Finally accomplished something!

   I'm happy to say that I finally completed the milk crate bench!  I ended up buying milk crates from The Container Store for $7 each because the stores I called all said that they do not own the milk crates they use and have to return them each time they get a new shipment. :(  Either way it was pretty easy once I had all my products together.  I used 4 milk crates, 4 Cubeicals (from Target- made by Closetmaid), zip-ties, 1/2 in plywood, a twin-size foam mattress pad ($10 at Walmart), and a twin size flat sheet ($5 at Walmart). Oh, and a staple gun!
Here is what the final product looks like:

1) First, I zip-tied all the  milk crates together,  then I measured the top for the plywood (mine ended up being 53"x12" because I wanted a 1/2" overhang all around).  2) I put the milk crates on the plywood and marked the spots where I wanted to attach it. 3) Then I drilled holes to put the zip-ties through. I placed the zip ties through the holes but didn't actually attach it yet.  4)  I doubled the foam pad and cut it to size and stapled the ends to the plywood. 5) I cut the material to size and wrapped the plywood and foam, stapling all the way around the bottom. 6) I attached it to the milk crates using the zip-ties and put the cubes inside. All done!

Once I got started it really wasn't a hard project.  I have even had several requests to make them for others.My plan for the cubes is to put the textbooks for each table (my room has 4 tables instead of desks) as well as other items that the students don't need handy at all times.  As soon as my classroom is done being cleaned by maintenance I will be taking this in and continuing to de-clutter my closets. Hopefully this won't be an all summer project.  I'll keep you posted!

Still de-cluttering!

So I haven't really gotten that far in my quest to de-clutter. On the other hand I HAVE been planning and mapping out my classroom for next year.  I am addicted to Pinterest and have found a few projects I definitely want to complete for next year.  Here is a picture of one of my goals.

(Thanks to http://grade2happenings.blogspot.com/ for the idea)
I have purchased the fabric and foam, but I am working on getting milk crates (not file crates) and plywood.  I love that there is storage under the seats.  My thought is: I have four tables so their books and other larger supplies could be in one of the boxes and a table captain can retrieve the box when needed.  Aahhh so many things to accomplish (and still vacation).  Any volunteers to help are welcome :)

Where do I begin?

Here is my first summer project- cleaning and organizing!  I always start out the year with the best intentions of staying organized or with a great plan of how the flow in my room is going to work, but inevitably something doesn't work or gets left behind.  I am now following the Clutter-Free Classroom Project (which started in January, better late than never) and I am purging- as painful as that is with some items. Here are some photos of the current condition of my classroom as I started to pull out and take stock of all my stuff.

Please note that I am not purging all those books!  I am actually using a fantastic FREE website called Classroom Booksource to scan them all in, so that next year I can use my Iphone or Ipad to check them out to my students (no more paper!). For all my colleagues, you should definitely check out the site- it not only keeps track of your entire library but also keeps a reading log of all the books your students have checked out!
Anywho, Monday will be back to purging for me.

Well Hello!

I decided to start this blog as a way to communicate with parents, families, and colleagues about what is happening in my classroom.  I also have another blog for students to respond to what is going on with reading and writing in our room. This summer I plan to blog about some projects I am working on for the new school year that I am really excited about. Feel free to browse around!