VBS… Taking it to the Classroom…

leslie August 3, 2011 1 Comment
Sorry I have not posted since this weekend!  I am decorating our church for VBS (Panda Mania) and the whole time, I am thinking..."EWWWW.... this would be AWESOME for a jungle theme!!!" or "I wonder if there is enough brown paper to make a reading tree at school..."  I have fallen in love with Soji screens... so wonderful at masking all the mess! Anyway.... thats what I am up to...

Opportunity Knocks!

leslie August 1, 2011 1 Comment
Today I received the most FAB-U-LOUS emails from Rebecca and Tara at 4th Grade Frolics asking me to be a Contributor to the blogand I must say that I am soooooo flattered and excited to be posting on this awesome site!!!  Please come by and check out what the other 5 very creative teachers are making for their class and home!You can also catch them on their regular blogs:I am sure I will...

Inspired by Letters… Making Numbers

leslie July 31, 2011 4 Comments
Today as I was surfing around I came across this wonderful site: Which had this awesome picture of what they call "letter bubbles."I've seen these all over Pinterest which I am soooooo happy to be doing now!! Thanks to all of you who were offering me invites!! I puffy heart yall!!!!  Anyways... I love these little bubbles... only problem is.... I'm teaching math and science- I...

Home Sweet Second Home… Classroom Set-up

leslie July 29, 2011 7 Comments
I am OBSESSED with color.  No specific color, just all of them.  So logically my classroom looks like a rainbow blew up in it.  And no... I am not teaching kindergarten or even elementary where this would be most appropriate.  I am teaching 6th grade... I think the kids are supposed to be maturing, but I'm sure my classroom will bring back nostalgic feelings of years long...

Mission Organization: Dice and Card Games

leslie July 28, 2011 10 Comments
A week ago... was it a week ago... yes... well a week and a half ago... I went to CAMT - a math conference for Texas teachers.  I went to a workshop hosted by Box-Cars and One-Eyed Jacks.  They have FANT-A-BULOUS  ideas for games with dice and cards. Since I am starting at a new school, I needed dice and cards for this new station I am going to implement.  So I went...

I’m done… Now what?? Answer –> BRAINIAC CLUB

leslie July 25, 2011 26 Comments
Last year I stalked researched Mrs. Renz website and borrowed a ton of her ideas!  She is a SUPER teacher who has won many and major awards for her dedication for teaching. One of her great creations is the "Mastery Club".  This is a club that kids can "join" as long as they finish one task. There are 86 different tasks, and on her website there are web addresses for hints to help...

New {School} Year’s Resolutions

leslie July 25, 2011 3 Comments
There is a linky party going on... and Clutter-Free Classroom is hosting!My school year resolutions:1) Figure out and implement Math Stations for 6th graders.  I have done a lot of training on differentiated instruction and math centers for the middle school room.  Hopefully I can make this happen.2) Use music in the classroom for transitions between stations and during class.  I'm...

Filing Cabinet Redo

leslie July 24, 2011 9 Comments
Do you know about Freecycle??  It's a group kinda like Craig's list that can be specific for your area.  You get emails from legitimate people in your town asking for items or trying to get rid of items. I received one Thursday night-- someone was GIVING away this lovely cabinetIt had some areas that needed sanding.  After sanding, I cleaned it and primed it and left it...

Library Labels for YOU

leslie July 22, 2011 0 Comments
I finally finished all my labels!! WOOOHOOO!! They are made specifically for the books that I have in my classroom library, but PLEASE feel FREE to download and use them if you wish.  I made them using Printshop 2.0 and you can see more info in my post on library organization.  There are 8 pages with 4 labels per page. Here are pics of 2 of the pages, but you can get them all from the...

CH 7. Heaven Sent

leslie July 22, 2011 4 Comments
This past school year was just that... Heaven Sent, and don't get me wrong- I have had wonderful students in the past... I loved them all... but this group, my homeroom and even the other 60 kids I taught, were heaven sent kids.I spent last summer(2010) preparing so much for being a fourth grade writing and science teacher. After all, my kids were going to take the Writing TAKS test for the first...