Feeling Crafty!

Greetings friends. Before heading out on my trip marathon, I went up to my classroom. Yes, it's a Hot Mess! We have to pack up everything before we leave for the summer. This is my version of unpacking. Everything is everywhere. I did manage to set up my room and create the layout I want. I need to buy a few things of furniture before I can start putting things away but here is it's current state of madness.

Anywho, I have been visiting family in Oklahoma this week and it has been good times. We went to their local WalMart and I grabbed these goodies. I was so excited about the teeny tiny chairs for $3 on clearance and the fly swatters that actually say that. Sweet! (My niece is my model in this pic.)

I board the plane Sunday night for Vegas. I Teach K here I come. I am so excited about the blogger meet up on Tuesday. What should I wear? Ahhhh!! I will be in Vegas until Thursday. I fly out at 6:00 a.m. Yuck! 

Then, I am headed to Dallas for the Frog Street Press SPLASH conference where I will be presenting on Phonics and Writing. I LOVE this conference. It’s so much fun! I hope I get to meet some of you at one of the conferences. BTW, I am TERRIBLE with remembering names, laugh and talk excessively when I am nervous or get super quiet. Just beware. I’m kinda coo coo for coco puffs.

I had so much fun making my clipboards that I made a few more projects. First off, I found two Crystal Light containers and bought a package of large popsicle sticks. I kept the scraps of scrapbook paper from the clipboards too and of course my mod podge. You can find mod podge at WalMart or your local craft store. It helps seal what you make.

I decided to make two things to help me with calling on students and creating student groups. I forget who I called on for what and sometimes kids can get overlooked. That’s not cool. So, I created these sticks with the leftover scrapbook paper. I just cut them and mod podged them on the stick. After I glued them to the stick I covered the whole stick with mod podge again. I am going to use small labels to put student names on them or just write their names on the back. I will have all sticks in the container with PINK on the top. If I have a question, I will pull a stick and call on that student. Then, I will place the stick back in the container with the BLUE side up. This way I know who has been called on and who hasn't.

Another thing I wanted to work on was creating groups quickly and without always having the same people together. So, I just took some washi tape and wrapped it around the end of a popsicle stick. It’s nothing fancy but will totally work. I will just pass around the container, kids will grab a stick (or your can pass them out) and Wah La, groups created. All greens gather in one place and pinks in another, etc. Instant groups.

These two projects took me all of ten minutes. I am trying to create more organizational tools to help me use my time more effectively  If you have another projects you are doing or pinterest links you would love to see me use/demonstrate, leave the links in the comments. I plan to do a few projects each week since school is a month away. Yikes!

Since I will be traveling the next two weeks, I will have a few friends stop by and share a few great teaching tips with you. Make sure you check back because they will have some great freebies for you too.

So, what projects are you working on? What should I do next? Make sure you are following my facebook for my Daily Flash Sale Deal!