Remember Me? [part two]

I'm back again, and quickly this time! :) I promised I would post more often, and by the title of my last post, I HAD to post at least a part two [if not a part three here shortly].

I was back at work in my classroom again yesterday. I got a lot of detail things I had thought about doing done! Most teachers probably don't decorate their rooms to the extreme with which I do, but it's just my personality and I can't help it. I definitely type-A and extremely detailed oriented [and also a tad geeky!] the little accents and things here and there are what really get me pumped! lol

So here's a look at my classroom yesterday standing from my doorway:

What do you think? In my last post it looked pretty much the same. I just got the students' nameplates and Take Home Binders [look for a post about those coming soon!] done and added something to the front of my desk. I also changed up my Reading Corner off to the left there.

I had put my new robot calendar [that I just LOVE] on the wall above the papasan chair near the reading corner. But I just didn't like it there. Last year my calendar was on the middle window [now behind my desk] and loved it being on the window. So I changed up the Reading Corner and took the Book Bin shelves away from the window and put the calendar on it. I then put the book bin shelves against the wall where the calendar was and it looks much better! I just want a rug to put over there now! [in time...because of course the one I want and I won't settle for less is a bit pricey, so I'm waiting for my next TpT payment in September! lol]

So here's how it looks now:

 

I like it so much better.....don't you!?

Here's my Book Bin shelves I was able to finish yesterday too! I got my class list Wednesday [yayy!] so I was able to make the tags and get them finished up. Here's the complete look:

                                                          

and here's how I set them up:

                               

Everyone has their own bin. They will keep their Read to Self books, Reading Group books, bookmarks and a small pack of Kleenex in there. [This idea dawned on me last year when I had a few girls ALWAYS needing to blow their noses while they were reading. This will prevent that. You know those 3 pack of purse-size tissues are only 99 cents - and saves their "hassle" ;)]
I numbered the shelves so they keep their bin with their number. They'll always be in the same place and I won't have to re-number them year after year.

The clips are new for this year; something I am trying. Last year I had a problem with them taking TOO MANY BOOKS! No matter how many times we talked about taking only 6 or 7, they would take at least 3 times that. Well not this year. I am going to number the clips to make their numbers and they are only allowed to take as many books as they have clips. They can take a clip back when they return a book. Right now everyone has 4 clips, but that's because I didn't buy that many when I picked them up at a flea market. I didn't exactly have a plan for them at that time, so two packs seemed sufficient....wrong! So I'm planning to stop out today and pick up a few more.... I think I will give everyone 6, perhaps 8 but I'm not sure. How many do you allow your students to take? Any input would be great!

Yesterday I also put up my behavior management clip chart. I made a new one this year to match the chevron [of course!] and hung it in a new spot. It looks great, I think!

I made matching behavior calendar logs as well. They are available in my TpT store here if you decide you really like it! I posted it on there because whenever I looked for a system I liked, the behavior logs didn't exactly match the clip chart because they were always separate files by different Teacher Authors. Chevron is a huge new craze and the colors match just about any "theme" so I thought it would be about time that someone offered BOTH together to correlate easily. Let me know if you decide to get them and how they work out for you! :)
You'll notice next to it the Homework Club display. It's a round cookie sheet from the Dollar Tree that I hung. I got the Homework Club sign, numbers and idea use from the TpT store of 4th Grade Frolics here for FREE! I love it and hope it will be a great incentive for my students to do their homework! We shall see..... ;)

Well, that's all for this post... I have lots more to show and say but my Hubby wants me to bring him lunch at work :) so I'm off to pick us up some Panera [yum-o!]
I'll definitely be back with a part three [and who knows, maybe even a part four] some time soon [maybe even later tonight]....

Until then, thanks for reading and have a BLESSED day!

Tami :)

Remember Me? [part one]

REMEMBER ME!?

I know.. it's been a looooong time since my last post! It's been crazy busy around here, but I'm back and promise to post more - so please hold me accountable to that!

So, here's what's been going on.... last time I posted I had moved up to 2nd grade and looped with my students! Second grade was wonderful and I absolutely LOVED it! This year, though... I'm moving up AGAIN! I'm headed to 3rd grade! I don't think I am truly looping with my kids again, but I will have a majority of them for a third time... I just don't have my class list yet! [fingers crossed it comes today!]


I've been quite inspired by Pinterest over the summer [aren't we all?!] and my newest craze is ChEvRoN! So, I thought I'd give y'all a peek into my classroom! It's not quite done all the way, still waiting on some chevron border I bought from Creative Teaching Press ....it's been back-ordered since July! I'm hoping it comes in soon. We don't start back until after Labor Day [lucky, I know!] so I still have time... I'm just impatient!

So to start with chevron craziness, I made my own curtains for my classroom this year! Last year, I really wanted to find white cotton valances [harder than it sounds!] for cheap and tye dye them. Well, I never found them. The ones I did find would have been $20 per panel, and I would have needed about 5-6 of them... a little too much for my wallet at the time. I'm glad I didn't end up finding them. As fun as they would have looked, I LOVE the ones I ended up with this summer!
So, I bought some gray and white chevron fabric from Hobby Lobby with my nifty 40% off coupon and got 8 yards for about $35. I also bought this fabric "tape" instead of ribbon to give it a fun accent. I bought 5 different colors for each panel. Then, I just used a heat bond adhesive to put it all together. I don't own a sewing machine, and if I did I don't know how to use it..... so this was the easy option!

Here's what the process looked like:

I just used my iron and my eyes to make the creases straight. The zig zags of the chevron pattern help make it straighter but also help camouflage any mistakes too!
After I made one using the curtain rod I had at home [I knew it was the same as what I had at school] I took it to my classroom to see how it looked. It fit perfectly but it didn't look full, so I decided that I need 2 per panel. I have a large window at the back of my room with two windows side-by-side, and I knew that one would need 3 panels.... so I had a lot of work to do!
The thing about the fabric I bought that I didn't realize until I got it, was that the chevron pattern didn't run continuous over the whole 8 yards, it ran the opposite way. It ended up working out, as the 44" width it came was the way my pattern ran, and all my panels ended up the same width. I just had to cut them to be the same length. Once I made the first one to the length I liked, I just measured it all and got the rough length to cut the rest of the panels.

So here's a close up of all the panels done with their colors!

I have 3 windows that are a standard size... those are the green, pink and orange. The teal panels are my large back window. Then, the yellow is the extra fabric I had left and I made it to cover part of a tall shelf I have for Word Work activities. Since it's so tall, I can cover the top half of items I use mainly as storage and the bottom is open for the kids. I just hung that one with a tension rod [that of course didn't fit!] and two hooks.

Here's a look at them hanging in my classroom:

What do you think? I just LOVE them! They feel so homey and will match just about anything I do down the road!

You can see a bit from here I have a lot of chevron going on...

I made and hung rainbow colors/chevron patterned pennants from my ceiling randomly. I love hanging things from the ceiling! :)

Over where the book bins are, I used gray and white chevron contact paper to line the shelves. I'll be making a chevron mini pennant banner that says "book bins" to hang over the window [check for a part 2 or 3 of this blog in the coming days!]

The new décor I bought this year is probably some of my favorite.... along with the library... and the curtains...... who am I kidding - I love it ALL so far! haha

But here's what I'm talking about:

I found a lot of these on Pinterest and printed them off. I just love how they look on the wall! They serve as great reminders and inspirations for myself and my students.

This is my absolute favorite of all! I just loved this metal sign when I saw it at Hobby Lobby. I went back for it and got it half off a few weeks later and it looks awesome! It's one of the first things you see when you look/walk into the room and will be a great reminder each morning :)

I made a reading corner this year that is not a part of the class library so the kids have another place to relax and read! This is a small stand I had leftover from my days at home living in a cramped bedroom with my little sister [LoL!]. Again, I used the contact paper and put the flowers I had left from a bridal shower for [one of] the wedding I was in over the summer. Above this awesome sign I [again] found on Pinterest, I have a ribbon board. I am going to ask my students to bring in pictures of themselves with their families to keep in the classroom over the year. Just another idea I found on Pinterest and adapted to my room!

Okay....here's the last picture I'll post for today...

My class library! I just LOVE it!

I got the bench/storage seat at Target for more places to relax and added book storage. I also brought in the white cube storage shelf I got on sale at Target [LOVE that store, obviously] for more book storage. I accumulated a ton more books this year. Between donations, garage sales and good deals at the store I stocked up on a bunch more for my kiddos [especially since I'll have a good chunk of them for the 3rd year in a row!]