Five for Friday!

Friends, I am tired!  The first week back at school after break really kicked my butt!  We had two full days at a statewide conference and three days back at school for meetings.  In amongst all of that I had a bazillion things that I wanted to do in my classroom... I got about 0.002% of those things done! My Five for Friday this week shares a few things I did complete as well as some random thoughts.

My main goal for the beginning of this term was to have my classroom library reorganised.  That turned out to be A MASSIVE DRAMA! I don't have a heap of space in my classroom so I bought 4 small sets of shelves - that was no big deal. Then came the issue of finding book boxes that would fit on the shelves and would be wide enough for the larger picture books to fit in (some of them are close to 25cm wide!)... as well as being nice, bright colours.  My classroom decor theme is Crayola factory explosion, after all. :)  I scoured the web, visited every store on the coast - and came up with nothing except for small blue, pink and green baskets to store my levelled readers.  I finally ended up buying white baskets and attaching bright labels.  Here's a photo journey of my last two days! 

In the end I was happy with how my little library turned out... but there were a few moments of crankiness in the mix!  I sorted my books into a few categories - readers are in baskets of two levels each and I have a basket each for Mem Fox, Dr. Seuss, Pamela Allen and Jez Alborough.  There's two non-fiction baskets and the other six I labelled just as picture books - because I ran out of time! :)  In the next few weeks I can sort and label the random other baskets.  I also need a rug and a few more decorations... but I'm not sure that those things will help the kidlets to be better readers. :)

Although the library took a heap of time (in the scarce free time we had this week!), I also managed to get new desk labels printed - using the same scrappy kids as I did on my kidlets' book box labels.  I matched each kidlet to a scrappy kid from Mel's 100 Scrappy Kids pack and use their clipart image for anything personalised I create for them!

I got my new chair set up (the metal stool from Ikea I had been using was ruining my back), and re-aligned my SitSpots.

I also threw a my reading pointers and glasses into a new basket I grabbed.  I plan to keep this on my teaching table instead of hunting around for things before guided reading time.  I need to add our sight words on rings and a 'talking stick'.  Anything else that you think is vital to have in a guided reading basket? 

The glasses are just dollar store sunglasses with the lenses popped out.  Kidlets are so much more focussed when they have their 'reading glasses' on! :)

I went to a Whole Brain Teaching workshop at the conference we went to earlier in the week.  I've been using a few WBT techniques with my kidlets - Teach, OK and Mirror mostly - but came away from the workshop super excited to more consciously implement WBT in my classroom.  I don't have a photo for this - how sad!  I've ordered Chris Biffle's book, but if you are a whole brain teacher and can point me in the best direction for resources/articles to read or could share some advice with me I'd love to hear from you.

Have you seen Abby's Pretty Little Printables?  They are just gorgeous, and I particularly loved this quote from the pack:

I have the talent of putting words together effectively (especially for comedic value), combined with the habit of making quick judgements... totally fine if my opinion is positive but it can get me into trouble if I've decided I don't like something.  When I saw this quote again (it's one of my favourites!) I was reminded to always be careful with my words.  Thanks Abby! (Click on the image to read her post.)

When I got home this afternoon I was totally exhausted!  After an accidental 20 minute snooze on the couch, I had a hot shower (it's freezing here today!) and settled in for a relaxing night.  I made sure to light my tealight candles - my favourite Friday night ritual.

Something about the soft light makes me feel so much more calm.  What's your go-to relaxation trick?

Hmmm... I don't think I should admit to watching 'I Wanna Marry Harry' two Five for Fridays in a row, so let's just say I'm finishing up this post to go and read War & Peace. :)  

Happy weekend!

Design Flaws, aka What's Up with My Bulletin Boards?!

Happy Friday friends!  I had a long and busy week, ending with a 12 hour day today.  Needless to say, when I finally got home tonight I collapsed on the couch and haven't really moved from it, except to grab myself some dinner - a very healthy bowl of ice-cream! :)

I spent this afternoon tidying my classroom and displaying some of my kidlet's work on my bulletin boards.  My room has SIX doors, some windows and tonnes of oddly shaped shelving that take up heaps of wall space... so all but one of my bulletin boards have either a power outlet or a light fixture (sometimes both!) right in the middle of them.  Take a look:

Here's my Word Wall... with an outlet front and centre! Excuse the wonky words, the kidlets had just been using them (they're Velcroed to the board and they come and grab them for their writing). 

This board is currently displaying little astronauts to show who can independently use 'Spaceman Spaces' in their writing... oh, and of course is also displaying a lovely light and an outlet. I mean, really, what would I need to plug in at shoulder height?

This board is right above my carpet space, no light or outlet... but a huge air-conditioning unit.

What's up with my bulletin boards?!  It's such a pain to plan displays knowing that I'll have to work around those little interruptions.  And I haven't yet figured out a way to cover them with paper (not that the navy, purple and green felt isn't just lovely!) to make a cute background.  Any suggestions will be gratefully accepted. :)

Luckily, I had enough space on one of my boards to display the word family ribbons that I made using cards from Marsha's Word Families Galore packs.  All I did was hot glue them to a length of matching ribbon and now I have a cute way to display each family as I introduce them to the kidlets.  All I have to do it take out 1 pin and the whole ribbon will fold away neatly, ready to be unfolded next year, and it will be super easy to pin up the families that we still have to learn this year. :)

Of course, this board has a light fixture too (you can just see the edge of it on the left), but luckily it's not right in the middle.  My classroom was definitely not designed by a teacher. :)

Bed time for this tired teacher.  Hallelujah for a Saturday sleep in! 

Lauren

A New Product - Rainbow Border Number Posters!

What's a girl to do when she's home on a Saturday night and there's nothing on TV?  Make classroom decor, of course!  

On the holidays I printed and laminated the Rainbow Border Word Wall Headers I'd made and they are on display looking gorgeous in my room.  Unfortunately, they made the number posters that I've had for years look old and boring in comparison.  So last night I put together a set of posters with the numeral, ten frame and number word for the numbers 0-20.  They have the same rainbow border and the ones I'm going to use have bright coloured dots in the ten frames.  There's also a set with black dots for those who need to conserve their coloured ink. :)

Click here for the coloured ten frame.

Click here for the black and white ten frame.

I can't wait to get these on display tomorrow! 

I hope you are enjoying a lovely, relaxing weekend and haven't ruined your Sunday afternoon by leaving all your lesson planning 'til the last minute like I have... Will I ever learn?

Lauren

Favourite Pins Friday!

Guys, this is my third post in three days.  I know, crazy right?  Be alert but not alarmed.  

Cara over at The First Grade Parade is hosting a super fun linky for us all to share our favourite pins, so even though I have a heap of things to get done today I just can't pass up the opportunity to join in.  I've put a load of laundry in the washer though, so technically I'm multitasking! :)  

Link up and share your favourites too.  Such a clever way for us to get to know other bloggers - Pinterest is the window to the soul! (Follow my boards here if you like!)

My favourite school pin this week is this cute 'Share Chair'.  What a great idea!  My kidlets love to share their work, and a special place like this would make it even more exciting.

Original image from Middle School Frenzy.

I also love this 'Desk Monster' idea.  I'm thinking of modifying it a little - maybe once a day asking the kidlets to leave their finished work on their desk as they leave for lunch or a specialist lesson for the 'Great Work Monster' to come and visit.  The special note and treat would be left for the child whose work is super impressive!

Original image from Lessons with Laughter.

My favourite pin for the home this week is this gorgeous colour combo - turquoise, coral and grey!

Original image from Afternoon Artist.

Long before Pinterest, I had a folder of quotes saved on my laptop.  They are still one of my favourite things to collect!  This week I found two great ones from very intelligent men!

Image from Mobile 9.

Image from Pic Monkey.

Finally, what would a week of pinning be without a little style inspiration?  I'm mad for navy and always love a little sparkle, so these two ideas jumped out at me as soon as I saw them!

Original image from Polyvore.

Image from Tumblr.

Oh dear, I can hear the washer beeping to let me know the laundry is finished... better get back to it!  

Lauren

Choosing a Classroom Theme

I am so thrilled to be going back to my Prep teaching job in just a few weeks.  It was a HUGE decision for me to resign to come to Canada when the option for unpaid leave wasn't available for me - so I was thrilled to be re-hired by the school that I love so much... and even more excited when another wonderful teacher felt like a year level change and left the Prep spot free for me!  When I left at the end of 2011 I packed up everything that belonged to me and it's currently in storage at my Mum and Dad's.  I also left a heap of stuff in the Prep block, partly because I didn't have room for it, and partly because I knew the other teachers could use it.  Now that it's only two weeks until the new school year I need to get my act into gear and think about how I will arrange stuff and decorate my room again when I get there.

I work in a beautiful block that was custom built for Prep classrooms.  We have large rooms with vaulted ceilings, shared storage and a kitchen, a big undercover play area, a separate room for the teacher aides to work in and bathrooms for the kidlets attached to each classroom.  There's also secure outside storage, and BIG sandpit and grassed area and a playground.  I am VERY fortunate to work in such a great space. (As soon as I'm there I'll post some photos!)

Since I'm dealing with a room that will be stripped of all it's finery I'm faced with the tough choice of choosing a classroom theme - or if I should choose one at all.  I've read a few amazing blogs with details of how other teachers theme their rooms (most recently Casey over at adoring lilly) and I have a few ideas of my own that I'm yet to decide between.  In the past I've done a garden theme that integrated cute bugs and butterflies.  I'd love to do some sort of 'Around the World' travel theme, or use beautiful colours for a rainbow room.  This year though, I'm leaning towards a Dr. Seuss inspired space!

I'm thinking that I can use characters from his books as my small group names, decorate with truffula trees, use a positive quote as my behaviour management catch-cry... and illustrations from Dr. Seuss' books lend themselves nicely to bright colour blocking on my bulletin boards and wall spaces.  

I found this print at Balancing Home.

Mrs. Lodge made these beautiful truffula trees.

Dr. Seuss canvas art from Pottery Barn Kids.

Do you have a classroom theme? Better yet, do you have a Dr. Seuss inspired room? I'd love to hear what other amazing ideas are out there for classroom themes. :)

Lauren