Second Post (with pictures!!) and a Freebie (if I can figure out how to link it...)

Wednesday August 14, 2013

Only three weeks left of summer and I'm really getting excited about getting back to school. At the same time I am beginning to panic a little about all the things I want to cram into these precious last weeks of summer:  visiting my parents on Vancouver Island,

View of the glacier in Courtenay, B.C.

 making dill pickles and canning peaches,

Last year's dwindling supply

cleaning, weeding, the list goes on and on.

Oh, did I mention getting my classroom ready?  I went in for a few hours on Sunday. It took me ages to figure out a new floor plan because I got a great new carpet (YAY!) late last year which I can have over in a corner instead of in the middle of the room.
I have been busy over the summer (inspired by the excellent blogs I've been following) updating some of my mismatched classroom items and making things that I've seen on Pinterest and in teaching blogs. I decided to redo some of my older things that needed a facelift (and after 20 years of teaching that added up to a lot) in primary colours - bright and simple.  I blew a wad of my Scholastic bonus coupons and picked up other goodies at dollar stores.

Here is one of the things I made. It is a set of washroom flipcards ala Clutter-Free Classroom.  After much thought I decided to go with student numbers on some things that will be used from year-to-year.  When kids go to the washroom they flip the cards so their number is on top.  When they return to the classroom they flip back so the "boys" or "girls" card is back on top. I made it easy for them to flip back to the "boys"or "girls" card by making them a bit bigger than their number cards. This picture is before it was assembled. I printed it on cardstock, laminated the cards and hole punched them, then attached the numbers on metal rings (after I took the pictures).  I think this will be a big improvement on having the kids print their names in a corner of the board, both aesthetically and functionally.

I am hoping to place a link to the flipcards here so that you can download them if you like them.  This is my first attempt at doing this so if it doesn't work and you'd like a copy please leave a comment and ask me to e-mail them to you.

I am planning to post my next blog much sooner than I got around to this one.  To be honest I was procrastinating while madly wishing for a copy of Blogging for Dummies (which I actually found in a google search!).  My next post will be about building a positive classroom atmosphere at the beginning of the school year.  I will include a freebie for an activity that my class does in the first week back.