Student mailbox make-over complete!

On Friday night I had this: grey and all blah with sticky residue and tape from years gone by.

Today I have this: Fresh, purple & clearly labeled on removable binder clips.

Because of the nature of the beast it wasn't possible to spray paint with not getting it inside or getting it evenly all inside, so I did the best I could, and I'm happy with the results. The purple that did get inside has a "airbrush" effect that looks pretty cool. I chalking this up as a successful project!

Teachers have to eat: Grown-up Pizza

With all of the lesson planning and last minute prep before the first day of school tomorrow, I am hungry for some good eats, yet don't have the time or energy to make a gourmet meal (not that I'm even capable of that....). I decided to throw together a grown-up version of an old favorite: pizza. It has a bit of a Mediterranean flavor to it. The 'sauce' is an Artichoke Asiago spread topped with Balsamic chicken, sun dried tomatoes, and spinach. So yummy. And, it's easy!

 Here is what you need. The chicken is leftover from last night's rotisserie, so no cooking required. The Artichoke Asiago dip is from Wegmans (have I mentioned how much I love Wegmans??). If you don't have a Wegmans, I'm sure you can find a similar dip/spread to use. I'm using oil-packed tomatoes, but you could use the dry type. If you'd like to use refrigerated dough or make your own, feel free. 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees (or according to the directions on your crust/dough).

 Saute garlic (I used two cloves) with a dash of oil, then add a little Balsamic Vinegar. No real measurement, I just eyeballed it-- probably about a tablespoon or so. Throw in the pre-cooked chicken and give a good stir. Remove from heat.

 Place pizza crust on pan and spread cheese dip on crust.

 Cut up your tomatoes and throw them on. (If using oil-packed, make sure to drain/dab off as much oil as possible.)

 Add chicken and Italian seasoning if desired.

 I like to cut the spinach before throwing it on. (I know your mouth is watering-- never fear, you're almost done).... Cook are directed on the pizza crust package. (Boli was @ 450 for 8-10 minutes).

 Looks good enough to eat, right?? My goal was for the leftovers to last for three days (lunch), but that's just not happening. It was so good, I needed a little more :) I served with a spinach salad and a glass of red.  Enjoy! Now it's back to lesson planning and prepping for me.

My room is finally done!

Well, I'd better clarify my title by saying "as done as it's ever going to be" :) This week turned into far more of curriculum hair-pulling, training, and planning instead of classroom set-up and prep. But alas, by 6pm on Friday evening it was at the point where I could declare it finished and headed home after a long week. Let me give you a tour. (My descriptions are below the picture.)

 This is the view from my desk (at the back of the room) looking towards the front & far side. The class is set up with 29 desks to accommodate my biggest class.

 View from the door, looking towards the side and back of the room. (Don't worry, I will deal with the projector cords at the front of the room:))

 Back of the room: My 'Readbox' which will display books that go with our theme/unit. I thought I'd be a bit ironic by putting a Shakespeare-like character next to it offering some good old fashioned help via anchor posters.

 I like to think of this as my little island. Some ask me how I can stand being so closed off, but I like having a space that's not accessible by students on multiple sides. It allows me to have everything I need in one general location. It also provides a space to work and talk with students one-on-one. Not that I have a chance to sit at my desk very often, but by having my desk at the back allows me easy access to keep an eye on all of my kiddos while they're working. And the bulletin board behind my desk--- I always make it pretty and just for me! It keeps me happy, is a handy place for me to keep important papers, great to display some photos, and is a great place to hang student art work, cards, etc. 

 A close up of my bulletin board. I bought the fabric from JoAnn's Fabric. I love all things NYC, and it's just plain 'ol cute yet trendy. My pictures are displayed at the bottom and the top is available to hang schedules, important info, and student work.

 My pictures are attached with mini-clothes pin ($2 for 20 at Walmart) with a glitter button glued to the middle. The clothes pin are 'pinched' to the orange ribbon. I strung the orange ribbon across the board using several thumb tacks on both sides, and then three or four staples spaced across the board. I used the left over clothes pins and attached them to flat thumb tacks which I will use to hold my schedule, etc. (I haven't accomplished this yet; they are still drying). 

 My classroom library. They are all leveled and marked with a sticker at the bottom of the spine. Blue= Hard, Red= Harder, Yellow= Hardest

The picture books in the crates under the TV are non-fiction and the crates to the right are fiction. And there is still one box of books that need a home... (Man, I forgot about them...)

 A closer look at my windows. Although I am a bit crafty and even called 'Martha Stewart' today for my efforts on my bulletin board, I do NOT sew. In lieu of curtains, I decided on a combination of sparkly black card stock (you can't really see the glitter) and superhero bulletin board border. It's all attached with duct tape so we'll see how it holds up. 

This is the bulletin board directly inside the door (door to the right). A calendar will be posted but it's currently being laminated. It will also be a place to display important info for students.

Removing years of grime

Although I spent a large amount of this first week back in my classroom purging, recycling, and chucking, the grime that was plaguing me most was the layers of tape, stickers, and general grossness that had accumulated on my class set of plastic mailboxes. I inherited the mailboxes with the room, but I just couldn't bear to look at the mess left behind from years of use.

Tonight's project was to get the yuckiness and grime off so that it's ready to be spray painted tomorrow. First, I tried good ol' fashioned fingernail polish remover. That was an epic fail-- the stickiness remained and barely made a dent. After doing a Pinterest search I came across the blog Humblebee & Me: Stubbornly DIY and found the idea to use vegetable oil. I also grabbed a (metal) Brillo pad and went to work. Although the vegetable oil didn't work as easily as the blog made it sound, it did definitely help. I think if it would have been only a year or two of sticky it would have worked more effectively. It took about an hour of scrubbing to get it all off. Because it was a little greasy, I then did a thorough clean/wiping with a rag full of 409. I now have a much cleaner and less sticky set of mailboxes that are ready to be painted!

An apple for teachers? I prefer Starbucks

By my second day back, it has become clear that Starbucks is going to be an integral part of this school year. Instead of spending my time lesson planning and making final preparations for the PD I am giving tomorrow, I created this cute little sign to declare my dependency :) 

Feel free to pick up the sign here!

Starbucks Sign by goldenparadox

My Readbox is Finished!!

My Readbox book display is finished! I've seen several different examples on Pinterest but wasn't sure how I could incorporate it into my classroom. Many of the ones I saw were library displays. I just decided to keep the idea in my head until I figured out how to make it work. Earlier this week I was working in my classroom and came across a large particle board white board. Unfortunately the white board had many scratches and permanent marker marks. As I was about to take it out to the dumpster, I suddenly had a brain storm.... so I headed to Home Depot.

I'll do my best to walk you through the steps of making it. I don't have step-by-step pictures because honestly, when I first started, I wasn't sure how it was going to end up.

1. I started with a large piece of particle board, approximately 32 x 48. I kept the 'white board' coating on the back. You could use particle board or another thin piece of wood. Mine was less than a half an inch thick. 
2. Figure out the spacing for your shelves. How many you want? How much space you need between shelves? I did three shelves, one 14 inches long, and two 28 inches long.
3. The shelves are made of base cap molding. ($1.36 a foot). I went with the measurements for each 'shelf', so they cut it right there in the store for me. Here's the link to the base cap I used. While at Home Depot, I picked up wood screws, wood glue, and spray paint (Matte Colonial Red).
4. Once I had all of my supplies, I used a pencil to mark out exactly where I wanted the shelves. Once the markings were made and centered (to the best of my spatially-challenged ability), I glued the molding down. 
    
   
   
   5. After letting it dry over night, it was time to put the screws in. This was the most challenging part, getting the screws into the molding. I had a few misses, but just kept trying. Because of the 'white board' coating, it made it difficult to put the screws in directly without pre-drilling the holes.

6. I did an image search on Google for the Redbox logo, found one that was clear and could be made large enough. I copy & pasted the image and enlarged it. I put "red" on one page and "box" on a second. I printed out an "extra d" and turned it into an 'a'. Print and cut out the letters. I then used scotch tape 'donuts' to hold the letters in place. I used it has a 'reverse stencil'. 

7. Time to paint! My paint had the color and sealer in one. Because some of the paint soaked in to the particle board, it required a few coats. Make sure to get on all sides of the shelf.

       8. After letting it dry over night, I pulled the letters off. It worked quite well. After letting it dry for a full 24 hours, I used white paint to paint in the letters.

9. The last step was to find a "screen" too use. I found a template at Kristina's blog The Caffeinated Librarian. Thanks so much for letting me use it :) I used adhesive spray to attach it.

10. I still haven't fully decided how I am going to display it in my classroom, although I am hoping to hang it from hooks in the back of my room. I'll attach a picture when I have it in my room.

Back to school shopping at Home Depot???

Yes, you read correctly. I have actually been to Home Depot more times in the past week than in the previous 3 years. My most recent trip was for this weekend's project which will be revealed tomorrow (hopefully) :) Anyways, last week's project...

If you spend any time on Pinterest, you've seen the plastic storage units from Home Depot or Loews (used for storing nails, screws, small tools, etc.) turned into teacher supply organizers. You can get them with 22 drawers (around $17) or with 39 (around $20). You can print out/make cute labels and if you're really feeling artsy, you can spray paint it. Because my desk at school is perpetually a mess, I thought I'd give it a try. Here's my final project: (A few drawers are "label-less" until I figure out what to put in them)

As you can tell, I went for the 22 drawers (didn't think I could fill 39 drawers). And since all things glitter make me happy, I used glitter spray paint! Now, I'm not going to lie, I did have some minor difficulties with the spray painting, but it seems to have worked out. The difficulties were mainly due to my inexperience with spray painting and faulty paint. For the labels, I bought them off of TpT from Kristen Doyle for $2. (They are called "Teacher Toolbox" and available in several colors.) After printing them, I cut them out and used spray adhesive on the 'label side' to apply them to the inside of the drawer. I was a little concerned about running, bleeding, etc., but it worked quite well. You can easily see the labels through the drawers and there is no trace of glue or residue.

Keep It or Junk It

If you've been to any professional development over the summer, chances are, you've heard about an activity called "Keep it or Junk it". And if you haven't, relax, you'll probably be hearing about it when you head back to school. I heard about it a few weeks ago at Maryland's statewide Educator Effectiveness Academy. Three days later, my principal asked me to present it during PD our first week back. So, I did what any good educator does: I Googled it. To my dismay there wasn't a lot of information about it except the original online video that was shown at training. Because I do believe that it's a good Common Core-friendly activity, I did some digging and gathered some information to share. I've also included the Power Point for my presentation and the link to the video.

'Keep it or Junk it" is a 'close' reading activity that... 

• encourages critical thinking.
• helps students grasp a deeper meaning from the text.
• is student led.
• provides practice analyzing & arguing evidence.
• emphasizes the use of language to express ideas.
• easily extends to writing an essay and putting thoughts in writing.
• incorporates collaboration and group work.
• encourages participation and engagement.
• is perfect for Science and Social Studies as well as ELA.

 

Let's Give It A Try

After about two weeks of exploring the wide world of blogs and setting one up, I guess that it's finally time to write a post. This post is basically just to see how it all works, so you won't really find any words of wisdom. I have a few other posts in the works, including an art project gone way wrong-- I am currently typing with sticky, yet glittery fingers to prove it-- and some other classroom/education related things that I am getting ready.