Burnt Framed Mirror

I'm so excited about my latest project. Burnt wood frame and shelves.

I've had a cheap mirror from Walmart for over a year now and it leaned against the wall in our guest room where I get ready in the morning. It was moved frequently when someone stayed with us or I needed to get ready somewhere else. Well today I decided to change that.

First we went to Lowes and got some cheap wood to frame it. We chose one 1x6x10 and 1 1x6x6. We had them cut it in the store for us for 25 cents a cut. Someday we'll have our own saw but for now it won't fit in our apartment.

The long sides we cut to inches and the short sides we cut to inches.

We bought a few corner mounts and mounted them between the two pieces.

Then the fun part, burning the wood.

I have no idea why we have a blow torch but it came in handy today. We found that you have to move it slowly and hold it very close to get it to burn to the color we wanted. 

While my boyfriend attached the mirror I decided to try it on our floating shelves in the bathroom we've had for months unfinished. I stacked them on top of each other and rotated them around until all were torched at least a little. 

 I love the finished product. It looks finished!

We mounted the mirror in the hallway between our bedroom and the guest room. It's a perfect place for whoever needs to get ready and it doesn't have to be moved. The best part is it only cost about $25 for lumber and parts to assemble. 

What to Buy (and Not to Buy) For Your Classroom

I'm now over halfway through my first year of teaching and I'm finally feeling like I'm getting a hang of things. After talking with a fellow first year this week we are realizing how much stuff we have bought in our first year of teaching. Some things we can't live without, others we should of passed on.

Here's my list of must haves:

Organizing bins- All sizes. I use mine for book bins, holding extra school supplies until we need them, and organizing classroom games. These are a few I use. 

Drawer Unit- I bought mine at a garage sale and bought the tubs to go inside at IKEA. This is a pricier item but well worth the money. There is a tub for each subject and a few extra for things like notebooks, lined paper and chargers. 

Another option is a drawer system like this. These work too but aren't as sturdy or as big. 

Baskets- These will be used for everything from turn in baskets to organization for you. It helps to have a basket for each subject but if you're like me you don't have room for that so I keep one on a cabinet for turning in and one in my writing center to hold extra lined paper. 

Buckets- I use three on my desk to hold pencils, pens and markers, sticks for calling from and one with quick brain breaks. I also use them as a sharp and dull bucket for pencils and to hold editing tools for writing. They don't take up too much space and make materials easier to find. You can get these in the dollar section at Target. 

Pocket Charts- I use mine for calendar and vocabulary. Check your classroom before you buy as you might have one in your room but it takes away time and makes materials last longer when you don't have to staple and unstaple each time you use them. 

White Board Markers- I thought I bought an excessive amount at the beginning of the year and I'm already almost out. Our school provides these but not the amount we need and not in colors. This is something to look into at your school. 

Pencils and Big Erasers- These are very inexpensive at back to school time but we go through them like crazy. I had hundreds before school but they seem to disappear. 

Blue Painters Tape- It's really good for holding things up for long term but doesn't leave a sticky residue. One or two rolls goes a long ways. 

Clothespins and Popsicle Sticks- I use clothespins in a bucket and click them to the side as I call names. I also use them to show where students are in the writing process. They clip their name as they go. I've seen teachers who have students clip their paper with their name as they turn it in. Sticks can be used for anything. I use them for brain breaks, random pairing, and math facts. 

Things to Pass On

Cutesy things- Although they seem like they'll be great, I never find time to get them out or put them up. This includes decorations, posters and big displays for student work. You'll have plenty of times to display work, it isn't necessary to make a big space of it. 

Many School Supplies- I bought TONS of markers, crayons, and colored pencils before school started. Some of them I've used but a lot of them I will still have next year. I'd say a few of each is good but it isn't necessary to buy a class set or even enough for every other student. We have used classroom supplies and so far everything has lasted. 

Seasonal Boarders- I never have time to change my boards for every season. I bought seasonal boarders thinking they would be great to change around but I haven't changed them once. Wish I'd just bought a few I liked and left the rest at the store. 

Stickers, Pencils and Other Prizes- Although the students like them, they forget about them in a day or two and they add up quickly. I give pencils on rare occasions for great work like 100% on a difficult quiz or extreme effort. I've found drawing a star on students papers has the same effect as stickers but they don't end up all over the room. Also few things are as appreciated like a quick note. Anytime I write a note to a student it is treasured a whole lot longer than the pencil I gave them. Save your money for other things. 

Cheap Bulletin Board Letters-  Although the ones at DollarTree and other dollar stores are inexpensive, you get what you pay for, they fall apart and rip easily. I ended up investing in a better quality at a teacher's supply store and bought a couple of packages. I used the same lettering all over my room. It's more uniform and they last a lot longer. I've taken them down and put them up other places several times and they're still holding on. I think I'll be able to use them year after year. 

Not Necessary but Helpful

Fabric for bulletin boards- It lasts longer than paper and you don't see the staple holes. I bought a few colors that could go with any theme and I have yet to change it. It's still holding up. Cheap fabric works fine. 

Rugs and Chairs- I bought these for my library as I went. The rug was a steal from IKEA's as is section. It was a display rug and only cost $10. I bought the chairs at a thrift store by my house. I wouldn't spend a lot on these types of things. They get A LOT of wear. I also got some cheap pillows and pillow cases at IKEA. These make our reading time more relaxing.

Lamps and Picture Frames- I turn on a few lamps when we read or need to calm down. It makes for a less stressful environment when things are difficult. I bought a few picture frames and put pictures of my family and friends around the room. These make my day a little brighter. I also bought a frame for our staff picture, the kids love to look at the teachers pictures. 

Classroom Friendly Supplies Pencil Sharpener

As a new teacher I am finding that I need all kinds of basic classroom supplies. One of these supplies is a good pencil sharpener. My room did come with a wall sharpener but it is falling off the wall and doesn't work well even when the screws were tightened. The pencils seem to dissolve in it and never truly sharpen. I knew I would be using a pencil sharpener every day in my classroom so I decided to buy a good one before I spent a fortune in pencils and while I have many, many years to enjoy it.

I originally wanted an electric sharpener but after doing a lot of research, I found that no matter what brand you buy or how much you pay, you are bound to buy another one in a few years. After searching for some time, I found a manual sharpener on Classroom Friendly Supplies. The reviews looked great so I thought I'd give it a try.

So today I am doing a review on my Classroom Friendly Supplies pencil sharpener.

This is the sharpener. I chose black so it would go with any style room that I choose over the years. There are also many colors to pick from. 

The front looks like this. the first time I used it, I squeezed the two black parts on top so the pencil would fit and tried sharpening it. I thought I just spent $25 on the most worthless pencil sharpener I had ever used. It barely sharpened. I WAS SOOOO WRONG!! After a little more experimenting, I found that when you squeeze these together, you also have to pull this piece out. 

Here is a picture of what that looks like. Then I began sharpening. As I spun the handle, the pencil comes in closer and the gap closes. 

This is the result! :) They look fantastic! The lead is very sharp and all of the pencils are the same size. I did 40 in my first test. The best part is, I did not use brand name pencils. These are on sale at Walgreens right now 20 for $0.99.

So far I'm very impressed. If you are looking for a better pencil sharpener, it is definitely worth the price even for a manual. 

Back To School Open House

Back to school is coming fast! Not sure where the summer went but I'm excited for the school year!!

Our open house is next week and students and parents will be coming in to meet us, see their new classrooms, and bring in their supplies. I created these station cards to help with the traffic of Open House Night. 

The background is from http://galleryhip.com/creative-borders-for-word-documents.html The font is Elephants in Cherry Trees. 

Click here to download them for yourself FREE!

Teacher Binder Freebies!!

I've been working on my teacher binder for a few days now. I got the layout from my cooperating teacher and recreated it a little for my own needs in a different district.

Click here to download free. 

I got the background from http://madeyoulookhair.com/?attachment_id=52. The font is HelloSimple.

Pages include 

Schedule- Here I put copies of our master, Monday and weekly schedule so I can refer to this when needed. 

Lesson Plans- I used excel to make my daily plans. I put Monday's schedule on its on pages since the times and order of our day is a little different. Feel free to use my template. (Make sure to open with Google Sheets.) Before each month, I plan to place a sheet protector with student's birthday certificates so they are handy. 

Classroom Information- This is where I put our class list, number order, line order, seating arrangement, addresses and phone numbers. I also keep birthdays here so I can look at the beginning of each week to make sure I don't forget anyone. 

In Case of an Emergency- Emergency plans for tornadoes, fire drills or lock downs. 

Health Information- Copies of allergies and medical diagnosis that may affect learning. 

Behavior- During student teaching we made a chart to track behavior. The students names are on one side and the days of the week are at the top. Each day is divided into two columns, one for the morning and one for the afternoon. We kept this sheet at the front of the room on a clipboard. Each time a child had a problem with behavior it was marked on the clipboard. The students don't know that you're recording this but the pages were kept over the quarter or semester and it was easier to see patterns in behavior and it is a super easy way to document problem behaviors. 

As always let me know what you think! Is there anything I'm missing that is a must-have for your teacher binder?

Classroom Library Part 2

So last time I blogged about a library app that I recently downloaded and it's still working fantastic. I've added several books to my collection since then but up until about a week ago, I still had no idea what I would do to organize them. Well with only a few weeks left before schools I finally think I have a good system.

I found these labels at http://ayearofmanyfirsts.blogspot.com/2012/07/library-book-bin-labels-free.html

They were exactly what I was looking for! They're free and she left a blank page so I created my own. It doesn't get much better than that!!

I started by organizing my books into categories and authors. There were a few authors that I had several books for so I pulled those out first. Then I decided on a few groups that I knew I would want. One of these groups was a series basket. I had a few series that were only a few books and I didn't want to waste an entire basket for only a few books so I combined them into a "Small Series" basket. This way the kids know it's a series but I don't have to waste the space. Then I used the Scholastic website to separate the books into genre. I ended up with realistic fiction, historical fiction, general fiction, comedy, mystery and suspense, and adventure. I probably had a few others but I don't remember.

Since these extra bins didn't have labels, I used her blank page to create my own. Click here for mine. You will have to change the font once you have opened them. I made them in Pages for Mac but converted them to a Word Document for sharing. The font is called MTF Jumpin' Jack EXT. It is not exactly what she used on her blog but I couldn't get that one to download so I picked something close.

Then I printed and laminated the labels and attached them with hot glue. (Yes the pictures are outside, I forgot to take pictures until they were already in my car. Whoops!)

The baskets are from Dollar Tree. I found blue and green ones in two sizes. It's hard to tell but the bottom basket is much longer.

Once I decided on my categories, I labeled them with sticker dots. On each of my labels, I put a coordinating sticker. Here is a close up of one of my categories. 

Tomorrow I am taking my library to school. I'm so excited! I will post pictures as I get it more organized in my room. 

Classroom Library

I just got a job as a fifth grade teacher and am excited to get the keys to my room soon. :) Until then I have been working on things at home to get ready for the school year. One thing I knew I would need no matter where I end up is a classroom library. 

I recently had several books given to me and will be getting more from family soon. (Yay for retired teachers in my family!) I have been searching the internet for ways to organize my library and have several ideas but haven't decided just yet what I will do. In my search, however, I did find a way to help me keep track of what I do have. Since almost all of the books were given to me, I honestly don't know half of the books that I have. 

The app is called BookBuddy. 

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bookbuddy-pro-book-library/id395149950?mt=8

The app lets you scan the bar codes for any book that you own, some of the books will have to use the barcode in the front cover, and add them to your library. Most of my books were recognized by the app but many Scholastic books ordered from the catalogue don't have bar codes unfortunately. I was able to find most of them via the search online tool.  Or you can add books manually. Can you say class books?

Once the book has been scanned, you can rate it, add your class list so you know who has borrowed it, or you can add a tag. Tags can be anything you want; animals, humor, holidays, first day of school, you name it. Later when you're planning lessons, you can go to the app and search the title or tag you need for your lesson. 

As you add more books, they are then organized by title, author, category, rating, whatever you want. 

You can also see who has loaned out what, what series you have, or tags you've added. You can also create categories. Once I have decided how I want to organize my library I think I will make my baskets into categories and organize them on the app accordingly. 

Lastly there is a wish list. I am always finding books I would love in my classroom but unfortunately if I bought all of them when I saw them I would be broke in a matter of days. This is a good way to keep track of them for when I do have a little extra money or a few scholastic points. 

In case anyone is wondering, yet I bought BookBuddyPro. It was a little pricy, $4.99. Crazy for an app I know but being a first year teacher, my library will continue growing for quite some time and the free apps just won't cut it. I did do a lot of research before buying and this was the best option for what I was wanting it to do. 

If you use BookBuddy and know of anything I forgot or haven't found yet, please let me know!