More Summer Projects

Like I mentioned, I've been keeping myself busy this summer by creating little odds and ends for my class. Here are some more of the projects I've been working on.

Last year was my first year implementing the Daily 5 in my room. I loved it, but there were certain choices that ran smoother than others. In my class, the problem choices were Word Work and Read to Someone. Word Work was a pretty easy fix. The kids would all congregate around the 'cool' manipulatives and chat. All I had to do was enforce the rule: only one child per item. This helped them spread out and make better use of their time. Read to Someone was more difficult to fix, and I think the reason is because I didn't hit it hard enough at the beginning of the year. This summer, I made those cute little Check for Understanding check marks that they talk about in the book.

Here it is with our
little classroom owl friend.

I was also inspired by - wait for it - a Pinterest picture I saw online! I know, hard to believe! The original post came from Amanda at One Extra Degree. I just customized it with my own look and feel. The fonts are a big mess of fonts that I've collected over the last two or three years. I'm a font hoarder.

My favorite part about them is that they match my classroom theme! Yes, I'm that obsessive! I backed each of the check marks with some heavy crafting cardstock, and I sent them through the laminator in hopes that they will last just a teensy bit longer! The finished product is adorable! I made one for each of my students. They'll be able to put them in their book boxes. Or I might have them just come and get one when they do Read to Someone. It feels safer to me

My theme is the forest,
but I end up using a lot
of owls and squirrels!

for some reason! You never know what happens in those book boxes! It always feels like everything in there is wrinkled!

I used a bunch of different craft papers
to liven them up a bit!

Cross your fingers for me that they last well into the year - and even into future years. Laminating a bajillion check marks and cutting them out is not the most thrilling activity. I'm super nervous because my friends from last year were very rough on our materials, and since I'm working with the same group of friends (well, only a handful that where in my class last year, but I'm moving up with the grade of students), I can only imagine that it will be the same. :(

The other project that I will post today is a lot simpler, and I love where I got the idea from: my own frustration! :)

I present to you - erasers!

Like most supply lists, ours includes this item - my arch nemesis. Those pink erasers make me miserable. My friends see them as their own little space to graffiti. They poke holes in them, they draw designs on them, they poke holes to create designs on them! They color them with permanent markers. And worst of all, they play with them! I can't tell you how many times a week I have to take erasers away from my friends! One day, I was so frustrated with one of my little friends that I took his away permanently. He never used it for erasing so I didn't see the point of him having it. Maybe that's terrible, but that's what happened. In my rage, I did the unthinkable! I became one of my little friends and started playing with it myself! I cut it into tiny pieces! Well, just four. After I did it, I looked at the pieces and thought, 'hm, I kind of like these!'

That's right, just by cutting it up, that annoying pink eraser turned into four tiny, less distracting erasers. I snuck the pieces into the supply baskets at one of my more rowdy tables, and, low and behold, my friends started using the erasers - to erase! I was amazed! It was marvelous! It really was, especially since we had one friend in the room that liked to chew erasers off of pencil tops. Actually, it was the same friend that inspired me to take his eraser and cut it up into pieces! Anyway, gone were the endless requests for erasers because the students started using the erasers that they had and just chose not to use!

Point of the story - I was at Target the other day and I saw that these guys were on sale. I know they're on the school supply list and my friends will bring them in, but you

never know how quickly erasers will go or how students will use them. Or how many friends will actually read the school supply list. So I decided to buy a handful, about 2 bucks worth, and cut them up. I also found some of those eraser caps at the Dollar Store for, well obviously, $1. I got a few of those as options, too. I'm hoping that if I offer them as a choice in my room my friends will stop stealing them from each other and complaining that they lost theirs or that so-and-so stole theirs out of their desk.

Truly, I don't know why I do it because they'll just find something else to complain about, but I do. I can't resist!

Finally, I'm leaving you with a picture of my adorable puppy, Murphy. Blogging is not his favorite. I moved my computer into my craft room - I'm notorious for using it on the couch and laying there for several hours. It only encourages blog hopping for hours. Murphy likes it better when I use my computer on the couch, though, so he can lounge, too.

Look out for my next post. I'm hoping to start a blog 'series' about tips for first year teachers from someone who just went through it all! Happy Tuesday Wednesday! (The Bachelorette finale has been throwing me off all week. The normal episodes are on Mondays, but the finale was on Sunday, so I feel like I'm a day behind.)

Ciao!