I Was Ready for The First Day of School

Happy September!!

Week one of school is over, and I can say that I am very thankful for this three-day weekend.  I’m exhausted.  My first week at my new school went pretty well. There were a few bumps in the road (to be expected for the first week), but all in all, other than the 95+ degree temperatures in our non-air conditioned building, things were good. Last Sunday, I spent the majority of the day at school getting my classroom ready for my students’ arrival. Here are some pics.

My reference shelf. I also made some corner bookmarks for my students to help themselves to. All of my book bins are labeled by genre (there is a poetry bin here), and on top I have some featured reads, a book checkout clip board, and some of my pretties (the beaded blue jay and the Boyd’s bear).

This is part of my student support station. My students are welcome to help themselves. I stress during the first week of school that they are responsible for not abusing the student support station, and that they should take care to use the items responsibly. I also have my catch phrase poster, “Keep Calm…”

This is the rest of the student support station. I have mini, Bath and Body Works lotions and hand sanitizers for students to help themselves. I also have sharpened pencils for students to help themselves to. Finally the file houses my absent work folders, hall pass log, and late log.

Here is my assignment board. These are all of the parts of my lesson that I am required to post daily. I made the labels with my cricut machine (the best diecutter ever!).

Here is my desk. This is the cleanest that it will ever be. My goal this year is to not leave at the end of the day without it being cleared off and ready for the next morning. I found my cut glass candy dish (full of jolly ranchers) at an antique mall for $10!! That is also where I found the brass cat figure. My mom sent me the squirrel to add to my collection! I found the footed teacup and saucer at the antique mall too. I use it to hold paperclips!

This is my “teacher board” where I post info that I need to remember and pictures and notes that I get throughout the year. That strawberry paper is glittered!

Here is my classroom library. My books are organized in bins (Container Store shoe boxes) with handmade labels. The bottom shelf houses nonfiction texts.

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Add A Little Color To Your Life!

Looking for a quick and easy update for a dull chair?  Paint it!!  Check out the difference that just a bit of spray paint can make to take a great shaped chair from dull to ta-da!!

Before: Dark brown, icky and dull.  Great rounded shape with the cane back.  

Chair after: A bit of blue paint and voila!  Color and life.  It’s a standout piece now!  I love how you can see the detail in the legs now.

So, start looking around your place, or check out those garage sales and thrift stores.  It’s amazing what a touch of color can do!  Happy Weekend.

Hugs,

First Knitting Attempt

So…I couldn’t help it.  After I got crocheting under my belt, I had to learn how to knit too.  This summer while I was on a family vacay, my mom and sister taught me the basics of knitting.  Cast on, knit, perl, cast off.  I’ll be honest.  It took me a while.  It wasn’t as easy as I had thought it would be after learning to crochet came so easily.  BUT…I didn’t give up, and I finished my first project.  The yarn is a hand spun blend (it even has silk in it) that my mom gave me.  It from Quillen Fiber Arts, an awesome fiber shop in Las Cruces, New Mexico.  If you visit there, or live near there, you need to go and check it out!  They have amazing fiber and tools.  So what do you think?  I’ll admit, that I had trouble focusing on K2, P2.  I would lose track of whether I had just knit or perled, but I just kept going and figured that even if I got off it would still look ok.  I am please to report that I think it looks great.  Not perfect, but I love it and am looking forward to using it this fall when the weather starts to cool down.  Here it is flat.  I hadn’t woven in the ends yet, but you can see the variegation of the yarn really well.

  

Just keep knitting, just keep knitting…

Hugs,