FLASH FREEBIE!

As I was working in my classroom today I came up with a new idea for my job chart. I used polka dot pockets last year, but wanted something to fit my Bright Colors classroom theme.

TaDa! Bright chubby pencils from Creative Clips with the job written on them! Only until midnight, this item is FREE at my TpT store! Get it now so your kiddos can be "penciled in!"

Classroom Renovations

Jeeze Louise this has been a busy week! On Monday I began the dreadful process of moving classrooms. I definitely can't complain about being bored for the rest of summer! I spent two full days slaving away {with the help of some wonderful colleagues!} and STILL have a ton to do. Before you scroll down and look at pictures, let me give you a heads-up about my new room:

1. It's huge! Seriously. I think it's the largest in the school.

2. There's no outside door, which means I can't go on the weekends and I have to leave before the alarm sets at 6:00. I still haven't decided if this is good or bad, haha.

3. I have a SmartBoard. It's smaller than my last one, but I'm not complaining.

4. I also have a large CHALKBOARD!!?? Do they even sell chalk anymore? I guess I need to make "eraser banger" as a classroom job ;)

5. I found textbooks from...get ready for it...the 80s! Those will be the first things to go.

6. It's definitely not lacking in wall space. They will be filled up with Top Down Topic Webs, Frayer Models, & 2-Column Notes in no time!

Here are some pics, but please keep in mind that it's still a gigantic humongous enormous work in progress!

Day 1

View from the door. The room extends out more on the right.

Here's the extension. You can see the filing cabinet in both pictures to get an idea of how big it is. There are going to be big changes in this area!

1. The gutter-shelf books aren't mine, so those will be gone. 

2. The computers will be moved to the wall next to the small group table. In its place I'm putting a small reading area with bean bags and a carpet.

3. The wooden cubbies (no picture yet) will be lined up underneath the chalkboard.

4. The chalkboard/mini bulletin board will be turned into our math & science word walls.

5. The bookshelf on the right has our art supplies. The cabinets in this room are really narrow, so I'll have to store them here.

 Small group table and my personal area. See both the desks in the picture? There's one on the left with basal readers and a wooden one on the right. Those will not be there when I'm finished. And take a look at the different paint colors on the wall. YUCK! I did something on Day 2 to fix it :)

My chalkboard! Hahaha, I never thought I would have to say that. I'm going to keep the daily schedule on the left with these schedule cards from The First Grade Parade. Our "I Can" statements and math tasks will go on the right.

Day 2

Small group area tidied up! The bookshelf is going to be for math & science resources, planning materials, and student info. It's not organized in any fashion yet. I added a fake bulletin board above it to cover the ugly spot on the wall! Easy fix :) You can also see my paper filer in the corner!

Behind the small group table. Sorry for the poor picture quality. The bookshelf has all my supplies, but I'm not liking how it's organized. It will be fixed soon. The baskets on the window are labeled with the days of the week. I will keep daily work in these. Since I'm teaching two groups of kids, I will have two colored file-folders to separate their work. 

I cleaned out the cabinets, but haven't decided what to put in here yet. I may use it to store math/science books and interactive notebooks. The two pink baskets are for Thursday Folders and Homework, and the purple bin is for their lunch cards. I made bright labels for these, but haven't attached them all yet.

Math manipulatives. I still need to make labels for the baskets. On the bottom I have clipboards and whiteboards. At first I was hesitant to keep our manipulatives in baskets without lids, but I think 5th grade should be able to handle it ;)

Volume level chart. I can't remember where on TpT I got this from, but they are awesome. We use it all the time! Anytime the kids go above the specified volume, I put a strike on the board. After 3 strikes they must work independently for a short period of time. Once they have settled down they can continue at a Volume 1.

Next to the Volume Chart is going to be our Math Rotation Board. I'm still working on a plan for this so I can include both classes up here. Any ideas?? Below that are small group art supplies. Some of the baskets still aren't completed, but you can see how I did that project here.

This will be our class news board. I'm going to post "Brilliant Work", our class newsletter, and a monthly lunch calendar.

Art supplies organized and labeled! The labels were a free download on TpT, and of course I can't find the link! But seriously, if you search on TpT there are literally thousands to choose from. I also covered coffee tins with chevron scrapbook paper! The plastic bin on the left will be moved.

My teeny, tiny, one-and-only whiteboard! I'm going to put the daily agenda for each class here so the kids will know exactly what to expect each day.

Still a lot to do, but luckily I have time. What have you done to your classrooms to get ready for next year?

Another One!

Ok, I think I may have found a new obsession with chairs. I revamped one of my classroom chairs a week ago (see that post here) and while I was at the Goodwill yesterday I couldn't help but purchase this aaaamazing bar stool for $9.97! And even better...it has wheels! 

I can envision myself right now with aching feet & a sore back, resting on my bar stool, while still able to access my Smart Board. 

It's. Gonna. Be. Awesome!

Anyway, like my first chair project, this one is also very simple. 

Tools needed:

3/4 yd. of fabric

Scissors

Phillips/Flat head screwdriver (depends on the screws)

Wrench (size depends on size of bolts on the chair bottom)

Staple gun and staples

Spray paint (I used Rustoleum's Oil Rubbed Bronze)

After leaving Goodwill I headed to Hobby Lobby the Hobster Lobster to grab some fabric. They were having a 30% off sale on duct cotton fabric, which is very thick and durable...great for an everyday chair. The colors go perfectly with my classroom theme (bright colors). After the sale and taxes, it ended up costing $4.71 for 3/4 yd!

(Side note: when working with fabric, I always try to get the exact amount I need, so measure your furniture first. It's sad to have leftover fabric that's too small to even use).

First thing to do: remove any screws from the back cushion with your screwdriver. Put these aside where you won't lose them. 

Once the screws have been removed, the back cushion will fall off. With your fabric "pretty side down", lay your cushion on top like this. 

BEFORE cutting, fold the fabric on top of the cushion to make sure it will snag onto those little prong-looking things. It needs to go about an inch past the prongs (see where my finger is). Once you know you have enough fabric for the back cushion, cut what you need and snag it on each of the prongs. It takes a lot of pulling and funky maneuvering, especially on the corners. The tighter you pull, the better the result. If the fabric isn't pulled tight enough, it will be loose and baggy. Make sense? 

It should resemble something like this:

Now onto the seat cushion. 

Flip your chair on its side and remove any screws/bolts that are securing it in place. I used a small wrench to loosen them up and was able to use my fingers to spin them off the rest of the way.

Like you did with the back cushion, lay your remaining fabric "pretty side down" and your seat cushion on top. Make sure it's centered with enough fabric to stretch all the way around. Starting at the top, fold the fabric over the seat cushion and staple it in place. On the opposite side, pull the fabric tight and staple it in place, too. Do the same thing on the other two sides, making sure it's pulled tightly. (If I say "tight" one more time...haha) 

Once you have the fabric secured, staple around the rest of the cushion, like I did in the picture below. It's going to be a lot of "pull, staple, pull, staple, pull staple," but you want to make sure it stays. The corners are tricky because you don't want the folds/creases to be visibly noticeable, but don't stress! I had to remove a few staples to fix this issue. Just pull in a different direction and re-staple. 

Alright, so my cushions are lookin' good, but I wasn't quite diggin' the 1992 beige metal vibe. 

It had to go. 

By the way, I just placed the cushion on the chair for this picture. That's my wonderful husband's arm holding the back in place :) Don't reattach the cushions if you're planning on painting the metal base!! 

I had some leftover spray paint from another project, so it didn't cost me a thing. Yay! 

Reassemble the chair and here's the finished product!!

I'm so excited to take this to my classroom!! I'm tempted to go RIGHT NOW, but who wants to go to school on a Sunday? I guess I'll have to stay at home and keep busy with another project ;)

A Bit More "Chair"ful

Ok, here's the deal. I absolutely LOVE anything d.i.y and I am notorious for stalking a particular home-improvement blog {Young House Love}. What I like most about this blog compared to others is that they truly do their best at making their house a "home". I get a lot of inspiration from them, and I hope that you will find some too! 

Last year I used an old chair as the Birthday Chair for my students. Anything to make them feel special and privileged is great :) As much as the kids loved it, the Birthday Chair was lacking in...well...character. It was pretty blah to be honest; no color, black and white fabric, and hard as a rock. This is what it looked like. {of course the only picture I could find has a filing cabinet covering it up! Go figure.} It's the brown chair in the far left.

After some much TLC, this baby is singin' a different tune! The jade & yellow combination is bright & fun, and who doesn't love a great chevron print?

In all my excitement of painting I forgot to take step-by-step pictures. Oops ;) But let me reassure you how EASY this project is!! Anyone with an ugly/old chair can do this. Here are step-by-step directions, thanks to John & Sherry @ Young House Love.

Have you given any of your classroom furniture a new look? Comment below with your ideas and/or pictures!

Monday Made It

Happy Monday!

Today has been a very exciting/busy/productive day. Since summer vacation started I've been hoarding storing various things for my classroom in the trunk of my car. It was getting kinda packed so I decided to head on over to my room and drop some things off. A "quick trip to the school" turned into a 3 hour trip! (isn't that how it always is?) I popped into my principal's office and she told me some exciting news.....(cue the drumroll).....I will be moving from 4th to 2nd grade next year!! I cannot tell you how EXCITED I am about it! Of course as soon as she told me I started mapping out next year's curriculum. Any 2nd grade bloggers out there? I'd love to link up with you and share ideas! And yes, this does mean that I will have to move classrooms (AAAHHH!!) But it will be refreshing to organize and tidy-up :) I can't wait to post pictures of my new classroom!

So this brings me to my Monday Made It...

I created this ELA Cursive Alphabet Set under the assumption that I was going to be teaching 4th grade Reading, but I'm sure it will come in handy for you wonderful reading teachers out there. ;)

I have a print and cursive (thanks for the suggestion!) version for sale at my TpT store. It's only $1 so check it out! My next project will be to create one that is more "2nd grade friendly" for my new kiddos. I'll share that soon. Make sure you head on over to Fourth Grade Frolics and check out some other great Monday Made Its :)

Well I'm off to prepare for Bible Study this evening. I only had 2 days to read about 15 pages...yikes!