Setting Up a Classroom...before you can get into it!

If you haven't noticed it is July! And I love planning for my upcoming new classroom!


Since I can't get into mine yet, I found a handy online tool that has really helped me think through how I am to arrange the furniture in my new classroom and what centers I am going to have. The website is  FloorPlanner.com. It's FREE! And it has lots of different furniture options. The best part is that this is not just drag and click and hope it works. You can enter in actual dimensions! So it is true to life, if you measure things. Check out my future plans here.

I've changed them slightly over the summer as I realized I forgot something or where will that go, etc. It's been really fun! I have a lot of things labeled but if you're curious and have a question, just ask! Here's a view of the page you work on. Find furniture and things on the left and then click and drag them into your room. The hardest thing I remember was beginning the floor. But keep playing around with it- you'll figure it out!

As you can see I'll likely have 12 students this year. I don't know how we would've fit in my old classroom. It would've been a squeeze. Last year we all fit on one of those area rugs for small group and for circle time, so to have two put together doubling as my library and circle time area is very exciting to me!

If you didn't notice, I'm going to try to put a beach umbrella in my library with a little beach chair and I'd like to make a palm tree for over by the listening center if it's not too much. I love going for a classroom theme, but I also understand it has to work in a classroom environment. If you're wondering what those circles are under the boards, they are beach buckets. I was hoping to not have students store anything in their desks this year, but we'll see. I'm not as sure that will work as I was when I purchased the sand buckets.

Don't you just love Supply Island? I'm pretty sure I stole the name from someone else, but I'm thrilled that my old supply station is now actually going to be an island. It's a small filing cabinet I have and it will double as a magnetic board for the kids, since they used to use my desk, and I'm not taking that with me this year(stay tuned for a post on how I do that).

I'm also excited about how many bulletin boards I will have this year! When I first came to this school, there weren't any bulletin boards in my classroom! Once I finished out the year, I had 2 put up in my room and 1 in the hallway. This year I'll not only have those three, but there is a huge one already in my classroom and I'll have a large one in the hallway. I'm excited to have a Math Marina, Literacy Lagoon, Reader's Reef, Birthday Beach, and one for student work and art projects. I'll just get a small bulletin board out of storage for Brag Tag Bay and I won't need one for Writer's Warf, since I can post writing things on Literacy Lagoon's bulletin board.

With going from so little bulletin boards to so many I am hoping I can come up with many meaningful ideas that won't need to be changed out too often. Last year the only thing I changed was my door decoration for the holiday or season. I still plan on doing that and switching out my hallway bulletin board the most. Last year one of my bulletin boards was my word wall. It ended up being too small and so I couldn't add many words to it. This year I decided why have an alphabet up in two places? I'll just hang words right under the ABCs above the board.

Don't you love how my rolly-chair can swivel from circle time to the desk area? I didn't over think that one, it just happened and I'm so glad I did. I don't often teach a lesson from sitting, unless I'm at a small group table, but this will be handy to just have it available to me. 

Also, my Science Center changes through out the year into a History
Center and then a Health Center, depending on what we are studying at that point in the year. This used to be outside my classroom last year in a hallway that I only shared with a library so it was interesting but it worked out.

Lastly, I am glad to have a large enough wall for all my Morning Meeting posters. We have Saxon and Math Meetings have a lot of components and last year I had a big window dividing the posters and some students couldn't see as well. Here, every child can sit facing the wall and there should be plenty of room for the Calendar Captain to go from poster to poster.

Although I love floorplanner.com, I do realize that sometimes floor plans can be deceiving! I'm hoping everything won't be squooshed when I actually move everything in. But I am prepared to make changes, if need be!

Reading Genre Passport

I came across an idea about making a Reading Genre Passport or a Literary Genre Passport and thought it was the coolest idea to get students who typically only read one type of book to explore the classroom library. Cool idea- but when I searched I could barely find anything usable. A couple cute covers and blank books you could buy, but I knew I would need something more structured for my first and second graders in order for them to learn anything about genres. So I decided to make my own Reading Genre Passport!

Pick it up in my TpT store:
Reading Genre Passports by When I Grow Up I Want to Be a Teacher

 

I featured Fiction and Non-fiction genres, where students will record 5 books and authors of each type to earn a stamp in their passport. As the teacher you can really use it as much as you want or as little as you want. I plan to pick it up around December or January in my classroom and let the kids pretty much run with it. I will reference it with lessons here and there, but I think it will be something my higher level kids won't need any pushing to take hold of and complete on their own. I will award  a student who has a completely full passport with a coveted brag tag.

Kids will love filling out their name and information and challenging themselves or having a little bit of competition with their classmates in a race to get all the stamps in their passports.

P.S. If you have a frog theme going on, check out Jessica's Passport.

Surf Board Behavior Chart

Behavior Clip Charts are a very common thing in today's classrooms. I love how it recognizes students who are working hard and warns students who aren't. I think it helps students learn to self-regulate their own behavior- I don't need to yell. Most of the time I just move a clip and I see a change in someone's behavior right away. Plus it's not a distraction to the entire class.

I had a traditional clip chart this past year with multiple signs hanging from a thick ribbon, but I forgot to take a picture of it. I saved it, along with all my other Mo Willems classroom themed items. This year, I wanted one that really matched my new classroom's beachy, ocean, nautical theme. So today I made the surf board behavior chart:

The finished Surf Board Behavior Chart

Supplies Needed:

-very large piece of cardboard
-pencil
-box cutter or X-acto knife

-acrylic paint
-painters tape
-large paint brush
-printer & computer
-packing tape or scrapbooking glue runner
-fake starfish
-clothes pins

Step 1: The first step is to draw your surf board shape out on your large cardboard. I got my cardboard from the packaging of our patio set we got this spring. However, I was able to get cardboard for free from a local discount furniture store for free this past spring for an art project at school. So be resourceful! Also I think Home Depot sells some if you need to buy it. I chose to do a pretty large size with a flat bottom so I can just lean it up against the wall at school. You might also like this shape: Surf Board Pin from Pinterest.

Step 2: Cut out your surf board and paint it! I just used regular acrylic paint from the craft store. I had a lot of green paint at home, so green it is! I took a picture close up to show you that I didn't paint it a full, solid shade. I left it streaky- I thought it looked beachy.

The light coat of paint- you can see the cardboard through it.

Step 3: The next step is to use your painters tape and tape off a section right down the middle to make your white stripe. You might want to flank that stripe with two smaller colored ones for an even more authentic look. Acrylic paint dries pretty quickly so I was able to do a couple of coats right away and then peel off the tape. Then I marked off the sections for my clip chart and painted those blue.

Marking off the stripes with painters tape.

Stripes are around 1 cm.

Just a light coat of blue to separate the sections.

Letting it dry!

Step 4: I painted my fake starfish which I picked up at the Christmas Tree Store. I painted the words on too, but after doing the top I didn't really like the irregularities and so I decided I would stop there and paint over it to use printed signs instead.

Painted on the words at first.

Decided I wanted to print out signs instead. 

Just a little green paint will fix that.

Step 5: Next I used this free clip art frame from TpT and printed off my signs. I decided not to go with beachy phrases such as Overboard or Surfs Up or All Hands on Deck, because I thought it would be hard for my 1st & 2nd graders to understand what exactly that was. I don't want any confusion with behavior! Plus the chart lingo I used is what my kiddos last year are used to, and since they roll over with me, I already have half a class who "gets it." I attached the signs with packing tape, made into loops on the back, but then I ran out so I used scrapbooking glue runner/tape runner. My surf board won't be in a high traffic area so I don't think little bodies will be near it a lot so this should be sturdy enough. 

And that's it folks! It is really a quick project. The only thing left I am going to do is print off the kids' names on little sea creatures and laminate those and attach to the clothespins. That will add another cute element to this. 

The finished product!

A little bit closer.

Crate Seats

Have you seen those adorable crate seats on Pinterest? I'm sure you have! I have been eye-balling them since the first time I saw them.

Last year I really had no place for them in my classroom, as my reading groups and math groups met on the floor around a really low table. Well, that is all going to change this year! I first thought to make these for my small group table, because this year I plan to use some trapezoid tables from storage, that will double as my desk and a small group table. So after doing some measurement, I didn't think the crates would be tall enough for the kids to reach the table. I need the table to be tall enough for my knees to fit under it as well, if it is going to be my desk as well. So I crossed that idea off.

Until... I started to see posts like Heather's, Jennifer's, and Briana's. I had other plans for a rolling cart in addition to another shelf for my library but this is going to be in that spot instead. My one shelf holds 9 giant buckets of books and I have a spinning rack. And now I will have 3 more book bins in my new crate bench!

So how did I do it? Here ya go!

Tools & Supplies You'll Need:
- crates
- wood

- foam

- zip ties

- staple gun & staples

- fabric

- scissors

- pen or pencil

- drill

- zip tie cutter

- measuring tape

- electric saw

- box cutter

Tools you will need: zip ties, 1/4" staples, and a staple gun

Shopping & Prep Work:
First of all, I did a lot of looking around for plastic crates in the month of June. Everyone's posts said just pick up some crates and I had the hardest time finding some, I don't know if it is because of Maine or what. I found some black ones at Walmart in the office storage section for $5.99, but I really didn't want black and thought they'd be hard to paint. I kept looking for the college dorm sections in popular stores, and I finally found some at Target. I found them there on a Sunday and I wasn't sure if I should get them or not, but by the next day I had decided to go for it! When I went back, half of them were already gone! So I'm glad I got them when I did. By the way, they were only $2.99! Now that it is July, I have also seen them at several other stores including Christmas Tree Shop and Staples for under $5 a piece. So I guess I was just searching a little too early! Who? Me? Early? Hahahaha... that's me!

Next I bought the fabric at Joanne's, it was originally $12.99 a yard! Which is outrageous and I don't know why it was that much, but I got 30% off with a current sale. Not as much as I wanted to get off of it, but I didn't know they were having a sale and I already had it cut, so I didn't want to be the jerk that decided not to get it after they already cut it. Plus aren't the colors perfect?! I'm hoping the small amount of white in it isn't a problem down the road. Crossing my fingers...

I picked up the foam at a local discount store here called Mardens. They get all their merchandise from stores that have had mishaps like fires or even natural disasters and employ people from that area to help sort out what is still good to sell. It's a messy store but you can really get a good deal. I knew they had foam at one location, but was nearest their other location and I was lucky they had a couple pieces. Mine was a little bigger than I actually needed and it was $6.99.

The staple gun, staples, and wood were purchased at Home Depot, where we get 10% discount for my husband being in the military. He was really annoyed we had to buy a new tool (-; and for such an affordable price. The staple gun was $15.97 and the staples were $2.76. For the wood, we asked if they had any scraps and they told us about a cart in the back. Luckily, there was one piece that was big enough for what we needed and it only cost us $4.71! Larger ones were $8-$12, but they wouldn't of fit in our car, plus we don't need extra wood lying around. 

The zip ties were purchased at Harbor Freight, for way less than the ones I saw in Michael's ($6.99). I think my husband paid $2-3 for 100 black zip ties.

Step 1: First my husband measured the crates and decided to cut the wood into 10.5" x 15.5" sized pieces. He trimmed it in the basement with an electrical saw and then brought up the pieces. Here he is marking the wood with pen for where he wants the holes for the zip ties to go in.

My helpful husband, Aaron, marking the spots he is going to drill.

Probably not the safest way to drill but it was quick!

Step 2: Now we can put the zip ties through the wood and it won't get in the way of adding the foam or fabric. This will ensure that the cushions won't move around when the kids sit on it. I don't want any pinched fingers! We decided two zip ties was sufficient, so drill 4 holes.

The zip ties going through the holes, notice the direction it is facing- that's important!

Two zip ties per piece should hold pretty well!

Testing it out to see if it will work. See the black zip ties hanging down?

This is what it will look like before you staple on your fabric.

Step 3: Cut your foam to fit. I cut my first piece with scissors, but then my husband suggested a box cutter and that was easier on the hands, so I suggest the box cutter. About 4 swipes and it cut all the way through.

Layers: foam, wood with zip ties in it, crate. Next is fabric!

Step 4: I laid my fabric out on the floor and layered the foam, then the wood on top of it and cut around it. This was my first piece and I had a lot of extra fabric, so you don't need to leave this much around the edges. 

I wrapped the ends first.

This is how we decided to fold the fabric to do the long sides. Two staples on each side for the flaps.

 

Then three more staples to secure the last flap.

Step 5: Trim away any extra fabric that you feel is too long or in the way. Then place your upholstered cushion on top of your crate. Make sure your zip ties go through some holes. Then affix the zip ties and trim their tails.

Now you can see the fabric. We're ready to attach the zip ties.

Here's how a zip tie works, because I didn't know!

Pull the zip ties tight.

Trim the zip ties.

Wallah! A comfy seat is done!

Here's the top view. 

All three together looking beautiful! It's going to look so great in my classroom library!

A top view- "The fabric doesn't line up," my husband said, but I don't care!

A closer look at the corners.

It only took us about an hour to assemble. Great teamwork! I think I am going to love them even more when I put them in my new classroom. I also picked up some coral bins that fit right inside each crate. They didn't have three all the same, so I got one tall and two shorter ones- all will be perfect to hold 3 more bins of books! 

Brag Tags Part 1

This summer I have been trying to research a lot of classroom things that are new and different from what I do. So far I have learned about Rocket Math, Read the Room, Reading Genre Passports, Fluency Cards, and finally Brag Tags! Some are very popular but not something I learned in college in Pennsylvania or something my school uses in Maine. I really like a lot of them and am going to try to implement some in my 1st & 2nd grade classroom this upcoming year.

So here goes my preparation for Brag Tags! If you haven't heard of them either, brag tags are a fun way to recognize students and hopefully bring a positive climate to the classroom environment. Children each get a chain necklace and they earn tags that they can "brag about" when they reach certain goals, or even just for different holidays. Teachers usually have them attached to backpacks as keychains (smaller length of chain) or hang them on a bulletin board in the classroom. I like the latter because I can just picture some getting pretty roughed up on a backpack or even getting ripped or lost. It also seems like most teachers allow students to wear their brag tag necklaces every Friday or to school assemblies or even field trips. I'm not sure what I think of that... bringing something to play with around your neck to assemblies? It sounds like a distraction to me and although I want my students to be proud of their accomplishments, bragging about them at every assembly (even if passive) seems like a push in the wrong direction- however I realize they might not even get mentioned at all at an assembly. I'm just in a small school, where it will be sure to seem out-of-place or obviously noticeable. I haven't decided when I will allow my students to wear their brag tags yet, but I'm sure it will be something along the lines of one day a week or the first of the month, etc.

With all that said, I have begun to prepare how I am going to utilize brag tags in my classroom. I purchased all my supplies at Michael's... my favorite store! They had all sorts of storage containers for beads or rainbow loom bands starting as low as $2.99. I settled on a 23 compartment storage container from Bead Landing, which has a built in handle and two clip closure things. It was $11.99, but I got 25% off my entire purchase with a current running coupon. I could have also used a 40, 50, or 60% off one item coupon as well (Michaels will allow one coupon for the entire purchase and one for one item- I used to cashier there), but I didn't have one on hand and forgot to search for one (or even a competitors) before I reached the register. So I could've saved about $4 more if I had done that. I'm really glad I went with this one, as some of the $2.99 boxes would've probably been had compartments that were too small for most of the brag tags I've downloaded.

Speaking of the downloads, I did a search on TpT for free brag tags and found a plethora which I will share the links for the ones I liked below. Any particular ones I didn't find, I made myself and you can pick those up for FREE in my Tpt store: Mrs. Garnier's School Store

Over 50 Behavior Brag Tags
Substitute Brag Tags
Earth Day Brag Tags
Valentine's Day Brag Tags
Perfect Attendance & Honor Roll Brag Tags

Next I bought the ball chain on a spool for $9.99. It had 12 yds, which I thought would be enough, but I only got 14 1/2 necklaces out of it. I only needed 12, but I wanted a couple extra in case I get a new student in the middle of the year. I could've got it for 1/2 price if I strategically waited for a coupon, but I'm over it. It came with only 4 closing connector pieces, so I searched and searched and couldn't find more separately. After asking the store associate for help, she suggested the Jim Holtz 3 bead chain necklace set (pictured below). It was the only thing I could find so I don't mind that the connectors are slightly different colors. I'm saving the nicer chains for future craft projects.

So all in all I spent $27, but that was because of my own choosing. You could spend way probably as low as $10, if you used half price coupons and made multiple trips to Michaels. I don't want to pay for brag tags, so I will probably keep making any more that I find I need.

Stay tuned for a future brag tag post later in August, when I hang them in my classroom and start utilizing them. My plan is to have the extras in a storage container where the students can peruse them so that they will be excited. I can just hear them now saying, "Oooh, I want to try and earn this one!" or "Look at this one we will earn on Valentine's Day!" 

Sorry I crumpled up the wrapper and then realized I should take a picture to show which brand I got.

Just storing the chain necklaces in there for now!

Testing the box out! They fit!

Printed out a couple just to see the sizes.

$4.99 for 3 chains and 18 connectors

12 yds for $9.99

Teacher Toolbox

I am addicted to Pinterest! I can't even watch TV without getting bored and going onto Pinterest. So many good ideas! One idea that I have seen a thousand times is the Teacher Toolbox. I never had a use of one last year because I kept all of these things in my desk.

Well... this year I am not moving my desk from my classroom upstairs to my new one downstairs. I've moved it from being caddy-cornered to straight and that was an extremely hard feat!  More than that, I have decided that my desk takes up so much space unnecessarily! I use the top of it for work space, but the inside just keeps things that I don't use on a day to day basis. I'd be better off storing the birthday, holiday items, etc. on baskets on shelves or in a closet and putting my files on a file stand and calling it a day! So that's what I have decided to do when moving into my new room. I'll grab some trapezoid tables that are in storage and use those as a reading group table slash my desk! I'm really excited about it.

I also had a curriculum bookshelf next to my desk and it holds so many reading books. I'm looking forward to moving them and other unnecessary teaching books away into storage and only pulling out what I need, when I need. Less clutter!

Hence my opportunity to make this wonderful Teacher Toolbox! First, Home Depot by me, did not have this box. They didn't have anything similar either. I was so sad! All they had were small boxes that looked like bead boxes or things that didn't have a complete front to the drawer, it was more like a tray. So off to Lowes I went after I looked it up online and found that these were in aisle 16. I hate going into a hardware store and looking like I don't know what I am doing. Even though I made a beeline to aisle 16, I still got asked if I needed help. (-: Anyway, this toolbox was very affordable and smaller than I had expected- which was a good thing! I don't need a huge toolbox on my shelf to house office supplies.

I was going to make my own labels but so many kind people on TpT had them for free so I found this great set from Amanda Hoffman (Amanda Hoffman Teachers Pay Teachers). I simply changed the font and added my clipart and it matched my new classroom theme. Thanks Amanda!

There is also a lot of talk on Pinterest and teacher blogs about whether to use Mod Podge to attach labels to Sterlite or drawers of any kind or to just tape it. I feel that taping is sufficient. I'm the only one who will be going in and out of these drawers, unless I send a responsible student over for a rubber band once in a while, so I can't imagine wasting my time with Mod Podge. Besides, I might change my classroom theme and want to switch out these labels a couple years down the road.

If you'd like to get my labels for FREE, please visit my TpT page: My Teachers Pay Teachers

Don't mind my fuzzy blanket! I wanted to assemble it while sitting on the futon out on my screened in porch!

Pens fit- but on a diagonal.

Yearly Planner

To begin planning for the 2015-2016 school year, I wanted to update my yearly planner. Last year I was pretty sure I got a free one from Tami from Learning and Teaching with Preschoolers  (Tami's Website). When I went to update it for the next school year, it was only $3, but I was hesitant, because I know I could make my own. Plus I am all about matching- so to have a new yearly planner that matched my new classroom theme would be amazing! 

So I went to work creating one in my own theme, but using elements from Tami's that I couldn't go without. I love using the post-it notes. I can move things around, if an event gets changed from one date to another.... I can pencil things in, without using a squeaky pencil! I love the colors of the post-it notes as well! How fun!

You can pick one up for yourself in my TpT store: My Teachers Pay Teachers Site

The cover to my Yearly Planner. With the crab that I edited all by myself!

A section that lists the months so I can record the student's birthdays.

After each month, there is a Thoughts page to reflect and leave myself notes for next year. Before each month there is an Inspiration & Ideas page.

Each month is a double page spread. Fits small post-it notes perfectly!

Lastly, I'm always scurrying to find a parent's email address, etc. so now I don't have to ask the secretary in the middle of the year for information.