Teacher Organizer Laid Out For Ya

One of my most popular items that I've put into my classroom is my teacher organizer.  I got the idea from Pinterest, (obvious, huh?)  It's funny because I actually ended up doing this around 5am in the morning one lazy summer morning!  

So here's my journey...

The person who made their organizer I found got this specific organizer at Garden Ridge.  (There is one you can get at Lowe's/Home Depot as well but it's a bit different.)

 So ta-da!  Here is the shell I started from... The example I found on Pinterest they spray-painted the black part white but I prefer the darker.  To me it helps the drawers pop (on the finished product).

So I made small Microsoft labels of all the items I could think of.  These were the larger drawers.  I glued the labels on scrapbook paper I had left over.  (I am a HUGE scrapbooker!)  I then mod-podged them on the outside cover of each drawer.  I really did complete it quickly.

Then I color-coded the smaller drawers with scrapbook paper and mod-podged them as well to the outside of the drawers.

I just let it dry for half an hour and voila!!  I absolutely love it this year.  It's on my desk and I use it probably every day.

And there's my desk (at the beginning of the year-covered computers).  I wish my desk looked that nice but the organizer helps tremendously!!

First Week Activities

Remember to bear with me for a while until I get my blog really going.  I'm still learning how to take good pictures of the ideas I'm using.  And I'm still trying to find the time to do so :)  The beginning of the year is so fast!

The first activity I have to showcase is our Get to Know You Bags.  I have friends who do this from Pre-K to 5th grade and all over the country.  It's very simple.  Send home a little letter (I will try to upload a copy soon) and a paper bag.  The instructions are to load it with 4 items to share with the class that let us know about you.  I went ahead and colored mine and added some of my most treasured things like friends, family, scrapbooking and the LONGHORNS!

                                                  

I filled my bag with my passport, my Brighton charm bracelets, and my digital camera.

Then the kids showcased their items throughout the whole first week.  I usually started and ended the class with three people sharing each day.
Daphne was so cute, she brought her dog's leash and had to make sure she took it home to be able to walk her dog!  A lot of the kids showed off their trophies, too.  A very great beginning of the year project!

I saved Friday as our Journal Decorating day.  I sent home a parent note (will see if I can upload at another date) and asked kids to bring pictures, magazine cut-outs, and scrapbooking supplies.  Some did and some just wanted to draw.  Then I covered them with contact paper thanks to an AMAZING parent who came in and helped two days in a row!

These are my scrapbook divas!  Merrick brought in a lot of stickers and ended up sharing them with everyone.  It was so sweet to see the kids sharing only after 4 days together.

The mom who helped me wrap my journals also donated ribbon from Hobby Lobby that most of the kids decided to use.  We did a strip anywhere on the page.  It turned out REALLY cute.  And, as you can see from Brandon's journal a lot of the boys decided to just draw and color on their journals.  What a fun way to wrap up the first week of school!

Love Me Some Dr. Seuss!

So, I LOVE reading.  Anyone that knows me knows that I know as much as most elementary librarians know about up-to-date children's literature and I'm a complete author stalker (in lite terms, of course)!  So when I decided on my travel theme this year I found lots of ideas for "Oh, the places you'll go!"  So I decided to do a co-theme of Dr. Seuss and Travel.  Indulging in my love of Dr. Seuss has been SO.MUCH.FUN.!  Just saying :)

My ribbon topiary was a lot of fun, and very easy to make.  Just wait until Hobby Lobby ribbon is 50% off and go to town!  I used wine corks to make the dots on the planters pot.  The color of the tool was right on key with my ribbon colors.  I just love it and I'd love to make more of these for the holidays, etc.

If you look closely you can see my ribbon topiary on top of the series section of my classroom library.  You can also see a lot of my Dr. Seuss stuffed animals that I got at Kohls, apart of their Kohls Cares program.

Picking my lunch box each year is a BIG DEAL!  I decided in early August that I really wanted an old-school tin lunch box.  One night I couldn't sleep and searched online for Dr. Seuss tin lunchboxes and found this one at www.lunchboxes.com  I love, love, love it!  And I've gotten a lot of fun compliments on it at school.  

And THEN, while searching for Leopard Converse I found......... DR. SEUSS CONVERSE SHOES!!!!!!  Can you say, "YES!!"  I mean, I was floored.  I couldn't find the perfect ones in women sizes on www.converse.com so I actually ended up googling Cat in the Hat shoes and found these from a company in Canada, www.bagginsshoes.com.  I also have my eyes on the Green Eggs and Ham shoes and The Lorax ones, too!  Christmas presents!!!

If you have any other ideas/resources be sure to comment!  I'd love to hear about them.  My students are really responding positively to my Dr. Seuss addiction. :)  It definitely brings life to the classroom!

Classroom Set-Up Highlights

I thought I would highlight some of the new things I've put in my classroom this year.  So far, (after 2 weeks) I love each of these!!

At the front of the room I put a schedule for the kids to write in their time tracker/planner each day when they come into class.  I put homework, important dates, and reminders on there.  The kids are doing very well with it!  I enjoy seeing the information too.

I got the idea to decorate your filing cabinet from Pinterest.  I just put black butcher paper on with rubber cement, with a border and poster that my friend printed my name on.  I put my UT Pillow Pet (!!!), Willow Tree Angels and picture frames that I've received as gifts on it.  My desk is hidden behind.  I don't ever need anyone seeing my desk (or me if I actually have a chance to sit at it during planning).

I decided to do two (somewhat) connected themes with Travel (OH YEA!!) and Dr. Seuss (YIPPEE!!)  I find the more I share of my interests the more the kids buy in.  So when you walk into my room you usually will notice our wall with everyone's names.  I used Ms. Lak's ideas on her travel theme to put up "Where learning takes FLIGHT!"  (The picture was taken before school started with the wrong word. LOL I had to fix it before Meet the Teacher.  On that note the plastic came off of my computers, too. Lol)  

And this was the beginning of my Super Improvers Wall.  I can upload the file once I learn how.  I used the original sports theme that I learned in my WBT conference.  I have yet to put the kids names up.  I went to Hobby Lobby and got the bronze, silver and gold glitter paper ($1.99 a page, ugh!).  I'll have to take a picture of the final product once I'm done.

And that's it for now!  I'm completely focused on content and curriculum at the moment.  This week I'm applying for Model Teacher for the district so I've got to get everything organized, cleaned up and put my Super Star Teaching into effect!