Classroom Mailboxes

To maximize my space in my classroom, I use a shoe organizer for my mailboxes.  This has been working for me for 4 years.  My students have classroom jobs and two people manage the mailboxes, then on Thursdays everyone gets their "mail" to take home.  It is an easy, expensive way to keep our papers organized. 

Changing it Up with Mod Podge

After viewing a Pinterest project of another teacher, I decided that I would try to redo my boring shelves for my library.  I bought 3 cans of black spray paint for plastic, 2 yards of fabric, and a can of mod podge.  Being various generous with the mod podge I simply painted it on sticking the fabric around the shelf.  I let that dry and then gave it one more layer on top.  As for the paint, I did two coats.  Below is my before and after. 

Before

AFter

 I am very happy with the turn out and I am excited to get in the classroom! (:

Drawer Decor

Do you have clear plastic drawers in your classroom that you wish weren't clear?  That is an easy fix!  Cut and tape in scrapbook paper of your choice!  Instant drawer decor that covers the mess!

Status of the Class

A fabulous 4th grade teacher and myself were talking after school one day and decided that we wanted a better way to keep up with our students reading.  Something that would be the kids responsibility and easily visible!  We created the "Status of the Class."

Each morning when the kids come in they write down the initials of the book they read and from page to page what they read.  For example: "HP 68-104" meaning Harry Potter and they read pages 68-104 that night.

If you forgot your book at school you highlight your box in yellow and use the title of the book you read instead.

If you are abandoning a book from before, you highlight your box in red and prepare to have a conference with the teacher. :)

If you finished a book, you highlight your box green and begin filling out your reading response card.

This allowed us at a glance to see how students are finishing books.  

Teaching with Doceri

It has been the craziest beginning of the year.  We have had something every week and looking at our calendar we aren't slowing down any time soon.

I have one iPad in my classroom and I found one of the greatest app so far.

Doceri - The Interactive Whiteboard

This app allows me to be around the room while writing on the projector.  I can record my lesson and every stroke made on the iPad, that I then can download for students to lesson to again for reinforcement.  These videos then can be downloaded to my website.

Here is a poster we made a few weeks ago in writing and below is poster that was made for math.  Students were asked to write a story problem for the equation and I took pictures of examples to put on the screen with the strategies.

The app is free for the first 30 days and then it cost $30 for the year.  Money well spent!

Professional Bulletin Boards

As I work through my grad school work, some of my intern hours have been spent on creating professional bulletin boards.

This board was created for our lounge.  Each grade level would post exemplar work for their grade level.  Teachers also had room to leave sticky notes about classroom observations and experiences.

This board was created for our administration building.  We do 'Author Studies' across grade levels and this is our response to literature unit over our various authors. 

iLove iWrite iReport - Displaying report of information across grade levels. 

Math Game Storage

I have tried many different ways to organize math games and pencil boxes are definitely the easiest and most convenient!  Each game is divided up into pencil boxes and inside the pencil boxes the game pieces are in plastic baggies.

Pencil boxes used for storing math games!