You would think that after doing this for 20 years, I'd be able to get my room set up in a day or so. But nope, two weeks later and I STILL have little odds and ends to finish up. It's ok. It's my home away from home for 9 months, so I don't mind the time investment. I want it to be bright and cheery and homey for me and most importantly for my kids. I think I'm just about there...

Here's what I walked into. Pretty typical - mish mashy furniture on this side and all my boxes piled up on the other side. Love my vinyl decal trees that live in my library (via Target).  Those were the start of what I call my "Accidental Owl Theme". I never really had a classroom theme, but you'll see that owls and birds just kind of slowly invaded my classroom, so I'm rolling with it but I really don't want to be the crazy owl lady who gets a ton of owl gifts because everyone thinks I have a thing for owls...

This is the view walking into the room and looking right. My little library. That rug was my first Donor's Choose donation. The baskets are from Dollar Tree and holding up way better than I expected!
The little green stools are from Ikea. Directors chair from Pier One.

The little bookshelf with the vine decals on the side was in my grandmother's house from before I was born. I inherited it when she passed. My book baskets fit in there perfectly! It's nice to have such a sentimental piece in my room...

Lamp and decals from Target, solar lantern from Ikea, library labels from me (but I can't share them because they have images that I don't have permission to share. Sadsville). I added a basket for scrapbooks and yearbooks. Kids love to look at those and it's so much better than letting them become dust collectors on the shelf <--the scrapbooks, not the kids...

My new clip chart from Pink Cat Studio on tpt with washi tape covered clothespins -tape from Downtown Tape.  (I'm starting to see why setting up my room is taking so long...)

Our Behavior Bingo is just below our clip chart.

This wall needs some love. That chart is our our schoolwide Sunshine Math program. It needs a title or something. Next to the bathroom door is my birthday poster, also from Pink Cat. I still have to finish adding the names. The bins are from Target and I use them to hold extra supplies once the kids bring them in.

 My student work bulletin board that I LOVE. It's from the Boho Birds collection from Carson Dellosa.

 I used glue dots to adhere thumbtacks to the back of the clothespins, and then added a bird to the front. Changing out student work is super simple!

My computer corner, which looks a lot more impressive than it is. I'm pretty sure those computers are older than my students, but we make it work...

My task card bulletin board and brain beads wall. You can read more about that here.

I use this big book stand that I rescued from the trash(!?) to hold my Zoobooks. I can not say Zoobooks without thinking of this video...

This is part of the open shelving that runs along one wall of my room. I'm so thankful for the storage, but I kind of wish it had doors although it's easy to grab things this way. Those craft bins need a serious cleaning out but I just haven't had the time. So many of my amazing parents want to come in and volunteer already that I'm thinking this might be a good job for them :)

My horseshoe table from Donor's Choose with Marius stools from Ikea. The pink chevron basket is from Lowes and the pink organizer is from The Container Store. Each desk also has one of those for supply caddies.

I found this little stationery organizer in Home Goods a while ago and almost threw it out when I realized it would be perfect to hold these little goodies!

This is my new super favorite area. I've had these buckets from Dollar Tree for a few years. They were just stashed away in my closet almost ready to hit the "Free to a Good Home" pile, when I realized they'd be great for holding these manipulatives. Easy to grab and pass out or for the kids to go and get what they need. I made those labels in Powerpoint. You can download them here from Google Docs. There's a little note on the first page about how to customize them.

And how awesome are these fabric cubes in the shelves? I loooove that they fit so perfectly. I still need to make some labels. I have cubes for legos, pop cubes, math games, literacy centers, geography games...some are storage for me, some are for the kids to grab and use. Definitely my new favorite addition.

You can see I used ball chain keychains to attach the labels. This just makes it so much easier if I want to change things around. Plus I just like the look. I'm also loving my new extra crayon drawers. You can grab the labels from Google Docs here.

My work/copy baskets which are in serious need of a makeover but I love the color and size. Next to that is Cheer-up Chicken and my mondo collection of read alouds and mentor texts.

My desk...it's massive and I hate how much room it takes up. I do love my Tiffany blue computer case from Kuzy.

This is our gathering place. Easel from Ikea, ottoman from Walmart. Adorable Daily 5 posters ready for the first day thanks to Lori at Teaching with Love and Laughter. You can grab those here.

My Smartboard which hasn't worked right in about a year and a half. I'm about to ask them to take it out. It's so sad, but I'd rather have whiteboard space to write on than that big honkin board that just takes up space. I'm hoping they'll finally be able to fix it soon.

Love these clocks! Got them at Walmart for about $4 each. They're set to the times for lunch, specials, and recess. I need to make new signs for them that match a little better and also have the digital time so that they start to recognize the analog and digital times. Below that are my free Mazano level of understanding posters, which you can grab here.

Almost done! I didn't get a good full-on picture of this area. Those little tables are also from Ikea. That's a magnetic curtain rod for holding anchor charts on the board. Next to that is my 9-cube cubby from Lowes that perfectly hold my book boxes! If you look closely under my whiteboard ledge, you'll see racks of coat hooks. Hubs installed those for the kids to hang their backpacks. One of the best things I've ever one!  There's my impulse buy duck that really has no purpose, but I love him anyway. I also bought a new calendar from Really Good Stuff this year that has the days printed on it! No more changing the days for me every month! Yahoo! It also has a fun fact of the day and came with stickers for birthdays and holidays. Loving that! There's my Magic 8 Ball. Every year the kids love that thing! No joke. This year at meet & greet I had a whole gob of kids all grouped around something and when I went to check it out, it was the 8 Ball! Not the ipads, not the computers, not the games, not the Cheer-up Chicken...it was the old-school shake it up Magic 8 Ball!

This is the last corner. That sign was from when I was teacher of the year for the Miami Herald in my first year of teaching. I guess I peaked early. I only keep it up there because everyone gets a kick out of my 80's do. I should probably add my more recent T.O.Y plaque there too. The sign above that is a little canvas I saw at Walmart.

This is a full view from the front door. It looks like a giant room, but the picture is deceiving. It's not tiny, but it's not as big as it looks here.  I went to tables this year instead of desks and I love how much more open it looks! I put one of my crate seats at each table to store their books. I also ordered seat sacks from Chair Pockets on Etsy so that each kid has a little place of their own for their pencil case, writer's notebook, etc.  I'm really groovin' on the idea of flexible learning spaces right now, and my new principal totally supports it! Anyone remember the movie Weird Science, where the kids build their perfect woman on the computer and then she comes to life? Well, that's kind of how I feel about my new principal, seriously. For real. Don't hate me, I've waited 20 years for a principal like this. I have had other great principals, but there's just something different going on here now that I love.

For meet and greet each student got a little goody bag. It just makes it so much easier to make sure everyone takes home what they're supposed to!

This is what was inside: My Ready Confetti poem, magnet with our class blog and other contact info, school brochure, and their very first brag tag from Imagestuff.

I came up with this poem last minute and just printed it on cardstock. I'm hoping it saves me from having to attch 18 of them to backbacks myself, plus it explains what it is a little. I'm pretending that soon and room rhyme (poetic license & all that).

Two more little tidbits for you. Did you see that Pinterest has a set of  boards just for teachers? Here's the whole scoop, but in a nutshell, the boards have a few collaborative pinners chosen my Pinterest, who then gathered up some responsible pinners to join them. We stick to one theme and don't promote paid products or product posting, just great classroom ideas. I'm lucky enough to pin to the Classroom Decor and Classroom Management boards. Check it out!

And...in case you haven't heard, the big Back to School sale on TpT is this weekend. My wish list currently has 196 items on it. I think I better narrow that down a bit...

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SunnyDays

I am the least spatial person I know. I really am. Hanging bulletin boards and arranging desks are kind of nightmare activities for me. Luckily, like most people who know their weaknesses, I've developed some coping skills. So today I'm going to share a cool bulletin board trick that my husband taught me way back when I was student teaching (before he was my husband or even my boyfriend. This little trick may have been one of the reasons I fell in love with him...)

I'm often asked how I have such perfect arches on my bulletin board titles, like on my Brain Beads board (cabinet, actually) below:

That certainly did not happen by eyeballing it, my friends. Here it is in a little picture tutorial.  You just need a string and a pencil and you're good to go! I've had that same string and pencil combo in my desk drawer for as long as I can remember.

What to do with the line? I usually just leave it. It's so faint that you can't really notice it after you put the letters on and finish decorating the board, but if it bothers you you can erase it. If it's a hard surface, try a Magic Eraser. I love those things.

Ok, so that brings us to the...

I saw the picture below and the caption just popped into my head:

So what do you see when you look at that picture? Give me your best caption and you may be a winner! Just leave your caption in the comments on this blog post before Thursday, July 11, Midnight EST and if I like yours the best, you get to pick any item of your choice from my store. Easy Peasy, right? Can't wait to see what you guys come up with!

And PS Lindalouhoo - PLEASE EMAIL ME!!

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This weekend I posted about my Brain Builder's Club and I got so many great emails that I thought I'd take time to give everyone some more details. It was the first post that generated so much individual interest about working with gifted and higher ability students, especially those in a heterogeneous class setting. I am beyond excited that my little project may benefit you all. It's working so well in my room and I hope after this post, you'll be ready to try it as well with the same success!

Let's do a little Q&A. I always like that.

Q: What are the task cards? Where do they come from? Can I buy the program from you? (all kinda related right?)
A: The task cards are a set of cards on one topic with a question on the front and the answer handwritten on the back.  Here are some examples of different cards:

Links to these are at the end of the post.

I have been collecting task cards for years from various sites that I'm a part of including Second Grade Club and ProTeacher. Of course, I've made many of my own as well. I don't have a whole Brain Builders program for sale in my TpT store. I'm not even sure how I would go about that. I do however, have some task cards for sale there that would be perfect for your own Brain Builders board. I'll list them at the end of this post if you're interested. You can get started with this FREE set on compound words that I made just for you! I'm cool like that ;)

Click on the link above to get these free!

Q: When do they practice with the cards?
A: In my room, students can go to the board and choose a set of cards to study whenever they have time to do so. If they finish an assignment or center activity early, for example. I've also had kids ask if they can do  Brain Builders during indoor recess and Fun Friday! Uh, yupper! Sure can! This might be different for you depending on the needs of your kids. I've also used it for a center once or twice.


Q: How do they study?
A: To study, they simply take the set of cards off the hook, find a comfy place and use them the same way you would use any flash cards. In my room, the studying is an independent activity. You may allow them to study together.

Q: What exactly is the test?
A: This one is easy. The test IS the set of cards. After they have studied the cards for a while and think they are ready for the test, they get a blank test form that looks like this. Click on it to download a copy.

Then a friend watches them read the card, answer on the paper, then flip to the next card. After all 30 questions are answered, the partner checks it. In order for them to get a "brain bead" they need to pass the test with 100% accuracy. Again, you can modify this for your class, but since they have multiple opportunities to study and they only take the test when they feel they're ready, I'm comfortable with the 100% goal.

Q: What if they fail the test?
A: They can keep studying that set until they're ready to take the test again.

Q: How do you keep up with adding the beads?
A: I found the best way is to have the kids bring me their test and their keychain when they've passed. Then they get to pick out their bead, I attach it right there and they go hang it back up. It only takes a second and it's working pretty well so far.

Q: How do you choose which topics to put on the board?

A: I put a variety of topics across all subject areas. This is a great way to introduce students to concepts or skills that you may not even cover in your curriculum. I'm careful to put a wide variety up, so we have a mix of essential skills and some enrichment as well. Some were developed for my kids when I saw a real need, like the Much or Many cards. Today I asked my two top girls who already have six beads each what kinds of things they'd like to learn about. I'm going to work on some cards for them on the subjects they chose (animals and geography).

Q: Do you sell them on TpT?

A: I do have a few sets that I sell. I have made others that aren't up to snuff to sell because I like to sell them in complete sets with answer keys, recording sheets, etc, for those who aren't necessarily using them for Brain Builders. Below are a few that I have currently listed. I'm going to try to list a few more geared toward Brain Builders w/ just the 30 cards and perhaps in sets of five for a discounted price. If that sounds like something you'd be interested in, leave me a comment and I'll work on it.

Here are some current sets. Just click on the link to see them - you can download a free preview too!

States of Matter

Measurement

Using Much or Many

Rounding and Estimating

Sentence Skills

I hope that helps! Be sure to download that compound freebie and the test sheet. If I left out anything, just feel free to ask!

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Even though I teach a self-contained gifted class, I have a wide range of abilities in my room. I'm sure that most of you do as well. Besides a wide range of abilities, I have students who finish things at very different times. One of the ways I've found to be sure that the fast finishers are using their extra time wisely (boy, that's teacher-talk, huh?) is through this little genius idea - The Brain Builders Club.

One bulletin board in my room is dedicated to holding task cards on many different subjects. Some I've found through internet searches and some I created myself. Each set of 30 cards has the answers on the back to make them self-checking.

If a student has extra time, they can choose a set of cards to study. Once they feel confident enough, a classmate who is also finished can give them the Brain Builders Test. Then the students check it together. If the student gets all of the questions correct they earn a Brain Bead!

My cabinet doors are covered with these command hooks. Each student's number is on one of the tags from the hook and hanging from it is a ball-chain keychain. Each time the student earns a Brain Bead I attach it for them. Each five beads earns a special reward of their choice, for example: lunch with me, a homework pass, sit by a friend pass, no morning work, free computer time, etc. It has been a very motivating activity for my students. It was actually a little too motivating. I had students who were trying to take 3 or 4 tests a day! Now we have a limit. They can study one set of cards or take one test per day. They are taking it much more seriously this way. Although for me it offers my self-motivated students a way learn new things I may not have taught yet, it's also great to review skills they should already have mastered. I can see this also being very beneficial for students who need remediation as well.

At the end of the year, students will get to take home their brain bead keychain to hang on their backpack or just keep as a little second grade souvenir. 

The little scientist on the board was made on my Cricut using the Everyday Paper Dolls cartridge - is he cute or what? I really need to use that thing more! If you'd like a copy of the Brain Builders Test sheet and the directions I have on the board, click {HERE}. In the picture below you can see the Brain Bead jar, the test form and the sticky letters I used on my cabinet (from Dollar Tree of course!).

Good luck motivating your little Braniacs!
P.S. See part two complete with a freebie {HERE}

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SunnyDays