Monday Made It

Hey Everyone!  

I am a little late linking up to 4th Grade Frolics for the Monday Made It!  I did not have much time this week creating things for my classroom because for once I was spending with the family.  So here is what I got done this week!

 As you see in my previous post, I created a starter bundle for an interactive student notebook.   Over the five years of utilizing the ISN in my math notebook, I have experimented with the proper setup, rubrics, and organizational strategies.  This product gives teachers the best starting materials to get their Interactive student notebook together.  The ISN Starter Bundle contains a total of seven main items that come in both color and black and white.  These items include: notebook setup, table of contents, teacher evaluation rubric, peer evaluation rubric, student grade sheet, student reflection form, and teacher planner.   All the pages are designed to best meet the needs of the students, while assisting the teacher to perfectly setup the ISN.  This bundle can be geared towards any grade and any subject since it is used just to get your ISN started.  If there are any questions, suggestions, or requests for a different color, please feel free to contact me!

View My Product HERE

 

I joined in on the Task Card train and went to Michael's to get the task card holder!  I then went to target to get the adhesive square label pockets.  I had a great time searching, printing, laminating, cutting, and arranging my task cards into categories to place in my new bin.  I am still working hard on finding or creating task cards for all the skill concepts that I will be teaching this year.  I am very tempted to buy another task card holder from Michael's and another set of label pockets from target thinking that I will need them later on in the year!  

I am excited to read up on what everyone else has done this past week!

Monday Made It

Hey everyone!  So I must say that I have been busy at work trying to change my classroom theme, and get everything for my new school year.  I was just recently hired at the inner city charter school.  I am so excited for this new adventure, but extremely nervous as well.  

I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It.

Since I am moving to a new school, I thought what better way to start my new year than with a new classroom theme.  I am making a small change to my bright blue and black chevron theme classroom to add lime green, bright blue, and black chevron.  Here are some of the new changes!

The first thing that I did to update my new classroom theme was to change my teacher toolbox.  I was so excited to get rid of some of the bins that I really did not use that often and create missing ones for things that I would constantly put in my desk.  I loved the new lime green and bright blue chevron backgrounds with the large print that pops off the toolbox.  It makes it so much easier to read and find!  I am thinking of creating one of these for my students to use and place it in the student corner with all of their supplies.  Any teachers use student toolboxes and does it work?

I then took my lovely file folder bins and updated these to go more with the classroom theme.  I got rid of the black chevron and added more color and changed the font to get the new look on the right.  I had to create a sixth grade bin this year since I will be teaching sixth and seventh grade math.  I use these bins for student work (portfolio) and it allows them to place all their graded work in an area that they are able to find if they want to take quizzes or tests home to study.  My students enjoy having their own personal spot with all their work.   

 The next thing I wanted to do was add more spunk to the overly used white board and cork board.  I use the cork board near my desk so that I can tack up my schedule, the student's schedule, and any other important things that I need to know about for that week.  The whiteboard I place near the front of the room and write all the objectives on it for the day.  As you can see the white board gets used heavily and needed to be cleaned up a bit.  Since I was repairing both of these items, I thought I would give them more color.  I simply took bright blue duck tape and taped the edges of them.  I had to make sure not to have any bubbles and that the tape was straight, but they were fixed up in no time.  I took some nail polish remover to my white board and instantly it was all white again.  I cannot wait to see what my new students say about the Michigan Football magnet!  As always, I will make sure to keep track of their record  right between my two magnets!

GO BLUE!

This was by far one of the most exhausting thing that I have done so far to get my classroom ready.  I sat down with all my binders and all my paperwork and wanted to make sure that I figured out some type of system so that my binders, unit plans, and tpt purchases were organized.  I hated the fact that I had things in different color binders.  I sat down and looked at what I had the most of and what colored binders would fit the items the best.  I ened up with all of my tpt products in the white binders and all my worksheets in the blue binders.  I then created other activities and my teacher binder in green and pink binders.  I still need to go through the rest of my worksheets and papers for the last month of school and file them correctly in the binders, but I can save that for a rainy day.  I found keeping my worksheets and tpt items separate to be easier than putting together everything by unit or skill.  I tend to use my tpt items as review or math centers.  Since I was working with center things, I decided that I had to come up with a way to organize my centers.  

I took this amazing rolling cart that I had in my classroom, which I really had no purpose for, and separated it into center categories.  By the end of the school year last year, I was putting my laminated centers, task cards, and I Have, Who Has games into random draws.  I feel so much better having things in bins.  I am going to work on creating file folders to place the different laminated games in.  I already placed the I Have, Who Has, and sorting cards into zip lock bags. I am really looking for ways that other teachers organize their center games, task cards, and flash cards.  I want to make sure that my students have access to it in case we have a free day or a game day or if they want to spend time after school reviewing using one of the centers.  What other ways do you organize center games and pieces?

I hope everyone has a wonderful week and I am excited to see what I create over this week.  I know I already have a huge to-do-list with preparing for my new school!

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.

Made It Monday

I am linking up to Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for Made It Monday!  

If you have not heard, I transferred schools within the dioceses.  I am extremely blessed to be moving closer home.  I no longer have a 45 min-1 hr drive to work anymore but a short 15 min - 20 min ride.  Since I have a new classroom, I am looking to spice things up with a beautiful new class theme.  I am looking at using a pink, blue, and black chevron theme for this year's classroom.  I have been creating my own templates for bins, charts, and labels.  Please make sure to check out my TPT Store for the most up-to-date products.  

Here is a picture of all my Made It Monday Goodies!  

Absent Bin

The first thing that I found out to be extremely successful was my absent bin that I created two years ago.  My students seem to love this system because they know that one of their friends fill out the form and to come in the next morning to check their name for all missing paperwork.  Since my new school has leveled classes, I had to create a new absent form that will just have my classes on them.  Please make sure to check out my TPT Store for this editable sign and form!  

Classroom Job Banner

Even though I am a middle school teacher, I have found that the students enjoy being responsible for their classroom and it saves me time straightening up the classroom at the end of every day.  The last several years I have used iHelp but I thought this year I would create a small banner and use clothes pins with numbers to delegate jobs.  My classroom job banner names each job and gives a small description of the job so that the students do not have to continue to ask me what they need to do.  I can tell them to read their job description.  The jobs that I have this year are the following:

-Teacher Assistants (2)

-Secretary

-Librarian

-Geek Squad (2)

-Board Inspector

-Classroom Inspectors (2)

-Postal Express

-Prayer Leader

Teacher Assistants - My teacher assistants will be asked to help me with various tasks throughout the week.  This can include handing out papers, collecting papers, checking homework, etc.  

Secretary - My secretary is going to organize my papers (put them in number order), make sure to that pencils are sharpened, clean the sharpener, and organize our craft corner (make sure our glue sticks, rulers, markers, pencils, scissors are in the correct bin).  This person will also be responsible for rotating the jobs so that everyone has a chance to have every job throughout the school year.

Librarian - My librarian will make sure that the classroom library is clean and organized.  That books are facing the correct way and will inform me of any books that are coming in ripped or torn.

Geek Squad - My geek squad is in charge of turning off the computers, projector, and iPads each day.  

Board Inspector - This person is in charge of erasing, washing, and cleaning up the board area.  I am going to a school that uses chalk boards so it can get very dusty and dirty quickly.  By having someone making sure that it is washed daily and clean, I can keep my classroom as clean as possible.

Classroom Inspectors - This group will be responsible for making sure that all desks are lined up, all trash is cleaned up from the floor, and that all windows are closed.  This job has saved me hours of cleaning and straightening up my room.  

Postal Express - This is going to be my office runner.  They will run all the things that I collected to the office or send notes to other teachers in the school.

Prayer Leader - Teaching at a Catholic school means that we say daily prayers (morning, lunch, after lunch, end of the day).  I used to choose a specific person at my old school and the kids said they felt left out.  I am now making it a job that will rotate so that everyone has a chance.  

I plan on recording and having my secretary rotate jobs on a weekly basis.  Please make sure to check out my TPT Store for my Classroom Jobs in chevron (black and white) and blue.  More colors to come soon!

Magnetic Name

Last year I created Ms. Lawler for my desk and this year I noticed that all the teachers in my new school have Mrs. or Miss.  Therefore, I needed to change/add some magnetic wooden letters to my name to make it Miss Lawler.  I found wood letters at Hobby Lobby and started by painting them white.  After the white color tried, I used this turquoise/blue color to paint over the white.  I then finished them with a sealer.  I repainted my old ones since I did not seal them last year.  I added magnets to the back of the letters and they will go on the front of my desk.   

Before

After

Desk Calendar
After spending what felt like FOREVER at Hobby Lobby the other day, I found this cute desk calendar.  I always wanted one since all the other teachers at my old school had one, but could never find one.  The only thing I did not like about it when I bought it was the color, since it did not match my theme.  Therefore, I changed it by painting it the same color as the letters for my name.  I started by painting it white to try and cover up the red paint.  I then went over it with the turquoise/blue and then sealed it with a spray paint.  I am hoping that it lasts!  I love it so much and am excited to add it to my desk.