Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Minor classroom make over....

So lately I have been frustrated with how my room looks. Too, too many miss matched items are in this classroom...White, wooden, bright colored furniture. What to do??

Paint!

So I called in several of my colleages and asked about color opinions...Most said red or blue...too much red is very stimulating...in Kindergarten we do not need over stimulating....so blue it is, navy blue. I am painting my student computer stand, a shelf for my writing center, 2 portable bulletin boards, my 2 library book holders, and an armoire, WHICH will have its seperate blog...

I started the computer table...which took 2 coats...

and the book shelf....will need 2 coats...

And I thought when I started this I would only paint those...UMM then I looked around...Nope I kept going....
My fence....

Then my word wall/room dividers...there are 2 of these....


I also plan on painting my student book shelves for my library and my wipe board holder...Hopefully I will get them all done before the first day of school! Wish me luck!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Welcome!

Welcome to my kindergarten idea blog. We all know that our best ideas are borrowed! I wanted to start this to share the ideas that I use in my classroom. I have searched and searched for many management ideas to help my classroom run smoothly. I love technology and use it often.


I have been teaching for 11 years now, one in 1st grade, one in our district's preschool, and nine in Kindergarten. I have been blessed to have the 2 best grade level partners that a gal could have in those nine years. Both of my ladies have wanted to share ideas and be open with each other about curriculum and fun activities.


I have often had trouble with communication between home and school. I have used a 2 pocket folder for years and have had pretty good luck with it. Parents know to check their child's folder daily for homework, classroom updates, and school updates.


However, sometimes, parents are unclear about what to do with each paper. I have come up with an idea to hopefully remedy that.


I purchased 50 2-pocket plain folder that you get at your local discount store(25 for this year and 25 for next). I get them for the next year at back to school time because they are SSSOOOOO much cheaper. I used a diecut machine at our school to cut out 50 red and 50 green hands and created a cute picture with a place to write my students name(I did them so I could get to per page, less ink that way).




I got the folders that have NO prongs!! This is very important because you will not be able to laminate them later if you get the one with prongs.


Glue the paper on the front,




a red left hand on the left inside, and a green right hand on the right inside. Then I place a saying "LEFT at home" on the left hand, and "GOes right back" on the right hand.


Finally, I laminate them for durability, using a utility knife to slit open the inside pockets. These do not take to long to make assembly line style.

Thanks for stopping by, feel free to follow my blog, or borrow my ideas for your classroom use.