Getting close!

Well, it is the end of July and I am quickly running out of summer!  The good news is that I have been productive, the bad news is I still have a LOT to do!  I forgot to post last week so here is what I've achieved recently.

See what others are up to on Tara's Monday Made It blog link.

I know there are lots of teachers out there in LOVE with their Erin Condren, Plum Paper. and other fancy plan books but those just don't work for me.  For years I have been creating my own plan book with the pages and layouts that work just for me.  (I also create my own personal planner.) So with my new grade level and theme, I updated my plan book.  Here is a sneak peek:

I went into my classroom last week and, to my surprise, it was already cleaned!  I wasn't even scheduled until July 24! My daughter and I started organizing my library and moved furniture.  Once that was complete, we planned how my boards will be laid out.  My Carson Dellosa order should arrive any day,  so this week I prepped some of my materials.

I cut the backgrounds for my student work board out of 12x12 scrapbook cardstock, printed and cut out student numbers, and created a new job board.  I also laminated and cut out the task cards for Third Day of Third Grade from Not So Wimpy Teacher.

Also, while on a scrapbook weekend with my girlfirends I used the Cricut to cut out letters for my motivation wall and the words that will go around the speech bubble for a reading board.  This is just a sample of the words I cut. 

The actual bulletin board photos are my Pinterest inspirations and you can click them for more info.  

Finally, I made some little gifts for my new team. (Again on my Scrapbook weekend--good thing my girlfriends are also teachers!)  I just made two sets of simple blank notecards for them and attached these cute tags to the top.  One of them is Vegan so I thought these would little gifts would be just right.  

 Next week I hope to go back in my classroom and get my bulletin boards in order! You'll see those photos next week!!

Being Productive

I'm linking up today with Tara and Maribel for

and I think I've been pretty productive if I do say so myself!  What do you think?

I started off by finishing up my Brag Tags, or at least the ones I'll be starting the year with.  Once I get my class list (the day before school starts) I'll make and laminate their name tags and string them on the ball chain necklaces and they'll start earning right away.  I think storing them in these "toolboxes" is both fun and functional.  Word to the wise: use a guillotine style cutter-you can cut more at the same time AND find a punch that requires less wear and tear on your hand muscles-I finally remembered that I had a Crop-O-Dile Punch and that saved my life!!  You're welcome!!

 I even have a few empty drawers to add to right away!

While I was busy having colored cardstock printed at Office Depot, I decided to also put together my fun welcome gift.  We start on Thursday this year and I always give pencils on the first day. I decided I wanted to continue that so I'll probably give these out Friday at the end of the day.  Looks like I forgot to add my name to the tags, oops! 

The template came from Cassie at Teaching and Technology.  You can find it here.

I also completed a rough version of my long range plans. It is only rough because I haven't been able to talk with my new team about their plans.  I figure not too much will change though.  I really liked this quick visual version that I saw posted by Jessica at the Teaching Oasis in last week's Monday Made It.  I then downloaded it from Ginger Snaps' website and changed it up a bit.  Here's my first page:

I really need to figure out just which wonderful ideas I will use the first few days of school and will probably pop into my classroom in the next two weeks to work on my classroom environment. Thanks to Fourth Grade Frolics, you are all holding me accountable to get stuff done this summer! Thanks!

Happy Fourth, America!

Although it is already Tuesday I wanted to share with you a little of what I have been working on this week along with Tara with a

 

I want to use these Monday Made-Its to keep me on track with all of the changes I want to make in my classroom this year, so stop by on Mondays to see what I've accomplished!

My first Made-It actually has nothing to do with my classroom though!  However, I was shopping for classroom items at the Dollar Tree when I was reminded that I wanted to make a new wreath for my home.  Lucky me, I found the wreath form at Dollar Tree and the fabric squares were on sale for $1 each at Joann's! 

I saw this cute idea on Pinterest and it looked easy and cheap so I gave it a go! I tried to pick some summer-y colors and I think it turned out pretty cute. Not as cute as the one in my Pin, which is much more full (and I even put more fabric strips than the directions said!), but cute just the same!

Now, I don't really know if this counts, but I have been prioritizing the things I PLAN to make and even purchased some materials for future Made-Its, but honestly...I'm waiting for a TPT sale!  Once I purchase and print, I'll be "making" up a storm and will share the final products with you then!  I've also done some serious cleaning in my home office but will share the final result next week.  I need to take a break until the trash pickup comes.  Between me tossing all sorts of paper and my daughter's 6-pizza-box pool party, the recycle bin is FULL!

Now its off to enjoy some Independence Day festivities and celebrate this great country I live in (flaws and all)!  

Oh my...

After all that cleaning it is time to get down to planning.  I have so much to do this summer to prepare my room and for teaching.

The problem is...my head is spinning!  I start thinking about one thing, then that leads me to something else I want to look into, then, BAM!  I'm researching another topic!

I NEED to stay on focus!  So this week, it is my behavior plan (mostly).  In the past I have used warm fuzzies like these inspired by Mel at Suesstastic mixed with Rick Morris' behavior clipboard.

She has since changed these up a bit, but you can access her blog post by clicking the photo above.  I really liked this method.  It was easy to manage, the kids enjoyed it, and you never knew when there would be fuzzies flying in our classroom! But with a new grade level and some of the same students, I feel like I need to make a change for next year.  

Enter the Brag Tag! I liked this idea and think it will be just as easy to manage and it sounds like kids will really like it!  I started by reading and viewing Angie's info about Brag Tags here:

Then it was time to select the Brag Tags I wanted to use! This was not easy! There are so many to choose from-small bundles, large bundles, specific sets, even free ones!  Oh my!  I downloaded some freebies and narrowed it down to these three (of course I couldn't afford them all, sorry ladies!) PS there are still some in my cart on TPT! Maybe I'll add more later in the year!

Amy Salazar's 

Not So Wimpy Teacher

Angie Olson's Lucky Little Learners

You should have seen the process! But I finally selected one and purchased it and the chains for my students to wear them on.  I'm going to continue using Rick Morris' behavior clipboard as well.  And I've revamped my "rules" a bit as well.  Now I just need to decide if I should print the Brag Tags myself or for 80c a page at Staples.  I think I'd rather use their ink, right?  I can always add a page here or there from my printer, but to get started, I'm thinking Staples.  I also need to make a trip to Michael's or Home Depot for the little tool box to store them in-probably this weekend!  

Do you use Brag Tags?  How do they work for you?  I welcome any tips or tricks! Thanks!

First things, first...

Our last day of school was Wednesday.  What a week!  Since I will be changing grade levels next year, I decided to offer my students and their families the option to loop with me to third grade.  I wrote a letter explaining the benefits of looping and that I understood that it is not the best fit for all families, then gave them the choice.  Although placing students for the upcoming year is NEVER set in stone in my district, my principal is willing to honor the parents' decision to loop with me and about half have chosen to stay with me one more year.  Yay!

That being said, I now realize that I have-in a way-created more work for myself!  I will not be moving classrooms, but I need to make my classroom environment appear like it is a whole new world!  I have decided on a new theme and will rearrange my bulletin boards. I am rethinking my desk arrangements, and, if I can make it work, I would like to make some other arrangement changes as well.  My room is wide and shallow, so placing students in a position where they can see and learn differently is a bit of a challenge! My brain has been working overtime for almost three weeks now! Then...I spent a majority of Thursday and Friday in my classroom!

To make all these changes, I needed to first do some serious weeding of the garden.
I CLEANED, PEOPLE!
I cleaned out cabinets.
I cleaned off shelves.
I threw away old materials.
I recycled many papers.
I sang "Let It Go!" on continuous loop!  Elsa would be proud!
Several full size trash cans later and as many of recycled papers/teacher workbooks--my shelves are clear.  All of my hard work and organization of second grade materials are put away behind my white board and I am ready to begin anew!

Note the extra space, empty boxes, and sticky notes?
That's because I'm not sure yet how I want these theme boxes organized.

These shelves are mostly empty!
The extra items are there because we have to
clean off the tops of everything for summer cleaning.  

Bring on third grade!

On Sunday I made a plan.  I organized my personal planner, made a list of things to get done before we go back in 6 weeks, and prepared my new Plan Book.
Yes, I create my own!  It works for me! More about that at another time.
Blogging will keep me accountable and I always welcome suggestions.

Off to a Fresh Start

Hello people in blogland...if you look around a bit, you will see that I'm not a frequent blogger
IN FACT it has been almost a year!!
Well, I finished up another school year and I have already turned over a new leaf!

Let's start with the fact that after 16 years of second grade, I have volunteered (out of necessity, of course) to change grade levels.  Not, by much, mind you...just to third grade, but it is a change just the same.  I personally feel that change is good.  It can renew one's spirit, refresh one's thinking, and force one to venture outside of their box.

And that's what I'm doing!  I won't go into to details regarding how this all came about, but I plan to take you on this wild and crazy journey with me.  Are you ready for a ride?

This summer I plan to share with you my thoughts and progress toward being an AWESOME third grade teacher.