Lesson Plans--Keep your desk clutter free!

Hi all!  Today, I am excited to be linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for 

Sooooooo, I consider myself a pretty organized teacher...and if one thing drives me completely nutso during the school year, it would hands-down be if my desk is cluttered.  Now, I've actually gotten much more "normal" with this.  Back in the day (9 yrs ago), when I used to teach 5th grade, my desk was immaculate!  Pristine, I tell you!  I had it down to a science.  However, when I moved to Kindergarten, the whole immaculate desk thing seems to be a battle I lose most of the time.  But, WHAT do you do when a child hands you a picture they drew of you/for you?  Where does it go?  Well, for most days, it gets deposited on my desk until I can find a good place to hang it, etc.  Anyway, back to my "I like my desk cleared" thing...One thing I thought up is that there has to be somewhere better to put my lesson plans rather than on top of my desk--front and center.  Now, I am still old school and have my plans in a binder--I may take the plunge to have them on my laptop this year.  (big step for me).  Nonetheless though, I will prob keep a copy handy anyway--that's just me.  So, one day last year in March or so, I was organizing my pantry, and came across a recipe book holder.

 That I NEVER EVER use.  

To those of you who are familiar with my cooking abilities/or lack thereof, this should come as no surprise to you.  But to stay on subject, a lightbulb went off and I thought...Hey, I can use that to hold my lesson plans.   This year it needed a little spray paint to match my beachy, bright room. 

What I like about this is I can also use it for my Guided Reading binder, etc.  
And there you have it.  At least that is one thing that takes up less space, but is still completely viewable.  

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  Hope you all have a great week!

Becky

Five for Friday Link Up

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for 

I like this link up because I don't really have to think too hard, since it's just 5 random things about this past week.  Easy peasy.  So, here I go:

This week I started Week 1 of "Couch to 5k", I like it alot but I am nervous it will become too hard.  I am not a runner, have never been, and although I would love to be, am skeptical.  Nonetheless, I have heard from several people who claimed they were never runners either, that this works.  So I'm excited.  It looks like today, the tredmill has become the donosaurs' stomping ground.  I don't know why they choose this platform but it seems like I am constantly clearing off dinosaurs to get my workouts in.  :)  

I am painting my bookshelves in the classroom white.  It looks so crisp, and clean and so much more uniform.  You know how it is with different wood colors, they are very hard to flow with each other.  So, I had 4 I needed to paint, got 2 finished, 1 is drying, and then will have 1 more to do.  I am so excited to see the finished product in the classroom, I'm sure it will make a huge difference--especially with my bright colored bins for storage items.  

It is not all work and no play, though.  This morning my boys came up to me wanting to play superheroes.  How on earth can I say no to these faces?  I caved and spent the AM conquering the bad guys.  Seriously, I love the family time that the summer offers me.  They say some really grown up things sometimes, and I just think, "gosh, they grow up WAY too fast!"

I just got organized yesterday with a blog planning notebook.  I've been a "linky machine"lately--last Thurs being my first link up, & trying to get my blog up and running again after my long absence in the month of May.  Speaking of my blog, I am soooooo excited I will be getting a cute, primary, new design right around the time school will start up again.  I have done a few things on my own, but I'm not completely blog saavy, so I decided to let a pro design my blog for me.  I'm on a waiting list until about September though--stay tuned--I'm sure they will do a terrific job!

 

I have started collecting all things bright, and beachy for my classroom this year!  Super excited to put it all together but at the same time can't believe that 3-4 weeks of summer are already behind us!  You know this winter, when it seemed like we all lived in an ice age for a couple months?  Well, it was in all that gloom and doom, that I decided next school year was going to be bright, beachy, and cheerful.  

Well, that is my 5 for Friday.  Click here if you would like to link up as well.  Thanks for stopping by! 

Pinspired Thursday

I am linking up again with Just a Primary Girl for another Pinspired Thursday.      Click here to join her Link Up.    

I have plenty of Pinterest fav's to choose from.  Another project I decided to make was this:

I wanted to do this for many reasons, but mainly being I married a wonderful, wonderful man and shouldn't we ALL be told daily some positive words--especially from those we love?  I say "YES!"  So that is why this was actually my first EVER Pinterest project, back in the day.  Click here for the original site.  

And here, ladies & gents, is mine:

That is actually a horrible picture, but it is the teal color of our bedroom and sits up on the dresser.  I just took scrapbook paper, cut it to the size of the frame, took some cream cardstock, tore and burned the edges, glued and VIOLA!  I really do use this almost daily.  The dry erase on the glass comes off so easily.  My 7 yr old daughter has even started writing messages to her dad on here as well!  So sweet!  

As some of you know, I am a mom of 3 kids--younger kids-7 and under.  They are all into Disney and Disney movies.  For about 2 yrs now, I've done "Disney themed movie nights" for them on occasion.  Well, Pinterest has made this alot easier on me.  Last week, we decided to do another.  We decided on Monster's University.  So, I started looking on Pinterest, and found some great food ideas:

Click here for the original link from Kara's Party  Ideas.  I got "pinspired" by this and came up with our meal for the night based on this idea.  Here is mine:

The kids had "Sully" Uncrustables.  (we had green plates instead of teal).  They also had monster eyes, fruit, and monster inspired rice crispy treats.  Lots of sugar in this "meal", but they deserve it every once in awhile.  They always have such a good time.  We invited some friends over too to eat with us then watched the movie together.  It is an easy and fun way to spend time with the kiddos.  

Lastly, for today...we have all seen these wonderful art displays.  I just love hanging up the kids art.  Here's what I was going for:

Click here for the original website post from Frills, Fluff & Trucks. I just can't have enough tubs, etc for this kind of thing.  I imagine myself 95 yrs old looking through all of these things, smiling from ear to ear.  So, this is my version.  I added a little Dr. Seuss quote to mine:

That is all I have for today.  Thanks for stopping by, hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Alphabet Adventure Giveaway!

Ok, I know we are not all thinking in teaching mode yet, but here is a freebie you can't miss.  There are 48 pages of interactive alphabet fun for your classroom.  To get it free, you must grab it today by 9:00AM.  And as always, I'd appreciate your positive feedback on my blog.  

Here is a look at what is in the packet.  

Everything you see, is in ready-to-go format.--Just print and go-except if you want to laminate the puzzle pieces.  The puzzle pieces also come in a set of colored copies.  

I am continuously looking for ways that my Kinders can engage and interact with each other all while learning.  I hope you enjoy!

Click here for your free download.  If you are seeing this after 9:00am, this packet is available on my TPT store (click here) for a very small price.  Hope you'll check it out.  Thanks everyone, and have a great day!

My First Link Up!!

Wow, so one of my summer goals is to really get this blog up and running.  I started in February on a whim, just all of a sudden thought, "I want to do a classroom blog", and that was that, my friends.  It took me awhile just to physically get my page set up, and I was ok about adding posts, (minus the month of May)-Yikes!
ANYway, this is my first ever link up so forgive me if I did something wrong here.  I am linking with Just a Primary Girl.

  

I figured this was definately an appropriate first linky, beings as though I truly think I alone could keep Pinterest up and running!  Although I have made umpteen Pinteresty things for my classroom, I don't have pictures of any of them, and they are all packed away for about another month.  So most of these today are ones I have done for the home.
First off is this:

I fell IN LOVE with this. Ok, this is where you can tell I'm a rookie blogger b/c I don't know how to make it so you are able to click on the picture and it send you there.  So, instead I can tell you it was found on herblog.com and click here to see on Pinterest.
I had to recreate this,  so I did the best I could with the help of one of my friends, who is also a talented artist!  Here is mine:

Next, I came across this gem that pulls at the heartstrings of all moms out there:

Click here for the link to this one. I just loved this so much and it was a must have in my house.  So, out came the Cricut & vinyl, and my version goes up my staircase.    

Come to think of it, I do have a Pinterest project of something school-related.  And I LOVE this.  It is called "Blurt Alert".  Click here for the original link by newmanagement.com.  

This is the neatest, and very effective.  You know how the littles just can't contain themselves and they just want to "blurt" something out.  Well, when they do, I say "blurt alert" and they put their name on a red sheet of paper and stick it in here.  At the end of the week, I staple all the kids blurts on a half sheet and send it home with to the parents.  No punishment is given, its just a reminder and they are really good about correcting blurts when they get these.  If they did not get any blurts, they put their name on a green sheet of paper and take it home to be praised!  Here is mine:

Here is one more for classroom management.  Sparklers. Click here for the origianl post by .

Sometimes I feel as if there is too much "don't do this"...etc.  So, I like to provide lots of reinforcement for those that are following directions and behaving well.  I took this idea and put these in my classroom.  I'm not sure if I came up with this on my own or if this was on the original post, but after each child got 5 sparklers, I allowed them to pick an activity or pick from the prize box.  It is a hit.  Here is mine:

So there you have it.  I'm a bit of a Pinterest addict, I hope you liked some of my favorites so far.  

YAY!  I'm so tickled pink I dove in and conquered my first link up!  I mean, just yesterday, I was like "a linky whaaaa???"  I'm proud of myself, b/c this whole blog experience has been self taught, and I really am enjoying it.  I hope you all are having a nice, relaxing summer!  Til next time...