Money Saving Monday–Saving Cardboard Items

Sorry for no post last week – it was SPRINGBREAK!  Well, at least that was what the calendar said.  Here in NY, that meant snow and ice with a short bit of nice, sunny weather in the middle.

This week, I was thinking about the décor I would like to have next year.  I have been using the Dots on Black Pattern this year and I have been liking it, but might change it up for something lighter next year. For the previous two years, I used Dots on Turquoise and loved that even more!  At any rate, as my décor changes I find that some of my classroom items no longer match and I just don’t want to spend my budget or my own money on replacing perfectly good things that just don’t match my momentary décor choices. 

Spray paint is the answer!  I am astounded at how many colors Lowes, Walmart, and Home Depot carry!  I spray paint my cardboard organizers almost every year to match my décor.  The other important thing is that the spray paint can totally transform cardboard quickly!

A great example is my cardboard mailbox unit that I bought (myself) for my classroom 13 years ago!!!  Yes, 13 years ago.  It started out blue and faded in spots after a year of use.  Since then it has been painted black, red, sky blue, and now teal.  Not only does it look brand new, but the coats of paint have protected the cardboard that can easily become shabby after a year in an elementary classroom.  One of my good friends replaces her mailboxes every year – a significant use of our small budgets.  I snag her cast offs and paint them to match, creating all sorts of organized goodness!

Next time you think of throwing something away – especially cardboard organizers – try applying some spray paint and see how beautiful it looks!

DK Findout!

AMAZING! I found a new resources that I am loving in my classroom!  I was looking for a way to extend out reading and science work on the topic of plants and wanted to use our classroom computers more often.  In my search, I found this AMAZING website!  DK Publishers has created an interactive website that includes SO MANY topics in the elementary curriculum.  The quality and choice is as incredible as it is with the books put out by this publisher!

It looks like you can sign up for the site, but my class was able to navigate it without signing in.  There is a search page – just like an online encyclopedia.

My class explored plants, but this is an image from the solar system page.

Almost everything is a clickable link.  Students can access definitions to vocabulary, read, access maps and diagrams, and so much more!  I have just started to explore this site, but it seems like it addresses so many of the CCSS that address technology use in ELA.  It would have great to access on a digital whiteboard!

Check out this amazing resource!

***This post is in no-way sponsored by or affiliated with the company/companies mentioned***

Money Saving Monday–Professional Development

If you are like me, you are a professional development addict!  I love to learn new things – especially when they are taught by other professionals practicing in the field.  Plus, at least where I am, professional development counts in your professional review.  Unfortunately, if your district does not offer staff development opportunities or you are looking for something beyond what your school does, you are going to pay big bucks for it. 

I have found 2 really good sources for free professional development resources.  The first is for professional reading. Stenhouse Publishers offers free previews of new texts that are being published.  This is a fantastic way to preview a professional resources, get some great ideas, and decide if you would like to own it – goodness knows I usually end up buying the book because I enjoy a good-old paper version that I can sticky note and highlight to my heart's content.  You just need to join the site to access the previews of the books.  Click on any book available and you will at least see a chapter, but many have the full text.

The second is edweb.net.  This site offers free webinars to educators. Once you are signed up, you can register to “attend” a webinar that is scheduled or you can review webinars that have already been presented.  After a short quiz, you can print out a certificate that indicates you have attended a 1 hour session.  Love putting these in my PD binder and learning some new things!  Check out the calendar on the website to see the upcoming webinars!

 

Check out these great resources for some professional resources and development!

Therapy Thursday–Being Enough

Last week, I posted about having priorities and making cuts to increase balance in our teaching lives.  This week I wanted to post about the never-ending quest for teacher perfection! 

• Do you ever look longingly at the pictures on blogs or Pinterest and despair about creating the “perfect” __________?  I’ve been there and spent hours trying to make or do something because someone else did it and it looked awesome. 
• Have you ever seen someone’s copies on the copier or heard about an amazing lesson that you just HAD to use in your classroom. Yep!
• Have you ever thought “Next year, I’m going to…”  Oh, yeah! – I did this one yesterday. I am always convinced I can make everything even better next year.

Leo Babauta, one of my favorite bloggers, blogged about “The Futility of Always Pushing Myself to be More.” This post struck a nerve with me because I feel like we, as teachers, are always pushing ourselves to be better at what we do.  This is often seen as a positive thing, but is it really?  Do we ever think “Hey I’m pretty good at what I do the way I do it?” Not really.  That is why we have new programs every year and are constantly looking for the perfect lesson idea and revamping things over and over. 

However, I am at that point in my career, where I am starting to see things circle back around.  The programs and philosophies I started my career with are coming back – in some cases, we have gone through a couple circles.  Were these ideas ever wrong to begin with?  Did they stop working? Or did we convince ourselves that we weren’t doing something right and had to do it better?  Was the way I did something years ago awful or did it just go out of popularity?

(As an aside, I recently started to go through files from the beginning of my career.  I literally threw away entire file folders without even opening them.  It broke my heart because of the time and effort I put into those items. It’s not that they were worthless or did not meet today’s standards.  I threw them away because the thought of “revamping” the non-digital versions of all those items made me wonder if they were worth keeping.  To integrate them into all the things I have and do just wasn’t worth the stress of thinking about it.)

At some point, I think we need to acknowledge that we are good at what we do – curriculum is not changing THAT much, kids are not changing THAT much. We know what we are doing and we are experts in out fields.  Leo Babauta said that be had to learn about the concept of enough and says that “I became happier with the concept of already being enough.”

I think that we, as teachers, need to realize that we are enough. If we have been hired and employed as teachers, we have proved that we can do our jobs well.  Not that we don’t have to keep up with best practice and make some changes along the way, but we need to be confident that we are good at what we do and our best is good enough.

How are you enough?  What are your strengths?  What do you do well?

Monday Saving Monday

Hello folks! I’m back for another Money Saving Monday!  Where I am, it is almost time to order supplies.  I used to dread ordering supplies because it was hours of looking for items and filling out forms. You wait months to get your supplies and then realize half of what you ordered is not needed or was not worth the expense.  With such tight budgets, it is important we get the most for our supply money and spend wisely. 

The last few years, I have put a bright piece of paper in my planning binder.  As I run out of a supply that I can order or find something that I need, I write it on the paper.  When it comes time to do my order, I have a ready list of the things I really need.  This helps to make sure that I am choosing items that I need and prevents hours of trying to figure out what to order.

Here are some things to keep track of:

• construction paper
• paint
• markers/colored pencils/crayons
• tape
• glue
• post-it notes
• pens/pencils
• lined paper
• folders
• notebooks
• binders
• birthday celebration supplies
• stickers and rewards
• Expo/permanent markers

This has made a hectic time of year soooo much easier!  And the nice part is that it takes so little time and is ready for the next year!

What else would you add to the list?