Fun Photo Friday

In honor of everyone's (including myself) love for Fridays, I am trying out a weekly theme.  I used 2 of my favorite Hawaiian sunset photos today because school hasn't started yet.  Once school begins we will choose our class photo of the week for "Fun Photo Fridays".  I'm looking forward to it! 

Aloooha!

Classroom Nightmares

Earlier this summer I described my dreams for the class I teach in.  Unfortunately those dreams take work and time; time, time, time.  Today I want to share the transformation photos.

 I started out with dust, dirt, boxes, piled furniture, and disorganization to the MAX!!

Ew.  The first thing that drove me crazy is the furniture.  I reorganized them keeping small group work stations or centers in mind, reducing clutter, and producing a maximum efficiency environment.

The next obstacle is cleaning.  Cleaning the cubbies, cabinets, baskets, containers, dividers, books, and furniture.  What a feat!  My classroom doors and windows stay open for breeze flow.  Therefore my room is very susceptible to collecting dirt and dust.  It is important to clean and maintain cleanliness throughout the year.  I am going to instill monthly cleaning days for the items in the classroom.  Otherwise, it gets DIS-GUST-INGGGGGGG.

All of these containers got cleaned out:  Hosed, scrubbed, and set out in the sun to dry.

  

Next came the unpacking.  This can be fun, like opening presents.  I found homes for all the manipulatives and supplies.  I know it's important to have materials out for students for easy access, so I put them in areas students can reach independently.  I labeled all containers in the cubbies to promote word knowledge, vocabulary, and organization.  Words everywhere!  I love Reagan's labels.  I used them on storage containers, math manipulative containers, and library labels.  I also downloaded a few fun fonts from here.  

Finally, I worked on bulletin boards.  They are incomplete at the moment, but I used my classroom theme of polka dots to help design.  The content of the boards will be added as students learn new things.  I laminated the bulletin board decorations for long-lasting durability.

I am continuously improving my room.  August 5 is the first day of school.  All will be complete by then (I hope)!  To be continued...

New Year

If you're a teacher, you're probably like me in welcoming the "New Year" in August (September in some areas).  My years are based on the school calendar.  And, yes, a new one is upon us, PEOPLE!

I changed my look a bit for the occasion.  I feel like this theme is a little more compatible.  I cannot take all the credit, though.  My inspiration was from a fellow blogger's profile I am absolutely in love with.  Thanks, Denise from "Sunny days in Second Grade"!

It's been a while since my last post.  I've been working hard in my classroom (there's still more work to be done...) and keeping up with my healthy living goals.  I'm so proud to say I ran my longest run ever of 10 miles this summer! and lost 10 pounds to match it.  That weight was all from Christmas vacation 6 months ago thanks to my mom's delicious baking.  It couldn't be helped.  I'm going to try my very best to maintain the healthy mentality throughout the school year.  I'll have to run after school when I get home, which will not be easy.  I'll let you know how that goes...

As for my room, I have before and after pictures.  I really want to wait and post when it's completely finished, but I will share a little at a time until the students come.  Teachers started meetings/trainings today, so I will not be able to dedicate as much time to my room as I'd like.  Sad, but I still have a week (11 days to be exact).

And with that... the countdown to the first day of school (the New Year) begins!