September 30, 2012
War Zone
A couple weeks back (yes, slacker blogger this month), Zach and Spencer had the ultimate water gun fight in the back yard. With these two, it's always just two kids playing. We love to just sit and watch. :)
September 24, 2012
Still here...
I'm still a blogger and this is why I haven't blogged since September 1...
SCHOOL IS INSANE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh my gosh I'm busy. I've never been this busy at the start of a school year. It's a "good" busy, but none the less, B.U.S.Y.
I mentioned before I wanted to share with you pieces of my classroom or a room tour if you will, so enjoy!
My warm-up board for students to see when they walk in and get all needed supplies ready, pick up papers, etc. This is great because it gives them something to do before the tardy bell rings.
*The "dividers" are ribbon with magnets on the back.*
My assignment board that stays up all week long.
*The pink is duct tape.*
*The bulletin board is covered in fabric I picked up from Hobby Lobby last year.*
Do you see some things I mentioned in this post?? Love them! :)
Daily objective
*Ribbon and magnets again for the dividers.*
How I hand back papers...each student has a number and I just file them when I grade them. (I put the number on the paper when I put it into the grade book. A lot of students get in the habit of putting the number on there themselves.) It is there responsibility to pick them up. It takes half the time to file them vs. handing them out. I can't stand wasting good class time on things like passing out papers.
Got so tired of my card stock being in one big stack. I organized those colors baby!
Love this and it works!
Here's my tutorial on how to make it.
My available tutorial times on my door. The numbers/letters can be moved weekly because they are just backed with tape. This works wonders!!
Awesome way to assess your students with an exit ticket! I have my students put their numbers (from the bins mentioned above) on the backs so it is pretty anonymous.
Of course this isn't all of my room, but just some of my favorite pieces. I'd love to hear from you and see what is your favorite part of your classroom!
And I leave you with this...
Yes, this did happen in my classroom. :)
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September 1, 2012
Toy Mirror
I saw this pin (just a picture, no instructions) awhile back and have just kept it in my mind ever since I saw it. I knew I wanted to make one for Spencer's room, but I sure didn't want to shell out the money it costs to by a good-sized, framed mirror.
Well, when we were at Rick's mom's house a month ago, I noticed she had a good sized mirror propped up against the wall in the corner. It was obvious it hadn't been hung or was going to be hung any time soon. So, I asked her if I could have it and she gave it right to me!
This was a pretty simple project. I wanted to do a post about how I did this because where I saw the original idea had no instructions, just a picture. This is a good use of those ANNOYING toys that you have everywhere that your kids get in their drive-thru meals and toys that are mismatched, lost a piece, etc. I went to a local consignment sale because I knew someone would be selling these types of things. I found two big bags ofjunk toys and only paid $3 for them. I also got to the end of the project and just needed a few more things and dug in Spencer's toys. Oops! :)
Tips on making this mirror:
1 - Tape off the edges of the mirror before putting the toys on there. You will have some toys hang over the edge and taping it right before you paint could be tricky.
2 - Use the hot glue sticks, not the cool glue sticks.
3 - Arrange your toys on the mirror before gluing. Also, the toys will not lie flush against the mirror, so before applying the hot glue, look to see where you need to put the glue in order to get the toy to stick on there like you want it. In other words, the toys don't need to have the entire backside covered with glue becauase only certain points will even touch the mirror.
4 - Do not use soft rubber toys. Spray paint will not do well on soft rubber. Only hard plastic or metal.
5 - On the toys with wheels, hot glue them so they don't spin. If you don't, I see them as being tempting to spin and play with and then eventually coming off the mirror.
6 - Have your work area in a place that you can look down on the mirror. I used our coffee table in the living room. That sure helped really seeing how things were going to look and where you needed to place the toys.
I used just regular gloss spray paint that I got from Hobby Lobby. The color was True Blue from Krylon. I used every bit in the can.
Well, when we were at Rick's mom's house a month ago, I noticed she had a good sized mirror propped up against the wall in the corner. It was obvious it hadn't been hung or was going to be hung any time soon. So, I asked her if I could have it and she gave it right to me!
This was a pretty simple project. I wanted to do a post about how I did this because where I saw the original idea had no instructions, just a picture. This is a good use of those ANNOYING toys that you have everywhere that your kids get in their drive-thru meals and toys that are mismatched, lost a piece, etc. I went to a local consignment sale because I knew someone would be selling these types of things. I found two big bags of
Tips on making this mirror:
1 - Tape off the edges of the mirror before putting the toys on there. You will have some toys hang over the edge and taping it right before you paint could be tricky.
2 - Use the hot glue sticks, not the cool glue sticks.
3 - Arrange your toys on the mirror before gluing. Also, the toys will not lie flush against the mirror, so before applying the hot glue, look to see where you need to put the glue in order to get the toy to stick on there like you want it. In other words, the toys don't need to have the entire backside covered with glue becauase only certain points will even touch the mirror.
4 - Do not use soft rubber toys. Spray paint will not do well on soft rubber. Only hard plastic or metal.
5 - On the toys with wheels, hot glue them so they don't spin. If you don't, I see them as being tempting to spin and play with and then eventually coming off the mirror.
6 - Have your work area in a place that you can look down on the mirror. I used our coffee table in the living room. That sure helped really seeing how things were going to look and where you needed to place the toys.
I used just regular gloss spray paint that I got from Hobby Lobby. The color was True Blue from Krylon. I used every bit in the can.
It will take multiple coats because you will have some toys that the paint doesn't stick to as well as others, but be patient and apply mutliple coats until it's fully covered.
Drum roll please....
*I had no idea how hard taking a picture of this mirror would be. :/
He LOVES it!!!
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