Priority #1 for Back to School -- Establish Classroom Routines

It's that time of year. The planning. The cutting. The laminating. The stacks of copied printables (worksheets) waiting to be sorted. The joys of Back to School!

For me, part of the fun of teaching is getting to recreate my classroom every year. What theme shall it be? Ocean, rainforest, The Wild West? The options are limitless. I get all caught up in the anticipation!

And then, I remember... I've told this story before, but I'll tell it again. It's just so stinkin' awful, it STILL makes me sick to my stomach, some twenty-odd years later.

My very first day of school as a brand-new teacher was a disaster. (O.K., so the whole experience was a disaster, but that's another story). I was incredibly anxious about setting up a thematic classroom. I was surrounded by amazing classrooms that had decor based on themes. (This was well before the days of Pinterest -- imagine how I would have done with that!)

One teacher had this elaborate teamwork theme based on how birds work together to fly in a V pattern, each taking a turn in the front. Wow. Seriously impressive.

I had no elaborate theme in mind, but a friend suggested I think about trees. They develop a network of support under the soil with their root systems. Perfect, especially since we were in Washington state. I constructed this amazing tree in the middle of my room. It was going to be a part of my discipline plan. (I think the idea was that the kids would each get a leaf to add to the tree when they had done something good -- man, what a lot of WORK!)

I spent weeks cutting out leaves, and thinking about the community I would build. I planned the first day to the minute, and designed amazing, engaging "get to know" activities.

Here's what I didn't do -- I didn't think about the logistics of the first day. I didn't know about the importance of establishing routines.  Lunch and recess were a disaster. (Duty? What's that?) Bathrooms? (Again?!?!)

The time came for the kids to leave. The bell rang. I opened the door. They left. End of a very long day. I went home and collapsed.  That night, the principal called me. He wanted to know how "William" had gotten home. I had no idea. I had opened the door -- he left. Well, it turned out that William was new to the area, and didn't know what bus to take. He hadn't made it home.

You can imagine how frantic I was. I had lost a child. On my very first day.

Fortunately, William showed up at home. The poor kid had walked.

I learned an incredibly important lesson that day. It's not about who has the cutest classroom. It's not about developing engaging lessons that will inspire the kids. It's not even about getting all the mandated assessments done.

The most important thing in the first weeks of school is about establishing routines. It's about what the kids will do when they walk through the door. It's about teaching them what your expectations are and giving them the tools to manage themselves.  It's about knowing how each child will get home.

Over the years, I've developed classroom resources that helped me to help the students manage the classroom. It got to the point, even in first grade, that I didn't have to do a whole lot of classroom management, because the kids handled it.  From taking attendance (clip charts) to assigning classroom jobs (job charts), the kids knew exactly what they need to do. And they did it.

I still love themes, and over the years, I've developed classroom management tools in lots of different themes. Here are a few examples.  Be patient with me...I'm working on making more editable, so you can customize them for your own classroom. In the meantime, you can find the entire at Tools for Classroom Management (Decor with a Purpose). If you see something you can use, but would like it in a different them, let me know!

 

Happy Back to School, 2016!

Classroom Overhaul: The Big Reveal!

I am so excited to share photos of how my classroom turned out after a summer of pinning, planning, purging, painting, and "project-ing." OK...so maybe "project-ing" is a made-up word, but I liked the alliteration. All my projects turned out GREAT, and I met most of my classroom overhaul goals!

Here's the big reveal...drumroll, please!

I think my favorite part of the room is my new reading corner!

The baskets came from Baskets of Africa.  This is my husband's fair trade company. He works directly with weavers across Africa, paying them a sustainable, fair wage for their amazing, hand-woven baskets. These baskets came from Ghana, and are available on his online store. I've had them for about 10 years, and they still look AMAZING! I love using them for books, puppets, musical instruments, journals, etc. 

I made the apple tree out of crushed butcher paper. I especially love the crushed red balls of paper for the apples.  I've actually had this apple tree for years, but it was in a different part of the room. I moved it and added the apples....love it!

I bought the carpet and pillow cubes from Target. The carpet was about $60, and the cubes were 80% off. I think I paid about $20 for them.  The plastic Adirondack chairs came from Lowe's for about $13 each.  The long pillows (basket in the corner) came from Big Lots. There were on clearance, also.  I paid $5 each with a coupon. I bought the READ letters from Hobby Lobby and spray painted them. I stuck them to the wall with tacky stick.

Next up...this is my teacher's chair and student notebooks. My husband made the pillows for me. I bought the chair from Lowe's for $18. The 3 crates came for Walmart for $4 each. The basket (love!) came from Baskets of Africa. I bought the cubes from Target years ago for my son's room.

The journals are my students' Daily Digit calendar math journals. I wanted them to be in a central place in the classroom because we use them so much. This has turned out to be a great solution!

This is my Daily Digit calendar math display. I love how bright it turned out! The student clipboard are in a bucket I got from Bed, Bath and Beyond over the summer for a barbecue.

I love how these apple lanterns turned out for my classroom signs!  I got this idea from School Girl Style's Apple Theme Room.  I ordered the lanterns from Oriental Trading for about $30.  I cut out the leaves (at the top of the lantern) from construction paper and laminated them. I bought the chevron apple clip art set from Ashley Hughes for $2.50.

Storage Area - Before

Storage Area - After

Finally, I cleaned up my messy storage tubs (see the "before" photo) by investing in new tubs from Walmart. They were not cheap, at $11 each, and I needed a lot of them, but it was worth it! I made the labels out of a clip art set I bought from Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs.

In case you missed some of my other classroom overhaul projects, here are some of the photos with links to my articles on how I made them. 

Painted File Cabinet

Table Skirts

Milk Crate Seats

Thanks for taking a few minutes to look at my new classroom design!

Classroom Overhaul -- Step 4: Make Milk Crate Seats

One of the challenges of having worked in education for 20+ years is that I have a LOT of stuff.  I have tubs of materials stored above my cabinets (which are also stuffed full). The result is that my classroom looks cluttered (even though I know exactly where everything is).  

A big goal for the summer is to sort through those tubs and purge! I'm planning on reducing the amount of tubs and storing my most essential materials in seat crates.  My students will use them as seats during reading groups.

You've seen the images of seat crates on Pinterest! So cute!  Mine turned out great!  

Step 1: Go shopping!  

• Fabric:  The fabric was 50% off at Joanne Fabrics, and I bought a yard of each (which was too much). I spent about $10 on fabric and ribbon.

• Foam: We selected a 2" high density foam that was also 50% off at Joanne. We chose the high density foam because we thought it would last longer and be more comfortable for my students than lower density foam.  I bought an entire sheet because I have some other projects for which I'll be using the leftover foam. I spent about $15 on the entire sheet of foam. (My dogs really liked the foam!)

• Plastic Crates: I bought 5 turquoise plastic crates from Target. They were $3.99 each, so I spent about $20 (with tax).
• Plywood: We had 5/8" scrap plywood so that was free.
• Tools: We used a staple gun, scissors, circular saw, measuring tape and other measuring tools -- all of which we already had.
• Total Cost: about $45 for 5 seat crates.

Step 2: Measure and cut the wood to fit on the interior rim of the crate.

Step 3: Measure and cut the foam so it is the same size as the wood. I traced the outline of the wood onto the foam.

Step 4: Measure and cut the fabric.  We used 2" foam, so we measured the fabric to be 4" wider (all the way around) than the foam/wood seat.  On the first one, we actually measured and cut the fabric pretty precisely. On the others, we just put the seat in the middle of the fabric and cut it so there was a 4" border of material.

Step 5: Staple the fabric onto the foam/wood seat.  

• First, we folded the fabric so it would be extra strong.

• For the corners, we folded them into triangular shapes (like we were wrapping a gift).

 Step 6: Staple on the ribbon. I wanted to have a handle to make it easier to pull the seats up. This was optional because I can easily stick my fingers though the crate to pop the seat up.

All Done! The entire project took about an hour and a half!

I Wish I Had Known! (Student Transportation on the First Day)

Confession time...My first day of my first year of teaching was an absolute nightmare.  (Actually, the whole experience was a nightmare, but we'll save that sad story for another time).  I was singularly focused on creating a great impression that would set the tone for the rest of the year. I made a critical error. I didn't even think about how my 3rd graders were getting home. I guess I sort of assumed they'd know, though honestly, it didn't even cross my mind.

You can imagine what happened.  One of the kids did NOT know how to get home and got lost.  The principal called me well past 6:00 pm, and asked me if I had put the boy on the bus.  Uhhhh....no.  Was I supposed to do that??  Apparently, the family was new to the area, and the little guy had no idea how to get home, so he just set off walking.  It all ended well -- his parents found him.  But, I tell you, that was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.  23 years later, the memory still makes me squirm.

Now I know that I have to find out how my kiddos are getting home before school even starts! At "Meet the Teacher" night, I put out a survey question board, and before they leave, parents and students have to answer "How Are You Getting Home on the First Day of School?" Occasionally, a parent will tell me that they don't know which bus their child rides. I direct them to the office so they can get that figured out.

On the first day of school, I write each child's transportation mode on their name tags so I can sort them into groups quickly and easily. I also use this transportation display. I keep it up for several weeks -- at least until we ALL know how the kids are getting home!

The transportation display is available on my TpT store for $2 in several designs. I sure hope they keep another child from getting lost on that first day of school (and keep another teacher from going to bed in tears on the first day of school!)

"Ribbons and Stripes" Theme

Chevron Theme

Apple Theme

Chalkboard Theme

Classroom Overhaul -- Step 2: Make Table Skirts

My classroom tables (like much of the furniture in my room) are not pretty. In fact, a couple of them are downright ugly. I got at least two of them from the salvage department for our district. Like my file cabinets, they need a makeover if they are going to have a place in my new "pretty" classroom.

After looking around for ideas, I decided on making table skirts. Not only would they hide some of the ugliness of the tables, but they would also hide the tubs I tend to stash underneath.

The issue: how to make them?  My teammate Heather over at Worf's Wiggle Worms has a cute table skirt, but she has had mixed results when she used velcro tabs. They keep falling off.  Our teammate Jenney had her mom sew table skirts. She stapled them into the edge of the table, and they've stayed up really well. But I don't sew, and I want to be able to remove mine for messy art projects.

My super crafty husband came to the rescue!  He offered to make table skirts for me!  The results look awesome!  Here's how he did it.

Step 1: Measure the tables. 

Get the length and the width, and then figure out how much you want the fabric to hang over the table. Add that on to your measurement.

Step 2: Find the material.

We got my fabric from Hobby Lobby for 50% off. We chose a heavier fabric so it would hang properly. I selected this particular style because the colors go with the colors that I already have on my classroom walls. This also matches the file cabinets I just repainted.

Step 3: Iron the fabric.

We ironed the edges of the fabric to create 3/4" folds for the hems.

Step 4: Hem it on the sides and bottom.

On the bottom and sides, he did a wide, long zig-zag stitch.

Step 5: Sew on the Velcro.

On the top, he sewed the Velcro on as he stitched it with a straight stitch.  We used sewing Velcro, not sticky Velcro. Sticky Velcro makes a mess with the needles.

Step 6: Attach sticky Velcro to table.

I had a couple of big rolls of Velcro at school, so we just wrapped it around the front and sides of the table.  We experimented with how high we wanted to attach the Velcro to the table so the table skirt would align with the edge of the table.

Step 7: Attach the table skirt.

Once the Velcro was on, we attached the skirt.

The final product!

It needs to be ironed one more time, but I'm thrilled with how it looks!