Back to School Work

I can not believe August is here already. The summer just completely flew, partially because we got out of school a little later in June than we normally due, but also because I've been busy working outside on house stuff. Our 'to-do' list around the house was getting to be too big so I went ahead, put on my old clothes, and tackled a few projects. Resurfacing/staining our deck was the biggest one that I accomplished..I'm in love! The other was refinishing and painting our two eucalyptus adirondack chairs that were getting to be very old and weather, plus the matching table. They are now a fun pinkish color!

Unfortunately I can't procrastinate back to school stuff too much. I actually enjoy the planning, coming up with new ideas, finding things on Pinterest, the back to school aisle in the stores...yeah! This is all before the stress of the actual teaching happens (kids, parents, etc). And I'll be the first to admit I'm kind of a school supply junkie...love that stuff!

Anyway, here are a few things I've been working on. Enjoy! And feel free to borrow any idea you see, I'm happy to help a teacher in need :)

Our students have to bring in an accordion file to put their handouts. I picked up one for $3 to show the kids and parents at our Back to School Night later this month. It helps them to see how it will be organized. Plus I can give it to a student who might not have the finances.

Inside tabs - labeled for each instructional class they would get handouts in.

Our students are also asked to bring in a 5 subject notebook. I organize it with 2 sections for Writing, 2 sections for Reading, and the final section is split for Science/Social Studies. We have a table of contents that we add to and handouts that we tape in, along with areas for making heart maps, timelines, read aloud thoughts, etc. They get really full and the kids don't lose anything since all the pages stay inside. Plus they enjoy decorating the covers!

One of my bulletin boards in progress - no my room isn't crooked, I'm just bad at taking pictures! 

Label on the top of the pencil boxes that will be in the center of each table. They have pencil sharpeners, pencils, erasers, and sticky notes inside. I'm hoping it will prevent kids from wasting time! I put fun masking tape (who knew it came in patterns!) around the pencils like flags and labeled them with the table number and my room number. The pencils are small and those flags are big, hopefully it's a 'red flag' as I see them walk out of my room (haha).

Second fun addition to my room. I need to darken the lines around the boxes and add the top label (though since I only did half the Tardis do I only do half the words...hmmm). I'm also going to print out Dr. Who quotes that relate to the kids and school to hang around the door.

The pencil boxes stacked up..so pretty, and I love that they were $1.29 at Office Depot, and the fact that they are clear will help me to see when a table isn't taking care of their supplies well.

So excited to try this - saw the idea on Pinterest first. The box has hanging file folder inside, one marked 1-31 for the days of the month. When students are absent they look in the folder for the date they missed (i.e. September 9th would be in the 9 folder). They read the sheet that I'll have in there and pick up handouts they need. This will be the location for students who misplace their work to look as well, but only after the students who were absent claim their papers. I don't make a lot of extras but I always have a few. As the next date rolls around (i.e. from September 1st to October 1st) I'll clean out the file and put the new items in. I'm hoping this helps me file better but also keeps me from stacking up a marking period worth of extra papers for the kids. 

And finally, my planning place...so peaceful! Hope you enjoyed and got some ideas. Happy planning.