First Day...GIVEAWAY!!

I survived my first day with all of my kids!

We do staggered entry during the first few days of school.  The kids get to come to kindergarten is small groups.  We get to assess them, show them around the school, and see how they are without the chaos of an entire class.  I just love it.

Now I have my whole class together and just love it even more!

Today was my first day and so I am going to have a GIVEAWAY!

It is really easy to enter...

Just comment below with a product you would like from my store (excluding bundles).  I will pick a random winner tonight!

Best of luck!

Twas the Night Before the First Day

Twas the night before the first day
and all through the house
not a teacher was calm
nor was any spouse

There were papers to cut
decorations to hang
things to laminate
so the year can start with a bang!

That is all I've got!  Tomorrow is my FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!! Woot, woot!

I get butterflies in my stomach each year.  I love the first day.  My kids come in 5 at a time this week - we do staggered entry with kindergarten so we can test and assess the kiddos. The real "first day" with all my students will be next week.  Still - I am very anxious, nervous, excited, exhausted, and ready to be wearing real clothes again!

When was your first day?!

Classroom Chaos!

Tomorrow is my first "official" workday.  I have been in my classroom numerous times this month trying to get things set-up, decorated, and feeling just-right. 

During that process I decided to change the color scheme of my room which meant everything needed to be tweaked in one way or another.  Not the best decision to make with the school year just around the corner.

My room is still a work in progress and will continue to be for a while.....I wanted to share the start of some of the projects that I have been working on.

The first is a reading bench!  I saw so many cool classroom libraries on pinterest and decided that mine needed an update.  I could never find a system to organize my books that worked well with my kinders...but really, I don't think they need them sorted into pretty categories with labels.  They pick what they want and they read it.  My baskets were a mess and my library just wasn't quite right.  So...I ordered a set of 2 tall bookshelves from Walmart that you can turn horizontal. They were fairly cheap and super easy to assemble.  I made little cushions to go on top and then neatly tossed my books into the cubes!  I LOVE IT!

Now my library needs some display walls up and the pillows are still a work in progress (I don't sew....) but it will come together - I have faith!  Here is a little preview!

I am amazed at how many books the shelves hold!  I have 8 cubes all together but one of them overlaps.  I used that to store my carpet squares (access is from the other side) that my kids can use during Read to Self and Read to Partner!

The next simple project occurred when I decided I wanted to change my color scheme.  I had lime green for the past couple years but I also had the basic primary colors.  It was a little too much and to be honest, it really clashed.  I decided to stick to my table colors and Daily 5 rotation colors (red, blue, green, yellow, orange) and to get rid of all my lime green.  I wanted a little pop on my extra large window so I picked up some super fun and colorful ribbon and tied it to a tension rod!  This is going to be in the window behind my "desk" area (I got rid of my teacher desk this year...fingers crossed that I am fine without it!).

That is all for now.  Once I get this room together, I will show you it all!

Have a grrreat day!