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!