Monday Made It - July 25

I can't believe I am saying this but my summer is quickly coming to a close!  I have a meeting at the beginning of the next week and then it's go time!  I feel like some people just got out....lol.  I will keep the Monday Made It weekly going through August and then see where things are after that.  Again, I want to thank all of you that have linked up this summer AND ALL of my AMAZING hosts!!!!  I just love this blogging/teacher community.  I have gotten some great ideas!!

I'm excited to share what I have been up to this past week:)  I have been busy!

My first made it has been on my list for a year and I finally just got around to making it!

I first read about a fidget bin on my sweet friend, Stephanie's blog.

3rd Grade Thoughts

I just recently read this post by her (click pic for link) and was reminded that I wanted to make one of these bins.  You have to read her post.....it is full of ideas and great info about different types of items to add to your fidget bin.

So I slowly but surely have been collecting items for my fidget bin and I think I am done:)

Next, I made a class set of these adorable little Text Detective Notebooks.  These cute labels are from my friend Joanne at Head Over Heels for Teaching.  Thanks to Joanne and her IG, I got the little notebooks from Walgreens for 6 for a $1!

Text Detective Labels from Head Over Heels for Teaching

I can't wait to use these in small groups with my kiddos this year!

This made it I posted on my FB page but didn't link it up yet, so for those of you who missed it, here it is.  We use dry erase boards EVERY SINGLE DAY in my classroom so this made it is a must for me.  

I don't make these every year....they last 2-4 years depending on how well the kids take care of them.  Last year I just needed to add new tape.  This year I needed some new ones.  I buy shower board from Home Depot and ask them to please cut the boards for me.  Then I frame them with duct tape and done!

This next made it I am also super excited about!  The past few years I have made a "Get to Know Your Teacher" bulletin board for open house and the first few days of school.  Well when I saw this idea, I knew I had to make it!

All About Your New Teacher

This adorable product from Ashley, Teach Create Motivate, is perfect for open house and/or the first week of school so the students can get to know their teacher a little.

I was so excited to make it and had a fun time finding the pics I wanted to add:)  This book is adorable and so easy to make your own....just add your pics and text and you're set!

Here's a bit of my book!  I love it and can't wait for my students to get to look through it!

Finally, my last made it!  If ya made it through this long post, I have a little freebie for you!

I made some new book luggage tags. (no, I don't have my class list....but I wanted samples for you to see.)  They can also be used for book bins, bags, anything you want to put a label on:)

They are editable!

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There are 12 different tags:)

You can grab them here!  Tags with Kids!

There ya go!  That's it....well, if I am being honest, it's not....I do have a couple of other home made its but have run out of buttons and time:)  Can't wait to see what you all link up this week!  

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Monday Made It with Tales of a Tenacious Teacher

Hey All! I'm Kelli from Tales of a Tenacious Teacher. 

To say I'm a bit of a fan of Tara's Monday-Made-It is an understatement! I couldn't be more excited that Tara asked me to host this week on her blog! I don't know about you, but without this weekly linky, I wouldn't get ANYTHING done! I'm all for enjoying my summer time, relaxing and recharging, but I also know that if I feel prepared for the school year, it makes me more excited for the return of school as opposed to dreading it. Doing a little bit here and there throughout summer actually DOES help me recharge and relax since I have the time. 50-some days left to enjoy still for me and create!! 

Since I'm not changing my classroom (in terms of colors or theme), most of my focus has turned to preparing content and organizing. If you've visited my personal blog lately, you'll know that after teaching 3rd grade for 4 years, I'm moving to 4th this upcoming year. I wasn't planning on this at first, but when an option to move up to 4th came up at my school, I couldn't get the idea out of my head to try something new, so I made the move. Even better, I get to stay in my classroom and have a lot of the same kids as last year!

The last major "decoration" I need to put up in the room is our classroom door. With all the things going on in our world, I sometimes feel helpless. However, when I think about my opportunity as a teacher, I realize I have so much power in making the world a better place by educating these young people. I want them to realize this as well. So our door quote for the beginning of the year comes from Kid President's Tiny Poem. I used my Silhouette to cut out the words. I'll be adding other details as well, but the quote is too good not to share now!

I've got some great ideas on how I can tie this to our hopes and dreams at the beginning of the year to keep it new and fresh for my group.

Next up, my reading notebook! I'll be assembling class reading notebooks this year, since I have to buy the composition notebooks on my own anyway. I'm always looking for ways to make it better so I've added a few details along with my tabs that I loved last year!

I decorated my cover with pictures of books that I have memories with. Even though I'll be assembling the notebooks, my students will decorate their covers. I also added a ribbon for easy saving spots and parts of a straw to the binding for a pencil to hang out at all times! I saw this idea originally on a Facebook Page and they credited the Daily Cafe (although when I tried to get to the initial link, I was denied due to not being a paid member).

I used this 4 pack of straws from Dollar Tree. You need straws that are larger than the typical straw. I thought these were perfect, except they weren't the same size all the way through. So I improvised and attached the larger part about a third of the way from the top and then added a skinnier part to the bottom and the pencil is pretty secured. I used Gorilla Tape (best packaging tape out there) to secure them onto the spine. I was able to make 4-5 sets per straw, so it's still a very cheap trick!

Another addition I made to the reader's notebook was by using those trusty adhesive square pocket labels from Target. I added one to the cover to store little reference cards from strategy groups. 

I made these little cards based off of the J. Serravallo's book The Reading Strategies Book.  I started using this book last year and really want to make it a part of my daily practice, so I started making some reference cards that I can print and give to my students as mini-charts to keep in their notebooks after we meet and practice the strategy in a group setting. Most of the mini charts have fill in the blanks or some other interactive piece for us to fill out while we are meeting as a group. Others have more so prompts or questions for students to think about. I used the prompts right from Serravallo's book (which is why I don't feel comfortable sharing these). But they did not take long for me to create and I feel pretty set for the beginning of the year! I was able to put 10 different charts in the little pocket at the front of our notebooks and plan to have students glue their old mini-card charts that they aren't relying on as much anymore in the back of their notebook in their helpful handouts section.

  

I'm also thinking about my math instruction and I NEED to change it up. I want to make it more differentiated, while still staying true to our curriculum. I'll be blogging later about my solution thanks to the amazing insight of Ladybug's Teacher Files, but I'll share some of the new resources I've made to to help me with my differentiation. 

I've made some larger game boards that reinforce basic facts. I also made smaller individual task cards and thus, had to get this amazing storage case from Michaels (and at 50% off I might say... plus my educator's discount). The beautiful Molly from Lessons with Laughter posted this beautiful picture of her box and so I had to re-create it.

I went with the clear case because I'm a color scheme crazy lady and the rainbow wouldn't match. But I do love me some rainbow (which you'll see in my new math cards).

I made some cards around finding sums of 10 to solve quickly for my students who need more reinforcement and then some equation creation puzzles for my students who need more of a challenge. The cards fit nicely in the individual cases. But some of my other new cards did not, but luckily, Michael's had another great storage solution again, 50% off!

These cards are either half page size or long and skinny, but they all fit in this card holder (that I got for $7.00). I need to add labels still to it, but I'm really excited about these new resources for one of my new changes to our math block.

Phew! Did you make it through all that? To say thanks to Tara and all of you who stop by to comment and share your ideas, enjoy one of my new math resources for free [limited time... snag it before Wednesday, July 20th]! Click on the image below to download!

Thanks again to Tara for allowing me to photo-dump on her blog! And make sure you link up below, bop around, comment, and interact with all the amazing ideas below!

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Monday Made It - July 11

Happy Monday!  

I'm sure there are tons of you waking up or on your way to #tptorlando for the Teachers Pay Teachers conference!  I'm so excited for you.  Sadly, I am not going this year....and it's right here, like in Florida, like I wouldn't have to fly across the county (hate flying) to get there.....yep, all true but I have this little thing coming up......my daughter's wedding.  Family comes first!  I will miss getting to hang out with lots of my bloggy buds!!

I was able to get a few things made this past week and I need to because my summer is quickly coming to an end and then the beginning of the school year will be here and the wedding so, I need to get my ducks in a row quickly:)  

I love all the made its you all have been linking up this summer!  I am excited to see newbies and so thankful for those of you that return each year to link up!  One think I love the most about Monday Made It is the ideas and inspiration that come from others.  I don't know about you, but I don't have tons of time to search all over to find things so when I see something linked up and it's already made, even better!!!  Why reinvent the wheel, right? 

Before I jump into my made its, I wanted to chat about a few "rules"/blogger etiquette, especially if you are new to this linky:)

- please make sure you leave some love at the blogs you visit:)  It's always nice to read kind words and you don't need to tell people to come to you....they will;)

- If you see something in the linky or anywhere else for that matter, that someone has taken the time to make, please don't copy it and claim it as your own

- If you make something as one of your made its that is a product of someone else, PLEASE be sure and give the correct source credit and a link to them or their product 

Ok, I think that covers it:)  Now on to the made its!

Had to get my gardening therapy in this last week....yes, in the Florida heat....it has been horrible:/

To say that the bed outside my front door was a little overgrown is an understatement....

See????  Told ya:/

So I ripped up all the plants and then put down pavers....the funny thing about this is, as you can see, it is not perfect AND my husband does this for a living....swimming pools, fountains, tile, decks.....so I am sure the not perfectly level pavers are making him nuts but that's ok.  I did it and I love it:)

It still needs some additions but this is a bit improvement!

That made it about killed me with the heat and honestly thought it was going to be my only one...lol.

This next made it is from a sweet friend that I am going to miss hugging on this week!

She is a doll and has SO MANY amazing ideas!!!  When I saw her post it bookmarks on her IG feed, I knew I had to make them!

If you want to grab a set of Joanne's bookmarks, click here!  And if you have never visited her blog, it's a must!  She has wonderful ideas!!!  I can't wait for my kiddos to use these!

My next made it is from another bloggy bud who also has INCREDIBLE ideas, info, and fun on her blog!

A few weeks back she shared about using Instagram photos in the classroom for an Inspiration Writing Wall.  I am not going to explain it here....you HAVE GOT to go read her post!  It is full of info and inspiration and you can find it HERE!

When I read her post, I was so inspired and excited to do this as well in my classroom!  This will be a wonderful center rotation;)

I have the perfect spot to put this too!  I have these not so pretty cabinet doors that will be perfect for this;)

I am in the process of deciding what type of teacher planner I want to use this year...what ever I decide, I usually have #allthethings in the same binder which can get a little messy, so I decided to make a binder for my student data:)

Pink is my fave color!!!!  I just got a new pink chevron rug for my classroom:)

This is my last made it;)  Before I went back to school to be a teacher, and I was a stay at home mommy, I designed jewelry.  I love to fiddle with that again every once in a while.  This is a simple little made it, but so me and I love it:)

Two simple pieces from JoAnns...some leather and a turquoise piece.

I made a wrap bracelet!  

and here it is with some friends for the bracelet party;)

Ok, enough from me:)   Can't wait to see what's in store this week!  Thank you all for linking up and for the blog love you leave :)  Have a blessed week everyone!!!

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