Friday, August 3, 2012

Next stop: Polka Dot Paradise! :-)

I sat down to type out this blog post and am realizing that it's August 3rd already! How in the world did THAT happen? Time just flies on by when you're having fun! I don't know about all of you, but this summer feels like it's been crazy! Maybe it's because I have two VERY busy little boys that require my attention 24/7. My "A-Type" personality and I clashed a little this summer as I tried to plan out activities for all of us. Here are some things I learned: You can't always ::plan:: when you have a 2.5 and 4.5 year old. You don't ALWAYS have to leave the house to have fun. Pinterest projects take 2 hours to assemble (not counting the time spent driving to the store to accumulate the supplies) and they only last for about 10 minutes (if I'm lucky) of simulation. I get more excited to try out activities than my boys do. I've never been a stay at home and just hang out type of person so I have now passed that onto my boys! They're always asking what our next adventure will be. We've had a super fun summer, but to be honest with you, I'm ready for a steady routine again. This "waking up with the crickets and immediately forming a plan on the fly" stuff just isn't cutting it for me!

By the 6th week of summer break, I had the boys enrolled into summer camp at their pre-school twice a week. Two reasons I did this: 1.) To allow them to play with their friends in a familiar environment, and somewhat keep up with their routine, 2.) To allow myself the uninterrupted time in my new classroom to set it all up and CLEAN! I've become a hoarder of "stuff" and it was finally time to part with it. Like all teachers, I walk through any given store, spot some random, off the wall item and immediately think: "OMG, this would be AWESOME in the my classroom for ____" What I've learned is that I spend the money, and then forget I have it, or don't think about this item when I'm searching for ideas, and thus, I accumulate 12 baskets, 34 organizers, 6 trays of various sizes and shapes, and 9 ice cube trays.  So now my wardrobes are cleaned out, the bags have been delivered to Goodwill, and I even started a stash of stuff for my little sister to use one day in her own classroom! It feels good to be able to open my wardrobe and not have to immediately put my arms up for cover to defend myself from any of those things I listed above falling on me! :-)

Onto the fun stuff! Summer camp ended this week for my little guys so I was trying my best to get my room all ready and I think I can finally say "It's done!". I still have some things here and there to add/fix/change, but for now, this is good enough. I stuck with my colorful polka dot theme again this year but I modified, upgraded and changed several things! Here are some pictures of my new room:

This is what you see right when you walk in: 
 This is my latest project, my student of the week board!
 This one is one of my favorites, my writing center board! Since Cindy and I posted pictures of our rooms, we've had TONS of inquiries on the posters and things you see on the wall! I can't take credit for any of these fabulous resources, but I also won't leave you hanging! The Writer's Eye came from one of our favorite bloggers, Cara Caroll:
http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/2011/08/free-for-all-friday.html
The "What do Writer's Write? pencil you see came from another one of our favorite bloggers, Lindsey, at The Teacher Wife:
http://theteacherwife.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-do-writers-write.html
 My Word Wall (after posting this, I realize that I need to straighten out some of the cards, haha)
 My Daily 5 Board
 My calendar board (below the board is where student work will hang)
 My behavior management board (also known as the doors to my wardrobe that I decorated!)
 Parent Praises (also on a decorated wardrobe)
 My Math/Daily 5 boards together
 View of the front of my room
 My small group/reading/my desk area
 My "Reading Spot" library. Once I move those chairs over, all of this will shift more to the left so it doesn't look so crammed together!


And that's all for now! The majority of the posters/things on the wall were all handmade (well, computer made, but designed) by ME! Like I mentioned before, I still have things to fix, add, and change here and there but for now, this room is good enough for me! Time to get back to the chaos and chores calling my name around the house! Hope you are all enjoying your summer and if there is something in particular you are interested in, hop on over to our TPT store or Teacher's Notebook, or shoot me a comment or email! I would love to help! :-)

19 comments:

  1. Cute classroom! I LOVE seeing other teachers' classroom pictures.

    Emily
    Tangled with Teaching

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  2. Your room looks great! You've got me excited to work on my room! We can't go in until the 8th. :(

    Antoinette
    Shoelaces and Sugar Cookies

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  3. Your room is so organized! I'm so jealous because I haven't been allowed in my room yet. I'm going with polka dots this year, too. I'm a Ms. Brown so it was neat seeing my name in polka dots in your room ;0)

    Carmela
    Diary of a Teachaholic

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    1. Yay for polka dots! I am obsessed with them, Ms. Brown! :-)

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  4. I love how you covered the wardrobes! How did you get the paper up there? Did you just use sticky tack? I have a wardrobe just like that and have never considered covering it! Looks great!
    Thanks!
    tjulch@mpsomaha.org

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    Replies
    1. Hi! So sorry I'm just responding to you, but somehow I just saw your comment! The paper is stuck to the wardrobe using scotch tape! You can see it up close, but that doesn't bother me too much! It changes the entire look of the room with it covered! Hope this helps! I'll be adding more photos soon, so be sure to follow our blog or check back in! :-)

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  5. It looks lovely!! Wow, you girls are talented with your bulletin boards! I love the colors you chose and the crate seats look so pretty in your library!

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  6. Where did you find the writers eye bulletin board set? I would love something like that in my classroom! Very cute pictures!!

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    1. Hello Krystal,
      The documents arent ours to share but check out our reply below to get the links. Hope you are following our little blog and thank you for the lovely comments.

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  7. Love, love, love your writing center bulletin board! Thanks for giving us a tour of your class. It is always fun to see everyone's rooms! Looking forward to sharing more ideas!

    -Krista
    The Second Grade Superkids

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  8. I love your room especially your writing board. Could you send me the documents for this? Thanks Kayla. kaylahenr@gmail.com

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    1. they are not our documents. Check out our reply below to get the links. Thanks for visiting our little blog hope you are following us to get more ideas and resources for your classroom.

      Cindy

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  9. Hello everyone thank you so much for the lovely comments. I wish Angie and I could take credit for the writing board but we did not make it. It came from Cara Carroll last year. She always has amazing things and she offered it as a freebie. Here is the link where you can get it

    http://thefirstgradeparade.blogspot.com/2011/08/free-for-all-friday.html

    the pencil came from the teacher wife. Another awesome blogger and she also gave it out as a freebie last year. I dont have the link to that one but just go to theteacherwife.blogspot.com and search on their.

    Hope this helps. We would love to see your writing boards once you get them up.

    Cindy

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  10. Hello! I love how you used the writing pencil on that bulletin board! Do you mind linking it back to my blog? Thanks! Here is the link: http://theteacherwife.blogspot.com/2011/10/what-do-writers-write.html

    xoxo

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    1. Hi Lindsey!

      Thanks so much for your sweet comment! We've been sending all inquiries about the pencil to your blog, but I also went in and added your direct link to the blog post itself! Thanks so much for creating such amazing and SUPER cute resources! :-)

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  11. Where can the pages outlined in blue to the right of the picture on your writing board be found? Thanks, Kimberly :)

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  12. I was curious about the pictures that were on the writing board that were outlined in blue? Do you have those and would you be willing to share them. I just absolutely love your ideas!! Super cute!

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  13. Do you sell the story, list, book, card, letter posters that you have on the Writers Eye focus wall?

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