Death by Pinterest and Classroom Reveal

***WARNING PHOTO OVERLOAD***Okay, so I am obsessed with Pinterest. Admitting you have a problem is the first step, right?  I spend hours on projects that I think will take a "few" minutes. I've spent the last two weeks working like a madwoman trying to get my room ready.  If you know me, this is no small feat.  I am the teacher who is ususally the first one in the building unpacking and the last one at the end of the year.  My new class wasn't ready for move-in until 2 weeks ago, so I'm still "adding" to it daily.  Almost every corner has "pinteresting" feature.

This is the view as you enter thedoor.  Even though I'm not Dual Language, I like to split my room up into 4 quadrants: Math, Literacy, Science and Social Studies. I also like having a student generated word wall with vocabulary.

Another pinspiration idea from April at ChalkTalk, but I still need to add a few vowels and graphic for each letter.

I lurve Ladybug Teacher Files.  I still need to decide on an alphabet but I'm loving her genre dots.

My leveled library in progess...

Recognize those dry-erase spots?  Yup, pinterest!  I also have my brownie points, birthday balloons, homework club, rainbow polka dot storage carts and teacher papers organizer below all from Pinterest. 

My small group area has 5 gallon bucket seats and my "stop" sign per Debbie Diller inspiration.

How can I forget the inspiration from Sarah Cooley and her awesome writing station. I'm working on getting my "writer's eye" together as well.

I also have my whole brain rules from GingerSnaps and my very own classroom rules freebie!

I am in awe of all the truly fantastic teacher resouces available made by teachers for teachers.  I'm sure I failed to give credit where credit was due for all the wonderful inspiration, ideas and work from fellow teachers  Thanks ya'll and have a great year!

Are U Ready to Boogie? (FREEBIE!!!)

After being inspired by a fellow teacher and Pinterest, I started making 5-gallon bucket stools for my classroom and other teachers.  My students love to sit on them during Daily 5 for independent and buddy reading around the room.

 I also have five green stools for my guided reading table.

I hate to think about how badly things could go wrong in an emergency situation.  For someone who loves to procrastinate, I do feel better when I "think" I'm prepared for unforeseen emergencies.


Our school recently had a training about how to handle campus intruders and what to do if we have an emergency school lock down.  In the wake of Sandy Hook, I guess this is going on in schools all around the nation.  I can never be emotionally ready to handle such a tragedy because I really do love my kiddos and would hate for something so awful to happen to them.


I decided that the same idea could be used for emergencies and now I'm creating a class "Boogie Bucket."  I'm using large 5 gallon buckets that I fill with emergency supplies like a first aid kit, a flash light/radio, tissue, toilet paper, disinfectant wipes, duct tape, plastic bags, flash cards/travel games, a whistle, emergency contact info and student care packages.  Next week I'm sending home a letter to ask parents to prepare a Ziploc bag with things to comfort their child in case of an emergency.

There's a School Emergency Preparedness Freebie on TeachersPayTeachers and Teachers Notebook.

I included boogie bucket directions, a parent letter, comfort letter samples and student id card templates.

Take care ya'll and have a wonderful Easter Weekend!

Pinterest Love and Blog Hop!

I now have a Teacher's Pay Teacher's store open and a Pinterest Board.  I added some free stuff at my store just in case you're having trouble getting things here.  I'm just in love with Pinterest.  It's my new obsession and curse.

I found so many cute projects for the summer. I'm already painting things for my classroom so why not add another project?

I know I'm a little late in the game but I decided to BLOG HOP.  I never realized that the same list of blogs will appear on everyone's page.  So here I go....

I hope I did that right?!!?