Summer Break

So summer is over for me.

 

We went back to school for teacher inservices last Wednesday and then kids come on Monday.

 

Sad.

 

The only thing I really have to show for this summer is my new classroom.

 

I worked on it all. summer. long.

 

While I waited for my floors to be waxed, I worked on some things for my classroom at home.

 

 

The first thing was this teacher toolbox. 

Labels are from Erica Bohrer's TpT store.

 

I've seen these things all over Pinterest the last few years and finally decided to get one.

 

 

Then I mod-podged clothespins for my new work display bulletin board.

 

 

Yes, they sparkle.

 

And I took a trip to one of my most favorite places...

 

 

I love you Container Store!

 

And made way too many trips to my favorite store for tubs.

 

 

Big Lots takes all of my money!

 

 

Then, I was able to get into my room!

 

I was not very happy about the bulletin board situation.

 

In my old room I had tons of beautiful bulletin boards.

In this room I have a whole bunch of shower board that was falling off the wall.

 

So I convinced my dad to take the shower board off (actually he suggested it and said that it was a lawsuit waiting to happen).  There was an old chalkboard underneath, and we put cork on top.

 

 

We used rolls of cork from Lowes and spray adhesive to attach the cork to the chalkboard. 

 

It worked awesome!

 

No bubbles or bumps!

 

 

Bless him.

 

He was working so hard, and this was Father's Day.

 

 My calendar bulletin board is ready for calendar items.

 

 

Next, I had found this really awesome pin on Pinterest.  Original pin here from live laugh learn in second grade.

 

I used black fabric so that I wouldn't have to worry about wrinkles or crinkling of paper, and sparkle scrapbook paper from Hobby Lobby.

 

The glitter on the scrapbook paper was coming off everywhere, so I brushed a coat of mod-podge onto the top and now it's glitter fall-out free.

 

 Remember those sparkly clothespins I mod-podged earlier?

 

Here they are!

 

Ready to clip and display my kiddos' work.

 

Next I had to move all my stuff left back over in my kindergarten room to the new room.

 

My old classroom and new classroom are on complete opposite sides of the building.

 

So I loaded up the back of my SUV, 8 times, and drove around the building to unload everything.

 

And it was raining.

 

So I tracked in mud, dirt, and grass along the way.

 

Grr

 

Next I had to sort all my stuff.

 

As you can tell, cleaning products were some of those things that I had unintentionally hoarded over the years.  So I went through everything.  Only kept what would fit in my storage tubs, and then donated the rest to our new first grade teachers.

 

After about a week of all day working, my classroom was pretty much finished, I'll show pictures of the finished product in a week or so.

 

So it was off to Vegas for SDE teacher conferences!

Surprisingly, my suitcase is the second smallest. 

 

I don't think that has ever happened before.

 

But I packed a whole lot smarter this year.

 

It is way too hot in the desert.  So all I packed were dresses and skirts.

 

We stayed at the Venetian where the conference was being held.  It's gorgeous!

 

 

I want to live here!



 Go Noodle was there!

 

They even had a cabana reserved at the pool for us.

 

I had lots of fun and learned lots of great things!

 

 Until next time Vegas!



I'm moving!

I had 2 goals for this summer.

 

Save money and relax.

 

Then, the week before school ended I was informed that I would be moving to first grade.

 

Right then and there, my summer goals went out the window!

 

 

I've taught kindergarten for 9 years and loved every minute of it.

 

I love the little babies and I love my kindergarten team!

 

I mean, who else would dress up like a coconut tree besides a bunch of kindergarten teachers?

 



We aren't just co-workers, we're friends and family.

 

So this was definitely outside of my comfort zone.

 

I don't like change!

 

Then, on a whim, I asked my principal if I could loop with my current class.

 

And she said yes!

 

Now, moving to first grade wasn't so scary.  I felt like I would be taking a piece of my home with me.

 

So I started taking things down, packing things up, and purging like crazy.

 

It's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate after being in the same classroom for 9 years.  Some of the stuff was shoved so far back in cubbies that I didn't even know it was there.

The first thing I took down were my bulletin boards.

 

Since that's the first thing I like to put up in my classroom.



The picture above was taken during the last week of school.

 

I had already taken down anything that wasn't essential.

 

As you can tell from the picture, our calendar, center chart, and schedule were all essentials.

I packed all of my bulletin board material, words, and borders into a tub.

 

So that I would have easy access to everything when the time came to put them up in my new room.

 

Luckily, I was able to leave most of my things in my kindergarten room over the summer because my first grade room would be waxed first, and my old room would be waxed last.  Therefore, I could move my things out in-between the two waxings. 

I'm super sad to be leaving this classroom.

 

Not only has it been my home away from home for 9 years but I'm the last teacher who will probably ever be in this room.  My school is splitting into PreK, K, 1st and 2, 3, 4 next year.  So all the kindergarten teachers will move out of this building and into the main building.

 

So much history here.

 

This building was built in the 1920's, has super high ceilings, 2 bathrooms, a wall of windows, tons of storage, and I loved that it was separate from the main building because I could tune out "stuff" going on in the main building and teach my kiddos.

 

I was the very last teacher to leave school on the last day of school.

 

So I went down to my new first grade room, which had already been emptied for waxing.

It really is a great room!

 

My friend Ashley has been in this room for the past two years.

 

She painted it last summer, and her mom made some awesome curtains.

 

That's some of my stuff you see piled up on the counter in the back.

Definitely smaller than my old room, but still a good size.

The tiniest toilet you've ever seen.

 

It's literally like a foot off the ground.

 

My friend Dee calls them "squatty potties."

I have one cabinet.

 

Thank goodness!

And a closet.

 

I'm going from tons of storage, to a closet and a cabinet.

 

This is why I gave 7 boxes of stuff to my kindergarten teacher friends, took 2 bags to Goodwill, and put even more stuff out in the hallway for the first grade teachers to pick through.

 

I had way too much stuff!!

 

So this move is a good thing.

 

It has made me more organized and more intentional about what I buy and what I keep.

Here's all the furniture out in the hallway.

 

It was only 6pm.

 

It had been summer break for 3 hours, and the cleaning/floor waxing team was ready to go!

Things I'm going to miss about kindergarten:

• Seeing my kids come in as babies and growing into students

August 2014

 

January 2015





 

May 2015



• Fun parties and special days

Pops and Pumpkins 2014

Thanksgiving Feast 2014



• Phase-in days - where kindergarteners come half days in small groups for the first 2 weeks of school

 

• How excited they get about everything because its all brand new to them

 

• My team!



I'm going to miss these ladies!