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Well....Week 1 is in the bag!

Whew!! What a week.

I guess it was good that I was so buy with my country of boxes.  I was ssooo busy that I couldn't focus on teaching the bigger kids!

Positives of teaching 4th grade: 
They get my sense of humor.
They are more independent than my previous 2nd graders
Morning routines are easier to remember.

Negatives:
Brand new curriculum....EEK!
"Testing" grade

Positives of my new room:
I got to give away/throw out "a whole heap of mess" that I've been accumulating over my many many years. (I'm still working on this one though....)
Great view of the lake (I need to remember to look out the window!)
Stairs and further from the parking lot (exercise activity!)

Negatives of my new room:
Small
Very few cabinets
2 closets (1 that I purchased)
No bathroom or sink

Bottom line?
I have to really work on keeping my room organized. I still have a whole lot of "stuff" to get through. Time is an issue...and I'm still learning the curriculum.  I can' t stay until after 8 every night like I did once last week. Yikes!

Regrets:
Didn't get to decoupage as much as I wanted to to go with my basketball theme.  The choice was boxes or decoupage.....Hmm...what a choice! I did do a few clipboards though. I'll have to post some pictures.

Addiction

Hi, My name is Ms. Vernon and I'm addicted to Teachers Pay Teachers. Yikes!! Somebody stop me!!

But in my defense
1- I'm new to 4th grade.
2- I have no resources.
3- Trying to keep my resources digital...less paper to deal with.
4- THEY HAD A SALE!!
5- It really makes my life easier.
6- THEY HAD A SALE!!

Another Shopping Outing

Another shopping outing for the upcoming new year. What does every teacher need to carry all her "stuff" to and fro?

Why...a cart of course!

5 sets of folders are labeled. All that's left now are to add the notebook paper and to number each folder. After the folders, I think I'll number the supply boxes that I purchased. 

All this in my bid to be a tad bit organized in my new grade and new classroom!

And did I mention that I was on my summer break?  LOL

What Time of Year Is It?

Well I guess it is that time of year now. Back to school sales are on!

instead of doing what a semi sane person would have done, and purchased slowly, I did it all at one time!

I really do NOT like shopping and could NOT see me doing this a second or a third time. Yikes!

Notebooks, folders, lose leaf paper, labels and supply bins were purchased.

Yes, students (SOME) will bring supplies into school. However, this way I can have them all set up and ready the first day. What they bring can be used another time. A very organized teacher taught me that.

Now all I have to do is create my labels, label & number the folders and add the papers.

Did I mention that I was on my summer break?  LOL

Small to Big & Big to Small

Small to Big:
I'm moving from 2nd grade to 4th grade.

Big to Small:
I'm also moving from a  big room with lots of storage (closets, shelves, cabinets) to a smaller room with less than half of what I had.

How can I handle that? Purging, creativity & getting "bullied" by a very VERY organized teacher! If she tells me to buy, I buy. If she says no, I don't! LOL I am definitely NOT a creative or organized person...so this works well for me!

Of course since storage is a challenge, I purchased a closet and a 5 drawer cart from Walmart ( 2 for 1!!). I have lots of  clear bins. I know I'll be purging some more!

The theme for my new room is basketball (GOOO HEAT!). It is not as easy finding items that are strictly basketball and not combined with other sports. However, I only want basketball!

Googling helps me get my creative juices going on how to implement my ideas. Pinterest is wonderful for this also.  Some ideas I've seen are: Pinterest Basketball Themed Room, and here's another from Pinterest.

I purchased napkins from Dollar Tree with basketballs on it. I'm going to modge podge a filing cabinet with it. Of course it will be in my theme. Since I have only modge podged once...years ago, I looked it up on youtube. I found a great video...and this one shows how to do it and NOT have bubbles & wrinkles in your finished product.

I"m looking for wrapping paper or scrapbook paper to do the filing cabinet...so far, no luck. I did purchase tan colored contact paper to make the "court" I'll be adding basketball accessories to it.

So far, I've purchased items from Big Lots, Dollar Tree, Ebay, Really Good Stuff & Walmart.

I'll post pictures as soon as I get an item done. However, right now, my room is filled with boxes, boxes, clear bins & crates. Wish me luck!

Changes, Changes, and more Changes!

After 4 years of teaching 2nd grade, I'm now going to be teaching 4th grade. To say that I'm nervous is an understatement!

I'm still trying to understand why though. I taught 3rd grade for 7 years....but that was eons ago. But I think looking  at this as a big adventure will work for me!  :)

I've purged quite a few of my primary items...and look forward to purging more. A new SMALLER room, totally different curriculum is forcing me to do that.

With the help of a good friend, Facebook groups, teacherspayteachers.com, Google & making notes all summer, I'm hoping that everything will work out.

Now if I could only get into my room before the school year begins....I could get a jump start!  :)