Day 6... A Case of the Uh-Ohs

Suddenly, B2SP has begun to set in... Also known as Back-to-School Panic!

I have "in progress" projects all over my house... and I can't imagine how I can possibly get them all finished and transported to school before time runs out.

We had meetings until almost lunch on the last two days. And it has been insufferably hot in the afternoons (and our building is not air-conditioned), so it has been difficult to keep up my motivation and my energy level. Tomorrow could be a good "work day" if I can hide from any would-be visitors and just work for several hours. It will be the last day that we can spend in our classrooms, although I am hanging onto the hope that someone from the office will come in on Saturday to give us a few more extra hours of access.

Here are a few things making it difficult to navigate to the front door...

 

Scary looking, huh? I need to re-stuff the bean bags... mine are currently bordering on being bean-less bags! I'm afraid these may take up most of the space in my car!

I need to add ribbons to my pennant to get it ready to hang up at school. Actually a necessary first step would be to find the spools of ribbon. I know they are in a WalMart bag. That does not narrow things down significantly!

I need to sort through my treasures and organize the supply baskets. At the moment, I am wondering where the other scissors are. I am thinking they are in the garage. Times like this, I wonder whether if it is better to buy new ones and just return the old ones when I come across the correct box... which could be some time in 2017 if you were get a glance at the garage!

I need to organize the supplies in the math Tool Kits. I have to add a few things because of the changes involved with Common Core. And I bought some wonderful new "moveable" number lines from Really Great Stuff.... but they don't fit in the boxes! (I hate when that happens!)

I need to finish the student binders so that we can start out organized on the first day of school. There are parts of this project in several different rooms in my house!

 

I need to get the technology set up at school. Our printers are connected into "the system" (?) with Ethernet cables. Of course, I could not pass on the opportunity to have this PURPLE cord in my room. So much prettier than the "standard issue"!

I need to clean and repair these fans--which will be one of my first projects tomorrow morning at school... so that I can make it through the rest of the day! Why does the weather always wait until a few days before school starts to really heat up?!

To top it all off, this afternoon I got this message on my computer... Or at least I thought that this was what it said...

And I thought that sounded a bit judgmental! I had to read it again more carefully. Here's the bad news... This is what it REALLY said:

Our poor secretary has spent a lot of hours inputting all of the students into our new computer program. And at some point today... POOF. They. Just. Vanished. Apparently, the system was overloaded and all of the class lists (and other things!) disappeared. When I left, they were going to have to re-type everything. Ahhhh technology. So often it simplifies our lives... and sometimes it  makes our lives a little harder.

I am hoping to get a class list tomorrow afternoon so that I can personalize a few things. If not, I guess we will be trying out some lower-tech options Tuesday morning!

Calming the Chaos Blog Hop... Organizing for the End of the Year

Even though I have five weeks of school remaining, I am already wanting to start organizing my room to wrap up the school year. I think this comes, in part, from the fact that we have been so busy lately, things are literally piling up around us!

Many activities still lie ahead for my sixth graders. We still have two more days of standardized testing, two more benchmarks and math placement testing for middle school. We are planning a surprise presentation for Teacher Appreciation Day and a performance for our Staff Appreciation Luncheon. And then there are end-of-the-year activities, including the Sixth Grade Picnic, Game Day and the Awards Luncheon. (I wasn't sure which words to capitalize in the preceding list... so I capitalized anything that sounded like fun!). And, of course, our Promotion ceremony...

As I look at that list, I am suddenly aware of why I have a headache!

Many of my bloggy friends are finishing the school year in just a few weeks. For them, the end-of-the-year organization is already in full swing. And some of my Canadian bloggy friends stay in school until the END of June. I think we should think extra positive thoughts for them... their end-of-the year is still a bit in the distance!

With that in mind, Kristy at 2 Peas and a Dog has organized an end-of-the year blog hop to provide some strategies and suggestions to help us get ready as the year draws to a close. There are lots of fun ideas to help keep kids engaged for the last few weeks of school and some sweet send-off activities that will help you end the year on a happy note!  Click on the sweet graphic below to go to her blog. Once there, you can find lots of bloggers who have linked up to share their ideas for "calming the chaos."

These bloggers are also listed at the bottom of this post!  And there's a rafflecopter giveaway for an adorable Memory Book from Mrs. Beattie's Classroom. Seriously cute! And a perfect activity for ending the school year!

As for me, I am a serious list-maker. I have been known to make lists of my lists! Last week, I started detailing those year-end items I often forget. (Every year, I get at least three phone calls to affix the students' pictures to their files in their "official" folders!) I need to keep my list handy--and then delight in each item crossed off. Knowing my tendency toward disorganization, I'm guessing no one would be surprised if I told you I was already on page TWO!

Here's the list I've been using... and if you need a list get you started, you can click on the graphic below, and print this one from google.docs!

I am currently obsessed with these scalloped borders from Graphics at the Pond. And I am ALWAYS obsessed with HelloFonts from Jen Jones-Hello Literacy. Whenever I revert to "regular" fonts, my flipcharts always look like they are missing something...

If you have never been to Jen Jones' blog, Hello Literacy, you should go there right NOW! And bring your coffee cup because there are about eight gazillion things you are going to want to see! Her fonts are legendary, but Jen also has wonderful Common Core resources and lots of information about reading and phonics and fluency and many other oh-so-important things. You may think you are getting ready to organize for the end of THIS year, but you'll quickly find yourself delighted about all the things you have discovered that will be helpful as you plan for NEXT year! I adore Jen Jones!


So how are YOU doing on organizing for the year's end? I hope that these next few weeks will find you reflecting on happy school year memories and the sweet anticipation of summer!

Blog Hop Participants

Check out this Great Giveaway!

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I MADE Progress... and a To Do List FREEBIE!

Oh Tara, your Monday Made Its DO motivate me to accomplish things!

Of course I MADE coffee this morning... but you already knew that.
And I MADE a list (more on that later)
And I MADE a commitment to do some more work on the garage...

True Confessions lie ahead... Okay BloggyWorld, here's what it looked like when I started...
Well, it was a little worse because I had to move some stuff to have enough room to take a picture. And yep, it's (almost) all mine. And, yep, it's (almost) all school stuff.

And now, after four days, and some serious efforts at categorizing, it looks like this...

So... I have MADE progress... I have categories: Math, Literacy, BOOKS, and Uh, Beats Me!
However, there's still no room for the car... and I still can't access the things I need. So, more work lies ahead...

Now back to what I MADE to help this tasks--and other tasks--a little easier...

I make To Do Lists daily--sometimes more than one. Sometimes my To Do Lists include making a To Do List!  So I am sharing the one that has helped me get things done... You can get it HERE or just click on the list. I used a sweet new font called cinnamon cake (http:/www.dafont.com/cinnamon-cake.font).

Here they are in use... the pink ones are mine and the green one is for the Hubs! Our tasks are gradually getting completed before I return to school.

Of course, my favorite part is crossing items off the list! Hopefully, having some of the "little details" out of the way will help get this year off to a smooth start.

And Happy List Making to you too!