Monday Made It #5

Hi friends!

Sorry I've been MIA in blogland lately. 

I spent most of last week in my classroom, working like a maniac. And when I got home it was full on "mommy mode". So my blogging has taken a back-seat. But I hope to get some posts set up in advance to post this week! Thanks for understanding!

Anyway.

Since I was working in my room so much, I wasn't doing a whole of making things.

Here are a few things I've been up to though!

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 Like so many of you in blog-land, I made these cute little birthday gifts for my future students.  I got the straws from Walmart and the printable from here. Thanks to Once Upon a First Grade Adventure for making these! 

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I also made a little prayer ring to keep in my desk at school. I know sometimes I get anxious, overwhelmed, and frustrated and I think being able to pull this out will really be helpful. Do you have any favorite verses of prayers I should add?

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Much of my weekend was working on this! I am going from 3 file cabinets at my old school to 1 in my new.  So I've had to go through files and put them into sheet protectors in binders. Phew. Its been a little $ and time consuming, but I hope it will keep me organized and able to find what I need without digging through boxes. (PS- These pictured are just for math and writing. Phew)  (PPS- I still need to print notebook covers and spine inserts but my printer is acting weird right now!)

I can't wait to check out the link up and see what you all have been making this week! 

Monday Made It #4

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I loved this "noise meter" from Lucky to be in First . 

I was so excited to print it and make it magnetic for my class white board.  I think it will be great to help remind the kids what kind of voice they should be using.

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I made this bucket full of brain breaks for my class to pull from throughout the day.  

Everyone loves a good brain break from learning! 

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A couple of friends that I used to work with wanted to get together before school started up, so I had them over for an informal get-together Saturday afternoon.  Everyone brought a little app or dessert to nibble on while we caught up. I didn't do a whole lot of party prep since it was a laid back gathering, but I did find these adorable "school paper" napkins from Target and banner from here.

I love these girls.

So glad that we had so many years working together!

Monday Made It #3

I've been working on lots of new things for my classroom this week and I'm excited to link up and share for Monday Made It with Fourth Grade Frolics.

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I just LOVED this idea from Tara at Fourth Grade Frolics and knew I needed it in my classroom as well. You can get your copy here. Basically all kids will start off in the homework club and if they don't bring in or complete their homework, their number will be removed. Anyone still "in the club" on Friday will get a sticker , pencil, or some little treat at the end of the week. (Haven't decided what this will be yet!)

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I love the Dr. Jean cds in my classroom, especially "Kiss Your Brain". When the kids are doing something especially smart, I will often say "Kiss Your Brain". I saw this idea on Pinterest and knew I had to make a Kiss Your Brain jar full of Hershey kisses! You can get your copy of the printable from Rock & Teach here.

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I've seen this idea all over Pinterest and blogland and loved it.  I knew I wanted to make a little organizer for my classroom as well.  I used scrapbook paper to line the drawers to match my classroom theme/colors.

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I made a little mirror to hang by my sink area in the classroom.  I found a pretty ugly/cheap magnetic mirror and covered it with adorable tape.  I added a ribbon and some stickers to match the room as well.  I think it will be a cute little addition and hopefully make the kids smile! 

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One of Reagan's books from the library this week was called "Library Mouse". It is so adorable.  And would be a great addition to your classroom.  Its all about how anyone can be an author. I definitely need to get a copy for my classroom!  Anyways, the mouse ends up making a little mirror to show the kids in the library that they can be the author too.  I thought I'd make a mirror that says "Meet the Author" for my writing station.

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I've always used "pick me sticks" in my classroom but decided to "cutesy" them up this year with apple cut outs that match my theme. 

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I always take pictures of my first graders on the first day of school.  I found this adorable free printable from here .  I thought it would be a great little photo prop for my kiddos.

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As you may remember, I am going to incorporate whole brain teaching ideas into my classroom this year.  One of the ideas is to have the scoreboard to track class behavior and choices.  You can read more about it here.  I loved the idea of having a "traveling chart" to take with me when I move throughout the room.  I can easily add points this way.  I found the perfect color white board from Walmart and added some matching tape to jazz it up.  I also added matching apples for the happy and sad faces.

Made It Monday #2

I know I'm a day late linking up for Monday Made It this week!

But we got back from vacation yesterday and I couldn't seem to sit down at the computer.

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I'm excited to start incorporating more whole brain teaching into my classroom this year. I've loved everything I've read and the videos I've seen on You Tube.  I found a great freebie for whole brain class rules from First Grade Fever.

So I printed them out and hung them on a piece of ribbon that I will hang up in my classroom.

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I'm also really excited to try out Fun Friday  from A Teeny Tiny Teacher with my firsties this year.  My old teammates had great success with it after I left and I thought I'd give it a go! No color behavior chart? No treasure box? No clip chart? I'm sold.  We'll see! 

I've been doing some shopping and collecting from family members for my various stations!

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I've also decided to change up my classroom jobs this year.  It got to be such a pain remembering to switch them each week and filling in for absent kids and all that jazz.  So I'm going to try just having 1 boy and 1 girl be my "helping hands" for the day.  I put them on rings so I can easily flip (or have a kid flip) each morning.  Those 2 kids will be in charge of all "jobs" for the day. We'll see!

I have a lot of other school projects left to do before school starts!

I will definitely share them on the next few "Made it Mondays"

I will leave you with something not school related but something we made on vacation- our family's entry for the golf cart parade.  I put my teacher juices to good work and we whipped up this crazy cart.  It didn't win, but the kids had fun and looked cute!