Monday Made It {August 10}

Happy Monday, folks! I only had to work for a little while this morning, but tomorrow marks our first day of school with students! I'm looking forward to a fabulous day!

I am linking up with Tara to show you two projects I worked on this past week.

Last fall I went to a teacher yard sale and bought a straw dispenser. She had planned on using it for pencils and never got around to it.

I've had it in my garage this entire time and finally pulled it out. I used spray adhesive and this scrapbook paper to do a little make over on it.

This year I am teaching Literacy and Social Studies, which are my favorite two subjects. One of the things I am doing to merge the two is by keeping track of all the places we've "visited" while reading various stories. We'll keep track of this using one of our maps in the classroom. I created this picture, had it developed, and framed it. Love it!

Five for Friday {August 8th}

Hey guys! I'm joining in a day late for Five for Friday! I had a fabulous (but busy) week this week. Preplanning began for me this week at my new school and I had a GREAT week!

I loaded up my car on Monday with several new items to make my classroom more cozy! I am incorporating more black and white accents in my classroom. I LOVE the black and white rug I got at Wal-Mart. It looks so good in my classroom library!

Here is another new item to my room that I LOVE!

This week I worked to complete my yearly pacing guide for Literacy. What a chore that is! It's a work in progress and I am sure I'll tweak it throughout the year.

At home we are getting things ready for my son to begin KINDERGARTEN next week! Y'all, how do I have a Kindergartener?! In his room we have a bookshelf where I display books as décor. Usually I'll have seasonal books on it. This week I organized his bookshelf and added Kindergarten/school themed books! I love this little area to spotlight books for him!

I shared this on Instagram, but I just have to share it here. I was part of an AMAZING experience this week. After a school-wide meeting, everyone was given an area (office, classroom, etc) to pray for along with a person. After I prayed in my designated area, I went to my classroom to pray over my student desks. During that night, I witnessed someone praying for me by my desk, I witnessed teacher moms come into my classroom and pray over their child's desk, and I was able to go to my sons Kindergarten classroom to pray for him, his teachers, and his classmates. Y'all, it was an AMAZING experience that was humbling, overwhelming, and just incredible. I am SO incredibly thankful to be there. My heart was so touched and so full that day!



Last night we had Launch night at our school. This is similar to Open House/Meet the Teacher. It was SO GOOD! I met all 16 of my homeroom students and several others in the other 5th grade classroom. I am SO EXCITED for this year! 

Classroom Decorating - Day 1



Last week I took a few materials to my school and met with my principal to get my pacing guides. I didn't move anything in my room or change things because I wanted to get everything (or close to everything) there first. You can see that post HERE if you missed it.

I took most of my materials there on Monday. Bringing all of this inside my room definitely counted as my workout of the day!

My first step was to move my student cubbies to the back wall and then start placing items that I brought with me. The picture above and below is the same spot. It shows a good before/after from day 1.

I have another bookshelf to add to this area and hopefully more that the school will supply, but it is the beginning of a classroom library. I will most likely need to get another IKEA rug, as well.

Originally, my desk was facing the window so that my back would be to the door and the students. Although I rarely sit at my desk, I didn't want to have my back to the students so I moved my desk to create a teacher area in that corner. I've went desk-less before, but I am going to keep this desk. It's not as bulky as a regular teacher desk and is very nice. 

I didn't touch this area where my dry erase board and desks were. 

Although it doesn't look like a LOT, I worked for 5 1/2 hours there. My 5 year old was with me so entertaining him took some time, but overall he did great!

I made a lot of progress on day 2. Stay tuned! 

First Day in the Classroom

Last week I was able to meet with the lower school principal at my new school. She gave me several things to go through and read. She also gave me keys to my classroom and took me over to see it. I brought a few materials with me, but didn't work in my room at all. I felt like I needed to get all of my materials there before I could begin to think about what would go where.

Without further ado, welcome to room 125! It is a blank slate so I can't wait to get in and start making it my own.

This is the view from my door as you walk in to my room.

The shelves you see are the cubbies that students store their materials and backpacks in. 

This is the view from my desk area to the back of the classroom.

This is the view from the student cubbies to the other side of the board. You can see here I have a dry erase board on one wall.

This view is from the front of the room looking to the back. 

I'll post more pictures soon. I took about 80% of my materials this week so the transformation is beginning! 

Classroom Set Up - Day 3

In m y new classroom, I have a HUGE bulletin board. I have used fabric to cover bulletin boards in the past and loved that, but because my board is so big (109 inches in length and 46 inches in width), I thought that might get costly. So, I bought two table covers from Wal-Mart.

I went to my Instagram friends and asked which border they thought I should use. I was leaning towards black and they thought the same.

They didn't let me down! I love the black and white border with the blue. The table cover about drove me crazy because it's impossible to make it straight. Add that to my 4 year old wanting out Math manipulatives, markers, paper, etc...whew! I'm not too worried about the wrinkles though - soon enough I'll have charts and other things on the board!



I brought this large table to the back of the room by my bulletin board. My plan for this area:

• An area for students to write
• An area for students to read
• An area for me to meet with small groups

I have a few materials to buy to make this table more "homey" and comfortable. My IKEA stools fit perfectly around the table.

I'm certainly not finished, but I've made MAJOR progress with 3 days - with my 4 year old, might I add! :)

Guest Blogger - Crystal @ Once Upon a Classroom: The Tale of Two Teachers

Hello, all! I'm thrilled to be guest blogging today!

Let me introduce myself...

I'm on the left and Marie is on the right :)

I'm Crystal from Once Upon a Classroom: The Tale of Two Teachers. My blogging buddy, Marie, and I have been blogging for almost one year! We decided to collaboratively blog with two different perspectives. You see, she teaches in the suburbs of Chicago, and I teach in the city. We have many similarities, yet many differences. In addition to our own blog, we are a part of a collaborative blog, Collaboration Connection. Check out our buttons below:

So for today's post, I want to talk a little bit about classroom themes and decor. We all love to decorate, get organized, and make our classrooms look the absolute best. How do you decide what your "theme" will be? How do you decide what you need in a decor pack? 

I just finished my 9th year teaching and have had three themes: frogs, monkeys, and brights. When I taught in Florida, the teacher before me left EVERYTHING for me and it just so happened to be frogs. Although they aren't my favorite animal, I happily accepted all of her decor and soon found myself searching for other frog "stuff." 

Can you believe I have ZERO pictures of this?! 

After 3 years of this one, my teaching partner and I decided to use all the monkey stuff! It was adorable. At the time, there were extremely cute decor packs called, "Monkey Business." We pretty much had everything. 

After another 3 years of that, I decided I was over all the animal stuff and wanted bright colors! I figured I couldn't keep changing themes and decor, and I wanted something that I wouldn't get sick of. 

To prepare for the new transformation, I followed these steps: 

1. Found fabric for my boards and pillows. (my mom makes them!!) I decided to go with black backgrounds on the boards to make the bright colors pop! 

2. Design a decor pack with a variety of things to use. Check it out here: 

3. Raid Hobby Lobby, Michael's, Joann's etc. for baskets, and other objects that fit my theme. 

4. DECORATE!! This is the best part of preparing a classroom. Although it's tedious, it sure it fun! 

Here is my current classroom full of BRIGHT and FUN colors! 

If you see anything you love, please check it out at my store!! This summer, I'm designing the following theme decor sets: chalkboard, pirates, superhero, frogs, and under the sea. I am also taking requests, so please feel free to contact me! For my current decor pack and link to my store, click HERE!

Thank you so much for allowing me to talk to you about classroom decor and themes! Enjoy the rest of your summer! :)