Classroom Tour...Better Late than Never!

Hi friends!  My enthusiasm for blogging and creating came to a screeching halt on August 27th.  Wowzaaaa this is going to be a year to remember....full of crazy common core days, awesome adventures, and college, college, college. But guess what!  After this year I (fingers crossed) have tenure!  (insert choir of angels singing....HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH HALLELUJAH) So I may be sparse this year, but know I'm still kicking it in a windowless classroom!


Enjoy the tour!

WELCOME, WELCOME, WELCOME

Our schedule is cray cray this year, so I made magnetic circles that are super easy to change daily...my kiddos will say on the regular, "how many circles do we have left?" 

My math/everyday board. This includes lunch choices, date, addition strategy posters, and our problem solving apple tree. I put my math manipulatives here for easy accessibility this year...the blue, pink and green bins are where I put the three math rotation activities each day. Also, I love my new fabric for my stools!

My social studies board was pretty blank when I started school, but it is up and running now!  I hot glued ribbon to each of my letters on my alphabet so I can clothes pin my weekly words as they are taught.

The card system worked really well for me last year, so I stuck with it this year...so far so good!

This is my fav!  My reading nook has my reading board, read to self and read to someone bins, and my custom built bookcase!  I hang the theme, pictures of the story covers, CC standards and high frequency words each week.

Writing corner time....I try to utatlize every nook and cranny in this tiny box of a classroom.

This dry erase board has become my BFF. For real. It is fabulous.  I use it for every lesson.  The kids love writing on it and it is so easy to quickly model something...plus when the Smart Board gets mad at me and we need a break from each other, I won't have to waste hundreds of sheets of chart paper!

"In my own little corner, in my own little chair, I can be whoever I want to be..."  I was Cinderella in our school musical...don't judge. I do love me some teacher desk cubby hole time.  The placement of the filing cabinet really makes me feel like I have my own space, and my kids know that is my space. 

Can you say holy desk skirt??? My mom is AMAZING.  She made this little ditty and velcroed that baby up. Ugly desk turned cute.  Magic. 

Curtains for fake windows?  Why, yes I think I will. 

With our crazy schedule and the rigor of common core, we barley have time for a routine calendar time during the day.  I try very hard to do this daily, but there is only so much I can do :( My weekly calendar helper will change things, even if we don't have time to do this as a whole group. 

Itty bitty lap top desk!  Squeezed between a wall and a sink...so what?  Its space and I used it!

Probably 76% of my day is spent sitting at this small group table, so pillow to match my desk skirt was a must. A mini dry erase board is a necessity too for SPED, ESOL or anyone working with a small group. 

Math games organized by unit and lesson...plus extra math manipulatives. 

Another amazing mom creation!  I needed a space where I could store not so cute, not so organized or not so tidy things....so pretend its oz and don't step behind the curtain. 

Cubbies, a little touch of home decor, and my favorite bees!

Table caddies filled with scissors, glue, pencils, crayons, 100's charts and number lines. I put washi tape on all of the caddy materials so I know what is mine.  Each table will get a table tally if all materials are in place at the end of the day. 

We have been in school for almost a month and I am O-FISH-ALLY exhausted....but I'm gonna keep on swimming :) 

We Painted, We Sewed, We Built.

I had a funny moment today where I laughed at myself out loud...for thinking classroom set up got easier your third year.  HA. HA. HA.  I'm sure it would be easier if I didn't want to redo everything, every year.  Needless to say, I'm tired and a little stressed.

An empty classroom is inspiring and exciting.  A set up and finished classroom is amazing.  A classroom in the process of being set up with things EVERYWHERE and you working for 8 hours and feeling like nothing was accomplished....that's stressful.  But this is my kind of stress.  I live for it.


This is how my mind and life work....

I didn't want my teacher toolbox to be blue anymore....so I painted it pink.

I didn't want my curtains for my fake window to be fake anymore...so my mom sewed me real ones.

I was not even a little bit happy with the book shelf situation in my classroom....so my Daddy custom built me one this weekend.

I needed a table for the two laptops in my room....we found an old one in the shed and the sister repainted it.

I needed smaller stools to fit the above said table, but they don't make small stools for above said table....so we bought regular ones and Dad cut the legs off. 

Moral of this post written out of pure exhaustion...my family is exhausted, they wish I weren't so type A, and I am extremely blessed to have them.  Another moral is that my room is not done quite yet, but I will post pics as soon as I am happy with it!

Now Teach! I love me some organization!

Ok guys, I'm super excited because I eat, sleep and breath organization.  Seriously, my mom always knew when I was stressed growing up because I'd be awake organizing and cleaning (OCD much?!?!) But seriously, organizing is something you can control.  So when your day in the classroom seems chaotic, rest assured your instructional materials are not. It truly is calming.

I am by nature neat and organized, but my true love and need for organization in the classroom came from Shafer. She was like the Mr. Miyagi of classroom organization.

Now, I will say, there are things that I slip up on, get sloppy with, and forget about.  Typically, these are the things that during the school year are just too much to tackle and they get labeled "that will be my summer project." This year, that happened to be my LA and Math game bins.

So, here are some things that keep me sane throughout the year....

1. GO BUY A LABEL MAKER...enough said.

2. Get your binder on!  Have a binder for everything....I'm serious, its a game changer.  I am soooo excited to get to school and print and stock my binders for the year with all the Common Core goodies I need.  

3. Bins and Labeling! I have an obsession with organizational bins, anything that's a cute color that can hold something, I buy.  Its a problem. But seriously, bins and labels! 

 4. Keep your desktop neat and tidy...nothing gives me hives more than a desktop that has things not in folders. eeeek!  It breeds anxiety.

You can't see it very well, but I have a folder for each subject, a TPT folder, a school year folder and a "to print" folder (this is my favorite).  When I know I need to print something, as I'm planning the night before, I drag and drop to this folder so in the morning I don't forget to print!

5. Milk crates, zip locks and hanging file folders. This was my summer project and I'm so excited to use them this year!  This is a trick of the trade I learned from Shafer....it's so simple, but so amazing!

Print, laminate and organize all of your games/activities and store them in big ol' Ziplocks.  Then, label (with above said label maker) the bags with what unit or theme the game/activity is from.  Now, in your milk crate, label and organize hanging file folders for each theme, subject, or unit.  Stick your labeled Ziplocks in their designated spot, and holy moly its a life changer.

EXTRA EXTRA! And guys I finally jumped on board with this last year....get your kiddos organized DAY 1!  Set the example and give them incentives.  I was skeptical, but this so works!  There are tons of amazing ones of these on TPT.  I created my own last year that worked with my class.  Check out the post where I introduce here.  Also, for teacher week, grab it for free below!

Link up and rock out this Teacher Week.  Tomorrow is my first day back to work. I have to be a geek and say I am soooo excited!  My mom took off work and her, J and I will be setting up tomorrow. All of the summer printing, labeling and laminating will finally be put to work tomorrow!

Yea...This is Happening.

So, I'm in love with this whole teacher week thing!  However, unfortunately, I am not entering my classroom until Thursday....which means you get a big fat...

IOU

on the whole come inside my classroom party. I'll be here tomorrow linking up to talk about organization, but to get acquainted with my classroom digs, you're going to have to stop by next week!  

Teacher Week...Say What!?!?!?

Oh, Happy last Monday of the summer for this girl to you all friends!  I am loving that Blog Hoppin' is hosting this fun week to soften the blow of the inevitable...it's time!

Today is a toughy because honestly if you just hit the "Always Me" tab up top, you'll get to know me....but when teacher week calls, we deliver!  So here goes...I'll try not to bore you!

1. If you know me personally, you'll know that I have wanted to be a teacher since I could walk and talk.  Seriously. Between the type A personality God gifted me with, the only child symptom of slight bossiness and the dramatic flair that kept me always thinking I was on stage...teaching was it for me. When I was in third grade, my teacher gave me an overhead projector that the school was going to toss.  I took that baby home, set it up in my room, pulled down my shade screen and the rest is history. Teaching isn't EXACTLY what I imagined it to be when I was 8...but I still can't imagine doing anything else. 

2. I grew up in the 90's so my mom had a perm, I wore vests and leggings, lots of bangs, very thick white socks that scrunched down and of course scrunchies. 

3. I adore my dog. She is 95% of the time a scraggly mess, she typically has something wrong with her, she is scared of her own shadow, and she sheds ALOT....but she's mine. I love her clumsiness, curiosity, innocence and gentleness.  

4. I have a huge family.  You come to my town and you realize, we are everywhere.  My Dad was one of five....all five of them live in our small town, all five of them have 2-4 children, and at least half of those 2-4 kids have their own kids.  And the kicker, most of them live in a 20 minute radius.  Not to mention my Dad's cousins and their families who live in the area. I grew up with all of them and am lucky now to call them friends. 

5. Hi, my name is Caitlin and I am dairy free. ("hi, Caitlin"). I have been dairy free for almost two months.  I have had issues with my stomach since I was an infant.  It ain't fun. Since adulthood, I've tried umpteen million not super fun things to kick my stomach into gear (including....gluten free, liquid diets, teaspoons of apple cider vinegar before meals, and much, much more). I've never tried the dairy free thing though, because I LIVE OFF DAIRY. I could drink a gallon of milk, eat a block of cheese, a carton of ice cream, and three things of Greek yogurt a day.  I finally gave in and tried it. I will say that I have not been cured, I still struggle with issues, but WOW do I feel better! I feel so much better that I haven't cheated once in the past 6 weeks!  

6. I am not southern (even though some would consider Maryland a southern state). But, I am from the shore.  I can't imagine living where there isn't water, boats or seafood.  Yesterday, after church, we headed to our town's watermen's festival.  The Watermen's Association put together this awesome event that provided over 300 bushels of crabs, a boat docking contest, and pictures and autograph opportunities with Liz from Swamp People and Edgar from The Deadliest Catch. 

7. I have dear friends that I have had since I was itty bitty, but the ones I have made in my adulthood truly make me understand what friendship is.

 8. I am starting a high school youth group at my church.  I saw the need, heard the call and opened my big mouth.  Prayers please!  I have big dreams for this.

9. My middle name is Paige.  Caity Paige, yea that's me. 

10. I am going to be a third year teacher....oh that sounds so good!  My first year was pure survival, sinking or swimming, soaking in every nook and cranny of new information, and learning who I was in the classroom.  My second year, I was on fire with ideas, organizing, new curriculum, keeping up and growing.  This year, my third year, God I am excited to teach!  

Whew there you have it!  I'm going to eat a brownie for breakfast and enjoy this last Monday of summer.

Hop on over and enjoy the fun!