My First Sunday Scoop

Hello to all you more than "just" teachers! I was looking for ways to blog more often and came across the ADORABLE Miss K's Little Rays Instagram page where she decided to get better at blogging too! I decided I was gonna start the Sunday Scoop this week!

This is the first time I've participated in a link up like this (but I actually think the LINK UP is closed...) Oh well! I'll do it any way! Make sure to check out Teaching Trio to see some other blogger's scoops.

HAVE TO: I can't believe it's April and I only have about 1.5 months left to teach ALL the stuff I haven't taught yet. Does anyone else feel like they need 3 extra hours each day to get through all they're supposed to?  And, let's be honest, it's probably like a month of teaching time left with state tests, assemblies, award ceremonies, field trips, cleaning... blah blah

Speaking of state testing... we start the 18th. That means this week is helping them prep by going over online tools such as text masking, highlight, equation editor. I feel like of course this test is testing how well my kids can figure out how to take the test. We are doing 2 tests a day, 1 in morning, 1 in afternoon. How do you do state testing?

I have been doing a pretty dang good job of getting my workouts in. I am not skinny by any means and I have got to workout to put myself out there in a bikini. I know that I will never look great, but as long as I can push myself, I feel more energized throughout the day. A new gym opened across the street (I literally have NO excuse) so I'm going to Zumba 4 times a week at least. It's fun and I go with my teaching BESTIE, so we get to talk and hang out too! Win-Win!

HOPE TO: I hope to catch up on The Voice today and be able to actually watch it live tomorrow! I'm about 3 episodes behind (I'm watching Knockouts). I also love Quantico which comes on tonight. What shows do you watch? Any news ones I should be DVRing?

After I'm done with this, I should probably make a grocery list. Although, I wish I was rich and could pay to give someone all the things I want to eat and they could just go for me. That would be great. Maybe that could be my job... I wouldn't mind grocery shopping for other people.... hmmm...

HAPPY TO: I am stoked to be blogging right now. I'm not good at staying up to date here. I have so many things I've done in my classroom I should be blogging about, since I get SO many ideas from other people's blogs. I'm going to try my best. You guys gotta keep me on my blogging game!

Hope you enjoyed seeing my Sunday Scoop, and thank you for being more than "just" a teacher each day. Your kids are lucky to have you around!

xoxo, lauren

How Flexible Seating Works in the Kafe

Hey Everyone! Thanks for stopping by my blog!  It's so hard to believe that Thanksgiving is already over! That means it's time to start getting holiday activities ready. December is one of my favorite times with the kids.  (It probably helps that we only see them for a couple weeks and then get a break!) 

Today I wanted to share how my classroom is set up from a seating perspective.  I am blessed to have a very large classroom. There are plenty of nooks and crannies for kids to move about and sit. I do realize that many teachers are not as lucky. I spent 6 years in a small room (1 year in basically a closet), so when the principal offered me this WONDERFUL room, I jumped at the chance. This room allows me to give the opportunity for my students to choose a seating position that fits them best. Scholastic has a great article that shows some possibilities for flexible seating. When I first began allowing kids to move around, even in my old classroom, I never realized that this idea would become such a wonderful tool for my teaching and for the students' learning. 

Here are some examples of how the Klinsky Kafe allows students to choose their seating:

One area I love is by the bay window, there are benches to sit on. I decided to make that a comfy area, and bought bean bags and pillows to put there. This is where we meet with whole group. The kids share the items, and no one can have 2 things (no bean bag and pillow).  Over the years, my mom, the coupon queen, has been able to find these GINORMOUS beanbags and chairs to place in this area.  This is my most popular area for kids to sit. 

During the day, my students are up out of their seats 90% of the time. They do have an assigned seat at a table. I do not have desks. They keep their supplies there at the table in a basket and can choose to sit there during literacy stations or math workshop. I find however, that most students prefer to be laying down or siting comfortably.  To me, this makes TOTAL sense.  I am sitting right now, propped up on the couch, with a blanket and a pillow. I am not sitting at a desk. For me, this helps me to complete my work. 

During literacy stations, if the students sit in the bay window area (called the Bean Bag area), it is a silent area. They can read to self, work on writing, word work, or Lexia, but whatever they are doing, it MUST be silent.  

During math workshop, it is different. They can talk and work together so often times you'll see 3-4 kids sharing a bean bag while working through our math lesson. 

If you walk in my classroom, you will see students sitting at their seats. For some, their own space and their table is most comfortable.  Many times, they have papers spread out or want to use crayons and it is easier to lay those out on a table.  

Many times, you will look under the table to see a child working hard while relaxing under the table too! 

When we meet as a whole group for a mini lesson, students may need to be able to see the Smartboard. At that point, some students stay at their seats, but others come up the front and sit or lay on the rug. 

 We have 5 exercise balls that can be used for a person at each table if they wish. Students know that the ball can be rotated to each person during the week to give everyone a chance. If space allows, students can lay down on the rug, but if space is needed, they must sit up so everyone has a space.

These pillows work very well for students doing partner reading. It gives them a space to sit down on the floor away from their friends who are reading to self.  These boys are working on math workshop together.

In the back of my room, I have a beautiful window with a countertop. I put some ottomans there and my students can sit and work there. This gives them a space with a flat surface so I usually find kids working on writing or solving math problems. 

What I have learned is that once I let go of the control of having kids in their seats at all times, the students made great choices with where they choose to sit. The first week of school is hardest because everyone thinks they want to sit on the floor, but then they learn that they are more of a desk person.  They choose their space, take of their shoes, and relax. When they are in control of their learning space, I find that more learning occurs.  Believe me, it was hard to let go of control, but this has been a wonderful addition to my classroom management. 

Thank you for all you do :) Happy Holidays!

Chapter 11 of The Reading Strategies Book with the "Crew"

Hello Friends! I'm Lauren and I am NOT "just" a teacher (and neither are any of you).  While I was having "my easy peasy summer off", I came across this post from Colleen at Literacy Loving Gals asking who wanted to do a book study for The Reading Strategies book by Jennifer Serravallo.  I ordered the book, which is a lil pricey, so I wanted to make sure that I was spending money wisely. It was TOTALLY worth it! 

Order the Book by Clicking Here

I feel like this book can be shared amongst teachers in my school at any grade. I teach fourth grade this year, but I already have ideas for my primary friends and my intermediate friends. I have a TON of ideas for my sweet English Language Learners too! I teach a Sheltered English classroom where my students struggle with comprehending simply because they spend a lot of time trying to understand the words that they are reading.  Jennifer Serravallo uses research that says, "...if students are truly to understand what they read, they must be able to UNDERSTAND, not only decode, upward of 95 percent of the words."  WHOA! Wow.... That sticks out to me sooooooo much!  I know that the chances of my students understanding 95 percent of what they read is a very tough expectation for me to be able to reach. But, I will try my VERY best because that is what they deserve. That is why I was so excited to get to blog about Chapter 11: Improving Comprehension by Understanding Vocabulary and Figurative Language. 

Another great part of this chapter is when they reiterate something that I have learned, seen firsthand, and been told, but many district curriculums don't always support..... 

That most word learning occurs unconsciously and naturally through normal reading, writing, speaking, and listening.

Basically, we don't need fancy vocabulary programs to teach our kids vocabulary! We can guide and support them through the four domains of language acquisition and they will learn more words that way than studying vocabulary words in a structured program.  

And this is what Chapter 11 is all about. Here is a list of the strategies you can reference and have access to if you purchase this book.

Here are 3 strategies that caught my attention and I wanted to share with you!

11.3 Insert a Synonym

Levels: H and Above

Genre/Text Types: ANY

Skills: prior knowledge, monitoring meaning

Often times, authors use vivid vocabulary in texts. With my classroom of English Language Learners, most of the time, my students struggle most with what these words mean and how to say them. If they don't know a word, they aren't able to comprehend deeply. With this strategy, you ask students to insert another word that would make sense in the sentence.  The hardest part is when the students must read the sentence with the substituted word to see if the sentence still makes sense.

Here are some prompts to use when teaching this strategy:

What's going on so far?... So what might this word mean?

Try a word you know. Does that make sense?

Stick in a word that would make sense here.

What's another word the author might have used that would still make sense?

11.16 Be Word Conscious

Levels: M and Above

Genre/Text Types: ANY

Skills: monitoring meaning

I wish SOOOOOOOO badly that my students were taught this strategy much younger. This strategy asks 1 simple question of the students:

Do I know this word?

If the answer to that question is no, then they can apply strategies they know to try to figure it out. So many of my students read and read and read and read.... and then when I ask them what a word means, I get a blank stare. I wish they could see how this is affecting their ability to comprehend.  My hope is my students will learn to recognize words that they don't know. That is the first step. From there, we can add more strategies to their toolbox to help them figure it out.

Here are some prompts to use when teaching this strategy:

Do you know all the words?

What strategy can you try here to figure out a word?

Do you think you are reading too fast to notice words that you don't know?

Great job! You realized that there is a word you don't know.

11.19 It's Right There in the Sentence

Levels: M and Above

Genre/Text Types: nonfiction (mostly)

Skills: synthesizing

Authors often stick the definition of a challenging word right into the sentence where the word is. Students need to learn key words and other clues to find these definitions.  Help students to see key words such as: also, or, this is called, when reading nonfiction. Another clue is hidden in the punctuation. Commas and dashes are usually used to separate a challenging word from it definition. Students can find these clues very helpful, especially when reading science and social studies texts. 

This was my social studies text today! It fits in PERFECTLY with this strategy. My students were like #mindblown 

Here are some prompts to use when teaching this strategy:

Do you see any key words that tell you the definition is in the sentence?

Does the author explain the word?

Look at the punctuation. I think I see something that clues me in to a definition.

You're right, there's no definition for this word. For this one, you'll need to use a different strategy.

Jennifer Serravallo discusses giving students the knowledge of what goal they are working on. I find that when my students know what they need to work on, and specific strategies to focus on, they are more motivated and likely to succeed.  I created a handout for students to keep with their goals and strategies listed.  I would like students to take this with them for individual conferences and guided reading so that I can help assess how they are doing. Click below to grab this chart to use!

 Reading Strategy Student Goals

Hope you enjoyed these strategies that help us become better learners and teachers. Make sure to follow along with the whole book study! 

Next up is Matt at Digital: Divide and Conquer

Fractions Summative Assessment: iPad Style

Well.... The school year is over, and I feel like I can actually sit, relax for a lil, and maybe blog.... How was everyone's end of the school year? Did you have a crazy, intense school year like I did? Between curriculum and behavior and evaluations.... man! I'm glad it's over! But I am soooooo sad. I had to say goodbye to my babies who I have had for multiple years.

About 15 of these kids were in third grade when I moved down from fifth. Then, due to numbers, I moved to fourth and kept 15 out of 18 (my smallest number ever!!). Last year, I was given the great opportunity to begin a collaborative learning pilot where I was given 1:1 iPads and the assistant superintendent and I thought it would be best to loop to fifth grade to immerse the kids into iPads as a mode of supplementing learning.  So, we did, and we became super close. I love each one of them. I can't imagine teaching a new group of kids. It's going to be so different!

So, next year I will be teaching fourth grade again (maybe a 4/5 split) and looping with those kids to fifth grade the following year. I am hoping that I will be able to take this group of students, who may or may not have used iPads in a learning environment before, and take them to a new level of iLearning. It is a challenge that I am a lil nervous, but excited to take on.

At the end of the year, the fifth grade math curriculum teaches and reviews fractions. Common core standards expect students in fifth grade to have mastered a basic understanding of fractions, equivalent fractions, comparing fractions, and adding and subtracting with like denominators.  My students did not have these concepts mastered, although many did have a basic understanding with some exposure.

After reviewing and reteaching these concepts, I took my students into 5.NF.1 and we learned how to add and subtract with unlike denominators. This took a long time!  Their favorite part was singing their favorite skip counting songs to find the common denominator!  After adding and subtracting, we did a review of mixed numbers and improper fractions, then added and subtracted those. That was MUCH harder when you had to regroup a whole into the fractional pieces. 1=4/4... I thought they knew that, but when we had to regroup, I swear I had 15 heads or was speaking a foreign language because they all just stared at me.....

By the time we went into multiplication of fractions, I was so tempted to just teach them the quick version, multiply tops, multiply bottoms. BUTTTTTTTTT, I didn't. We took weeks to learn the abstract concepts and ideas.  We drew rectangles, shaded, and counted. And then, my above level students were like..."Teacher! Why are we doing that? Can't we just multiply the tops and bottoms?" I was like well, yea.

To gauge their understanding of fractions as a whole unit, I asked each student to create a mind map for fractions. They were given a list of directions to add to a popplet. This meant they had to use Smart Notebook, Jot (whiteboard app), and photos to show each concept.  I gave them about 2 math periods to work on this (about 3 hours total) and then they shared it with a neighbor to check that they had all the required parts, and they submitted it to me.

Here is how it started. With every project I ask for, I always have the students close their iPads and watch me create it first. This saves me from the millions of questions I get, most of which are repeated questions.  So I showed them what apps to use and what pieces they were required to include.

Then, I let them begin. They get to move around the room and work quietly.  They are working alone, unless they are stuck on a concept and then they can ask a friend to help them learn it. I always make sure to remind them that teaching someone who is confused is VERY different than doing it for them.

I asked them to choose a fraction that went in the middle of their popplet.

They had to draw their fraction using a model as well as a set.

They were asked to find two equivalent fractions and draw them. They used Smart Notebook to draw rectangles and show equal fractions.

They had to choose a second fraction and compare it to their chosen fraction.

They had to add a fraction with the same denominator.  Then, students added a fraction with an unlike denominator. Most students used Jot to solve the problems. They took a screenshot, and saved it to their camera roll.  They cropped it and uploaded it to Popplet.

Students did the same for subtracting fractions.

Finally they were asked to multiply fractions. They multiplied their fraction by a whole number as well as by another fraction.

When they finished their map, they had a friend check it over to make sure they completed the tasks and that they understood.

After that, they exported the popplet to the camera roll. They are connected to my Dropbox account, so they upload it to me so I can look at it and print it. I often look at the files, and grade them using a rubric or just assigning points for proper tasks/requirements. I do not always print them and grade them, or open them into an app for annotation.

This is the way I turn something fun into a summative assessment that allows me to check a student's understanding of a unit of study. I have learned through my 1:1 journey, that I can gain a lot of knowledge about understandings through projects and not only tests that are assigned.  I am hoping to use things like this to show growth for my evaluation tool next year.

Do you get evaluated using your students' growth? What tool do they use to check for growth? Do you select the assessment tool or is it district decided? Any suggestions for other ways to incorporate technology into your summative assessments?

Thanks for all you do! Don't you love when people say "enjoy your summer OFF".... like we actually get 3 months off!! We are all working, studying, learning, creating, reading, buying, and thinking! Thanks for being more than "just" a teacher!

xoxo

And.... I got too busy to remember to post.... shoot! (and some vocabulary stuff)

Hey Everyone! I am so mad that I let myself get soooooo bad about posting! How do you fellow bloggers do it?! Do you put it on your To-Do list or on the calendar? 

Anyways.... Today I am enjoying a nice UNEXPECTED day off! A SNOW DAY! We had a record blizzard here in Chicagoland, almost 20 inches of snow some places! I wouldn't really know, because I have hardly left my house! I enjoy these days because I didn't have plans to stay home. I was able to relax a little and work on some TPT products and even blog! Woo hoo!

Today I finished and posted my Context Clue QR Task Cards. 

My students are still learning English. Especially those tier 2 and 3 words they hardly use or see. I find that they do poorly on tests such as Discovery Education and Fountas and Pinnell, partly because they don't know what words mean, and don't have enough background knowledge and strategies to figure out the definition.  I feel so badly for them. Even if they know what the academic question is asking, such as "Find the simile" or "Locate the main idea", they end up getting lost in the answer choices!  Many students get frustrated because they can't say what they want to say due to a lack of vocabulary. Any one else have problems with this?

I am hoping to teach them more strategies to try to figure out a decent idea of what a word might mean.  It's ok if they don't know exactly what the definition might be, but I want them to try to select a word that is close to the definition and makes sense. This is an area I need to improve in. I need more help and ideas. I don't want them to go on without learning skills that they can use. Middle school and high school textbooks will only get increasingly harder! 

I have used foldables and flash cards to help teach vocabulary.  I've taken sentences in and out of context and tried to help students discover meanings. But, I find when they go to read independently, they struggle to apply those strategies. 

What are some strategies you guys use? I would love some ideas!

Hope you are staying warm and remembering that you are LOVED during the month of February! We do our job for the kids. Whether they say it or not, they love you, appreciate you, and care about you. The same way we feel about them! You're never "just" a teacher!

Kahoot! What a Hoot!

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever, this is tough to keep up with! School is in full swing, and all my extra time is spent making lessons, games, handouts, and GRADING! Ugh.... I totally dislike having to grade so much.

That is why I LOVE sites that grade things for you. I am obsessed with Socrative and use it weekly for all types of quizzes. We use it for math, vocabulary, reading, and science. Most recently I took screenshots of the science test from the unit PDF online and inserted them into Socrative. This way the students can still see and get used to the layout of a paper exam, while taking the test online. They see feedback and can use their books to find the answers. Socrative allows for differentiation. I read the test aloud to my lowest group, while the other students work at their own pace. Socrative has been a lifesaver and the kids and I couldn't be the 1:1 classroom we are without it.

While we love Socrative, the students and I can't get enough of an online game site which is OOOOO so much fun! Kahoot is such a fun site where teachers can create a quiz or survey and the students respond on a device to answer.  The teachers go to https://getkahoot.com and make up a test.  There are many(553,000 to be correct) public quizzes you can search for and use also! Once you have made up a test you can share it with your grade level partners or anyone else with an account.  In order to use Kahoot, the quiz needs to be projected onto a screen so all the players can see it. This is a MUST because the questions and answer choices do not appear on their devices. Each student needs a device also. Unless you are having them work in groups, partners, etc... I think group quizzes would be great to encourage participation and teamwork! The students can use a laptop, tablet, desktop, smartphone... That's what's so great! Kahoot works on any device!

This is what I did. 5th grade classes had read The Phantom Tollbooth. Each chapter, or part of chapter, or every other chapter... you get the idea, I created a Socrative quiz to gauge comprehension. These quizzes were open book and students worked alone. To finish the whole book, I created a Kahoot! Most of these questions were recalling details, since the students can only select a multiple choice answer.  If you have a Kahoot account, you can play my game here: Ms Klinsky's Phantom Tollbooth Kahoot .



The kids were quite excited to begin to play, only a handful had played Kahoot before with me in the summer.  Kahoot is not a hard site to explain.  The students will pick it up quite quickly. The students need to login at https://kahoot.it/#/ and enter your game pin. This is created when you select PLAY on your game. They enter in a "nickname". It asks for nickname, I tell them I want their name. I don't know all their nicknames.... This part wouldn't be helpful for grading.

Game Pin the Students Need. This changes each time you play.

Then the fun begins! Once the class is all entered in, it's time to start the first question.  The first question is the hardest, and I suggest making the time limit longer than any other question. When you first start, the students have to realize that while on their screen the answer choices are there, they are only the colors and shapes. In order to read the question and answer choices, they have to be able to see your screen.  If you keep the time limit too short on the first question, they will miss it because they don't know what to expect. I would do between 30-60 seconds for the first question, and 20-30 after that. Once all players have answered, the correct answer shows up on the screen.  This is when my students would cheer. Then came the BEST part (to them). Kahoot tells them something about their score and placement in the class. It will say something like "You are tied with Anna". Then, of course, the students start sharing and comparing and seeing who's in first place.

But, this is when being the teacher is so great... You decide when the next question starts! So while they are getting so excited to see who they are beating, I begin the question to keep the flow and keep feelings under control. 

As you see from the pictures, the kids are soooooooo engaged. My principal came in the room to see and couldn't believe how the kids were so excited to be taking a test. She asked me to present to the teachers at our staff meeting. I provided the teachers with ways they could use Kahoot in their classroom by making them play! I had questions with math facts, spelling patterns, state/continent outlines, reading comprehension, vocabulary, and our PBIS rules. When I made a Kahoot for the teacher to play, even they were yelling about who was cheating and who they were beating! It was so funny! 

After the quiz is all over, you can download results or view them. This is a much more fun way of taking, and giving, a test. The students were engaged and I know they will be excited any time I mention playing Kahoot! 

Have you ever used Kahoot? What other ways have you used it? I would love to hear your ideas! And maybe share around the games to save us all some time! We have other things to do too! We aren't "just" teachers. 

Klinsky Kafe Klassroom Reveal!

Yay! It's my fav time of the year to read people's blogs! It's classroom reveal time! I LOVE LOVE LOVE reading blog posts where teachers share their classrooms with us. I think there is so much I can learn by reading what other people do in their rooms, and trying things out myself.  So many of my ideas have come from other people's classrooms! I hope that reading this post brings you some ideas for your classroom!

I love these posters from Brown Bag Teacher.

Since my kids and I have been together for so long, we are a family.  It is important for them to push themselves to learn and to believe in themselves. Since we are a family, we push each other in healthy ways too. Many of my students will help struggling kids and remind them why the task is important. I love them :)

 

Can you name the movie this idea came from?!?!

This is my take on "Bucket Filling". I love the idea of kids complimenting each other. I think it is important for them to feel good when someone compliments them, but also that they feel good when they compliment someone else. I love Legally Blonde and anything PINK, so I took the idea of the "Snap Cups" for our class bucket filling. 

Here is our exit ticket board. With our Technology/Social Media Theme, I thought it would be fun for the students to create a "status" that shared what they learned. The kids love it because they feel like I'm "letting" them play with Facebook.

 

Here is where I post my objectives. I found this idea on Pinterest to put paper into frames and use Expo markers.  I got the frames at the Dollar Tree! 

  

Here is the area behind my desk. There were no shelves there, so I bought 2 cheap ones from Walmart and placed my teacher resource books and manuals on there. Then I decorated the tops with all my fun teacher stuff, like my princess tiara.... obviously ;)

Here is one of my bookshelves. I used the Library Level Labels from Ladybug Teacher Files. One of the best purchases, although expensive, that I have made are the book boxes from Really Good Stuff. I love how pretty they are. The kids keep them in this beautiful color order and I think they enjoy having some place to put their Daily 5 materials.

       

Here is where my students sit. We don't have desks, we have tables, and yes, we have TVs. That is a post for another day, but I am a Collaborative Learning Pilot classroom for my district. It is AWESOME, we are very lucky, and we know it. Since the students don't have desks, they keep the items they use often in a clear basket, and put their textbooks and other necessary items on a table bookshelf.

Here is one of my favorite parts in my classroom. The jobs section. With our Kafe theme, I came up with jobs that would exist in a real cafe.  Each week the jobs rotate.  So far, everyone wants to be the "Boss".  My favorite is the Barista, because I love hearing my kids use the word. I feel like I'm at Starbucks. 

Next to the class jobs, you see a lil iPad, with Jail Bars.... yea, that's our iPad Jail. Kids get into that when they don't do their homework or follow iPad directions. They don't like it so there haven't been too many in it yet this year. 

Here is my alphabet from Nicole Swisher. I love the character traits on there!

    

Here are my writing bulletin boards. The iWrite board is from Brown-Bag Teacher (I love her). I'm hoping this help my kids keep track of where they are in the writing process and compare how they are moving along to other students. It will help me because with the kids picking Work on Writing at all different times, it's hard for me to always know who is doing what when.... 

The VOICES board is something I made to help the students select a goal to work on for writing. I will use it similarly to the CAFE board, where the students will select a focus for their writing.  The file is available in my TPT store. 

Here are my station boards. Every morning the students select their choices for Daily 5 ELA. They pick all 5, in any order. There is a sign I put up if the day is different than usual, such as: No daily 5 because of an assembly, or only pick 3 because we are working on a project.  If students go to an intervention, they also don't pick all 5, but they know what to do.  I use the little accents, which are labeled with the Daily 5 names. They also have a number on them. The students find their "Magic Number" and they select the 5 using the 5 accents. 

For math stations, they select based on groups. Each table has a pan (dollar tree pizza pan spray painted). They select 2-3 stations for the day. I teach 3 mini lessons and they go to 3 stations to complete tasks. 

All around my room I have chairs, beanbags, pillows, and blankets. I feel the kids learn better if they are able to be comfortable. My students take off their shoes, cuddle up with a buddy, lay under tables and chairs, and climb under my back shelf with a pillow to read and complete work. They love it! I can usually see them, and they will always tell me if someone is not working! They feel like they are at home, and that is how I like my classroom to be, a home.

  

Here is my beautiful iPad cart :) I love this :) I am so lucky :) Awww :) 

The iPad signs on the front of the cart are the iPad rules I made to match our school's PBIS rules: Be Respectful, Be Responsible, Be Safe, and Be a Defender. They are available in my TPT Store as well. 

The cart with wheels next to the iPad cart, houses chargers and other items for the iPads and MacBooks. Those labels can be found in my store as well.

My students each have a locker. This comes in handy since they do not have a desk. The locker not only holds backpacks and jackets, but notebooks, folders, and other materials we don't use every day. I made the little iPads for the fronts of the lockers.  They say "iAm so "App"y to be in 5K". They have the students' names under them so I know whose locker is whose. At the bottom, the students have the word cloud they created on the first day of school.  They used an App called Word Clouds, and told me the things they like most. They saved the finished Cloud to photos and uploaded it to me using Dropbox. Then I printed them and they glued them on "Fancy" paper. 

This is outside my classroom. My mom had the brilliant idea of finding a bistro set to put outside the "Kafe". She also wrote the sign that welcomed the kids on the first day. 

On the first day, the students took their own picture using our Photo Booth. I got this from Diary of a 21st Century Teacher. The kids LOVED IT! We used the pictures to do a writing activity where they learned how to use #hashtags. Some got it, and others are still working on it...

                                      

We put all of our pictures onto our class Instagram Board. 

I have to say that I had some amazing help to get this classroom ready.  

I have former students who come back every summer to help me. Yair (I promised him a shout-out) is a sophomore this year and was probably in my room for 10 hours total doing whatever I asked of him. Except for putting up my alphabet when he said to me, "Miss, I know how you are, I'm not gonna do it straight..." He knows me well... I am a perfectionist. 

My mom is the kind of person who I don't have to even tell what to do. She comes in and knows what I need done and does it. She does bulletin boards and tells me when mine are not straight or even. She scouring Goodwill for me finding the items I need to make my classroom what I want. 

And I even had my boyfriend come in to help do some high bulletin boards that required a ladder. He knows how I am too, so when I would say to move the border over just a lil centimeter so it would match the other one, he did it without complaining :) 

I have family members who send school supplies and prizes so that I don't have to spend any more money than I do.

The custodians at my school worked long hours and longer days to make sure our classrooms were clean and ready.  They are so undervalued. I owe them BIG TIME.

I am so lucky to be blessed with such a great group of kids, teachers, and friends. They know that to me, this isn't a job, it's my passion. I'm not "just" a teacher.  They make me love my job more every day. I look forward to making this year, their best ever.  

Good luck with the year :) enjoy it yourself, and the kids will enjoy it too!