Back to School Station

Here's a simple station for back to school time.  Check it out!  :)

Check it out at my TPT !

--Mrs. Pollard

Communication Between Home & School

I just got back from my wonderful vacation and have been busy running errands, going to appointments, and getting settled back into my everyday life.  It was an amazing two weeks full of relaxation and visiting with family and friends.  Since it's summer, I'll continue to relax and move at a slower pace, but I can't help myself and must work on school stuff along the way.

Among my long school to-do list is figuring out what I plan to use for communication between home and school.  I've tried a variety of things in the past, but haven't fallen in love with anything.  My first year I used regular folders that went home and back everyday.  News flash... those folders don't hold up all year!  (Hey, it was my first year. lol)  My second year I used hard binders (BEE Books) that had a pouch for money, notebook paper for notes, and a few important papers in page protectors.  Again, these binders were destroyed!  Last year was the best option thus far... plastic folders.  I put notebook paper in the prongs for notes and a few important papers in page protectors.  For the most part, these folders held up going back and forth daily.  What I found with all of these methods was that the notebook paper wasn't used for communication (it was torn out or scribbled on by siblings) and the page protectors went missing.

One factor that will play into my decision of what to use for communication is how I do my homework.  I think this year I am going to do a monthly homework calendar and have the kids turn it in every Friday and return it to them on Monday.  For this, I will use a regular folder with prongs and replace it quarterly so it's always fresh and neat.  (I found a great site with monthly homework calendars: here.)

So, what do I do about daily communication needs?  What if a student needs to bring lunch money or has a note from home?  What do I use to send home corrected work or other papers?  This is where I'm stuck.  I can't figure out what to do.  I need them to have something to put their stuff in, but don't think it's necessary for them to take something home and back everyday.  I suppose I could use regular folders for this, too, and replace them quarterly like the homework folders.  I just hate having to waste my time looking through mostly empty folders everyday.

I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your thoughts and ideas on this topic.  Please share!

Fun Finds

Yes, I am still on vacation... and I'm blogging again!  It's addicting.  I really need one of those cute new shirts that TBA is selling!

Anyways, back to my fun finds.  Let me just say that garage sales in my hometown ROCK!!  The Goodwill stores are also like a gold mine!  Below are just a couple of the treasures I found while making my rounds yesterday....

I have never seen index cards like these before!  The use for index cards is endless so I thought these would be great because of their writing lines.  I'm still trying to figure out what I will use them for, but for $1, I couldn't pass them up.  Any ideas?

I got this game at Goodwill for only $3... it is awesome!!  It's called Zingo.  It is basically a Bingo game, but with a twist.  It comes with 8 player cards (double-sided... green is easier and red is more competitive).  To play you move the dispenser forward and then backward and it spits out two yellow tiles.  The first player to call out the word (and that has that word on their card) gets the tile.  The first player to fill their card is the winner.  What I like most about this game is that it has the picture and the word, so even my non-readers should be able to look at the picture and identify it while still seeing the word written.

(Here is a link to buy it at Amazon: Zingo- Bingo with a Zing!  The other games on there by this company look great, too!) 

I got other great deals on some games and books, too!  I love a good bargain!!  I'm still trying to figure out how all of these things are going to fit in my suitcases.  I'm considering abandoning the game boxes and retrieving them on a future trip home when I drive!

--Mrs. Pollard

My Ikea Trip

I know I said I wouldn't blog while I'm on vacation, but I made a trip to Ikea and wanted to share a few of my finds. Since everything I bought had to fit in my suitcases I was a little limited... but that also kept my spending under control (which my husband appreciates).

I feel like I can always use a timer for something in my classroom and this one was cute and only $1.99!

Also for only $1.99 this little duster will be perfect for the kids to clean up little messes.

I plan to mount this somewhere, possibly on a side or back of a shelf. The bar was $1.99 and each container was 99 cents. I will use one container for sharp pencils, one for dull pencils, and one for extra erasers.

For 99 cents, I couldn't pass up this two sided frame for classroom pictures.

Well, this is an exhausting task on an iPod so that's all for now. (Please excuse any typos.)

Relaxing....

So, Tuesday was my last teacher workday and I hopped on the plane back home Wednesday morning. I'm going to give myself a relaxing break from working on school stuff to enjoy my family and friends. I got to meet my 2 month old nephew!!! I can never really stop thinking about school so I'll be brainstorming along the way and get back to blogging I July.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer vacation!

Mission Organization

Over the past three years I have tried many different ways of organizing things in my classroom.  I feel like I've finally settled into what works for me.  One thing I'm very excited about using next year is a hanging file system for the wall.  (A few months ago, Primary Perspective blogged about these amazing hanging files.)

I found it at www.mardel.com.  It's called a 'filetastic'.  The best part is that it comes in black and zebra.  (I hate the traditional red and blue of pocket charts.)  You can also get some super cute file folders at this website.

There are 12 pockets on this file.  Here are what I plan to use them for:

1.  multiple class record lists (put a post-it on the last one saying it's the last copy)

2.  extra new student packets (like you give at the beginning of the year)

3.  lunch folder (we have to turn in daily slips with our lunch count)

4.  attendance folder

5.  behavior notes (generic forms to fill in as needed)

6.  medication logs (we have to administer and track medication in the classroom)

7.  P.E.Ps (so they're always available)

8.  curriculum & planning (grade level documents-- word lists, curriculum maps, etc.)

9.  professional development (handouts & record of what I attend)

10.  important documents (things I'll need to refer back to later)

11. Pizza Hut Book It certificates

12.  other (random stuff I don't know what else to do with)

--Mrs. Pollard

Last Week of School

The official countdown is on.... 4 1/2 days left!  I still have loads of paperwork to finish up in the next week, but I also have 23 little ones to entertain who are just as anxious for summer.  We'll be starting the week with Babbling Abby's Popcorn Adjective unit, making Father's Day tie books (I'm sorry I can't remember which blog I found this on), and a memory book from The First Grade Parade.  We will also have our end of the year awards this week.

Although I'm not doing a full-blown camping unit this week, we will talk about camping and complete a few activities.  I'm sharing these camping activities with you for free!

Click {Here} to Download all 3

--Mrs. Pollard