Made It Monday - July 20, 2015

Hey everyone!  As I get another week closer to school starting, I am starting to worry if I will be ready.  I am not allowed to move into my new classroom until two weeks until school starts.  This worries me because I would be going into my old school now to set up.  I am very OCD about my things and worry that a week and a half will not be enough time to get organized and used to the new school.  This past weekend I was able to pick up all my things from my old school.  This meant that I was able to work more on my bins and organizing my binders.

I am linking up with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for my second Made It Monday!  

Please make sure to stop by her site and link up with the party to share all your products!

Here is an image of all my products for this week!  As you can see, I was busy fixing up old things and creating new things!  Please make sure to check my TPT for all my new products.  Please feel free to message me if you would like something customized for your classroom!

Teacher Toolbox

So I wanted to revamp my teacher toolbox so that it would match my new classroom theme.  Before my toolbox was a dark navy blue with blue and maize labels (for Michigan of course).  I decided to try this spray paint thing (which I never did before).  So I was stupid enough to try it out on the hottest, most humid day that we have had in PA all summer.  So I painted it to my classroom theme and then decided to create my own labels.  As you see, I am still unsure as to what I want the last big bin to be.  I have researched and many people have pencils, pens, expo markers, but I cannot fit my markers, pens, or pencils in the bin without turning them diagonally.  Besides, I have my cute pen holder for all my adorable flair and colored pens.  So I am up to suggestions as to what else I

 can put in that last bin.  I do have the following things so far:
-Post-It Notes & Post It Tags (the small ones)
-White Out
-Fine Tip Sharpies
-Highlighters
-Charging Chords (my ipad/iphone)
-Glue Sticks                    - Thumb Tacks
-Scotch Tape                  - Staples
-Paper clips (small, large, x-large, fancy)
-Binder clips (small, medium, large)
-Rubber bands                - Staple Remover
-Brass Brads                   - Change (coins)
On top of my teacher bin I have my desk calendar that I created last week along with my correcting pen holder which I created by taking a black short vase and wrapped it with ribbon.

Please make sure to check out my TPT Store for the teacher tool box labels.  Again, I am willing to change them to meet the needs of your classroom theme!

 Welcome Banner

I got this great idea from NOT JANE when she created her lovely welcome banner from target.  I was looking for the chevron and blue theme for the longest time.  I could not find anything on TPT or pinterest so I created my own.  I laminated the banner and then punched holes in the banner to connect each piece to create my final master piece.  I absolutely love it and cannot wait to hang it from my door as the students come in!  This was a simple make that took only an hour to create, laminate, cut, and construct!  

Homeroom Bin

This is a bin that I have been using the past four years, but it needed a huge makeover.  I decided to spray paint it black because I did not want to have too much blue in my room.  It used to be a very dirty white.  My spray paint was able to cover all the dirt.  I then created several labels that match the rest of the labels that I am using throughout my classroom.  My homeroom has been using this as a way to organize their papers instead of bringing everything to my desk.  They place their office notes, papers, letters in the designated bin.  All lunch orders go in it's own bin and any notes or things that need to be turned into me goes in my bin.  This is easier than having 100 different things on my desk.  It also allows me to check off who did or did not turn things on.  Of course I enforce the "put your name on everything" in the beginning of the year.  I just found this to be an easy way for me to organize myself in the morning and keep papers off my desk!

Again, check out my TPT Store for all my label products.  Of course if you need any of them to be altered to your classroom theme, I will gladly do so!

Teacher Cart Organization

I started using this last year when I spotted this gem at SAMS club.  As you can see, I am extremely organized!  I like to plan for the week and make copies early so that I do not have to fight people for it.  In each of these bins I have a file folder for each class I teach.  In those folders are all the handouts that I need for the week.  This way I can go to the correct day, class, and just hand out the papers that I need.  It is also a great way for subs to come in and find things very easily.  I used to have small address labels on this for the different days of the week, but decided since I was making custom labels to create some for this cart as well.  I did add the bin "next week" to to my cart this year.  One goal I have is to try and prepare for the following week as early as I can.  If I know of worksheets, papers, or projects that I want to do the next week, I can put that material in that bin so it will be easy to find.  I am still unsure how to use the last four bins.  Again, I am up to suggestions.  I was thinking of copy and file, but I have a different organization style for things like that.  I have a hanging file cabinet folder for each class that I need to file so when I have time (once a month), I file them into their correct binders.  The only thing I can think of is to create bins for things that I am in charge of (Student Council, 8th Grade Graduation, 8th Grade Trip).  The only problem to this is that I have binders with all of these things.  So, SUGGESTIONS?

Teacher & TPT Binders

Since I was able to get into my old classroom, I was able to pick up all my binders filled with all my tests, quizzes, worksheets, and TPT products.  I really wanted to sit down this summer and figure out how to organize all my work.  Over the weekend, I posted a question on my Instagram asking how everyone organizes their TPT products.  I decided that since I am teaching leveled classes that it might be a good idea to organize them based on topics.  I laid out all my products based on topics and decided to put them into binders based on large units (6th grade material, pre-algebra, algebra, geometry, my own foldables & I Have, Who Has game).  I am working on an additional binder that has holiday TPT products in.  Then I wanted to sit down and organize my teacher binder.

 My teacher binder has all the essentials that I need throughout the school year.  I used clear protective sleeves and post it note dividers.  My first section is my weekly planner.  I plan on keeping this in a clear protective sleeve because then I can use white board markers to write on it, and erase it each week.  This will allow me to stay organized.  This worksheet includes the following things:

-To Do Check List
-Don't Forget Section
-Meetings
-Next Week
-Misc

I think each section is needed to help me through the school year.  With being in a new school, I need to make sure that I stay up-to-date on all the things going on.

The next section of my binder is the monthly calendar.  I found this to work last year.  I then copy the school calendar and have them facing each other.  It allows me to compare what is happening at home with events that are going on in school.  Being highly involved in school and community means that I need to make sure that I manage my calendar.  So my calendar is ready for the whole school year!  August to June!

 After the calendar would be a spot for my lesson plans.  I place my lesson plans in the clear protective sleeves.  I do this because if I need another day for a lesson, I can use a white board marker to draw arrows or write in my lesson plans.

Following my lesson plans are my meeting notes paper.  I use these for monthly faculty meetings and weekly middle school team meetings.  It allows me to place the date at the top and includes the following:
-Notes
-Action Items (things going on that week)
-Dates to Remember
-Misc.

Being team leader, I then take these notes to create a Google doc. of what happened at the meeting for all teachers.

 After the meeting log is my parent contact log.  I love this section of my binder.  It allows me to keep record of all parent contact.  My school is very strict with making sure that we record all parent contact in case we need them for reference.  This log includes the following:
-Student's name
-Parent I contacted
- Way I contacted them
-Date
-Notes section to write down what we discussed

It is an organized way to keep parent contact log in case my principal ever needs it or a parent does not remember what we discussed last time we met.  It helps with parent conferences as well.  So I can help direct my conversations with the parents.

The last section of my teacher binder is my usernames and passwords.  This section is new to me.  Last year, I had so many passwords, usernames, and emails to remember that I would tend to forget what the username or password was to various websites.  This year I am going to try and improve that by keeping track of all this information.  Other team teachers have similar things and found it so useful.  I would ask them the password to the teacher iPad or the students iPads and they would be able to quickly tell me this information by looking at their username and password section of their binder.  Since I am starting at a new school, I thought it would best to include this since I am going to need to learn new emails, passwords, usernames, and use new websites.

I was worried about putting this in my binder, but this binder stays on a safe place behind my desk so that students will not get into it.