Monday Made It 7/1

This is a project from last week when my back was feeling better.  I saw in in a blog the week before and knew I had to make one for my room.  It was fun shopping at Hobby Lobby picking out black and gold ribbon.  I then cut all of the rolls up and tied the pieces individually onto a length of rope.

It will be perfect for my door or a place on my wall to share pictures and new of Byron Bears.  Our colors are black and gold so this has perfect spirit for the beginning of the year!

I apologize if I am blogging more then usual the next few weeks.  I am on modified bed rest for a protruding disk, especially while waiting to see the pain clinic.  I am anxious to work on classroom stuff, but since I am moving classrooms the majority of my stuff is packed up.  I have been spending my time researching and planning for next school year.  My room may be a mess when I get back, but I will be one of the most organized teachers there as far as curriculum and data keeping.

Happy Monday!

Five for Friday (belated)

http://doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com/

1.  It has been a rough week for my back this week.  I had an MRI done on Monday where somehow I survived holding still in that tiny tube.  I think my years of being around percussion and the marching band helped to handle all the banging. I have 2 protruding discs and am now waiting for an appointment with neurology.  I am hoping to get in sooner then they were able to schedule me.  I felt better a few days this week and now I am having a lot of muscle spasms on my right side.

2. Skyping!  This week my summer school had the chance to Skype another summer school class.  We had the chance to play mystery states with them.  My class had a blast, even if it took us all 10 clues to figure out their state with North Dakota, even if they are right next door to us state wise :-).

A big thanks to: @amybraddock

3. Field Trip Day!  On Friday this week we headed to a local park.  It has a zoo that has animals native to Minnesota!  Our favorite animals had to be the otters, bobcat, and porcupines.  We were able to see the bobcat fed.  He was having steak for lunch.

4. Rochesterfest!  This week is the big festival in town.  Last night was the parade that the band I work with marched in.  I unfortunately spent the night waiting back at camp due to being in back.leg pain.   I also missed out on competing at the Rochesterfest Tri last weekend.  I did have fun volunteering helping people transition from bike to run.  I also watched Adam complete another successful Tri.  

5.  I have been using Wonderopolis in my classroom the past 2 weeks.  My students love it!  It is great for reading comprehension, listening comprehension, vocabulary, and writing.  We signed up for Camp Woner-a-lot and I got a cool welcome kit in the mail for free!

Wonderopolis from NCFL on Vimeo.

Optimum Organization Saturday

Hosted by:  funin4b  and Ladybug Teacher Files

Things were pretty crazy at the end of school a year ago as usual.  It might have been slightly crazier due to my teaching partner of 6 years moving to a new classroom and a new teacher taking her spot in my room.  We are required to have everything off of our desks and most surfaces for the summer.  My room did not have a lot of built in storage so the closet was often jam packed.  I used this closet to keep all of my extra school supplies.  I love school supplies so my extras are quite the surplus.  I collect notebooks and folders anytime I can find them less than a quarter so I always have what I need on hand.

At the end of the school year after packing up my closet looked like this:  

This was bad!  There were supplies all over the place and varies things from around the room crammed in empty spots.  There was no rhyme or reason for the organization.  I just tried to shut the doors and forget about everything in there.








Last summer my husband and I took a great trip to Vegas with friends:

Vegas was not kind to me and I lost most of the small amount of money I was willing to lose playing penny slots and later video poker.  One of my favorite things in Vegas is the great food.  I especially love Max Brenner's, a restaurant that is all about chocolate.

While I was at Max Brenner's enjoying some yummy chocolatey goodies I checked my email.  There was an email from the Container Store.  I opened it and was surprised and amazed to find out that I had won a $1,000 gift card from their store for my classroom!  I had entered in their blog in the spring and was picked to be one of 10 teachers across the US who won!  I was so excited!  I love the Container Store so this was perfect!  Plus I knew my room was going to need lots of help and attention in the fall.

I spent a few hours right before school on a Container Store shopping spree. I knew I wanted to get things to fix the closet and a few other trouble spots in my room.  I also wanted to get things to share with my coworkers who work so hard day after day and are a part of my amazing team.  

After my shopping spree and a few hours of work I had my closet looking like a Container Store Ad, perfect and functional:

I was able to group all of my supplies together into baskets for easy use and it kept things that were often sliding all over like folders and notebooks all in one spot.  I used my label maker to label the baskets as well.

This year I am moving classrooms so I will have to make some changes due to a different sized closet in my room.  I am hoping to make the new set up just as organized though!

Be sure to stop by again on another organization blog hop to see other spots I organized in my classroom.

A huge thank you to the Container Store for their generosity!