Grub Work

And so it has begun.... today was the third day I spent in my classroom. I'm so thankful that the school kitchen had these HUGE carts that I could use. I unloaded a van load of stuff in about 20 minutes... hooray!

I began by stacking it against the cabinets so that I could arrange the desks before all of my stuff inevitably explodes around the room. (I told myself it wouldn't, but let's be realistic...) So then I arranged the furniture...

This is the first year that I'm not starting the year in rows... I'll let you know if I like it this way or not! I've also decided I'm going to let the kids pick their seats for the first day...they can claim their spot at Open House the day before. After all, I'm just making random guesses by placing them somewhere, so I'd rather let them choose and then fix it later if it turns out to be an error in their judgment.

I started arranging the shelves for my class library. I clearly do NOT have enough bookshelves in this classroom...and I even brought two of my own! I will have to remedy this somehow very soon....

 By the end of day one, I had at least the bulletin board behind my desk almost finished (notice the border jetting out the top and bottom of my board...I couldn't find my scissors!)

 And, as promised, by the start of day 2, I had stuff everywhere....

Day 3...I solicited some help from my very sweet and willing friend, Sharon. Thanks to her, all the bulletin boards now have at least paper and a border!

(Yes, I teach in a Christian school, so this bulletin board is A-Ok! :)

My desk is STARTING to resemble a space I'd like to hang out in. I'm hanging scanned copies of my college diploma, and my teaching license. The frame on the bottom is a sweet certificate my 5th graders from a couple of years ago made for me. 

And, finally, another finished product thanks to Sharon's hard work... my cabinets are all labeled! I stole this idea from my friend Julie, who teaches 5th grade at a local public school. I walked into her classroom one day and noticed her genius! Now when a kid asks for, say, construction paper, I say, "It's in cabinet O." Brilliant! I used die cut letters I had gotten in a big pack at Target once upon a time, and then put clear contact paper of them to attach. Love!

Literacy Bulletin Boards

Well, friends, I'm three days away from getting into my classroom and starting the process of assembling things for my fourth grade friends who will be coming in just over three week's time!

I'm still sorting through ideas for bulletin boards. I'm sure I will change my mind a gazillion times before it's all said and done. I don't know how you all operate, but I am ALL OVER THE PLACE when I'm setting up a new classroom... I start one project, move over to another before the first one is done and I kind of flit from thing to thing until it's all done. I've worked with other teachers who are far more methodical and actually FINISH the project they start before moving on to another. I just get too excited about things to stay in one spot for that long!

I'm trying to decide how I want to promote literacy on my walls. I mentioned in a previous post that I used to have McDonald's inspired bulletin board for reading... the kids earn pipe-cleaner "French Fries" for a certain amount of pages read or AR points earned. But this year the 4th grade team is doing a Reading Passport (posts forthcoming), and there's no need for the wonderful reading BBs I've had in the past.

Thus begins the search for something new. I was thinking maybe something about reading genres, but it HAS to be interactive. I can't stand non-functional wall decor in my classroom. I googled and found this, which incorporates the genres, but is so much more! I think this might be a winner!

We'll see. I'd love to hear how you promote literacy on your classroom walls!

Back to Shhhh.... Not Quite Yet!

 Well, friends, here we are! It's mid-July, and you know what that means... Back to School is just around the corner! In every friendly neighborhood store, school supplies abound! If you're like me, you have a mixed reaction. A new year, new students, a fresh start... it's exciting! But, it's only July! I want to relax and enjoy my summer.... who am I kidding? I'd be a lost soul if not for constantly dreaming/scheming/planning for the school year.

So, I plan. And plan. And plan. I'm starting at a new school this year (hooray for being gainfully employed!!) in Indiana... 4th grade here I come! It always makes me nervous to start at a new school, though, because I haven't yet learned where to make copies, who to befriend (other than the janitors and secretaries, that is), and where to find things. I'll get there.

I started with a rough sketch of my classroom...

where the desks will go, the library, my desk, the whiteboard, the computers, etc. Thankfully, I was able to get into my classroom a few weeks ago and snap a few pictures. I've got a great room to start with, but it's so very bare!!

So now I'm working on dreaming up bulletin boards to work in my space... I'm big on functional bulletin boards--not strictly decorative. For example, back when I taught 3rd grade, I had this board to record how the kids were progressing on memorizing their division facts.

They earned a "gumball" sticker for every set of facts they memorized and were quizzed on (out of order, of course!).

Or this one, that I used for reading (the kids filled out slips and earned a "kernel" of popcorn to put in their bag (paper kernels) for every 100 pages they read. Top two readers got to have McDonald's lunch with me!

But, I have to invent some more or steal some ideas from other teachers. :) The 4th grade team at my school is doing a reading "Passport" (pictures to come in the next several weeks), so no need to take up a BB with my popcorn board, and by now the kids SHOULD know their math facts...

Hmmm... Ideas, anyone? I'm always looking for new and exciting bulletin boards!

It's the Little Things...

So, I had grandiose plans about blogging like crazy while subbing this year... and you know, I just lacked inspiration most of the time! I really discovered that, while I love teaching... I hate subbing! After a couple of months I began to be requested by teachers at my favorite schools, so at least I got to know the kids a bit and the teachers, too. But I'm telling you what, it's nothing like teaching. I miss teaching.

And I'm glad. It means that I made the right choice to become a teacher, and I know I'm going to appreciate my own class next time so much more than I even did before! I won't take it for granted!

I may have a couple of leads on a job for the coming school year... but for now it's a waiting game. In the meantime I have two weeks of subbing left before I head to Virginia to help my cousin out with her kiddos for the summer.

I never seemed to collect enough information on one idea to create any quality posts, so I'm just going to make this a "random" post containing some of the fabulous ideas I've "collected" (a.k.a. stolen) over the last four months of subbing.

Idea #1: Kindergarten Table Trash Cans. Brilliant. The kids toss their paper scraps into their own table trash and then are responsible to dump them into the bigger trash can once or twice during the school day. As much cutting and pasting as kinder kids do everyday, this saved so much time and mess!

Brilliant Idea #2: iPhone Bulletin Board 
Now, maybe I'm an oddball, but I have been SHOCKED at how many teachers have non-functional bulletin boards in their classrooms. I mean, c'mon! The wall space is limited and precious, and you fill a whole wall with letters spelling "Happy Birthday" and balloons with the kids' birthdays on them? Can't you limit that to a poster in a corner of the room? I don't know, but I am really not a fan of the fru-fru kind of teacher decorating. I like functional.

Which is why I like this bulletin board so much!

 Each "icon" was inside a plastic sleeve affixed to the wall. It fastens on one side using Velcro so that it can be opened. Inside is a pocket with "tickets" that the kids attach to their finished work.

Each "icon" came with a file. These were on a bookshelf just to the right of the bulletin board. 

The kids pull one of the "Settings" activities, for example, out of the green folder. They complete the work (see example), and then return it, with the "ticket" attached, to the pink FINISHED folder. If the work is done well, the teacher returns the ticket to the student. The tickets were used as a sort of currency in this classroom. They could purchase rewards or have tickets taken away for irresponsibility or bad behavior. Because I already have a mini economy, I would either turn these into opportunities to earn money, or put the tickets into an end of the week drawing for a privilege the following week. 

 Cute idea #3: Presidential Reports

I just really liked these! I thought it was a clever way to display the kids' reports on the presidents.

Other Smart Ideas for the Classroom Walls:

 

 I hope this is the philosophy of every teacher. I like the way it's worded here, so I took a picture to copy it. :)

I really like these quotes, and then the breakdown of the teacher/student responsibilities. This was in the middle school, but the principles are great across the board.

As we celebrate kids' different learning styles, we can give them choices about their learning. The only choice they don't have, however, is to do
nothing!

I spotted these in a 2nd grade classroom this week and it made me smile. This is how I learned to add/subtract in 1st grade...using the dot system on the numbers! The funny thing is...I STILL tap the invisible dots when I add. It reminded me that sometimes we don't even have a clue what "sticks" with our students. But 21 years after the fact, I'm still adding this way, thanks to Mrs. Carver! :)