Monday, July 23, 2012

Recent Purchases

Like any teacher, I have a hard time resisting buying new things for the next school year. This year is turning out to be a challenge because I have only seen my new classroom once, and it only has ONE bulletin board. Yes, ONE! It is a smaller square board too, and then the only other board is a whiteboard which is twice it's size. So, I'm a little nervous about that. I think I will have to get creative with those concrete blocks!

But here are a few things I love to get every year for my room!

1. Large Post-It pad.

I love using this paper for anchor charts and for small groups. Usually I just get the Post-It pad itself, but this year I am going to try the one that has the Dry Erase board on the other side.


2. Borders from Creative Teaching Press.

Before I knew I was going to have zero bulletin board space, I knew I wanted to simplify my "theme" and colors. To be honest, I can't pull off a great theme very well, and I loved the simplicity of Kristen's room over at Ladybug Teaching Files. So I wanted to do black and white, and then throw in some bright colors, like lime and hot pink. Still not sure how it will turn out in my room, but I like the basic idea of it!

3. Post-it Flags.

I purchased "Be a Guided Reading Guru" from Lesson Plan SOS last summer and then didn't get to use it because our district adopted a brand new curriculum. This year, I am going to use it. In her packet, she uses the different colored flags to correspond with a thinking strategy for reading. I would love to try it, since it seems much more simpler than things I have done in the past!

4. How Full is Your Bucket?


Our administration read this book to our kids a few years ago, and I have used bits and pieces of the overall idea to motivate my kids to be nice! This year, I plan to have a board (somewhere!) where the kids each have a library pocket and can earn "bucket filler cards" for doing nice things for their classmates. I love the classrooms that do the actual buckets and fill them with pom poms, but because of space, I am going to try it this way.







So, I know I have purchased more things, but here are some of the basics.  I am back to being a "new" teacher again since I am in a new district, so orientation starts August 1st. I can't believe how soon that is coming up!




3 comments:

  1. Amazing how our summer seems to end sooner than we are mentally ready for it to! Time flies when you are having fun!
    Good luck at your new district! I am sure you will be great!

    http://thoughtsofateacher-lvrana.blogspot.com/

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  2. If there is a Staples by you, you should stop in this week to stock up on their brand of Post-it flags. You can get 4 per transaction for only a quarter. I'm also in a new classroom this year where my bulletin board space is very limited. I took Jodi's tip from Clutter-Free Classroom to hot glue black poster board (50 cents each from Dollar Tree) to the cinder block walls and then put up a border or duct tape. It worked great and can be used to create a display space where you don't have an actual bulletin board.

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    Replies
    1. That is a great idea Lauren! We are not allowed to hot glue, but there is probably another way to put it up!

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