Odds and Ends: the last of the back to school projects!

It feels so funny to read blogs about the fifth week of school in some areas!  I just went back to school this week for two days of PD.  We were off for Rosh Hashanah, as all NYC area public schools are.  And I finally get to meet my kids on Monday!

I'm pretty much ready.  I'm driving myself batty over a few last minute details and a never ending to do list, but I'm pretty sure I'll make it through the first week of instruction with no problem :-)

Here are some of the things I just finished:

 Each student will receive a take home folder from me.  I like to keep these identical so I can visually check who is ready to pack up.  I've included a basic homework log, a daily behavior report that matches the one I purchased from Teaching with a Touch of Twang, a {FREE!} reading log, sentence practice and number of the day practice. You can grab the homework log here. It's VERY basic, but I think it will get the job done. 

 I finished up all of the student pockets for iWrite and they are ready to go up on Monday.  I'm sure I'll get some new students and need to make more, but for this week, I'm done :-) 

 I finally finished laminating and cutting all of my math centers for Back to School.  I printed a ton of recording sheets and they are ready to use!

 I made small group discussion role cards based on ReadyGen.  We don't have our materials yet, but I plan on using these role cards during the week for small group discussion. Sorry for the glare!

 Because we are launching a new reading program, my schedule will be different this year, so I needed to make new schedule cards.  These are laminated so I can adjust the time each day.

 I'm not sure I'll be using Whole Brain Teaching this year, but I love these rule cards from Fourth and Ten.  They are a freebie on her blog!  I shrunk them down to quarter size because I have use SO.MUCH.INK. this summer!

This is the current state of my classroom.  I have a ton of unsorted books hidden under a table and I want to put a table skirt on my cart, but I'm ready for students to come in on Monday!

Currently: September

Listening - my kiddo is busy on the computer playing on Starfall.  I swear I hear those songs in my sleep!  He's starting Kindergarten this week.  WHAT? 

Baby J in 2007. Headed off to Kindergarten this week.  I can't.

We dropped off his supplies on Friday, got his teacher assignment and his little sticker that he needs to wear.  I did some major back to school clothing shopping for him (probably to distract me from worry!) and he's all set to go to school on Wednesday.  The funny thing is, he only goes for one day!  Thursday and Friday are Jewish holidays, so no schools are open!  Oh well.  We'll make a big deal of going back on Monday too!

Loving - Vitamin Water Zero!  We aren't a soda family....but we love Vitamin Water. I'm drinking XXX acai blueberry pomegranate right now.  SO good.  But Orange is my favorite!

Thinking  - all about back to school insomnia tonight.  My sleep pattern are all messed up.  5 am is going to be a rude wake up tomorrow!

Wanting - to get all of my to do list done in between orientation sessions over the next two days!

Needing - a new mirror.  We have so many years of bad luck in this house.  I have lost two full length mirrors this year alone.  And while my guy might be satisfied with the bathroom mirror, I like to see what I look like before going to work!

<3 - I'm about 60 something days out from the NYC Marathon and training has been going REALLY well.  I'm keeping up with my cross training and enjoying all my runs.  But this is the time when the distances are getting longer and my school obligations are really going to pile up.  I'm just looking for a bit of balance from here until November 3rd.  Balance, not perfection. And always family first.

Be sure to link up with Farley for this month's currently :-)

Five for Friday: Classroom Progress and Birthday Pencil Topper Freebie!!

Hello there!

I'm linking up for five for Friday!

I spent a few more hours in my classroom with my two little friends...the four year old and the two year old.  Who thinks those were productive hours?  What was I thinking??! 

It actually was okay for the most part.  The biggest pain is alternate side parking, so I had to take them back out after we had been there for an hour and a half so I could move my car.  Annoying. 

While the kids played with EVERYTHING in my room, I put my welcome area together, fixed up my bulletin boards, hung my word wall and started updating my book bins in the library.  Take a look:

1.)  Welcome Area: It's pretty sparse right now, but this DIY bulletin board will also feature our daily schedule, school calendar, word of the day and number of the day.

 Do you spy my super ugly file cabinets peeking out from under that tablecloth??

This is also where I will keep my lesson plan binder, as I got rid of my desk a few years ago.

2.)  Bulletin Board Updates:  Confession - I left up the same black paper I put up last year.  I have a really hard time hanging bulletin board paper and it was still in decent shape....no one will notice, right?  Besides, in just a few weeks, the boards will be covered in student work and then REALLY no one will notice!

3.)  Word Wall: I don't use my chalkboard, so I covered it with bright blue paper and I'll use it for my word wall. 

 Ooops...I need to fix those pieces of ribbon!

There's my little girl..."helping."

4.)  Book Bins:  I have a lot of books (I know, tough problem to have!) and not a lot of shelf space, so I stacked a crate on top of the top shelf to add a little bit of vertical space.  I wouldn't recommend doing this if you teach little ones, but I teach big kids, so I know they will be able to reach.

5.)  Birthday Pencil Topper Freebie! Grab this editable file from my TpT Store HERE. {It's a ppt file, so you'll need PowerPoint to edit it!} There are links to the fonts I used in the file, although you can always use your favorite fonts instead!  You will not be able to edit the graphics so as to protect the copyright of the artist who created them.  Thanks so much for understanding! 

Hope you had a great week and have a fab-u-lous Labor Day Weekend!!

Back to reality!

Yesterday, I was sitting poolside in Ocean City, MD with my family.

This morning, I was trying to organize this mess:

You'll hear no complaining from me though.  This was the nicest vacation we've ever taken.  The kids enjoyed it so much and I'm in love with all of my new memories.  My little gal learned quite a bit of vocabulary on this trip (she pointed out the "corn" while we were in the car this morning.  It was hedges!) 

While we were there, I didn't think too much about school, but knew that I'd need to head into my classroom before pre-service begins on Tuesday.

Getting there!  I can see the beginnings of a classroom in there!

Manic Monday: Calendar, Bunting and Book Baggies {Freebie!}

Hi everyone!  Happy Monday!

This week I went to a workshop and worked on a few projects :-)

I finally cut out the numbers I made for my calendar!  I kind of dread cutting out circles, but my stack of laminating is getting a little out of control.

 So I made a little mistake in my purchasing.  The Velcro tabs come in packages of 15 sets, so I bought two....which is great for about half of the months.  Sigh.  I'll be back at the teacher's store sometime this week anyway.

 Calendar is already for September!  Sorry for the glare!

I also worked on my book baggies for independent reading.  I haven't made them the last few years, but I decided to go back to them this year.  We are starting a new literacy program and I'm not sure what some of my morning will look like, but independent reading is always important!

 Slider bags are the best kind!!

The kids store their independent reading books, sticky notes, pencil, highlighter, reading log, bookmarks and whatever else in their baggie.  Being that I work in a low income neighborhood, the majority of the kids must borrow books from the school library in order to have something to read at night.  I like to use the book baggies because it's an easy way to check who is actually taking a book home at night.  When they put their things out to go home, it's the first thing I scan the room for.

You can grab the labels for the baggies HERE.  On my computer, a window pops up to print the label as soon as you open the file.  It's annoying and I don't know why it's happening.  So I apologize if it happens on your computer.  Just click cancel if you aren't ready to print.  {Graphics by DreamLikeMagic}

If you'd like, you can also grab just the label image (PNG file) to create a different sized label: HERE.
You can go to the Avery website and use their templates to upload your own image onto a label.

The labels are 2" by 4" address labels, 10 per page.  I use the generic version of these labels  AMAZON LINK.

This next one wasn't much of a project, but it needed to be done.  We keep portfolios for all subject areas, and I wanted to keep them neat this year.  I bought this file tote and a set of hanging folders so each student will have their own hanging folder.  I just hot glued this label on top.

You can grab the Portfolio Sign HERE.  It's editable, so you need to have PowerPoint to open it. It is the PNG file of sign above (to protect copyright, credit to I Teach. What's Your Super Power?).  You can add additional text and clipart to match your room decor!

And last, I finally laminated and hung the bunting I made a while ago.  My guy laughed at the data bunting, but I'm just being realistic!  I know I'll have a data area, so it might as well be cute!

So there are my projects from the week.  Have you all done your B2S shopping on TpT?  Did you get anything awesome??  I'm still working on my narrowing down adding to my cart!

Also, please let me know if any of the freebie links aren't working so I can fix them!!

What's On Your Wishlist Linky!

Surely by now you've heard that TpT is having a Back to School Sale from August 18th-19th!  Many sellers are discounting their entire stores by 20% and then you can use code BTS13 for an additional 10% off (remember: 20% +10% = 28% off your order!).  My store will be on sale the 18th, 19th and 20th!

I'm linking up with the Collaboration Cuties to share my two most wish listed items and the item I can't wait to purchase!

My most wish listed item is my Fifth Grade Math Task Card Bundle.  This is every set of task cards in my store, plus any that I add in the future.  It's a huge bargain over buying the cards individually...and even more so after 28% off!  

Next is my Danielson Framework Teacher Binder.  This binder has gotten really great feedback!  I included two options for your binder cover and dividers and an editable ppt file!

So what I am SUPER excited to buy?  The Brown Bag Teacher's iWrite: Monitoring Student Progress in the Writing Process. 

Credit: The Brown Bag Teacher

Every year, I've tried making something cute to show where students are in the writing process.  I've done the clippies, the names on magnets, some horrendously embarrassing set up with Velcro...but this is SO cute.  I can't wait to add this to my classroom!  I think this will be perfect for keeping kids on track, especially during performance tasks!

So what's on your wish list?  Be sure to link up with the Collaboration Cuties to share!

Also, I've rejoined Instagram under MissKinBK....leave your Instagram name so I can follow you!!!