Busy Busy Bee

So yes, I am aware that it seems like I have fallen of the face of the earth (or at least the internet). In the past 3 months my husband and I have painted 17 rooms, packed up a house, unpacked a house, and I have started a new job. I am at an elementary school in Springfield, VA and I couldn't be happier! All of the students, staff, and administration are absolutely wonderful. We had a fire drill the other day and I have never been more impressed. Over 700 students stood outside of the building in what seemed like dead silence. Absolutely amazing! It has taken a little while to adjust to my new environment full of construction workers and noises (our school is in the process of renovation). My year has also had an interesting twist when my class changed from a second grade class to a first and second grade split class. It has brought some new challenges to my day but SUPER organization has helped to keep me on track. My students work great with each other and we have a wonderful dynamic in our room. As you can tell, to say that I've been busy is an understatement (especially considering that I have an almost 3 year old at home too). Either way I'd like to rejoin the world of the internet and keep sharing great teaching ideas.

This year I have already come up with some great things on my own and learned some awesome things from my new colleagues! Today's share is from my new team leader who has been so helpful that I can't thank her enough. This year I put my color coded stickers at the bottom of my journals. This way my students barely had to pull their journals out of their desks to see which journal it was before deciding if it was the correct one or not. I have to say, I thought that I was pretty smart.

 Until I saw my team leader's journals. Without a doubt they were better than mine.

She had her students color the pages on the outside all the way around the journal so they didn't even  have to take their journals out at all. All they did was look inside and boom they could see the pink or green and pick the journal they needed! Genius. 

Of course, I then had all of my students color the outside of their pages too and now it's never been easier for them to find their journals. Thank you Ms. Navarrete for the super tip! Hopefully you can use this in your classroom too. Do you have a tip that helps to keep your students' desks organized? Leave a comment below!

-OneCrazyS

Lost and Found - Repair Shop

Every year I try a few new things. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. This year I tried two new things that I absolutely love. The first one is having a Lost and Found box in my room.

I saw it on Pinterest and I knew I had to try it. I have to say that it is wonderful addition to my classroom. My students find things on the floor or around the room and if they don't know whose it is, they just put it in the Lost and Found box. If someone is missing something, they just go look for it in the box. This has cut down on so many small disruptions where students are asking whose things are and then holding it up for someone to identify it. It's quick, easy, and doesn't take up much room. It's definitely a must-have in your classroom!

The second thing I tried this year is something I saw in my best friend Andrea's classroom. She had a repair shop box in her room.

I was intrigued and I asked her about it. She said that whenever a student breaks something or rips a page in a book etc., they put it in the repair shop box for her to fix it. This is also a great addition to the classroom. Whenever anything breaks or gets ripped. I just tell them to put it in the repair shop and I fix it later. It's great! I always love less classroom disruptions and these additions have definitely helped with that. Just some fun ideas for today. Happy day off to all of the Marylanders!

-OneCrazyS

Desk Bags

This year I went out on a limb and tried something new. I was beyond tired of pig pen desks and I decided to combat it with desk bags. I gave each student 3 bags that had different colored dots - a My Words bag (green dot), a Math Facts bag (yellow dot), and a My Books bag (red dot). Whenever I gave them new spelling words, sight words, or words they wanted to learn, I told them to take out their green dot bag and put them inside. Whenever we had a paper book - decodable reader, small science book, etc., I had them put it in their red dot bag. Same thing with math facts. When I wanted them to practice adding numbers to 10, doubles, doubles plus one, or teen number words I gave them cards and then I had them put them in their yellow dot bag. Whenever they finished early, they could take out a colored dot bag and read a book, practice their words, or practice their facts. At the end of the year they were able to take all of the bags home to review over the summer. The only problem I had was that some super messy kids lost some of their bags so I had to give them a new one. Other than that it worked really well! This summer I made chevron owl bag labels so I don't have to write on each bag. They look like this (sorry for the bad pic):

Just write each student's name in the blank then tape the labels to the bags. Add some sight words or words they want to spell and POOF instant desk organization!

The color coding definitely helped because all I had to say was "Take out your red dot bag" or in this case "Take out your blue owl bag" and everyone would have the right bag out of their desk. Hopefully this helps to keep your munchkins organized this year! Let me know what you think (:

There are labels for My Words Bag, My Spelling Words Bag, My Book Bag, My Math Bag, My Science Bag, and My Social Studies Bag. 

Get them for FREE here: 

FREE Owl Chevron Desk Bag Labels

-OneCrazyS