Palm Tree

I finished making my palm tree.  I think I have to find a new spot because here it covers up my alphabet. 

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Jungle Bucks

This is my Behavior System that I use.  The children earn Jungle Bucks when their parents sign their  assignment sheet and I randomly give out Jungle Bucks when I see good behavior.
These are the Jungle Bucks that I use.  I got them from Theme Machine
For some reason her link is not working.  I have searched all over for it.  The website is www.teachfactory.com and is not up.  If you happen to come across it let me know and I'll update this page.  Sorry about that!
 She sells all kinds of themes but you can get the Jungle Theme for free!  Students keep a baggie in their desks with their name on it to store their Jungle Bucks.

I store my Jungle Bucks in a baby wipe container.  I'm going to redecorate it but haven't gotten around to it.  I got the big treasure box from Family Dollar for $10 last year.  The little treasure box used to be my husband's jewelry box when he was a young boy.  It's falling apart!
I'm starting a Behavior Binder with rewards that I saw on First Grader at Last.  It's such a great idea.  I'm going to use it along with my Treasure Box.  They can choose from the binder or the treasures.  I think this will turn out nice.

I use paper protectors and made about 5 copies of each certificate.  I laminated them so I can reuse them when they return the certificate.   These are not my category ideas - they were so good I felt no need to add to them or change them.

I did half-sheets to save paper!









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T.I.G.E.R. Folder

 For Take Home Folders I use the T.I.G.E.R. (Today I've Got Everything Ready).  We get the folders from Extra Packaging Company.  They last forever!  It's well worth the money.  They are $1.35 each.  The more you buy the less they are.  Many of our grades use these.  Our school buys them for us.


The first pocket contains an information sheet.  It has the my contact information, specials schedule and what each pocket is used for. 

The inside has labeled Return to School and Keep at Home.  These labels work pretty good.  The nice part is that the folder holds up to all their pulling!  For Back to School Night I put all the forms I want them to fill out.  I will also put the parent handbook on the right side but I haven't run them off yet.  The forms I use are in my Parent Handbook.

In the back pocket I put their reading record sheet.  I put a new one in for every month.

On Back To School Night I put this on top of the folder for the parents to follow.  Another blog had this idea, I just adapted it for my theme and needs.

  I tried to make the photos big enough so you could copy the info.
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Prescription for Teachers

On the first day back to inservice I'm going to put these out for the teachers. teaThis is a perscription for Teachers attached to a mini bag of M&Ms.   I saw the idea on another blog (sorry can't remember who).  I adjusted it to fit 4 to sheet.  Click here to get it.


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My Jungle Room

Wow am I tired!  I worked at trying to finish my classroom before inservice on Monday, I got a lot done but I'm not finished. 

Here are some updated photos.

View from the door.  I still have some organizing to do but it's getting better.

This view is from standing in the corner by my desk.  I usually have my desks in a U shape but I saw on someone's blog use an F shape.  I'm still waiting for more desks.  I will have an extra desk in the inside corner.

Word Work Manipulatives

In this corner will be the extra desk.  I will keep their book boxes on top with a community pencil etc. holder.  In the inside of the desk we are going to store their math tool kits.
 
This is my vine jungle!  I used green bulletin board paper and twisted it.  We made all the vines this summer for my VBS program that I'm in charge of.  Then I just transfered it to my room!  Good deal for me!

Got these cute stuffed monkeys at The Dollar Tree.  I had a hard time getting them away from my 3 year old!  They have one piece of velco so their arms can attach.  The monkey and the barrel in the back are the color coding for my groups.
The Cheetah is a backpack I use for the Top Banana Week!  I should give him a name,
The monkey is a puppet names Peek-a-boo!  He is the cutest thing.



This is my listening center.  The drawers contain portable tape players and CD players.  I bought some MP3s but I can't afford the downloads.  Anyone know of good sites for free downloads?

My reading area is almost all organized.  My janitor is going to build me another shelf to fit all my books.  Now my palm tree is a work in progress.  I had two tubes and I grabbed the shorter one and I shouldn't have.  I'm going to bring the bigger one.  Then I still have to make the leaves instead of the smiley face umbrella!!

 This is the part I don't want to show you!!
This is my guided reading table!  But before I left tonight I had it cleaned off!  It has all my laminating and copies for the first week's lessons!

Now this I did not get cleaned up!  This is my problem - I am a confessed paper piler.  So these are the papers I did not file last year and I'm trying to get them put away!  I'm getting to the point where I want to put then in the circular file!  Any tips for getting me to put away files after I use them?  I am just terrible!

This is my desk.  It faces the wall!  Gotta have my Diet Coke.  I'm starting to pile!  I need an intervention!!
Wow - you made it through all that!  You are a great follower!  Have a great weekend!  Don't forget my sale at TpT!  My link is on my sidebar!  Thanks for stoppin and shoppin! :)
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Hunting for Helpers


This is my Donation Door.  Every year I put items on laminated pictures for the parents to choose from.  They then provide the item and return the picture card so I can use it next year.  Click here to get the Donation Labels I used this year.  I used MTF Sweet Cheeks font.  Because I gave this to you as a document and not a pdf the font changed to verdana.  You'll have to make it work for you.  The categories may not work for you so change them to fit your needs.  I even asked for a couch!  I've never asked for anything like this.  I hope I get one!!

I used Letter Delights to make my title and the pictures.


Cutting around the animals would have been cute but way too much work!



Each student brings their own headphones to use in class and in the computer lab.  This helps with sanitation.  Storing them gets messy tangled!  I got these cute green and pink baskets from The Dollar Tree.  Now that I'm looking at the labels I'm not sure I did them right.  Should it be Girl's, Girl, Girls' or Headphone for Girls??  Let me know what you think? 

Here's the labels as is.  Click here.




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Teacher Talk Tuesday!

Join the Linky Party at Blog Hoppin'

Wow ~~ What advice do I want to give to new teachers?  I have learned so much over the years! 

One of the things that made a huge impact on me was becoming a parent.  I learned what it was like to be on the other side of teaching.  Parenting is a lot of work and as a beginning teacher without children I guess I felt like, Why are they completing the homework, where's the lunch money?

As a parent I realize how much little time we have every night.  I make parent communication an important part of my teaching.  This starts at the beginning of the year with a parent handbook.  I collect information on all the students and I send home a weekly email/newsletter. 

I always make a positive phone call early in the year so when or if I have to make a negative call it's easier and the communication is clearer. 
 
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Meet Me ~~ The Teacher

Tell Me a Little Something About You...

I'm Lori from Little Priorities.  My husband and I came up with this name because of our own children.  We were not able to have children and through foster care and domestic adoption we have been blessed with a beautiful family.  Every day brings a new challenge to raising five rambunctious children.  We are tired most days!!  However, we wouldn't change it. Two girls ages 11 and 9, Three boys ages 10, 5, and 3.  The girls want another girl to make it even.  So not happening!
How long have you been teaching?

I have been teaching for 18 years.  I taught Kindergarten Title I for one year in Illinois and the rest of my career has been in the same school.  I have taught special education K-8 for 5 years, 2nd grade for 1 year and the rest has been with my cute little firsties!  I don't see myself changing grades any time soon.

You might not know...

I'm an avid scrapbooker!  I used to sell for Creative Memories for over 5 years while I was raising three kids under the age of 3.  I can't believe I did that.  I have at least 10 completed albums with 10 more in progress.  I host a monthly scrapbook night with all my friends  Sometimes we don't get a lot of scrapping done because we're talking too much!

What are you looking most forward to this year?

I'm looking forward to being more organized.  I have been purging and reading other blogs to get some tips.  I'm a confessed paper piler!  I struggle with putting paper away!  I am hoping I am better at it this year.

What do you need to improve?

Starting with keeping organized!  I should join a support group!

I started with math rotations last year and I want to work on this.  I work so hard on reading and I want to give math the equal justice it deserves.  I'm going to try the math stations with Debbie Diller.

What teaching supplies can I not live without?

I Love Love Love my Promethean Board!!  I've had it for a year and I can't imagine teaching any other way!!  The kids love to work on it and it totally keeps their attention.

So now it's your turn to play along and link up with Meet the Teacher Monday!
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Alphabet Review

I'm working on developing a review unit for the alphabet.  I'm trying to condense 3 weeks of the alphabet into one week!  It's going to be a challenge!  What do you do to review?  Any special books?  I just bought 3 from Amazon that I've never seen before.  I am taking a blind stab at some new books.

After the consonants I focus on the short vowels then the long.  I like to use these songs that I had found on the web years ago.  I don't know who the author is.  I just retyped them.  The kids love them.  You can get them on TpT.


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Only 40 Days Left!

I only have 40 days left to get my Donors Choose project completed.  I'm a bit nervous.  My first project was never funded either.  You get 3 points when you begin and this will be using my last point which means I could never try to fund a project again! 

What do I do?  How do I get this funded?

Click to see my project.

AS I WAS TYPING THIS I GOT A DONATION!  I STARTED TO TEAR UP! 
I am so honored when someone I don't even know donates to my class.
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My Writing Center

This is my writing center.  The students come here during Work on Writing.  Their journals go in the empty basket.  I like to use the composition notebooks.  They stay together better for the year.  I encourage them to only write on one side of the paper.  That way the writing isn't showing through and I also use the other side to write editing ideas on.

They can find anything they need here.  Items I put in my center:
  • Erasers
  • Pencils
  • Colored Pencils
  • Paper Clips
  • Date stamper and stamp pad
  • Markers
  • Crayons
  • Hole Punchers
  • Slates
  • Dry Erase Markers
  • Stencils
  • Staplers
  • Tape
  • Sharpies
  • Highlighters
  • Scissors
  • Premade Books
  • Dictionaries and Thesaurus
  • Papers of all kinds
Click on the To Do image to get a few different list papers that I use.


Do you need some lined paper?  I have my set available at TeacherspayTeachers.  It's $2.00 for 12 different sheets.  Click on the image to take you there! 

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Library Shelves

I finished sorting my library books and now I ran out of shelf space.  There are not any extra shelves in the building.  So I either make another shelf like the one I have or I buy one.  Does anyone have suggestions as where to get shelving?  I need quite a bit as you can see all the boxes on the floor!



Here's a little reading nook between two shelves.  It's great for buddy reading.  I got these chairs from Walmart a few years back.
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14 Days of Freebies!

First Grade Fanatics is hosting 14 Days of Freebies.

Today my freebie is being posted.  Link over to get my First Grade Math Number Story Journal and see what else has been free so far!!  Happy Stalking!


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