Week 1

I am hooking up with Doodle Bugs to bring you Five for Friday!

If you listen carefully, you can hear the loud {{SIGH}}.  I finished my first week in this new position.  And I didn't cry.  Not once!  I wasn't even close.  While I am overwhelmed at times, I absolutely LOVE it!  To give you some background, I just made the transition from Kindergarten to 5th Grade Special Education. I joke with my co-workers that I finally graduated Kindergarten after all these years!  I got to meet with a few of my kiddies on my caseload and I adore them!  It's so neat working with older students.  They can really interact with you and express how they are feeling.  I have a little testing to do on Tuesday but then I am going to hit the ground running on Wednesday.  I'm SO excited!

I FINALLY got some things printed up so I can finish up my room.  You know how you have those loose ends that need to be tied up.  That's where I'm at right now.  Lots of little things to finish.

This is my desk area.....which I LOVE!  But I have some work left to do here.  I just printed the inserts for the white mini-shelves on top of my rolling cart.

So Tuesday morning I'll be able to finish those off.  Now I just have to make the inserts for the rolling cart next to it and this area will be finished.

A few of my students have Writing goals so I wanted to create a reference binder for them to use while they're writing.  It contains lots of graphic organizers, definitions, lists of nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.

My students are reading Frindle by Andrew Clements, in their gen ed class.  I wanted to support them in class so I'm reading it too.  I'm sure you're asking yourself, "Why hasn't she read this book before???"  Well, coming from Kinder, I can tell you everything you ever wanted to know about Tommie dePaolo, Kevin Henkes, Dr. Seuss, and many other children's authors.  Middle School faves....not so much!

I am also reading, "The Lemonade War" by Jacqueline Davies so I can try to do a Literature Study with my students.  I'm sure we'll need something more interesting after doing all that Corrective Reading!

Well I think that's all for me today!  In fact, I'm so tired I might just go back to bed!  Hope you have a great Friday.  Head on back to Doodle Bugs to read some other great blogs!

Five for Friday!

It's that time of the week again.........F.R.I.D.A.Y!!!!!  I'm VERY sad to report that I only have one more Friday to enjoy before things get REAL!  I'm trying to cram in every last ounce of goodness before the sugar hits the fan!

Well, if it's Friday then that means its time to hook up with Kacey over at Doodle Bugs Teaching to bring you . . . .

Well, just today I remembered I had to make my clip chart for my new classroom.  This is a behavior management system my new team uses so I'll join the bandwagon.  Later though, I plan to introduce my Gold Ticket system.  I'll post more on that later but the kids really eat that up!

I love to goof around with the kids and try to make each day fun so I didn't want the traditional "Good Job" on my clip chart.  I decided to add things I would actually say to keep it consistent.  If you like it, you can download load it for free by clicking the picture or HERE.

Ummm, does this really even need an explanation????  So, I decided to go with a "bright color" theme for my new room.  As I kept making things, somehow the Zebra Print pattern kept creeping its way into everything, so I went with it.  It really does help to balance the brightness.  Anywho, I found this cutie while I was shopping at Walmart.  There were only two and the other was cracked.  This little gem......3 bucks!  I have NO idea what I will use it for but maybe I'll put a pic of my furbabies in there:)

I finally finished by Teaching Binder.  I made two actually.  They're both available in my store for $9.00.  It's truly a steal since you'll never have to purchase a Lesson Plan book, Calendar, or Grade book ever again!  I'll update the product yearly so it's a HUGE savings.  The one I'm using this year is.......

It truly has everything you'll need to keep you organized this year.  I'm so excited to start using it.  The best part......it's completely editable!  So just type in your information, hit print and you're ready to roll!  Click on the picture above or HERE to check out what is in this product.

                        

                        

 

I have definitely been a spray painting QUEEN this summer!  If it stood still, I spray painted it!  I am re-doing my Teacher's Toolbox to match my room.  The one I had came in a soft blue color so that just doesn't work.  I'm also doing a lil something with those clipboards (yes, they are clipboards, lol.)  I'll have a finished post about these for Monday Made-It.  The lil doo-hickey on the spray can......best invention E.V.E.R.  It's a little nozzle you put on the can so your finger doesn't fall off when you are spraying. It was only 2 bucks at Walmart!  Gotta love Walmart!

That's all for this week!  Hope you enjoyed!  Head on back to Doodle Bugs to catch up with some other great bloggers!

Five For Friday!!!!!

It's that time of the week again........F.R.I.D.A.Y.!   It's practically my favorite word in the English language....well, at least during the school year!  Giddy-up for some fun~

Time to hook up with Doodle Bugs Teaching to bring you my "Five For Friday!"

  

                                      

At the end of last year, I noticed a teacher friend's filing cabinet all decorated.  I thought it was scrapbook paper at first but then she told me it was contact paper.  I decided to experiment and try it out myself.  Now, this is NOT the most creative example but you get the idea!  I removed the handles and made a template.  Cut, apply, and voila!  You have cute, decorated filing cabinets. I made labels that you can download for FREE.  Just click HERE to download them.  I'd appreciate any comments you would leave me :)  I am also going to try to use scrapbook paper on one to see how that turns out.  I'll keep you posted~

These were loosely based on the Subway series from KinderCraze.  You can see her set HERE.  I wanted something very specific on my classroom rules so I made these :)

 

This is obviously not a finished product, but I was able to get into my classroom one day this week.  I went in armed with a bunch of crafty supplies (paper, ribbons, etc.) to play around with.  I decided I wanted to cover my bins with a solid color.  I have some really cute denim-designed scrapbook paper.  I cut out the size and inserted but didn't have my Mod Podge with me.  I'll have that done next week.

I will not lie.  This picture makes me happy!  I had a*VERY OLD* old rolling card in my house. I think I used to use it in my bedroom to hold toiletries.  It was black and dusty when I started. {Kicking myself for not taking a before pic!}  I spray painted it purple and took it to school.  Each tray is big enough to hold a letter-size bin on a slant.  I filled that puppy up and plan to use it next to my GR table. It has a spot for everything I'll need during small group work!

[***GASP***}

Yes, this is a picture of my horrendous, hideous, laundry room......and sadly, what you're seeing is an improvement!  It is my goal to transform this room before I go back to school.  I think I'll need some help and A LOT of pinning!

Hope you enjoyed Five For Friday.  Now head on back to Doodle Bugs Teaching to check out more great posts!  Happy Weekend!!!

Five for Friday!

Hey there!  I'm hooking up with Doodle Bugs to bring your Five For Friday!  I just L.O.V.E. her idea of posting about the week. It has been one heck of a busy one as you'll see!

Well, I had some blog drama this week.  As you may have noticed my page and logo are completely different.  I found someone on Etsy to do my blog......but she didn't finish it then went AWOL on me!  I contacted her several times and she didn't answer.  So, I found Dream Like Magic Designs who did an OUTSTANDING job on my blog. She was fast, and very easy to work with!  I highly recommend using them if you are looking for a new blog design!

I finally uploaded my first paid product onto TpT.  I'm very excited about this new endeavor but I'm also feeling frustrated.  I have another blog / store that are doing very well.  I wanted to start this new blog because I switched grade levels.  My first blog is based on Kindergarten resources.  I'm now in 5th Grade so I couldn't really combine the two.  While I'm excited....I feel like I'm starting over, well, because I am :)  Anywho, here is a peek at my first product.

In my old position, I used checklists to assure I was meeting all of the Common Core Standards.  It was a life-saver for me, and a GREAT reference tool.  If anything ever gets questioned, all you have to do is flip open to that standard and start rattling off the dates you incorporated that standard into your lesson.  Voila!  You can click the picture above, or click HERE to view the product.  

This is my lil man!  Let me tell you, before I had dogs (I have two), I used to think dog-people were kinda crazy.  Well now, I'm as looney as they come!  This lil man is Mocha.  He was not fully cooperating in this picture because it's past his bedtime!  Sophie, my girl dog (they are brother/sister), currently has her face smushed into the sofa cushion so a picture of her was not an option!  I just adore these two fur-balls!

These are my new class rules.  I decided not to go with a particular "theme" in my classroom (or half-of-a-classroom) but I am going with neon colors.  Here is a closer peek at them:

I can't for the life of me get this picture to flip so you're gonna have to turn your head.  The picture doesn't really bring out how bright and colorful they are. I can't wait to hang them up next week!

These are the copybooks I found on sale this week. I bought 16 of them since that's how many students I have on my caseload this year.  I'm working on making an Interactive Math Journal for them, which will most likely turn into a TpT product so stay tuned!

Don't forget to head on back to Doodle Bugs and check out other blogs and ideas!  Thanks for stopping by!