I think one of the reasons that teachers need summer break is because it is so dang time consuming to come up with good ideas, peruse the internet to "borrow" fantastic ideas from others, and then finally to sit down and make/create/color/cut/assemble in order to get ready for a new year! When you teach the same grade level for several consecutive years many items and projects can be reused which definitely cuts down on the in-ordinate amount of time that one can spend perusing, but I am smack in the middle of going through a grade level change and I am amazed at how much time can disappear while I search, read, and research what ideas are out there. Right now I am bowing down to the Gods of Kindergarten and
borrowing stealing anything I can find!
I would like to take a moment to offer my enormous appreciation for the internet and amazingly creative and nice teachers out there like
Jessica Meacham and
Jodi who share their fantastic ideas (even though delving into the depths of their fabulous sites is like entering a black hole of time loss).
I am obsessessed!
I am in love.
I need a nap!
I just spent hours poring over Mrs. Meacham's sections on
calendar and
word work folders. I began searching through her stuff after
Kelly's comment that she uses the calendar folders with her Kindergarten students and I was very pleasantly surprised at what I found. Mrs. Meacham not only posts detailed explanations and photos of her creations, but pdf files that anyone can download as well. (The only aspect of creativity that I credit myself with is keeping all the ideas and files very organized on my computer for easy use when I need them). I was already happy enough with the idea for B.E.E folders, but now Mrs. Meacham has risen to another whole level of fabulocity in my eyes! (yes, she even deserves to have words made up about her!).
Because I plan to use a lot of stations in my Kindergarten classroom, I think incorporating word work folders will be a great way to keep materials organized. I can already tell it is going to be a lot of work upfront, but I did get an offer from my friend Jill to help me get ready, so at least I have a helper! I am having slight heart palpitations about the thought of purchasing and creating all of these folders for around 50 students (since I have the AM/PM split). I do get some money from the district to spend, but I think my mental shopping lists already have that beyond used up!
Have you tried out any of Mrs. Meacham's notebook, binder, or folder ideas?
Give me the deets!
I found a good deal on purchasing the baseball card holder pages through Amazon.com (kind of think they should bestow me with the honor of being customer of the year and tack my photo on the wall), but I am a bit worried that this particular brand has plastic that is too thick. I am very tempted by the price (100 sheets for 14.99 works out to be only 15¢ per sheet) and the purchase is eligible for free shipping, but I don't want to get them and then have a problem with 5-year-olds and the fine motor coordination required to remove letter cards from the plastic pockets.
These bad boys are currently chilling in my shopping cart, but I am not ready to pull the trigger and actually purchase yet until I ask you all for your advice! (Thankfully you are some of the smartest, nicest teachers out there who love to talk shop and help a girl out!!)
Then there is the issue of binders. They are so expensive! Any deals you know about? I am thinking of sticking with three prong folders instead of binders (the kind that are plastic and a bit more heavy duty), yet I still have to do some searching. Ideally I would be able to color code for my two different classes and I could get away with two folders per child (in addition to the Nicky's folder that will be used as the B.E.E folder). Regardless of what I buy, I pretty much need to bring a pick up truck in order to transport it all to my classroom. 50 kids is a LOT.
::deep breaths::
Let's get back to how THANKFUL I am that many most of the materials required to assemble these great folders have been handed to me on a silver platter so that all I have to do is kill a gazillion trees print them out. I can't exactly expect her to gift wrap some binders and baseball card protectors now can I?
I <3 the idea of having each child be responsible for daily calendar activities in his/her own calendar folder. When I taught first grade I had one student per day be my helper and towards the end of the year that child would get to be in charge of the entire calendar time. The kids definitely reveled in their chance to be the teacher, yet attention span and participation was not spot on for every child everyday. For some kiddos, calendar time was a post lunch/recess napping opportunity. Needless to say this sounds like a great way to get every kid involved every day.
Have you ever read the story My Teacher Sleeps in School? That just might be me from August 16th-30th! (lots of moral support, Diet Coke, and chocolate will be necessary!)
I don't mean to sound dramatic...I am chomping at the bit to get into my classroom and get started on all of these projects and ideas that I have blatantly stolen borrowed from others. I love the feeling of getting organized and the satisfaction of accomplishment when it's all done (who am I kidding--it's never all done), but you know what I mean. The To Do lists are in full effect and my bank account is currently cringing at the thought of what will be spent next week. I am pretty excited for the back to school madness to ensue!
What back to school projects are on your list?
Which ones are driving you batty?
