What does your classroom say about you

What does your classroom decor say about you?

Anyone that is reading this blogpost is most likely either a teacher or a parent. And most teachers are also parents. Everyone can relate to taking your student to their classroom for the first time. One of the first things you notice as a parent may not be the teacher, or the other students but the classroom itself.

What kind of teacher did my son/daughter get this year? Classroom decorations go a long way to communicating what kind of a teacher you are to both parents and youngsters.

So when you are putting together your classroom what do you want it to say about you? Are you strict? Fun? Energetic? Boring? Are you "with it?" (Do you know what is popular with the kids in the age range that you are teaching?

Decorating your classroom with popular cultural icons can go a long way to making that important first connection with your students. And having inspirational posters and posters on behavior is one of the key components to any good classroom management plan.

So all that said, are you ready?

My sister Hilary Lewis has been teaching 2nd grade for over 20 years and this year ended up moving to a new 3rd grade classroom with only 2 years left before retirement! We joined forces over the summer and came up with some classroom decorations in the style of Minecraft called Blockcraft Kids and Pets that will make your life easier and hopefully help make those all important connections.

With the TPT site wide sale and 28% Off everything in our stores, now is the time to find some amazing new decorations and organizational stuff for your classroom! Take a look at some of the decor we created:

Name tags that are individualized can make kids feel special!

Labels that go with the theme brightens up your spaces and helps with organization, not just for you but for anyone that is volunteering or helping in your classroom:

And for classroom management it helps to post character traits that are important to classroom culture, for all kids and parents to see:

And inspiring those kids to learn is one of the biggest parts of our job as teachers. Here are some inspirational posters from my store too!

Good luck with setting up your own amazing classroom this year! Make it the best year ever! So that your students look like this:

And not like this:

I found some great tips from Edudemic on how to help young children feel safe and more at ease in the classroom:

• Have group activities where children are encouraged to decorate the classroom together.
• Install a large bulletin board and encourage student to bring photos of their family and pets to pin on the board. Children should also be encouraged to bring and share items of cultural significance to display.
• Hold an orientation early in the school year where parents are invited to the classroom. This will serve as an icebreaker and help the classroom environment feel less strange."

Have the best year ever!

Sabrina

Tackle Classroom Clutter in a Snap!

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The Amazing Binder Clip

I'm a little OCD when it comes to school supplies (what teacher isn't!!) and one of the tools I like to hoard is binder clips.  I looked through my carefully organized drawer of binder clips (in 5 different sizes and 4 colors) and tried to figure out some ways I could use them up!  Here's a few ideas that I came up with that really helped me get some spaces more organized!

 We have a station for charging all our devices, but the cords keep falling down, so if you clip a binder clip on a desk or shelf, you can feed those little cords right through them (and for the small ones, clip them on with a smaller binder clip to the large clip) and they won't fall down anymore! This also keeps them super untangled!

 I love to read chapter books (this one is from the Magic Tree House series), but I often lose my place.  Not anymore!  Just pop a small binder clip on and never lose your place again!

 How many of these tiered folder holders do you have?  I've got three! One sits just to the right of my desk, close enough for me to see from my computer screen and phone.  I clip the staff directory/roster here and I always have every classroom extension number handy--and I can't lose it this way! 

 I also have a set of wire shelves next to my desk holding all my teacher books, but the little trinkets and bracelets that my sweet students give me often fall through the shelves, so enter the binder clip! I can clip one on the side of the shelf, hold their sweet gifts and hold up other important papers as well!

 How many of you have LOTS of little scrap papers floating around on your desk? They need a home, but not in a drawer? Yeah, me too! Use a large binder clip to act as a giant paper clip, and as a bonus, it will stand up on its own! 

 I use binder clips to display student work in the hallway too! Makes it super simple to change out their work (so easy they can do it!) and holds it on firmly attached! Much better than clothes pins!

We have a computer program that requires us to have a separate user name and log in for each student.  You can see how beat up these papers are and we are only 1/2 through the year! So by using a binder clip and hanging it from a Command Hook, we can keep them together for longer and they won't get lost!

 

 Short on space in your classroom? I have curtains up over all my open bookcases to help cut down on the clutter you see, but to also keep my kids with sensory needs happy. :)  You can use binder clips to clip on large charts and other student work to the front of them to make better use of your space!

 I just discovered this idea and I LOVE it! I have paper lanterns and lots of other student work hanging from my ceiling, but the old paper clips and strings keep falling out of the ceiling tiles.  So, by tying a string to the handle part of the binder clip, you can clip them to the drop ceiling tiles and they aren't going anywhere! :)

 

A few years ago, I switched from making labels for student mailboxes each year to using binder clips.  BEST DECISION EVER! Once my students put their mail in their mailboxes, we couldn't see their names any more, so by using binder clips, we can ALWAYS see their names and know where to put their items. :)

I hope you found a new idea or two that you can use your stash of binder clips for--or maybe you're rushing out the door to buy a big box? 

Come visit me over at Kristen's Kindergarten!

Stay Organized with Bins, Baskets and Trays - Part 1

Happy Monday, everyone! It's Lisa from over at Second Grade Stories. I have a confession to make. I am obsessed with bins. And trays. And baskets.  The Dollar Tree... Big Lots... Target... all very dangerous places for me. I have WAY more containers than I will ever need - and I always seem to buy more.  But that's good, because I use my containers to stay organized in so many ways!

I thought I would give you a tour of my classroom - container style! This is a  picture-heavy post (who knew how many different baskets and bins I used!), but it's filled with ways to stay organized in your classroom.  I discovered I had so many different ways of using containers, I had to break this post up into 2 parts!

My number 1 rule is: Everything needs to have a home!  I find that things start to pile up when I don't have a -- place to put them. Give everything a home and you'll be organized and tidy in no time! Rule number 2: Keep things that you use all the time out and accessible. There is nothing more frustrating that having to look for what you need two or three times a week. If you use it, give it a home out in the open! On with the tour!

This basket is right on a small shelf by my door. If it's finished, it gets put in the finished work basket. I've tried other systems - file folders with student numbers, trays for each subject... they never worked for me. Everything goes in here and my kiddos who have later buses love taking out the papers at the end of the day and organizing them so all the same ones are in one pile, they're all facing the same way, etc. Then I decide if it's going in my folder to be graded and entered into my gradebook, or in a different pile to be checked off and sent home.

These are our mailboxes for things that go home. I LOVE these mailboxes. A friend made them for me a few years ago. They are wooden and very sturdy and are going to last forever. WELL worth the cost of the materials! I put the name tags on the sides with Velcro so I can change them easily every year without scraping off the old nametag. Finished work that we have done together, notices, Friday folders, it all goes here to go home.
TIP: If you have Friday folders or something where all papers go home on a certain day, try this - sort everything into mailboxes FIRST, THEN pull out each pile and put it into the student's folder. This works so much better for me than spreading everything on the floor and trying to sort that way.

Which brings me to this tray. I have two of them on top of my mailboxes. One is for papers to go home later in the week (like I said, we do Friday folders) and the other is for notices. (I put those in a separate pile so they go on top of all the work.) Oftentimes I'll have student put papers directly in this tray if we've done it together and I don't need to look at it again. It stops the monster paper file from growing and streamlines my grading. I make notes on sticky notes about students who might have needed help so I have that information.

We have four ipads in our room. I grabbed these trays from the staff lounge over the summer and spray painted them blue. They work perfectly and are easy for my kiddos to slide the ipads in and out. Can't say as much for the mess of cords behind the trays. I'm still working on that one. (The cases are from Amazon - here's the link.)

I keep some of my classroom library books in these bins from The Dollar Tree. These are the books my kiddos choose from for reading workshop. I have other displays in different places in the room for themes, holidays etc. I switch out books every month or so. I've found keeping books in bins like this allows students to browse more easily. The labels keep everything organized. (The label holders are from Really Good Stuff. They are expensive, but well worth it. I make my own paper labels and just slide them in. You can see them here.)

We use clipboards all the time, so it's important for me to have an easy way to store them. (We have alternative seating, so my kiddos often choose to work on the floor - you can read more about that {HERE}) I went the easy route - two labeled bins that sit on the counter. I had to make rules last year for getting clipboards - you take the first clipboard that's on the top - no "fishing" for the one you want. You can switch with someone later. This year it's not really an issue. The water bottle basket came out of necessity. I hate sweaty bottles that leak (or spill) on the tables and papers. Grab and go. (We did have to have a conversation that this was not the water cooler and you can't stand there sipping and chatting all day :-)

Looking at this picture, I'm not sure how proud I am of it. But it's real - and it really is organized. I am blessed to have a double closet in my room (tow of them actually) to store things. This one stores school supplies, construction paper, art materials, etc. Those shelves are really deep and I was always losing things behind everything. I decide one summer to purchase Sterilite 3-drawer bins from WalMart and stick them in the closet.  Ta-dah! It may not LOOK beautiful, but I know where every kind of pencil, marker, sticky note, etc. is ... and I don't have to take out half the closet to find it. Use bins and drawers to store all those little things and you'll find you have so much more room for other stuff! Now if only I could do the same for my other closet with the Ziploc bags, paper plates, etc. Ugh.

This "toolkit" sits on our back counter. It has the things we always need to replace - and my kiddos know if they need something they can just come and get it. It's from the hardware section at Home Depot and the drawers tip forward when they open. A simple idea that has really helped. (And you can see the plastic bag with the glue sticks with no caps. We seem to lose the caps. Keeping them in the plastic bag keeps them from drying out and when a lone cap shows up we can just find it's mate!)

We use dice almost every day during our math time. I have - or can come up with - a dice game for just about any math concept. And we use them for reading, vocab and spelling games, too. These drawers contain the most-used dice: foam 6-sided dice (so quiet! link here), plastic 10-sided dice (also from Amazon - link here) and regular 6-sided dice. Since we use them so much, they needed their own place. TIP: If you use something a lot, keep it out somewhere in the classroom. It makes it much easier than digging through a closet or drawer three times a week! The dice mats on the top are just pieces of felt. My kiddos bring one to wherever they are working and roll the dice on it. It not only keeps things quieter when 20+ kids are rolling dice, but it helps them keep the dice somewhat ON the dice mat.






That's it for Part 1! We've only made it halfway around my room and I've already showed you nine different ways to stay organized using bins and baskets! Now head on over to my my blog for Part 2 and see even more ways I keep things organized! In the meantime, leave a comment and share your thoughts - how do you use bins and baskets to stay organized?

5 Things to Do to Get Ready for Back to School

While we are still in the middle of July and summer vacation is still in full swing, the beginning of the school is definitely in the horizon from here!  As much as I want to extend my summer vacation a little bit longer, I know that any time that I put in to prep my class for the back-to-school rush now, I will definitely be thankful later. Here are ways I prepare my classroom before the beginning of the year.

 1. Decorate Your Classroom
 May you move to a new classroom, just want to revamp your classroom's theme, or want to rearrange your word wall or student desks, do it now when you have time the energy and time. New decorations and borders are always coming out in the summer! While it's definitely hard on the wallet, and I try not to make it too over-stimulating to accommodate to my students' needs, I must admit that I am a fool for all things cutesy that make my classroom inviting and engaging for my students. Try also to follow teacher supplies stores online as they often have giveaways and promotions going on in the summer.

 2. Get all the First-Week-of-School Essentials Ready
Name plates, dismissal tags, name tags, supplies organizers, communication folders, behavior calendar, sharpened pencils, and the list goes on...Whatever it is that you need that first week of school, go ahead and purchase them now. I usually get my roster the day of Meet-the-Teacher, however, I try to have all the materials on my desk ready to go when it's time. It saves me a lot of time and helps keep things organized.

 3. Create a Plan on How To Organize School Supplies
My students begin bringing in items on Meet-the-Teacher Night. There are certain things that I like for my students to keep in their cubbies for personal use (scissors, pencil box, crayons, folders, notebooks, and markers), and there are other things that are for community use (construction paper, erasers, dry-erase markers, tissue boxes, glue bottles, glue sticks, etc.).

For items that are shared throughout the year, I leave bins out in the hallways with labels and instructions for parents and students to simply drop them off. As more things are collected, I then place enough shared supplies (glue bottles, scissors, and pencils) in little bins in the middle of student desks while others like tissue boxes, construction paper, and dry-erase markers are placed on shelves or in cabinets.  Also, the first day of school is also a great time for students to work in small groups to separate construction paper by color. This activity allows students work together and take ownership of their own classroom.   In addition, whenever you need a stack of a certain color construction paper, it is already separated and ready to use! :)

Below are the labels that I use for organization.

4. Reorganize Your Teacher Desk
I try every year to reorganize the supplies inside my teacher desk simply because I know once school begins, it is the last thing on my mind. And what's more frustrating than trying to find more staples or paper clips when it's the first week of school and you have about a million notes and forms to collect?! Buy cheap desk organizers to help compartmentalize different areas in your drawers for all your office supplies essentials. This has helped me keep organized, and a great way for me to know exactly where my things are when I need them.

 5. Decide On Your Student Seating Arrangements
Some teachers on my team have decided to do away with individual desks and go with circle tables. I've decided to keep my student desks as I prefer my students having their own storage space and to eliminate time from getting supplies when needed. Once I have my student desks arranged, I make sure I place labels on their supply bins to show what group they are in (Group 1, 2, 3, & 4). This really helps when I call to pass out papers or line up. No matter what you decide, this is the time to decide if you want five students to a group, the use or desks or tables, or where all your different learning areas will be (Writing Center, Library, Word Work, etc.).

These are just five things that have really helped me get organized for the beginning of the year. What are some things that you do to get your classroom going?

5 End of the Year Sanity Savers!

The end of the year is a very stressful time for teachers - our to do lists are a mile long. However, now is the time to start thinking ahead to next year as well (when your report cards are done, that is).  Today I am sharing a few things to do right now to make life when you return to the classroom just that much easier.  

Before I start, my best piece of advice to save your sanity in the days leading up to the end of the year is to ENLIST YOUR STUDENTS FOR HELP. I teach first grade and they are always eager to help out. Obviously there is a limit to their helpfulness, but if you teach older children then the possibilities are endless.  

Here are 5 things I have learned to do over the years to make my life just a little easier at start up in the fall: 


I learned the hard way that this is a must-do if you plan on replicating a particular bulletin board, or in my case, the word wall. I never seem to leave enough space for the words when setting up my word wall in the fall. I have such a hard time judging without the visual of the words. Enter my iphone and voila you can now look the picture you took and use it to easily get your letter headers placed with the right amount of space to add your words. Take pictures of any bulletin board/display/anchor chart that you think you might want to remember or refer to again for the next year. I am a very visual person and have many such photos on my phone. 

Do I really need this? Take time to purge! Sort out that filing cabinet. If you didn't use the papers in that file this year and you are staying at the same grade, recycle them or give them away! If you are like me then that will not be a priority when you return in the fall. I am totally guilty of an overflowing filing cabinet – take a look at my picture. I inherited files from the teacher whose room I moved into 15 years ago and they are still in there! Perhaps I have a problem!    Anyone with me??

Students love doing this job. First I have them find all the damaged books and move them into the book hospital bin. At that point it is up to me to decide if the book requires tape or if it has seen better days and is ready for the recycling. I have a number of books that will be recycled this year as they are so well loved even tape won’t help. Next, my students make sure all books are in the proper labeled basket, either guided reading level or thematic. It is astonishing how poorly sorted the book collection becomes. Very quickly those helpers start to police the other students as books are being returned. If your students are anything like mine we are bound to find a D level book in the E or F basket. I love starting out the year with my books all sorted and organized. It’s one less thing to worry about in the fall! CAUTION: I did not take time to straighten up my bins for the pictures.  This is real life at the end of the year! 

This will be a true sanity saver because systems that didn’t work probably drove you insane throughout the year! Now is the time while the year is winding down to honestly evaluate your organizational systems. Did they work for you and/or your students? Did students use the systems you put in place properly? If the answer is no, then why is that the case? How can you change things so it works for next year’s class? I have a drawer organization system I use to put all my copies etc. in for the week. I love it, but I don't use it faithfully, especially when I get very busy. I will continue to use this system though, despite my inconsistency, because it does work better than anything I have tried before. With my students I started using reading boxes a few years ago to help my students organize their read to self books. This is a system I love but I am finding the kids are really hard on the boxes this year: take a look at those tattered boxes. I think at the end of last year I only had 2 destroyed and this year it is almost half the class. This is a great system but I need to do more teaching about caring for their book boxes next year. 

These are some of my other organization hacks I implemented that I LOVE and will use again next year. Be warned, all the labels are looking very well used.  

What were some of your highlights from the year? What were some of your student’s? Have your students brainstorm about some of the things they liked best about the year. If it has stuck with them then it is probably a “keeper” activity. Take a moment and jot down some of your highlights as well. This can be pretty hard to do even at the end of the year so imagine how impossible it will be in the fall. This is also a good time to do some planning, if only in your head, about things for next year. I often plan to do this and forget, so I am hoping that the act of simply writing about it here on the blog will spur me to take the time to do this with my students. 

I hope you found some helpful pointers or simply were just reminded of things that you already do and need to do as the year winds down. I am on the final month countdown and will be thinking about these things in the coming weeks. 

Lastly, how about saving your sanity right now? As the weeks wind down it is more difficult to keep students engaged in their learning. I like to continue with a predicable routine until close to the end for my own sanity.   This Summer themed Spin and Graph center which is available in my store right now is perfect for this time of the year. Simply print and provide a paper clip for spinning and you have a center ready to go.  It's an engaging and relevant review task and a sanity saver all in one!