Keeping It Organized

I think one of the best ways to love my students is by staying organized. I am a much better teacher when everything is in its place! Here are some simple ways I keep things in their place!

1. Here are my markers organized by color. I got the cups at the Dollar Store - 4 for $1! I then used Modge Podge to attach strips of scrapbooking paper around the tops!

2. My supply cabinet is my favorite place in my room sometimes. I love how organized and easy to find everything is! #TeamLabelEverything 

3. I always end up with leftover bulletin board letters that I don't want to throw away. I decided to use a shoe organizer to keep all the extras organized. It hangs on the inside of my supply closet.

Polished Look!

As seen in the pictures below, I'm nowhere near finished unpacking, organizing, and decorating my new classroom. Just a week away from teachers' return to school, I'm feeling that "back to school" overwhelming anxiety that I get every year.

To help combat that anxiety, I often find myself working on projects that aren't really necessities but give me a sense of accomplishment. One thing I did this week was put some border up on my walls. We have a long wooden strip that covers the length of one wall in our classrooms. I don't use it to hang anything, so I like to put border up to give the room a put-together look. Here are some before and afters...ignore the chaos everywhere else!

Side note - My back to school wreath found a perfect home between my windows!

If you take a closer look at the walls, you might notice that the left side also has some dowel rods held up by command hooks. I'm going to use them to hang anchor charts for each of my classes. I am going to connect the anchor charts to the dowel rods with metal book rings!

Exit Slips

I can't believe the first week of school has already come and gone! I am utterly exhausted, but I could not be more happy with my sweet, sweet class of eager learners. It's going to be a super year. I can already tell it's going to be a quick one, too. We stay so busy, it's time to go home before I know it! If only we had another hour...ha!

Today I want to share a strategy to collect Exit Slips that I saw, of course, on Pinterest. On the back of my door, I made an Exit Slip collector using a piece of poster board, left over border, and calendar numbers. I put a number for each of my students (and a few extra in case I get new students over the course of the year). At each of my table groups, I put a pack of sticky notes. Now, when I want students to leave me a comment, question, or suggestion, they write it on a sticky note and place it on their number on the way out the door. I can immediately know who didn't turn one in, and it's a great way to collect them quickly and in an organized manner. I can also place sticky notes right in my conference notebook so that I have a reminder for a discussion topic at our next conference!

Status of the Class

Well, today was the first day for teachers at BES! I have a love/hate relationship with the first few days back to school...I love catching up with my coworkers, but I could do without the meetings, meetings, and more meetings. It's all so important, but I wish we had a whole month to spread them out rather than just a few days!

Regardless, I survived, and I am really looking forward to Meet Your Teacher Night tomorrow! Woohoo for meeting the new set of kiddos coming through!

Today I want to share my Pinterest stolen and adapted "Status of the Class" board for the writing process. First, I moved both of my file cabinets so that the broad side is against the wall. I saw this on Pinterest and thought, DUH! What a brilliant idea to maximize space! I covered the sides with butcher paper and all of the sudden I have two new bulletin boards!

On one I am putting a birthday board (will post in the future!). On the other is my Status of the Class. Using poster board and left over border from my other bulletin boards, I created a six section chart (Prewriting, First Draft, Edit and Revise, Peer Conference, Teacher Conference, and Final Draft). I then used foam stars (glitter stars, of course), circular magnets, and some puffy paint to create a star for each of my students. I used the paint to write numbers on the stars. (My students each have a number that I use on just about everything.) As students move from one stage of the writing process to another, they will move their stars. This gives me a quick idea of where all of my students are, and it will encourage some of my writers who drag their feet to keep in pace with the other students!

Here are some pictures of the finished product:

How do you get home?

Pinterest has inspired me this year to turn what may be considered "boring" aspects of classroom must haves into cute and decorative pieces. One thing I saw and adapted for my room are the "how do you get home" ribbons. I saw a similar idea on Pinterest, loved it, and created my own!

I painted these clothes pins, and once I get my roster, I'll write names on them! It's hanging on the back of my classroom door. The star cards I used are blank extras that were included in a pack of numbered calendar cards. The number cards that came in the pack are going to be used on the bottom of the door for an exit slip board...stay tuned for that!

Construction Paper Overload

Teaching elementary school means you are often on an arts and crafts supply overload, and if you are anything like me, your organization OCD may kick in as you try to get it all in order in your classroom. Last year I decided I really wanted somewhere to store my construction paper so that it would be organized, easily accessible, and wouldn't be crumpled and ruined in the bottom of cabinets somewhere. I called on the help of two of my friends, and they built one of my favorite classroom organization pieces! 

I told them the space in which I wanted the organizer and what I wanted it to look like, and they went to work. This was a time consuming and fairly expensive piece (about $250 on wood at Lowe's), but with two talented carpenters and an already stocked tool shop at my disposal, I was a lucky teacher! I got exactly what I wanted catered specifically for my classroom, and I couldn't be happier! 

This beautiful piece was well worth the investment! I am super thankful for the men who built it and carried it into my room...it was HEAVY!

 My favorite aspect of this organizer is that the shelves are removable! This allows me to make bigger spaces if I need them! 

The Morning Rush...

One of the most stressful times of the school day for me is first thing in the morning. Kids come in the classroom in a whirl of chatter, money, assignments, and notes. I've learned, like I'm sure most teachers have, that the key to a stress free (or less stressed, ha!) morning, is a solid and consistent routine! I'm going to use this post to share how I handle some of the most common morning procedures, and I hope you'll find something helpful!

1. Lunch Count


My lunch count idea actually came from a brilliant fourth grade teacher at my school. I did all of my student teaching at the same school I now teach, and Mrs. DeLoach was one of my coaching teachers. (Her website can be found here!) We are blessed to all have SmartBoards in our rooms, and we watch our morning news show through them. Because it's already up and running, it's such an efficient way to do the lunch count! Students are taught at the beginning of the year to come straight in and make a choice before unpacking and sitting down. What's great about the process is that it can also double as attendance. Any name that hasn't been moved is a name of an absent student!

At the beginning of the year, create a Smart File like the one below: 

Remember to lock the squares so that students don't accidentally move them when making a lunch choice. Also be sure to "allow move" on the students names so that they can move them where needed. Each morning, change the lunch choices based on what is on the menu. When the lunch count and attendance have been complete, close the file WITHOUT saving it, and it'll be set to go for the next morning! Not saving it each day keeps you from having to move the students' names back to the bottom of the page every morning!


2. Homework 


I believe in grading homework for completion rather than accuracy, so students generally don't have much homework to turn in every morning. Instead, one of my classroom jobs is "homework checker," and that student is responsible for making sure homework is completed by all of the students. I teach students at the beginning of the year to leave any homework out on their desks when they unpack in the morning. The homework checker goes around to each desk and stamps homework with a date stamp. If I decide to take up homework later or it is an assignment I want to check for completion myself, this stamp lets me know it was turned in on time. My class runs on an economy (I'll share all about that later!), so students who don't have their assignments are given a fine from our classroom police officer. 

If students do have a project or other assignment that will be graded, I use the same procedure in the morning as I do for tests, quizzes, and classwork during the rest of the day. I team teach, so I have a drawer for both of my classes on my desk. Students know to place their assignments in the appropriate drawer when they come into the classroom each morning! This helps keep my two classes separated and organized, too!

(Side Note: Another of my classroom jobs is "substitute." When a student is absent, the substitute is responsible for collecting an extra copy of any tests, quizzes, or other assignments. The substitute writes the absent student's name on the paper and sticks it in the "Were you absent?" drawer on my desk. When the absent student returns to school, all of his/her make up assignments are in one place!


3. Money and Notes


Nearly every morning students have money and notes to turn in, and inevitably an envelope gets set down somewhere and forgotten, a child hands you a handful of crumpled dollar bills with no instructions, or students put time sensitive notes in the homework basket and they don't get looked at until the end of the day. This year, I have decided to combat that with a separate place for money and notes. I purchased a $2 dish drying rack at Walmart to use for this purpose. It has two slender openings on the side that I am using to store envelopes and pens for those students who bring in loose money and checks. I am going to instruct students to always put their name, the amount of money, and the purpose of the money on the envelope before turning it in! Hopefully, this will keep all money and important notes in one location, and I won't feel overwhelmed by ten students handing me envelopes at once!

 That's it for now...happy organizing, and good luck on your "stress free" mornings!