Day Two... the fun continues!

Day Two- I had to get up early today to take our kittens to the vet for surgery.  Here are my little babies, Ginger and Zoe. 

After feeling a little sad about dropping them off overnight, I needed to get to work so I wasn’t thinking about them all day!  Luckily, our vet is located about a block or two from my school.  I was to school by 8:30! Yes, I had a good 6 hours to get work done.  However, getting started was much harder than I anticipated.  Now that the furniture is placed where I want it (at least MOST of it), I had to decide what I wanted to do next. OVERWHELMING!

  One area I neglected last year was the inside of my desk.  Not only did I shove a lot of random things into my desk last year, I also stored a bunch of stuff inside of it when I was packing for summer.   So, Operation Desk Organization began!   It was a huge success. I feel MUCH better about it now.   Here is a picture of the finished long top drawer. 

By the way, how does one end up with SO many staple removers when one NEVER uses them?

After the inside of the desk was organized, I added the new tin can organizer that I made this summer.  I also added, the personalized pencil holder one of my students gave me, and my pen/marker holder.  Here is a look at the desktop. 

  I had a bunch of Post It notes with website usernames and passwords posted on the bulletin board near my desk last year.  It was so annoying to look at.  I took a few minutes today to create a “Technology Helper” folder, which you can see posted on my bulletin board, near the computer (the green frog folder).    I simply taped some 3x5 cards down and wrote the website and username/passwords for each one.  I wrote myself a little abbreviation for some of my passwords, instead of writing out the whole password- just something to trigger my memory.  I don’t know about you, but I have registered for NUMEROUS websites.  I needed some way to organize all of them.  I think this will work well. Here is a picture of the inside:

Today, I also brought in the free half moon desktop I found off of Craigslist.  I have always wanted one of those cresecent shaped tables to use for guided reading however, they cost a ridiculous amount of money.  While not as large, this one will work just fine.  Plus, did I mention it was FREE!  I bought a shelving unit to use as table legs however; with my crate seats, it was too high.  I put an old student desk under it instead.  The desk was much more sturdy compared to the shelves.   Here’s what it looks like.  I think it needs a table skirt though.  Plus, I am planning on buying blue contact paper to put on the tops of all of my tables.  That may help a little bit. 

Next, I moved on to the morning meeting area.  This is still a work in progress.  So far, I have put the calendar together, started my tree on the wall, and put up the coffee filter clouds that I created.  As I am going with a frog theme this year, I thought I would turn this area into a little frog pond-esque area.  I think I need some cattails along the window columns, in addition to a sun  (maybe in-between  the two columns). 

Speaking of the frog theme, is this not the cutest frog cutout that you have ever seen?

I have always used a star theme in my room (as you can probably see from some of the pictures).  I can’t tell you what a pain it is to change all of my stars to frogs.  I had no idea I had so many stars throughout the room.   The next project involved changing the stars on the supply bins and supply shelf, to frogs.  Here is a picture of the final product:

I use these boxes for the students' supplies.  They keep their markers, crayons, glue, scissors, dry erase markers, glue sticks, and extra erasers in these boxes.  I bought these bins awhile ago as I hate those bulky pencil boxes students use for their supplies.  They take up SO MUCH desk space.  I usually throw out all of the crayon and marker boxes, place them in their own plastic bags (labeled of course) and put them in these bins.  It works well! 

   After working on the supply boxes, I shifted my attention towards the library.  I pulled out all of my fiction baskets and put them on the shelves.  As you can see, I still have to replace all of the labels.  I can’t tell you how much I wish all of my bins matched.  It drives me CRAZY!  I looked into the plastic spray paint however; they had a terrible color selection.  I digress….. anyway, I plan to put a frog stuffed animal in each crate seats for the students to read to.  I will also add them to my DEAR seat chart.  I still have to pull out the bean bag chair and all of my pillows.  I'm not quite sure where I will store those yet! 

Here is a shot of my leveled book collection and non-fictin roller cart.  I recently aquired the spinning book displays but am still unsure as to if I want to keep him. 

Last but not least…. here is the start of my writing table.  Under the table I plan on storing my students’ writing binders.  While you can’t see in this picture, I also have some special papers for the students to use.  When cleaning my desk, I came across these self-adhesive hooks.  I placed those on the top of the writing desk.  I plan on putting word cards on binder rings for the students to reference and use.  I also have a drawer of shelves with tape, fancy pencils, neon pens, and little notepads.  The blue bins next to the table store envelopes, stickers for sticker stories, and an item to be determined! J . I am also planning on making a cute sign of some sort for the blue paper that you see. Again, this too is a work in progress.

Before I knew it…. “All teachers need to leave the building by 2:30” rang through my speakers.  Day two- in the books.  I’m looking forward to tomorrow.  While I have an appointment and can’t get there till 12:30 again, I have to pick up our kittens before I head over.  I’m excited to see our little cuties again!