The Back-to-School Wardrobe

So, I really, really, really wanted to buy some new work clothes this weekend.  There is just something about going back to school with some new togs or a new pair of shoes that just gears me up for the new year.  Unfortunately, after 3 hours of slogging through the mall, Target, Old Navy, and TJMaxx, I came out with a spiced latte candle and some new Olay 7effects+serum...but nothing else.  I was disappointed, but every time I came across something cute, I couldn't quite figure out what I would wear it with or how it would exactly fit into my wardrobe.  As a consolation, I decided to go through my closet and see if I could put together a few outfits for this week and from there decide what I still needed...interestingly enough, 1.5 hours and 14 outfits later, I realized that I need NOTHING.  In fact, I have so many clothes that I put together 14 outfits with no repeats and still have clothing left over...talk about a wake up call.  What I realized (aside from how blessed I am) is that having outfits put together for the next three weeks  is going to make my life extremely organized...I get to wake up, grab a hanger, add some shoes and accessories and head out the door.  So Exciting!!!

So anyway, here's a shot of my outfit organization:

14 hangers, each with a bottom and top...some with accessories

And here is my outfit-of-choice for the 1st day of school (capris - Old Navy, Shirt - Hollister, Shoes - Target, Necklace - Charlotte Russe, Watch - Michael Kors...it was my birthday present from Chris Hottie)

Don't judge the fact that I took a bathroom selfie like a teenager

I highly encourage the outfit-on-a-hanger system.  I came across it by accident, but I'm so excited about how organized I feel.  Speaking of organization, check out thecurlyclassroom.blogspot.com today, they have a link-up of classroom tours...it's such a great way to get new ideas!  Have a great day!

September!!

September!!

1. Well, Chris Hottie is catching up on the baseball scores as I write this.  We are die-hard Detroit Tiger's fans...actually, we are die-hard baseball fans.  Chris Hottie's brother is a pro baseball player and used to play for the Tigers, he's kind of famous, which my students really appreciate!

2. It's about 65 degrees here! I lit a caramel spice candle, put on a sweatshirt, and am cozying up with a glass of red wine and an iPad full of sweater-and-boot-outfits on Pinterest.

3. First official day of school tomorrow, not only for me but for Baby Girl and Little Buddy too! Freshman year and 4th grade respectively.  Bags are packed, outfits are planned (check in tomorrow for my closet pic - 15 outfits planned out for the next 3 weeks!), and lunches are made.  I think we're ready!!

4. So, Castle might technically be a high-intensity crime drama, but it's my favorite show ever, and it completely relaxes me. Once I'm done here I'm hoping to kick Chris-Hottie off of ESPN and watch a few recorded episodes of Castle.

5. See numbers 3-4.  School tomorrow!!!!

<3 Working on remembering that I am not my own, I am a child of the King, and he is at work in me and through me.   This is so much easier than thinking that I have to do everything on my own...can I get an AMEN! :)

Hope everyone is having a great holiday weekend!!

Classroom Tour

I know that you all have been in school for months now...ok, maybe not months, but it probably feels like it to some of you.  Me? I finally had orientation day yesterday, and I'm ready for the official start next week Tuesday...which means that my room is finally ready!

Here are some pics, so you can tour around...

Here is the view from the door: 

Along the side wall (you can see the corner of the doorway in the right hand photo) I have my Shakespeare corner and another bulletin board with the 4 types of writing.  Each poster has a real-life example of that style of writing on it (poetry examples on the descriptive writing poster, a magazine article on the expository writing poster, etc.)

This is the back of my classroom.  I use the silver wire baskets for homework turn-in (there is one for each class, the manila folders in the middle are absent folders for students to check if they are gone from class - I put copies of classwork in the files, and there is one for each hour, the stacked files hold lined paper, plain paper and pink slips (click here for more info about pink slips), and I also have a hole punch, stapler, and jar of "ugly pens" - pens I find on the floor that I collect in case a student needs one.  I NEVER supply new pens or pencils to my students...NEVER.

 

My back-of-the-class bookshelf: Fiction is on the right and non-fiction and resource on the left...should probably work on building my non-fiction library.  The two signs on top read "Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body (found it on Pinterest), and "No Whining."

 

This is my desk...not much to tell

 Another shot of my desk and the view outside...I'm blessed to have 2 floor-to-ceiling windows in my room!

The far side of my room - two group-work tables and a door that leads into the computer lab.

Well, that's pretty much it.  I really love my room; it's bright, it's big, and to me, it's really homey, I mean, it should be, right? We spend more time in our rooms than we do at home!  Anyway, I've loved seeing all of your rooms, and I'm so glad to share mine.  Looking forward to a great year!

Just a little real life...

So really, this post has nothing to do with education, literature, the classroom, or CCSS...but I couldn't help sharing with you all the fun that I had over the weekend cheering on Baby Girl in her first High School volleyball game.  First of all, can I just say that she made the JV team as a Freshie - you go girl!  And on Saturday they played 16 sets of volleyball - 16 SETS!!  We were there from 8am until 6:30 pm...but it was so much fun, and a proud mama moment for me.  In the end they made it to the championship round and took 2nd place!

She's the one in the white, if you haven't figured that out yet :).  Apparently she is the libero? All these volleyball terms are fairly new to me, but I'm enjoying figuring it all out!  Well, thanks for letting me share a little "real life" with you! Enjoy your Sunday!

My New Hanging Files!

This weekend I invested in a roll of zebra striped duct tape for my classroom, and after I finished the one little thing I needed it for, I had an ENTIRE roll of tape and no plans to use it.  So today, after some major Pinteresting, I decided to make an ultra-fancy hanging file system.  I found a few examples that I really liked including this one from The Silver Lining

 

and this one from Classroom DIY

but I still couldn't really figure out how to do it...so I winged it (wung it?), but I included a detailed pictorial just in case you want to try it out for your self.  Here we go...

I started with 6 red folders from Staples, and I decided that I wanted them all to have the same middle tab.

...and then I lined them up, and of course I eyeballed it because I didn't feel like searching the house for a ruler.

Then I added the duct tape.  I lined it up along the top edge of the back of the folder (the folder is open in the following pics.  I then attached the back of one folder to the front of the next, starting from the bottom and working upward.

Finally, in order to add zebra stripe to the top of the files, I topped one side of an extra file folder with the duct tape, and fastened it to the back of the entire file system.  I also taped them all together on the back for extra support.

And here's the final product...

BUT...that's not all!  From here, I decided to go ahead and hang it in my classroom...and since I wasn't exactly sure how to do that, I decided on MORE DUCT TAPE! So yes, I duct taped it onto my wall and filled it with student resource pages.

Now, if you are a better think-through-the -details person than I am, you would have realized that the folders weren't actually far enough apart to put the papers in and still be able to read the labels...but instead of starting over, I improvised and made little arrow labels to distinguish between each folder.

And finally, here is another photo with the files in the context of my classroom

Well, that was my big project for today...my classroom is almost ready, so hopefully a room tour is coming soon!

Found Poetry

While all of you amazing teachers are having orientations and teaching your first lessons, I'm still wandering around my empty classroom wondering where exactly to start.  In fact, here's a photo of my current recycling box - I've just gone crazy and tossed a bunch of stuff...

Anyway, as I was emptying shelves, and drawers, and filing cabinets, I made a pile of books that were really just beyond repair, there is a split-in-half To Kill a Mockingbird, a duct-taped Les Miserables, a Lord of the Flies with the cover completely missing, and a yellowed and falling apart Jane Eyre...

I was contemplating what to do with these books (because throwing them away would absolutely hurt my heart) when I remembered an idea that I had seen this summer on Pinterest...Found Poetry.

These particular pieces are for sale at deviantart.com, but I thought it would be a really cool project for my creative writing class to work on.   I could also have my Freshman and Senior Lit students create a poem using a page from one of the novels that they have read (Freshmen read TKAM and LOTF, Seniors read Les Mis and Jane Eyre).  I would love to have them create a poem from a page of the novel that relates to one of the themes of the novel.

I have plenty of ratty books in my classroom, so let me know if you have any other ideas as to how to use old books? I'd love to hear your ideas!

Orientation Day

My first day with students is actually a 1/2 day scheduled for August 29th - we have 30 minute classes and it's basically considered an "Orientation Day."  I'm always perturbed by this day because it's not quite enough time to go through the complete syllabus, but it gets too long if I just do an introduction of myself.  This year, inspired of course by Pinterest, I created a Google presentation (using Google Drive) that introduces myself and also uses the ever popular memes to talk about basic class expectations.  I figure I can go through the syllabus more in depth when we officially begin on September 3.

Here's the presentation for my new Freshman classes...I especially like the Sweet Brown meme since it was my students who introduced me to the original YouTube video in the first place.  Enjoy!