Classroom Reveal

 Finally!!   I am ready to show my classroom.  You will notice that my classroom has very little wall space.  That forces me to use the blinds to hang stuff from.  My front wall is mostly taken up by my white board and the back wall is cabinets and sink.  But, I manage.  I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out.    Please know that once school starts, I will be taking down the "premade" posters and replacing them with student work.  I just don't like bare spaces and those posters give some color.  Take a look.

View from front door

Library area

View from back of room

My area-  I traded my big desk for this small computer table

Front of room

Team Caddy

Book Bins

Those rectangles have letters on them.  This will be my word wall. 

Love my globe!  It's actually lights up.

Behavior expectations/ Clip Chart

Found this bulletin board at Goodwill for $5.  Perfect for this space!  I redid Cara's posters to match my colors.

Binder cover that each student receives

Hopefully, that wasn't too many pictures for ya!  Just wanted to show every angle.  

I get to meet my kiddos on Monday and then officially start on Wednesday.  I am super excited and am anticipating an amazing year!

I linked up with Beg, Borrow, Steal for her tour of classrooms.  Head on over there and check it out.  I've also linked up with  Swimming Into Second's Show Off Your Space.

What is Original? and a Freebie

A while back, I posted a free Number of the Day on Google Docs.  I was then notified by a seller on TpT that mine was similar to hers and that might cause her a problem since she was selling hers.  I took mine off of Google Docs.  Since then, I have had MANY emails requesting the Number of the Day download. 

That got me to thinking about "original".  What does it mean anyway?  I have seen many things duplicated by teachers on TpT and TN that I know the seller did not invent.  I purchased two Matter units from two different sellers.  Both of those packets contained Root Beer Float activities.  And what about Oobleck?  How many sellers have that in a packet?  I have seen things duplicated from Lakeshore, Really Good Stuff, Carson-Dellosa, etc.   Check out the Back to School packets.  Most all of them contain some type of getting to know you bingo with the same questions.  So the only thing original in the way it's arranged.

How many times have you thought, "Oh, this would be the coolest idea to do for ___!", only to find out someone else already thought of it?  In the world of teaching, is there such a thing as "original"?  Math concepts, reading strategies, science stuff...it's the SAME everywhere and the activities are the same.  Seriously, I remember putting celery in food coloring to see how the water travels up the stem when I was a kid (a long time ago).  Someone may put a little different spin on it or add a cute graphic and font, but the concepts are still the same.  Many of these "original" ideas came straight from a text book!

I'm not trying to cause anyone any problems.  I'm not trying to be negative or nasty.  I'm just saying that because my Number of the Day was "similar" to hers, does not mean I shouldn't post it.  So, I have decided to put it back up.  FREE FOR THE TAKING! There are 20 premade numbers and one blank so you can create your own.  I only used numbers that would make the telling time to the nearest 5 minutes.  I'll change up once we have covered time to the nearest minute.

Click here to download

I apologize in advance if this post offends anyone.  That was not my intent.  My goal is to help children become successful. And if I can help a teacher or two along the way, that's even better.  What are your thoughts about "original"?  I'd love to hear them!

Monday Made It and a Freebie

Our beach vacation was wonderful.  I was kinda worried that it would rain the whole week, but the weather was just beautiful.  My family was able to relax and make some fabulous memories.  Now that we're back, it's CRUNCH TIME!  I officially go back to work on the 16th, which is just right around the corner.  I didn't get a lot accomplished this past week, but here's what  I've got.

I made some super cute labels for my kiddos' journals.  The math and science will be the same for boys and girls.  Reading and writing are a little different.  I have half sheet size labels that I printed them on so it was super easy to just peel and stick them to the notebook.  Check 'em out.

  
If you would like these, you can grab them for free here.

Our first science unit will be the Solar System, so I made a solar system vocabulator.  The idea came straight from the host of this linky, Tara.  You can check out here post here.  

The little vocabulary cards are FREE for the taking.  Just click here.
You can purchase the tubes at Forney Educational for only $4.
Well, I'm off to work in my classroom for a little bit.  I have to go to the dentist this afternoon for a crown.  Don't forget to link up!