Work Board Update

I've been using my new Work Board for a couple of weeks now and the kids just love it.  I put some new centers on it and they are loving them!  Here is my latest edition:

Some of the centers are ones that I put on every Work Board, like "work folder" and "W.o.W.", and others are rotated in and out, depending on what we are working on that week.

Since I began this new and improved Work Board, my students have been begging me to take out the Work Board.  As you can see, I keep in in a pocket chart and have the pocket chart on one of those wheeled pocket chart stands so that I can move it around to where I want it.  

Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions at all!  Watch my video here to hear an explanation of my Work Board! 

Literacy Center Rotations ~ A much easier method.

I am working on, and have almost completed, a new product for my TpT store.  It's a rotation system for your Reading Workshop called Work Board.  Visit my Facebook page to see the video that describes this system, here.  The product will include many, many icons and recording sheets, along with instructions on how to use them.

Here's what the Work Board that I made looks like:

There are many, many more icons than shown here.  So, if you have any comments or questions, please don't hesitate to leave them here.  I'm very close to publishing this item.  I just want to be sure it is as perfect as I can get it.  :-)

My Teachers Pay Teachers Store

Thought I'd let you know the address of my store so that you could check it out if you'd like.  It is here.

I also just started a Facebook page, if you'd like to "like" it, that would be terrific!
It is here.

Please let me know any thoughts you have about it.  I'd love to hear them!

Been a While

It sure has been a while.  I have been very busy, as all of the teachers out there know, but I really must try to report back here more often.  

Today, I spent the entire day on the computer creating an item for my TpT store. It is an entire Work Board set up.  I will post it tomorrow or Monday. It was a lot of work and I hope that teachers out there find it useful.  I worked on it for no less than 12 hours today.  I included the items to make the Work Board and also some of the center recording sheets that I use. I think there are about 50 pages in the unit. 

I'm going to take a video of an actual Work Board set up so that teachers can see how to implement it.  

In other news, we are 2/3 of the way through the school year and the 3rd report card goes home in 3 weeks.  After that, we have one 4 day week and then a week off from school for spring break.  We are planning on taking a train down to visit our son in Washington D.C.  I've never been there and I'm excited to see our nation's capital.  

More Summer Prep at Home

Today is my birthday.  I am usually at work, getting my classroom ready at this time, but my room JUST got emptied today and if they haven't already begun, they will begin to clean it tomorrow.  I'm starting to get a bit nervous because I'm planning on reorganizing everything and it is going to take some time.

Since I haven't been able to go into the classroom, I have been getting things ready at home.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, I began to get my IKEA magazine boxes ready by gluing a black/white piece of scrapbook paper to a larger piece of blue card stock and then gluing the label that I printed out on top of the scrapbook paper.  The result has been very pretty.  I'll post a picture of a few of them tomorrow.  I plan on filling the bookcase behind my desk with these IKEA boxes to help me stay organized this year.  I have lots of things on those shelves that don't really fit like huge binders, plastic baskets with stickers and lots of other stuff.  A lot of what's on there now will be placed in a properly labeled magazine box. It will look neat and be easier to find.  

The other thing I've been doing is getting a teacher binder together.  I plan on making lots of binders to help keep things in their place and out of a pile. I tend to make piles with my paperwork and I'm hoping that by having plenty of labeled boxes and binders, it will be just as easy to pop the paper into the appropriate box/binder.  Along with the teacher binder, I plan to create a student information binder, a parent information binder along with pages to record any interaction I have with them and whatever else I come up with as I begin to organize my classroom.

I'll start posting pics of my classroom next week as I begin to get it ready.  

Summer Prep.

If you're anything like me, during the summer you have "teacher stuff" lying around all over your house. Right now, I have a ton of math games that I've downloaded, printed, laminated and are ready to be organized. I cannot get into my classroom yet, so I can't get the large envelopes I need to house the games.  After I get the envelopes,  I'll laminate them with a picture on the front of what it contains and I'll place them in a large box labeled, "Math Bags".  When I'm teaching a certain skill, I'll be able to grab the "bag" I'll use for the hands-on portion of my math lesson that day/week. 

Speaking of laminating, I broke down and bought a small home laminator at my local wholesale club store. 

This is a picture of the exact laminator I purchased.

It was 20 dollars and it came with about 15 laminating pockets.  I purchased an extra 50 pockets for 15.00, I think.  I was always against the idea of buying one more thing with my own money that I didn't necessarily need, especially because I can laminate at school pretty much any time I want to (if the machine isn't jammed, out of lamination film or being used), but the convenience far outweighed the cost, in my opinion.  I just love being able to get so much done over the summer and not having to try to get things laminated and cut out right before school begins when there is typically a big rush on the laminator and I'm also trying to get my classroom set up and organized. I have probably made somewhere around 20 math games for the new year, so far.  I also really like the lamination that is created by this little machine.  It's thicker than the lamination film that is in the big machine at school.  The only downside is that it can only laminate items that are 9x12 or smaller.  Most of the things I laminate fit just fine, but I'll have to laminate the envelopes that I'll use to house my games at school, using the big machine.  So, if you're on the fence about this machine, as I was for so long, you might want to go for it. I think it's well worth the money I've invested.  

Teachers Pay Teachers

I have always loved creating things for my classroom and after Teachers Pay Teachers came about, I saw that a lot of other people do too! I am so impressed with the products that teachers publish and put up for sale on that and other teacher-created sites. I have a little store called, The Elementary Classroom, that I started late last summer. I have downloaded many very nice games and other items to use in my classroom for free, but I have also purchased items. I just love that teachers are getting the money, rather than some large corporation.