Reading Focus Wall FLASH FREEBIE

Hey all!

I've had a :::crazy::: busy day today!  I went into school early this morning to try to get work done before my kids woke up (we're talking 6 AM) and ended up in urgent care with my littlest little guy by 6 PM.  They say he just has a virus but what a day!  He's sleeping now so mommy's getting some work done since I can't cuddle anymore.

This morning I was pretty productive and I did get my focus wall DONE.  I'm WAAAAY excited.  I think all my Instagram followers can probably tell, right?  I decided to put it up as a FLASH FREEBIE so go ahead and grab it here!  It'll be a freebie until I go to bed...or if I fall asleep, it might be in the morning!

I'm going to be adding some Open House stuff and other classroom decor things this week so keep watching!  I've loved seeing all my new followers on Instagram!  Love it!  Come check out my TPT store for lots of freebies and some fun units!

Smile!
Caroline

Classroom Tour and some FREEBIES!

WOW, getting back to school has been absolutely CR...A....ZY! I think I have finally caught my breath and I'm ready to share my classroom with you.  Come on in.......

FREEBIES FIRST....AFTER SCHOOL ARRANGEMENTS AS SEEN BY THE DOOR. 

As you can see I use the
Rockin Behavior chart from Babbling Abby of the "Inspired Apple".   
I don't do a theme other than cordinating colors in my room, no apples, jungle animals, no super heros, etc. Boring I know, but I get tired of looking at things really quickly!  I would have the ENTIRE jungle wiped out by November!  (Poor monkeys ) 
To the  left  of my door is where I store all of my posters
for my poetry station and shared reading.  The poetry station is to the right , students use a
magnet on the back of the bookcase to hold the poetry posters. 

SIDEBAR and a CUTE STORY........This is a  picture of my daughters "behavior chart "she made for her class.   I was tooling around the house doing laundry the other day when I walked in to find her teaching class with her freshly made behavior chart taped to her wall.  Guess who was at the top of the chart?  Yes of course.....her...... but isn't she the teacher????

Last year I purchased Cara's and absolutely LOVE it!  I wanted my Calendar to mirror the Calendar Companion so it was easy for my kiddos to follow along.  SO.....I made this bright squiggle calendar to fill that order.  You can pick up your squiggle calendar here.

 

I love my guided reading area!!!! I have had this area just about everywhere in my room, but last December it found a permanant home snuggled in this corner.    Since I changed up the colors in my room this year I "had" to make new Reading Strategies posters. You can get your copy of them free here. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you like the  chevron labels you can pick up your "Editable" copy here.  Did I say Editable? Matching station signs can be picked up here but are not editable.

The back of my room has a lot going on with three stations and a cart that I use to organize dry erase boards, reading journals, writing folders, and student clipboards that are used for unfinished work. I was in the process of making a writing "I Can" board when I found this one from "A Cupcake for the Teacher"  you can check it out here.  I also have use her math "I Can" board. 

That's it........the end of the tour......my corner...and that's all I have to say about that!!!  Forest Gump was on the other day, I couldn't resist. In a perfect world I would have a laptop at my guided reading table and I would use this for a station. What would you do with your classroom in a perfect world? Thank you for stopping by to check out my classroom!!!

 

~Alison~

Back to School Bulletin Board

Hi bloggers!  It’s Caroline again.  If you’ve checked out our blog before, you might have noticed we’ve had a facelift!  Thanks Lisa at iCelebration!  So cute!

So in my spare time (cough cough) I thought of an activity to do with my kids and tie it into a cute back to school bulletin board.  I’m all about hallway bulletin boards.  I have a slight obsession with making them.  So, I decided I would do a newspaper background and a "Help Wanted" theme since I’m  on the look out for some new students.  Then I thought, “Wouldn’t a first grade application be cute?  Oh and they could make a little self portrait!”  So the wheels have been churning on this little project for a while. 

I finally got the first part of it up today in the hall!  Something is done! (ok, yes, I ran out of border on the bottom but it’s 99% done!)  Just don’t look in my classroom windows, please!

If you like the signs for the bulletin board, I made a Google Doc with them.  Click here to access them!  The Help Wanted sign is included in my Firsties Wanted!  Back to School Bulletin Board Craftivity Freebie on Teachers Pay Teachers!  Click on the picture to check it out!  If you would like this for another grade, just email me!

I just uploaded it to Teachers Pay Teachers.   Once my kids make this, I’ll either take their names off the board or tape their craftivity around it.  Depends on what I like!

Well, my room is still a mess but I have bulletin boards covered and bordered (is that a word?), so that makes me feel better.  At least you can focus on the walls and ignore all the mess on the floor, right?  I keep bouncing from one thing to another.  It will get done.  I know it will!  My next battle is where to put all the desks.  Sometimes I miss the tables I had in kindergarten!I’m also working on a back to school watermelon unit, so stay tuned!  I’m excited!

Classroom MESS and de-clutter

I just had to throw out there, does anyone else's family not really get the, "I have to get my classroom set up, decorated, and looking super cute as soon as possible" feeling I have going on?  My husband, who teaches middle school math and science, said something about "why does your room have to look cute?" while we were in the car today.  Oh hon...you don't get it!  I ran across this ecard while on pinterest tonight and had to post it!  Oh, and you can follow me on Pinterest!  Just click here.

This is SO me...

In classroom news...

Good news:  I unpacked all the boxes...

Bad news:  I think unpacking made the mess explode!  GAH!  Here is one sneak peek at the mess!

Did you ever "inherit" stuff from another teacher?  I swear, all teachers are hoarders!  We hate to get rid of things and we pack it all with us when we move...  Today, I decided to start de-cluttering (GASP).  Mission "open a box and get rid of it if I never use it" was a success!  It was actually easier than I thought it would be!  I put several boxes out in the hall for other people to look through and the broken stuff (or stuff from 1978) was placed (nicely) in the trash.  Of course, I had to put the trashcan in the picture!   If you have stuff lurking the corner of your closet, you can do it!  Get rid of it! 

P.S.  I think I'm (slightly) obsessed with blogging now.  Night, night!

Hobby Lobby, Classroom Set Up, and Modge Podge!

It's Caroline again!

I promised to show some pics of what my room looks like right now...  Be warned, it's not pretty!

Here is a pic of the empty room:

Isn't that floor so shiny and pretty??

Then my hubs and in-laws moved ALL my stuff (aka JUNK) into the room (HUGE thanks to them) and it looked like this:

SLIGHT PANIC MODE!!!!!!

After staring at everything in shock, wondering how all this stuff is going to fit, I opened up the closet and started to put things away (I even organized and threw some stuff away!).  I managed to get a few boxes unloaded.  

Then my teacher ADD kicked in  (do you ever bounce from project to project?  Please say it isn't just me!).  I just HAD to try out the scrapbook paper and Modge Podge I got at Hobby Lobby on the backs of my ugly cubbies!  Here's an action shot of me with the paper at Hobby Lobby.  Black and white!  Can I just say how much I want my black and white borders to come from Creative Teaching Press??  Thanks to my vacationing blog buddy Alison for the picture!  She is so good, she sent me pics from Florida!  Thank goodness for Dropbox!

I couldn't stand looking at the back of these old cubbies anymore  (I bought them from Target 6 or 7 years ago...you can tell they have been used!).  Since the back will (probably) be showing this year, I wanted them to look better!  I put Modge Podge on the back of the cubby (it's a cardboard type material), put a thin layer on the back of the 12 x 12 paper and slowly spread the paper on, pushing on any bubbles.  After the first try I decided to put the Modge Podge on half of the cubby square and half of the paper.  Then I stuck it on and did the other half while it was attached.  It worked better!  I put a very thin layer of the Modge Podge over the paper to finish it (I had some bubbling but I'm pretending not to see it).  Once my border comes in I will frame it out and it will have a whole new look!    Yay!  Something is (almost) done.

I'm working on a Back to School bulletin board idea to share and a fun Beginning of the Year Watermelon Unit!  I have to get some homework done first before I can get to that (it's funny that the module I'm on is about motivation and I am lacking some!).  Thanks for reading!