Clipboard Bin-DIY

So, I was inspired by so many blogs this summer and all the teachers that do their own projects for their classrooms I decided to do a few myself.  I like to think that I am becoming more crafty but I will let you be the judge of that.  Earlier this summer, I also made stools on crates, you can see that post here. 

My next project was to make a bin for my clipboards in my room.  I inherited a yellow tub during the spring/summer and had yet to find a use for it until I was organizing my classroom and I could not find a good spot to put my clipboards so I decided to convert the yellow tub into the clipboard tub.



First, I grabbed my yellow tub.

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Second, I marked off the areas I wanted to spray paint with the chalk board paint with blue painters tape.



 

I painted both sides in case both sides of the tub would be showing in my classroom.



This is the chalk board spray paint that I used, bought at Home Depot.



This is what the tub looked like after I sprayed it, once it was dry I carefully peeled off the paint and it was perfect.



Here is the finished project in my classroom with all of our clipboards.  This tub sits near the Work on Writing area for Daily 5 so the students have different ways they can write or can go and write on one of the comfy chairs in the classroom.



So, that is my DIY project for this week.  I will be showing you another project I did for my classroom library that I love!

First Day Back for Teachers

Well, today was the first day teachers had to report back to school and it did not go as planned.  Our school district had hired Corwin Kronenberg to be our speaker at our opening day of in-service but he had to cancel due to an illness.  So, instead we gained more time in our classrooms!  YEA, that does not usually happen!  Plus, we will gain additional time to work in our classrooms tomorrow since our building meetings were moved to today.

Although we gained extra time today, my anxiety level is still increasing.  I had one of the students on my caseload move away and now I have gained a student that moved into our district so I have quite a few things I need to fix (add the student's name) before Tuesday, but that is not too bad if that is my only change so far.

We have 2 1/2 more days in our classrooms this week so hopefully I will have my final classroom pictures up by the end of the week.  So for now, I am off to write IEP snapshots for the classrooms teachers.

I'm Back

So I have been gone for a while, it has been pretty busy around here the last week.  We start with in-service on Monday so I have been spending quite a bit of time trying to get things ready at school so I can use our in-service days to just finish up a couple of details.

Last week I spent two days at an Institute for Healthy Kids, where I learned some good things about incorporating yoga into the classroom and how to make some healthy recipes.  I am excited to try some of these great ideas in my classroom and it also reinforced the idea that students need to MOVE throughout the school day.  I think we heard that elementary students are only able to focus for 5-7 minutes at a time and then they are unable to take in any more information or learn.  When I hear that time limit, it really makes we re-evaluate the way I teach and that I need to add more movement breaks into our schedule.  Has anyone out there used student yoga in the classroom?  It seems like a great idea and a way to teach students how to give themselves a break or rejuvenate their bodies...

Last week I also had my first class of RECESS which is a action research class that our school district participates in with UW-Madison.  It stands for Rural Educators Collaborating to Ensure Student Success.  I also participated in RECESS last year and loved it, I learned so much more about my students and my own teaching and I am thankful to be able to participate again this year.  So, we pick something that we want to work on in our classrooms and with our students and then we research it throughout the school year.  At the end of the school year we go down to UW-Madison and present our findings.  It is such a great opportunity and it is nice to present to other people what I am doing in my classrooms to help my students succeed.

Well, that is about it for right now.  I have also been really busy with a couple more DIY projects that I will post later this week and I will also be posting pictures of my finished classroom soon, I have been working hard on it and would not be even close to being done without my awesome husband and all of his hard work on Sunday (thanks)!  Only a couple more details to finish...yea!

Parent Communication Log

Here is the Parent Communication Log I plan on using this school year.  Since I contact parents a lot throughout the school year I have a different log for each student that will all be kept in the same binder with their Student Contact Sheet.  Please feel free to download this Log, just follow my blog!  Thanks

Daily 5 Posters

So I have decided to do a form of Daily 5 during my intervention time with my 4th grade students.  My main goal with implementing Daily 5 with these students is to make them more independent before they go to the middle school next year.  Throughout most of their elementary career these students have always had people watching them and overlooking their work, this will not happen as much in the middle school.  So, I plan on making these students more independent before they leave the elementary school so they are able to be successful in the middle school.  Here are the posters I made to mark the 5 task areas of Daily 5.  Please feel free to download and use, all I ask is that you follow my blog and leave a comment.  Thanks


Daily 5 Posters

Please visit my Teachers Pay Teachers store to also download this document...

Web Site Linky Party

Hi everyone!  Life in Special Education is having a linky party for our favorite websites.  I am always online and thought I would share my favorites.

1. Tumble Books-an awesome website with animated picture books and chapter books.  These are great up on my SMART board when we have a couple extra minutes or when I have a substitute teacher.  Students love these stories and ask to go on the website.  Also a great option for "Listening to Reading" during Daily 5.

2. Raz-Kids-another great website with animated books.  You can enter your whole class on this website and set each child's individual reading level.  Each book has to be read, listened to, and pass a couple comprehension questions.  You can also do running records on the website.

3. Reading A-to-Z--a reading website in which you can print off leveled books with complete lesson plans and comprehension questions.  Great for when you need something for students to do independently or when you have a substitute.

4. Read-Write-Think--tons and tons of lesson plans, interactives, and printables.

5. Enchanted Learning--great website to find a couple activities, especially around holidays.

6. Illuminations--National Council of Teachers of Mathematics website with interactive activities and lesson plans.

7. Differentiation Daily--Paula Kluth's website offering a website/lesson/idea on how to differentiate instruction in your classroom every day during the school year.

8. AAA Math--great website if you need something for fact practice with instant feedback if the student is correct/incorrect

9. Starfall-website to help children learn how to read.  Everything from learning the sounds of letters to reading.  Includes activities, interactives, videos, games, and printables.  Kids love this website.

10. PBS Kids-kids love this website, a good "free" time website.

I hope you enjoy these websites as much as I do, please follow my blog if you enjoyed my post :)

Thanks to Life in Special Education for this great Linky Party.

Overwhelmed?

Wow, I feel like I am going in a hundred different directions right now.  I just finished my 2nd day at a summer academy for teachers in a city near where I teach.  This academy is great.  Teachers are able to pick 4 different classes out of a long list of options.  The academy is for 1 week and so far it has been awesome.  I am learning some great things.  I have a class on starting Daily 5, using my SMART board, classroom management, and implementing Guided Reading Plus as part of RtI.  As great as the academy has been thus far, I now feel as though I want to do and start a thousand different things.  Not only that but I am also part of our school PBIS committee and we are implement a big part of the PBIS structure this fall and it is/going to be a BIG task.  Those of you who know about PBIS might know what I am taking about.  I also have many other things that I am working on for my PDP (Professional Development Plan) and my action research class.  Oh, and I can not forget that I also moved classrooms this summer, which I love my new classroom and am thankful that I got moved but it is still stressful having to set up another classroom.

So really I am just venting and I need to focus my attention on just the few things I can accomplish in the 3 weeks before school starts and start marking things off my to-do list. 

Side Note: Does anyone else feel as though every time you cross something off that to-do list you add 3 extra things on the bottom?

Well, thanks for listening...and now back to reading the Daily 5 book and figuring out how I can incorporate some of this structure in my classroom.  Has anyone else modified Daily 5 in any way and been successful?  Any help would be appreciated :)