Before Pictures

Many people that walk into my classroom think that it is such a clean and organized room. Clean... yes. Organized... NO WAY!!

Here is what everyone sees my classroom as...

I love my room and I spent a lot of time rearranging it to make it fit my needs as well as my students' needs. It is a very functional classroom, aside from the organizational piece that is missing. Today I am going to share with you my "secrets". Are you ready for them? I must say that they aren't pretty. Be warned, you are about to see my BEFORE photos. 

 This area looks fairly organized, except for the fact that I don't use ANY of it. I ocassionally lift up the fabric to get the students' reading books and a binder here and there, but other than that, these shelves are taking up prime real estate. 

 One of my few cabinets that lock is filled with supplies that don't need to be locked up.

 Math centers that have never been used because I still have no clue how I want to organize them. Without organization I'm afraid they will turn into a complete mess so instead they just sit in the corner.

 Movies that I hardly ever watch with my class (maybe three a year) as well as old journals and folders.

 Two drawers that are my "junk" drawers. I know houses have junk drawers, but a classroom... really!?

 My math cabinets. Surprisingly, this is pretty nice compared to what it used to be.

 Under the sink, don't get me started. :-/

 My main source of supplies, all crammed into four small drawers.

 Two cabinets that house extra books or materials that aren't used.

 A bookshelf that I bought to solve the issue of limited space. I love how everything is stored away, but I hate the fact that I would like these things locked up since Lakeshore stuff is so pricey!!

 My desk. I try to have a little organization system in place. I think I outgrew it already.

 Yet again, another locking cabinet that houses materials that don't need to be locked up.

 My teaching easel on a good day. By Friday it's packed and today is only Monday.

I hope I didn't scare you with all of my disorganization. I know it isn't too bad, but to me I find myself wasting more time trying to find things then actually teaching. If I had an organizational system in place, it would make my life so much easier. Not to mentioned I would never loose anything again... maybe.

I'm linking up over at Clutter Free Classroom. You can follow my process of organizing my classroom as well as play along with us. Check back later in the week when I do challenge #2, planning.

Weekly Recap

As I mentioned yesterday, a lot happened this week that I wanted to post about. I figured I would just do a weekly recap of how our week went.

 We started the week of like most teachers did, with penguins. We will be continuing with penguins next week before we move onto Arctic animals.

 

We had fun with some other birds as well, Angry Birds!! My students loved this writing project/craftivity. I had them describe what their Angry Bird looked like, why they were angry, and how to make their Angry Bird happy again. Some of their stories were really cute. You can find a link to the craftivity HERE.

  

My students started working with geoboards this week. Look how well they work together and help one another! I have the sweetest class ever (in my opinion ^_^ )

 We also started reading Scholastic News, another Donors Choose project. The students are enjoying Scholastic News so much. I can't believe I have waited this long to get it for my students.

We ended the week with yet again another Donors Choose project. As you can see on the right we got 9 puzzles as well as some picture books. I wanted a quick and easy way to do Fun Friday because I am not a huge fan of Fun Friday. I love giving my students time to have fun and I like the little down time I'm able to get to clean my room before the weekend. Puzzles were the perfect thing. I already had one box bent, so I'm going to have to find an even easier storage option for these puzzles.

I'm linking up over at a few places this week...

AND...

iPads in the Classroom

It's Friday night and boy am I tired. I'm writing this post as I eagerly wait for the pizza delivery guy to ring the doorbell. It's a pizza, movie, and pajama kind of night. I deserve it though because it was the first week back. I meant to write a post earlier in the week, I really did. As you guys know, I love DonorsChoose.org It has saved me so much money over my 5 years of teaching so far. I have received resources I would have never been able to afford on my own. Over the winter break I got eight projects funded!! I will be posting more about each one as they come. I want to share the most exciting one with you.

 An iPad 4!!! Well, I'm not sure if it's an iPad 4, but it's a 4th generation iPad and I love it. We already have three iPads in our classroom, but they have to be turned in at the end of the year. I was sad to find out that iPad 1's do not have the capability to connect to projectors so that's when I decided to ask Donors Choose for one. I love the fact that I have an iPad that I can use for instructional purposes and I can now allow my little darlings three iPads to use instead of just two. Update, this year we don't have any class iPads. Thanks to Donors Choose, by future students can still benefit from having technology in the classroom. 

Have you used iPads in your classroom? If so, what apps do you recommend; either for the class, planning, scheduling, anything you find most useful.

I also wanted to let you all know of an exciting giveaway over at Rockin' Teacher Materials. It's completely grade level appropriate. You get a chance to win a flash drive filled with resources specifically for your grade. I have donated a few resources of my own. For more information visit the link below.

Box Tops

Today is back to work. Did I get any work done over break... of course not! Did I relax and enjoy myself... YOU BET!! Vacation is over though and today the alarm was set for 5:00 AM. I usually wake up around 6:00 AM, but with this being the first day back in a couple of weeks, I didn't want to rush and get everything done at the last minute. I'm sure I will be in for a long week and you can be sure that I will share it with you. As far as today goes, it is Monday Made It over at 4th Grade Frolics.

I'm probably one of the last ones to get on the "Box Top bandwagon". I know that there are many different variations on the box top holders, but I wanted to link up the original creator. My students have been collecting box tops since August and we have just been putting them in a plastic baggy. I've been meaning to make this box top holder for months and I've finally gotten around to it.

Here is the before picture. I used a recycled coffee container. 

I love the little bear. I used the Cricut cartridge, Teddy Bear Parade. I've been wanting to use this cartridge for a while and I finally got a chance. I also added Glossy Accents to her glasses to make them look glossy.

I hope you enjoyed my project today. I have so many other projects for my classroom planned for the future. If you have something to show off, head on over to 4th Grade Frolics and link up. Leave a comment with your blog post so I can see what you have created! :-)

Books I Want to Read

I love reading books of all kinds. Maybe that's one of the reasons I wanted to be a teacher. To be honest with you, I never liked to read when I was younger. I was always jealous of those people that could get lost in books. Now that I have gotten old older I appreciate books and reading a whole lot more. I think teachers are one of the few professions that you need to keep up with on a daily basis. I enjoy reading books for pleasure, but I also really love professional books. If I'm not currently in the middle of a book to push me professionally, I go crazy. I am at that point. So when I found the Books I Want to Read Link Up Party, I knew I had to join.

Professional Books

Teach Like a Champion is a book that I saw this summer over at Cara Carroll's blog. She is one of the many teacher bloggers that I look up to, so when she says it's amazing, I just had to get it. Unfortunately, I have yet to read it. I will make it a point to get to it though!!

The second book is a book that I've been wanting for a VERY long time. I read The Daily 5 almost 4 years ago and I never started it in my classroom. I always knew that if I started the Daily 5 in my room, I wanted to start it with The CAFE Book. This will most likely be my next professional read.






Personal Books

I love Netflix. I couldn't image going a day without watching something on Netflix. A few months ago I found the show, Extreme Couponers. I completely fell in love with the idea. Now I'm not sure I would be an extreme couponer and make my entire house dedicated to a stockpile, but getting a few frequently used items for free wouldn't be too bad. That's why I bought myself this book, Pick Another Checkout Lane, Honey. It's all about couponing and on a teacher's salary, that isn't such a bad idea.

I am in love with a lot of things, if you couldn't tell by now with this blog post. There is no amount of words that could explain my love for Harry Potter. That will be my classroom theme one day, I will make sure to that. I have seen all of the movies and read all... 4 books. Yes, that's right, I have only read 4 of the books. They are written beautifully, but I just haven't set aside time to finish the series. I already know what happens so reading them won't be as exciting. I need to finish though because I've been borrowing the set from my sister for the past 10 years. Ooops!!!


Books to Teach

I wish I could give you a list of great books that would teach all sort of skills like how to become a better writer, but unfortunately I don't have any sort of list like that. One day I will have one, but for now here is a book that I just heard of over vacation. It is called The Hundred Dresses. It is a great way to discuss bullying in your classroom. I plan on reading it when we get back to school and see how my students like it. I will do a whole blog post related to it I'm sure.




Wasn't that fun? I thought so. Now it's your turn to list your reading suggestions. Leave a comment telling me what your three, or more, books are for each category. Make sure that if you create a blog post, head on over to Pitner's Potpourri to link up!

Must Haves of 2012

With the New Year here and 2012 gone, I just want to look back on what was a must have in my classroom during 2012. I know that we all have those tools of the trade that we couldn't live without. Today I will be sharing with you what my must haves of 2012 were and still will be for 2013.

Scholastic Storybook Treasures
We all have those teaching days where we can't stop looking at the clock waiting for the day to end. This is when "stories" come into play. I love stories. They are a collection of popular children's books put on film. Some are just narrated and others are recreated to be actual cartoons. I love being able to pop in a story and have my students watch a couple each day. It's a great way for students to enjoy reading, they get to see their favorite characters come to life, and it's also a great way to incorporate with current themes you are studying in class.

Thirty-One Organizing Utility Tote
I'm sure we all saw this lovely bag all over Pinterest earlier this year. I can't believe I ever lived without this bag. I don't have to worry about loosing anything. I carry my wallet, water bottle, keys, lesson plans, you name it, it's in there. I even made a video describing how much I love it!!

 Pinterest
Enough said. We all know how much Pinterest has helped make us better teachers, wives, mothers, crafters, chefs, cleaners. Pinterest in full of amazing ideas that I have used in my classroom this year.

 Teachers Pay Teachers
I've heard about Teachers Pay Teachers for a few years now, but I never really looked into it until this year. Man, am I glad I did that. TPT has almost everything you are looking for. Whenever I need a thematic unit, instead of having to recreate one on my own, I just hop on over to TPT and most of the time I find just what I'm looking for!

Donors Choose
 I can't express how truly grateful I am for Donors Choose. I recently made a blog post all about DC and how I've received over $7000 in resources for my classroom.

I hope that you take a look into my top 5 items that I found useful in 2012. I plan on using these for many more years in the future. Now it's your turn to share your top resources of 2012. You can write about your top 5 or your top 100, whatever you want to share. Then come back here and link up so everyone else can profit from your amazing recommendations. Make sure to link back to this blog post as well so others on your blog can join in on the fun. Just grab the code below and add to your blog post. It's that simple!!!

<div align="center"> <a href="http://www.darlinglittlelearners.com/2013/01/must-haves-of-2012.html" title="Darling Little Learners"><img src="http://i1208.photobucket.com/albums/cc380/JennuineCrafts/musthaves_zps3ed4b759.png" alt="Darling Little Learners" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

I'm linking this over at the Ultimate Linky Party!!

Donors Choose for Teachers

If you've been teaching for a while, you know how much money you have invested into your own classroom. During my first year of teaching I was going out every weekend and shopping for my classroom. I ended up taking a lot of my money and investing it back into my classroom. At the time I thought I was doing a good thing. I realized that I was spending money on things that I could be getting for free. In this blog post, I will explain how I've gotten $7000 worth of resources and supplies for my classroom for little to no money at all!!

I'm sure most of you have heard about Donors Choose. Some of you may use it religiously like I do. Others may have an account, but never submit a grant. Some of you may have never heard of it at all. I have gone ahead and created a video explaining Donors Choose and how it works. In this video I walk you through the process of creating your own project.


Once you start using Donors Choose, you will realize what a great resource it is for us as teachers. The best part is when the students actually get the materials and resources in their hands. I love taking pictures of them using the donations. Part of the thank you package is writing thank you letters to your donors. I have gone ahead and created a file that includes three different templates for you to use. You can find that file by clicking here.

This file is not only great for creating thank you letters for Donors Choose projects, but they can also be used for general thank you letters. If you have any questions regarding DonorsChoose.org please feel free to contact me. You can find my information in the contact section of my website.