Finally...classroom reveal!!

Bloggers, I am exhausted.  It's so hard trying to get used to a new building and a new team and new procedures and a new grade and everything!!  And all at once! Kids start on Monday, as I've mentioned, and I'm looking at probably still having to go in tomorrow AND Sunday to try to finish up as much as I can! But, as I promised, I am FINALLY posting pics of my classroom!  Pretty much the only part that isn't finished is my library area... I still have more organizing and sorting and book unpacking that I want to do.  So pardon the fact that I'm not quite done with that area yet! :)

I'm linking up this post with Brigid's Classroom Tours Linky, and with Courtney's Show Off Your Space Linky!

Welcome to my new classroom!!

BEFORE, whole-class view:

AFTER, whole-class view:

BEFORE, entry corner:

AFTER, entry corner:

(Thanks Kristen for the fun numbered supply labels!)

BEFORE, front of classroom:

AFTER, front of classroom:

(Thanks Angi for the lovely birthday stars!)

(I don't have a before of my teacher corner...haha)

BEFORE, math wall:

AFTER, math wall (and new home of kidney table):

BEFORE, library corner and back wall:

DURING (haha), classroom library:

AFTER, back wall:

(Thanks Rachelle for the Boggle letters that look great in my classroom...even though I haven't added the actual Boggle letters yet...the header still looks great!)

BEFORE, back whiteboard (and old home of kidney table):

AFTER, back whiteboard (now CAFE board and gathering area!):

(Thanks Kristen for the CAFE letters, which actually served as the whole inspiration for beginning this journey into the world of teacher blogging!!)

BEFORE, cabinets:

AFTER, cabinets:

(The change here was more internal...and you can now see how many storage containers I have left over!)

BEFORE, sink area:

AFTER, sink area (and now word wall!):

And one more view, from the back of the room to the front of the room:

Still more last-minute things to do before I'm ready for students... but I've worked hard and wanted to finally share my progress!  Hope you enjoy! :D

 

Classroom sneak peek!

Ohhhhh friends... I am so happy!

I had a last-minute opportunity offered to me to attend a SIOP workshop in my district over three days (yesterday, today, and tomorrow) that is actually being hosted at my school building... so I've had the chance to meet teachers from my school and the other schools in the district, which has been amazing!! Everyone has been so kind and welcoming to me, and I am SO super excited (even more than I was before!) to be where I am this year.

Today I also had the chance to get...the keys to my new classroom!!!  And I got to go in, and took some pictures, and am anxious to start thinking about how to arrange everything.  The teacher who had the room before me retired, so she left lots and lots of materials and resources... which is good because I'm sure much of it will be useful, but a little bit distressing because it just means I have THAT MUCH more stuff to go through and organize.  But I still have lots of time to do it!  So here is the "before" picture of my classroom - be not deceived, it may look like it's up and ready to go, but I haven't brought ANY of my things into the room yet, and I haven't done ANY decorating of my own!!

I'll keep you updated on my progress!! :)

Monday made-it!

I'm linking up today with Tara from 4th Grade Frolics for her weekly Monday made-it!

This week I worked on my classroom rules display. I was inspired by a pin I found on pinterest of a teacher who had hung her rules vertically on ribbon, and was intrigued! I thought it would match my clip chart if I made mine in a similar fashion, so this is what I came up with! :)

Here's what the whole thing looks like.

And here are some close-ups.

And here are the files for my signs if they strike your fancy as well!  I printed them out on white cardstock, and then glued them to blue cardstock and laminated them.  Then I hot-glued them to the ribbon.  I love how they turned out!!

Another element of my Monday made-it is my new blog header and my new blog button!  I'm so excited with how they turned out, and think they look a lot more polished than my previous ones.  Hooray!

And FINALLY my most exciting Monday made-it item of all... a dress!!  I asked for a sewing machine for Christmas this past year from my parents, and have just finally started using it with a passion.  My mom has incredible sewing skills - she made just about all of my sisters' and my Halloween costumes growing up, and she made all of my homecoming and prom dresses.  I'd been hoping that I inherited some of her talent!  I finally found some really easy tutorials online of how to make some dresses without needing to use any patterns (basically just sewing the fabric to the top of a tank-top) and finally took the plunge and am so proud of how this dress turned out!! 

This is actually my second dress - the first one I made with a different fabric and a shorter length.

I knocked it out in a day - something around 9 hours altogether, with sizeable breaks between working on each part.  And I also added something that the online tutorial didn't call for - lining, since the bottom fabric is a really light color.  And I finished it!  I even wore it the next day to my friend's bridal shower, and got some compliments on it!  I can't wait to attempt other dresses and skirts - this was a huge confidence boost for me and my growing skills! :D

I'm hoping to be able to get into my classroom sometime this week to start the unpacking/decorating process, so cross your fingers for me, and stay tuned! 

 

Classroom theme linky!

I was so excited to find Corinna's classroom themes linky, and to see some of the other fabulous ideas out there!  I want to share what I will be doing in my classroom this year, too!

I decided to go with a polka-dotted theme, using mostly black and white, but throwing in some green, blue, purple, and probably the other colors as well.  So here is a little bit of what I have worked on so far:

Some letters to use on my word/vocabulary wall

Close-up on my clip chart, so you can see the tiny polka-dots on each color!

The header for my "Cranium Club" display - more on this in a later post!! :)

 Some fun things I picked up at Michael's, Hobby Lobby, and Target!

Unfortunately I can't share any actual classroom photos, because I haven't been able to move into my new classroom yet!! I can show you this though:

The current location of my classroom materials!! (And that's only half the closet - the other side is just as packed!)

Now it's YOUR turn!! Share your classroom theme and some of your creations/decor for the upcoming year!

All moved in, and my first DIY

After a crazy weekend of moving to my new apartment, I'm pretty much settled in now!  The weather was interesting, but I'm so glad it cooperated with the move!  This is what the sky looked like on Friday:

Needless to say, I packed my car up pretty quickly!  Thank goodness the rain only lasted the duration of the drive, and stopped by the time we were unloading!  And then Saturday was clear, but the crazy storms on Friday night definitely did some damage around my new apartment building - huge branches down all around, and even tore off a section of the roof of the building next to mine!  Yikes!  

So here I sit, in my new home.  Libby kitty is alternately running around and hiding, trying to figure what on earth is going on.  But she'll get used to it soon enough!

ANYWAY, time to show you my first DIY project!  I had some help with my grandma for this one. :)

For my classroom this fall, I want to try to stay closer to a theme that only uses a few colors.  I have a small cart with three plastic drawers of various colors that I like based on its functionality, but was not excited that each drawer was a different color: 

I know the lighting quality is poor in this picture (it was taken outside at dusk) but one drawer is pink, one is blue, and one is purple.  I decided that I wanted all of them to be the same color, and wanted them to be black.  So I went to the hardware store in search of this spray paint that I'd heard of specifically for plastic, and picked up a bottle, color black.  And here is the finished result, after it has dried and the drawers are back in the cart: 

So much better!! :)  And even had enough spray paint left to do two small flower pots and a candy dish (or whatever it is - both were violent shades of orange, of which I was not a fan!)

So hooray for spray paint made specifically for plastic! You are a hero in my eyes. :)  And hooray for being all moved in!  Now hopefully I can start posting some of the teacher-y projects that I'm working on this summer!