Tuesday Made It (Forgive Me, Tara)

I don't know about you, but I am having a tough time getting anything done this summer. It seems like it takes twice as long to do half as much. Anyone else going though that?

So, even though it's late, and even though I didn't finish my task, I am linking up with my sweet buddy, Tara. I am hoping that this will give me the motivation to get the rest of the project finished! And I know Tara will forgive me for being a day late to the party.

Throughout the school year, I am always on the lookout for deals. I might see red pens on sale at WalMart, or folders marked down at Office Depot, or composition books with a cute design at Target (that list of stores tells you where I do most of MY shopping!). Unfortunately, these bargain finds usually end up in a bag somewhere in the garage "for later."

Soooo... It was time to compile my purchases--along with the "leftovers" that had accumulated along the way. Which brings me to the reason I never get anything done.

I really like the clear plastic bins from Office Depot (my ULTIMATE favorite place... after Starbucks, of course) because you can see through them. (I also use the colored plastic boxes to sort my curriculum--but I haven't made it to that part of the garage yet) Before I began sorting, I decided to make some quick labels to make the task more efficient. Two hours later, I had chosen a background and graphics for each box, and "prettied them up." Then the sorting began. YIKES! I had a much larger cache than I had imagined!

As I sorted, I also found myself making "temporary" collections. Since these would be emptied (either into the classroom or elsewhere in the garage), these items went into cardboard boxes... But, of course, these boxes also needed labels. And, as I bet you can guess, I had to choose the color of the paper to match the "spirit" of the contents of the boxes. 

MORE hours later...

I still have A LOT of work to do. I am further behind schedule because I stopped in the middle to take pictures, and then to blog about the adventure, and then there was a movie on...

I do find myself with funny combinations of things. Here's one of my favorites...

After a delightful iced mocha, I am standing in the middle of the living room with these thoughts flying through my head: I hope I finish the project before the weekend. Company will be arriving, and I am assuming they won't want to stand in the living room. Most of the surfaces are currently covered. There are boxes everywhere! Not to mention the pile of "What do I do with this..." items. Do you find yourself with those? Do you ever just throw them away? Can you find the Starbucks card?! Not sure where the light bulb came from. And, no, it doesn't fit any lamps or fixtures in my house. So... What box does it go into? Is it recyclable? I can't decide! Maybe I need another box. And another label. And there is another movie starting...

So I am counting this as Monday Made Progress. I'm hoping to be able to say, "Made It!" by next week.

Oh! Anyone need a light bulb?

Monday Made It: Seuss and Supplies!

It's been ages since I had the opportunity to link up with my buddy, Tara, and her Monday Made It link up! I am never crafty, but, now and then, I "make" something that leads to some extra fun in the classroom OR makes things run more smoothly... And I'm excited to share two of those things today!

I love to organize things... and this time I gave organization as a gift! I have a friend at my school who works with different groups of children all day long (and some of them are from my classroom!) She literally has a parade of kiddos in and out all day long, and it's hard to keep supplies organized when everything (and everyone) has to move so quickly. I decided that I would try to make an organizational system that would let the kids put things away--with minimal effort.

Many of the kids that spend time in her room are from primary grade classrooms, and many are English Learners, so I knew I needed to minimize the use of "words." (Looking over the pictures, I think I will re-do the labels to include pictures and words, but, alas, that "adjustment" will have to wait a while).

I like the way it turned out, but the real test will be in its efficiency in keeping supplies available and organized. I love the little containers in the drawers. They are large enough to make it easy for little hands to retrieve and put away materials. And since the containers are clear (other than the pencil trays), it's easy to see the materials in each drawer. The top drawer has pencils... lots and lots of pencils! She should have sharpened pencils for weeks! I also made a can for pencils that need to be sharpened and one of my students has volunteered to be her pencil monitor!

There are lots of materials that might be needed for (almost) any project she can imagine...

 And a variety of paper types for a variety of learners...

 Here are two views from "inside"...

I hope she loves it as much as I enjoyed making it for her!

 

My second "Made It" is more of a Borrowed-and-Used It" situation. We celebrated Read Across America a little late... but we had a great time!

The fourth, fifth and sixth grade students rotated through the classrooms, where they participated in different activities in each room. There was a Bingo room, and a drawing room, and word play room, and then there was my room... which was all about The Lorax and the need to save the trees...

Following a discussion about conservation and caring for our resources, we used these cards to play... SPOONS!

Many of my students do not know how to play "traditional" board and card games, so it always fun when we learn a new game together. I used graphics from "It's a Silly World" (Read Across America) clip art collection from the 3am Teacher to make the cards for our game. Such fun trees! It made the game so much more fun! And the kids loved them!

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So that's the extent of my craftiness for the week (or month?!). I am thankful that Tara gives us a chance each month to share and showcase our "creations." I always love to see what others have shared in the link-up and I'm always in awe of the creativity of so many bloggers! Hop on over to Tara's blog and see for yourself... Just click the image below!

Thanks for visiting today...

Day 16... The End of Mod/Modge Podge

It began with the idea of adding color to the drawers that hold the materials in our Writing Center. With a fair amount of frustration and tears, I completed the first half of the set. (You can read about that "adventure" HERE.) For the last few days, I have been fearful that I would never finish "the bottom half" of the shelving because Modge Podge and I simply cannot get along...

But I couldn't get rid of the drawer set altogether. And, if you know me at all, you know I could never have half clear drawers and half colored drawers. This unit sits directly across from my teaching area. I would have to look at it every day. No, it was inevitable. I had to finish that second set of drawers.

The lower portion of the shelving unit only has four drawers--but two of those are "tall drawers" and, no matter what trick I tried, I could not get the paper to lie straight. It was crooked. Or it was bubbly. Or it was bumpy. Or it was crooked, bumpy and bubbly.

At one point, I thought I was having vision problems. But, no, I had just manged to get Modge Podge on my eyelashes! (Pause for a moment, and think of all of the substances you have used to remove adhesives. Then wonder: How many of those say "Avoid contact with eyes." Thus, my dilemma!)

This is the last drawer that I completed. It took five (or was it six?) tries to get the paper straight! And just before I took the picture, I thought I needed a little extra 'Podge to seal up a gap. The result: I ripped the paper right off the drawer with the Mod Podge saturated brush! (I didn't even know that could happen!)

Here is a picture comparing the old drawers to the newly completed set! 

I do like the colors. And there are advantages to NOT being able to see what is in those drawers. But there has GOT to be an easier way...

I am posting this much later in the day than I had planned (Mod Podge has that effect on me!) But at least I didn't break my promise of blogging daily! I am anxious to get to school tomorrow and drop those drawers into place.

Oh, who am I kidding? We both know I will be re-doing that orange drawer before I go to bed...