Extreme Classroom Makeover - Back to School Edition

I think if they had a show on television about extreme classroom make-overs, I would be the perfect host.  I am addicted to watching HGTV and DIY home makeover shows.  Since, I actually live in an itty-bitty apartment, this is a true suck of my time.  But, I can't help it.  You should see me running around my apartment trying out all the cute ideas I see on the episodes.  I am DYING to paint the cabinets in my bathroom and kitchen.  My Pinterest obsession doesn't help either.  I'm embarrassed to say how many Pinterest fails I have tallied up.  OMG, if I actually owned a house, I would to totally be rocking a sledge hammer every summer.


This year I'm kind of bummed because I won't have a classroom of my own to organize and decorate. This is killing me!  I'm so obsessed that I've offered to help set up other teachers' classes this year. I might be coming to a classroom near you...haha!  I might need an intervention...

Here are some helpful tips in setting up your classroom...

1 - Start with a color scheme - select a few basic colors

2 - Zone Your Room - make sure you have a place for everything and everything has a place

3 - Sketch it Out - put it on paper before you move anything

4 - Container R Us - make sure you have everything accessible and labeled.

5 - Hide the rest - if it's not needed daily find a creative way to hide what you're not using

Sit back and enjoy a classroom that partners with you in teaching and reaching kids!

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Monday Made it - can u believe it?

It's official... I start my new job in this week.  I've moved to a new school that's closer to home and my family.  This year I'll be back in third grade. I've been working on hard this summer getting things ready for my new classroom.  Now that I'm self contained I've been creating stuff for all subjects.  That means I also have quite a few TPT projects in the works.  I never realized how much time it takes to put a unit together (especially when you have OCD issues).

I've been away for awhile, so decided to join Fourth Grade Frolic's Linky and share a short post.  I've been checking out great projects all summer long.  Here are my latest Monday Made It Projects.

I'm obsessed with Pinterest and my latest pinspiration was a homework board.  I couldn't resist making a magnetic homework club board and magnets to motivate kiddos to turn in their homework each week.

I also made scoreboard for whole brain teaching this year.  I started last year with the basics and must admit that we just got as far as the rules, class-yes, switch and mirror.  This year I want to step up our game and work on the scoreboard and super improvers wall.














Last but not least....
Thanks to Mrs. Stanford, I was able to find a few treasure box goodies for 30 cents!

 

Unfortunately, I have new teacher training this week, so I've gotta go.  Check out the Monday Made It projects this week.  

 

 Ta-ta for now :)

5 Dollar Treasure at Walmart!

I'm always changing my mind about what colors I want for my room so I decided why not have them all.  This year I'm going to have a Polka Dot Rainbow theme (hmmm that reminds me of skittles).  With the decision made I went to look for things to create and decorate.  I found fabric for a bunting banner at Joannes.

. 

While at Wally World, I found large plastic treasure boxes in red, blue and lime green for only $5.00.  I paid 3 times as much for mine :0(  But I did find their 88 cents section for teachers.... SCORE!!!

I also discovered that Michaels has a sale on acrylic paints, foam brushes, ribbon, duct tape and clearance plastic tubs.  We'll that's the makings of a project!  I decided to create a tub similar to one I saw at the Polka Dot Patch because I needed a tub to hold student lunches.  I found the perfect lime green color to match my new Rainbow classroom theme. I''m going to cut out rainbow colored dots from duct tape to put on the bucket and make ribbons to decorate the handles.  I had a weak attempt at making a bow with ribbon scraps ....
   

My Inspiration

My attempt

That led me to my next project - a painted canvas for my classroom door.  Again, I had no luck with the ribbon but I'll try my luck on Pinterest for ideas.  This is my progress so far....

I'm almost finished painting my bookshelves and I hope to get into my classroom soon so I can start unloading all the stuff I have crammed in my house. Wish me luck!