Well I finally did it.... I ordered an Erin Condren life planner. I wasn't going to, but after opening up my teacher bag from last year....
It. Had. To. Happen!!!
No seriously! I had a calender for home, work, Google calendar, and a pretty one that I made from Snapfish for the house that I stole and took to school.
I just had to get everything together in one spot, especially now that I'm going to have Hudson to worry about. Man let me tell you, an almost 4 month old has quite the social calendar!
No but seriously..
I love it!
I went for the life planner this year and used washi tape to break apart the weeks. The idea came from a fellow blogger Stephanie from 3rd Grade Thoughts. She posts pictures on Instagram all of the time of her awesome planners, and has also blogged about using them. I really loved her ideas...be sure to check them out! I have separated my week into 3 sections.
One for School.
One for Home.
And any extras that I need to keep track of.
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| My week isn't very full right now, but when I'm back at school I'm looking forward to having everything in one spot to reference! |
This week I had a first.... I went to an edcamp. Anyone ever been?
I had a great time meeting up with some colleagues from work and also meeting other educators from the area. I went to a session that talked about using math workstations that I can't stop thinking about.
I am really looking to doing my math block like that this year.
Wish me luck...I will be sure to share my journey..... Be on the lookout!
Because I have no a ton of free time I decided to give my classroom a new look this year. I also really wanted to get it up and running. I have never been this late on getting it setup. I really have not been feeling productive at all. I needed to get some stuff done.
I just needed a change.
So I figured now was the best time to do it.
So I found myself at the craft store buying fabric.
The plan was to use this fabric for my bulletin boards.....
I couldn't!
Why, you ask? Well the blue fabrics made me feel like I was going to get sick when my husband put them up. True story! Like dizzy sick... Ugh! I guess I didn't think of that when I purchased it. So only three boards are half done because I don't have any borders to match my new colors.
So that leads me to the next picture:
I went to my classroom.
This is what it looked like when I got there.
This is still what it looks like now.
I was frustrated about my bulletin boards.
I got nothing done.
Sad-face.
On a slightly happier note.. I did finish a product that I'm really excited about!
I've had smaller versions in the past, but they were falling apart, so I wanted to make new ones for this school year. I decided to make one large one! This book has 180 different writing prompts to use in your classroom for the whole year.
I made it into a book to put in the writing center,
but you can use it for whole class journal time too.
Prompts cover a wide variety of subjects and also cover different genre's of writing. There are narrative, persuasive, creative, story starters, character education prompts, how to writing and more.
I've put mine together as a book with a binding machine, but you could easily hole punch the pages and put it together with three rings too! I plan on making 3 or so for the classroom to put in the writing center for Daily 5 writing time. I was so excited to get this done, as it has been weighing on my mind for awhile. It feels good!
Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend! :) Thanks for stopping by!
I have highly debated buying an Erin Condren planner! They look amazing. And I am hoping to be sent on some professional development this year to learn more about math work stations! I plan on using them this year but I definitely want to know more about them!!!
ReplyDeleteJamie
Drop By...
Life As I Know It
I'm sorry your room reno didn't go as planned. :( It's probably good that you noticed that though because if the patterns made you sick, just imagine what it would do to the kids. If you want to read a good book about math workshop, read Guided Math by Laney Sammons. It's the book that got Jamie and me started. I need to reread it though since I didn't teach math last year. See you soon!!
ReplyDeleteJen
Mrs. Laffin's Laughings
I love the fabric you purchased but I can see what you mean about the dizziness. When I start in on my classroom I have the same problem, I get so overwhelmed I don't get anything accomplished. Good luck getting things set up! LOVE your planner!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I loved it too...but had to get some new stuff. However I was surprised that you can return fabric to JoAnn within 90 days of purchasing it, as long as it has not been washed or cut. So I'll be able to take it back this week. Thanks for stopping by and leaving some love. Do you know you're a no-reply blogger so I couldn't respond to you via email? Let me know if you want help changing that. Hope you have a great week.
DeleteAna
Enjoy your little one! It goes by quick!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I'm trying to enjoy every minute. I'm so lucky.. he came at a great time because I got a lot of extra time with him! He'll be nearly 19 weeks when I go back. Do you know you're a no-reply blogger so I couldn't respond to you via email? Let me know if you want help changing that. Have a great week!!
DeleteAna
My daughter had the same problem with her bulletin boards! She was trying to cover hers with plastic table cloths, but could not get them to lie smooth and you can't iron them! I went down to help her and we used solid color fabric. That worked well. You might try just a black border with your colors or a burlap ribbon. The bulletin boards in my room are painted! I just painted with a small roller- never have to hang paper again!
ReplyDeleteCarol
Teachers Are Terrific!
I love the painting idea. I've seen a few people talk about that on blogs...I had no clue you could do that!! Thanks for sharing. I also like the table cloths. I am going to try to get some plain borders, and I have some burlap that I'm going to try to make some small banners out of to help too. Hopefully it will all come together.. I guess it always does.
DeleteAna :)
I'm glad that your husband was able to help you out with your computer! I had a scare last week when a scammer claiming to be Microsoft called me to tell me that my computer would crash if I didn't get rid of all the malware, etc....welll I didn't let them fool me and I hung up. But it made me buy a external hard drive to back-up all the important teacher stuff and photos, etc. Glad I did that...gives me piece of mind since we put some much on our machines.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to use fabric on my boards too, but my thought was also it would be too busy for me and probably some of my kiddos (especially those with special needs). I'm sticking to solid colors and patterns on the borders. :)
Have a great week!!
Elyse :)
Proud to be Primary
Hi Elyse- Thanks for stopping by and for leaving a comment. Did you know that you're a no reply blogger so I can't respond to your comment via email??? If you want to change that or need help let me know, I'd be happy to help. I'm glad my husband fixed my computer too. A new one is not in the budget right now. It's so scary when the though of losing everything is a reality! We did a back up on our external hard drive right away!!! I have found that if you use fabric, choose less busy patterns. You can still have something with a pattern, but make sure that the colors are all close to one another and the pattern isn't toooooooo busy! :) I need to get some fun borders now. I can't wait to get it all together! Have a great week .
DeleteAna