A Day of Bucket List Success!

Two weeks of summer have come and gone just like that!! I have been nannying Monday-Thursday for a majority of the day, which keeps me juuuust the right amount of busy ;) Love that I have gotten to spend time relaxing at the pool while still having plenty of time planning my 2015-2016 school year!

I have decided to tackle classroom design by choosing a theme and creating my OWN templates and clipart. Not the easiest of tasks, but so far I am THRILLED with how everything has turned out!! I plan to keep the theme a surprise but will admit that it is quite a fun theme :) I never thought I would get too into creating, but I have enjoyed making my own things and knowing everything is exactly how I want it to look.

Earlier this year, I created a Summer Bucket List with my teaching bestie! We made a long list and narrowed down the biggest projects that we wanted to tackle. After many work nights of making lists, we finally put together our shopping list of necessities and FRIDAY WAS THE DAY! To say I woke up excited is an understatement. Our list was coming to life! I will blog more about my projects as they get completed but for now, here is a preview of some things on the list to give ya'll an idea of I am doing:

1) Whisper Phones- After a trip to Lowes, I was able to get all of the PVC piping necessary to make whisper phones for my class! SO excited to get these babies made and to watch my little rays use them!
2) Chalkboard Cabinets- Have you ever had a filing cabinet that was ugly, old, and seemed to just take up space???? Well I decided I wanted that this year I want EVERYTHING/ALL SPACES to be utilized to their full extent! With my filing cabinets (that I store student data, monthly units, etc), I decided to turn them into chalkboards! Not only will their dull color be changed, but they will be able to be utilized by my students for word work and all kinds of stations!!
3) Sit Spots: I happen to have the smallest room in our school. I decided to take this room as a challenge to utilize all floor and wall space as efficiently as possible! That being said, the rug that I was using took up a huge chunk of space by the board. I decided to move the rug to the library and create sit spots out of vinyl fabric for students to use when at the board and as travel seats! I finally selected the fabric I am going to use. I went with a toned down neutral color so that it would easily fit my themes if they ever change (who am I kidding, they will change every year!!!)
4) Crate Cubbies: As I mentioned before, I have a smaller room. I also lack the closets that are in other rooms. This means my rays coats/backpacks/etc hang on the wall and create a cluster of clutter. The OCD in me had a HARD time with this last year. I have been collecting milk crates that I am going to spray paint and zip tie together in order to have storage for the students belongings while also have a tidier area.


The list goes on and on, but that is a small idea of what will be going on!!!

I have also completely redesigned the setup in my classroom. My goal is to have my desk for no reason other than storage. I want my chair to look like it has never been sat in because I want to be up and with my little rays. There is no reason to sit while they work. After reflecting on my 2014-2015 (and first year) of teaching, I feel that I was not as active in their individual work time as I could be. I want to be involved in their seat work!

I cannot explain how thrilling shopping was and I am ready to continue to tackle the list and finalize all of my projects!!!!

Come back and keep updated on all the fun that happens :)

Happy Summer!!!

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