folders.  

I included multiple options for the beginning and end of the year and for each month. I have options for August-July.  All you need to do is select the pages that best fit your class.  

On the first school day of each new month, I will have my students fill out their scrapbook page for the previous month.  This literally takes twenty minutes tops.  They brainstorm their memorable moments, write about their favorite memory, and color the picture on the page to give it more of the scrapbook feel.  I let them choose memories from home and school, but you can do what works for you!  Here's an example of a completed page:

School Year Scrapbook is a yearlong memory book and makes an awesome keepsake for your students.  I can't wait to show you pictures of our scrapbooks throughout the year. :) 

I also get by with some help from some friends during Back to School!  Our first two weeks in reading are spent on reading strategies and I use Ashleigh's amazing Reading Strategies Unit.  Seriously, go check it out.  Everything you need to get your students really thinking about their reading is in one easy to use file.  It is pictured under reading in my visual plans. I plan on using this fun Finish the Picture freebie from the Thinker Builder as part of our morning work on the first day of school. 

I use the Daily Five to organize my literacy block and follow The Sisters guide for implementation pretty much step by step.  I highly encourage you to read the book if you are thinking of implementing the Daily Five with your students. There are lots of great blog posts about it out there about the Daily Five but the book made it all click for me.  You can find the Second Edition of The Daily Five {here}. 

You can also find a list of the books I use with Cooking Up a Great Year Together to promote a caring classroom environment {here}.  The Toothpaste Words activity is offered as a freebie on my blog {here}. 

Enjoy your day, friends! I hope you found my Back to School Lesson Plans helpful.  

Tips and Tricks for Going Back to School Without Breaking the Bank

I think we can all agree that going back to school is expensive.  However, it doesn't have to break the bank. :) Today I'm excited to share some tips and tricks that have saved me money over the years during the back to school season.  Hopefully you might find a tip or trick that will help you out this year too!

The biggest thing that has kept my BTS shopping from breaking the bank is setting a budget each year.  I either withdraw that money from the bank and use that cash to do my BTS shopping OR I put the money on a prepaid Visa/MasterCard.  I get a prepaid card when I plan on doing a lot of online shopping.  Occasionally, I'll go over but I really try not to.  My husband is so supportive of my teaching adventures and I feel my BTS budget is generous enough to begin with. 

It's hard to not go crazy when you see crayons,

glue sticks, and scissors at amazing prices.  

However, I started saving a lot more money when I started buying only what I needed.  I don't do a lot of art projects or interactive notebooks, so there is really no reason for me to buy 50 pairs of scissors and hundreds of glue sticks.  Typically, I buy some extra highlighters and crayons for my students to use during my guided reading groups, extra pencils, and extra dry erase markers. I also buy an additional notebook for each of my students because I like to use two notebooks, one for reading and one for writing, and our district supply list only asks for one.  That might sound like a lot but since I'm only buying extras of a few things, I don't spend nearly as much as I did when I bought extras of everything on our supply list. 

This tip is simple, but SO true.  Shop your classroom first. I don't know how many times I've gone to the teacher store for something in August, only to find out that I had what I just bought in my classroom. We also have a donation spot at my school and sometimes I have found what I needed there for free! If you are in search of bigger things, like filing cabinets or furniture, send an email out to your district.  Someone at another school just might want to get rid of theirs. 

When you head out to do your shopping, go with a list or purpose in mind.  I don't know how many times I've picked up a notebook or notepad just because it was cute and then never used it.  The other day I went shopping for book bins at Target and that's all I bought.  Even though I wanted some new Mr. Sketch markers and some Flair pens too. I know I spend a lot more money when I just wonder around the store with no purpose in mind. 

I saved a lot of money the other day when I bought bins for my library because Target had a Cartwheel coupon for them.  I buy ink and laminating pouches on Amazon because they are so much cheaper online.  My local teacher store also has a special day when teachers get discounts on their purchases.  I saw that Big Lots will be doing an educator discount day and Walmart has their teacher rebate this summer.  When I go to buy an extra notebook for each of my students, I search the sale ads to see who has them the cheapest and that's where I buy them. :) Anytime I buy something from Hobby Lobby or Michaels, I always check my phone for coupons.  I actually found a great deal on my new library book bins at Home Depot of all places because I searched and searched online for the best deal. 

The classroom of your dreams, especially if you are a new teacher, isn't built overnight.  It's okay to add things to your classroom as the year goes on and you have the extra funds.  Or if you like having 50 extra pairs of scissors, a 100 extra glue sticks, and 25 extra boxes of crayons to use throughout the year, wait until a few weeks after school starts.  I know Target usually has an AWESOME clearance section after school starts. I've purchased class sets of notebooks for pennies after school starts and I just save them for the next year.  

Craiglist, thrift stores, and garage sales are a great way to get things for your classroom for a great price! I've also scored several wonderful books on clearance this summer at Half Price Books. Our local children's resale shop offers teachers a discount when they purchase books and furniture for their classroom.  Most of my classroom library is from Goodwill.  I've also found used copies of resource/professional books in great condition for a great price online!

My last tip is perhaps the hardest.  Stop comparing your classroom to others because it's not fair. Focus only on the special environment you have created within the four walls of your classroom. 

It's okay if you don't have trendy chevron borders, a ton of Pinterest inspired projects, fadeless bulletin board paper, etc. 

While I have the classroom of my dreams right now, I waited seven years for it.  I inherited every thing I needed for a stars and stripes classroom when I first started teaching.  So that's what I did. All my posters were handmade and I didn't care one bit.  As time went by, I added things here and there to make the room feel more me, even if it wasn't the classroom theme I would have chosen for myself. 

I rocked that stars and stripes theme for four years. Then I used all my blue and red bins and borders to do a primary polka theme before I finally invested last summer in my black and neon bright classroom.  

Even then, there were somethings I did not get rid of simply because they didn't match my black and neon theme. For example, I really wanted to get rid of my red and blue book baskets because they just didn't match.  However, I had already spent enough money on redecorating my classroom. So I waited until this summer and will probably wait to add the cute curtains I've been wanting next summer because book bins aren't cheap. I'm okay with not winning a classroom decor contest anytime soon to keep my checkbook in balance. :)

What about you? How do you try to save money when it comes to Back to School? 

Back to School Sale and TpT Gift Certificate Giveaway

So apparently it's time for some of you to go back to school.  Apparently some of you have already gone back to school. That's just crazy talk. 

Personally, it looks like Michaels, Target and WalMart threw up in the back of my SantaFe. I'm excited to get my room in order, but I'm also thankful for a few more weeks to finish up my summer to do list.  

Since back to school is literally just around the corner for some of us, I'm throwing a Beat the Back to School Blues Sale!

You can visit my TpT store by clicking {here}.

I have gotten a few questions about my lesson plans and how I tackle back to school with my fourth graders and I'll be posting about that soon. 

I will say that we spend a lot of time getting organized, learning and practicing procedures, building a classroom community, and having fun together that first week of school.  I use my Fabulous Back to School Fun, Cooking Up a Great Year Together and Story of My Name units every single year.  They really do set the tone for a great year together!

To thank all of you for being such loyal and faithful readers, I am giving away two $10 Teachers Pay Teachers gift certificates! You can enter below. I'll choose two winners on Thursday! 

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway