How "Tues"day Tip #4

This is part I of "Creating a Cozy Classroom."  Here are 5 simple things you can add to your classroom to make your room warm and inviting.  Part II will feature 5 additional tips and will be posted next week.

1.  Add some green to your scene. . .plants, ficus trees, and greenery will make your classroom feel more warm and cozy.  I opt for ivy plants because they're easy to maintain and they grow fast and furiously.  My "gardener" of the week just needs to water it on Monday morning.  It's also a great tool to use when we study plants and photosynthesis.

2.  Organization Station. . .Every teacher has tons of notes, to-do lists, papers, school supplies, and so much more!  I use this organization station to help be de-clutter my desk and work area.  You can purchase these kind of bins at Target right now for $2.50 each.  I created a few small labels which make filing and organizing much easier.

3.  What's your theme?  A common theme throughout your classroom adds personality and warmth to the room.  There are so many great ones to choose from.  I've seen everything from frogs to polka dots to outer space.  Here are a few blogs with some amazing "theme based" resources.  

Take a look at Mrs. Jump's pirate materials here!  She also has a really cute word wall and pirate "work station" organization here!

You'll love  Miss Kindergarten 's beach materials!  They are adorable, and I can't wait to use a few of them in my room.

Clutter-Free Classroom has fabulous posts and great information about all kinds of themes!  She has an entire series of posts that are have some very cute and creative ideas.

4.  Contain the chaos. . .be creative as you look for ways to use containers and storage items.  I love the "how to" post that Rachelle made, and I'm going to make one next week!  If you haven't checked out her post, you should because she lists several time saving tips and some great ideas for how to make the process smooth and painless!

I love love love using storage materials that are typically used for other purposes.

Here's a picnic basket that goes along with my beach theme.  Next year I'll use it to store books.  As I plan my reading and writing mini-lessons along with favorite read alouds I can add books to the basket then change them out as needed.  When the books aren't in use, I can close the lid and move it away to make room for other materials and resources.

I also grabbed this picnic caddy that can be used to store my supplies.  It can stay at my desk area, or ss I travel around the room to take anecdotal notes or work with individual students, I'll have everything I need!

I could go on and on about this tip. . .Mr. Perry is SO supportive of me and of all teachers because he knows how hard we work, but every once in a while he does ask the question. . ."How many containers and bins do you need!?!?"

5.  Print, print, everywhere. . .environmental print is such an integral part of a primary classroom.  Here are a few of my favorite ways to include print in meaningful ways that your students will love!  Include a sign about yourself with your favorite things.  Instead of writing out each word, add pictures and icons of favorite books, restaurants, movies, and more.

Label your classroom items.  There are many commercial products that have "desk, eraser, computer. . ."  You can also consider taking pictures of the items in your own room and add print to create your own labels.  I plan to try this out, and I'll you know if it seems to work well.  You can also use velcro on the back of each picture so that students can easily remove the photo label as they're writing.

I'm working on a new unit that's all about environmental print. I hope to have it completed by next week, and it's been a really fun project.

I'm sorry this post is so late in the day. Earlier I had a play date with two handsome little guys and a few friends, then lunch with "dear old dad," and then spent a bit of time catching up with one of my teammates!

How "Tues"day Tip #3

Today's project is one that can take anywhere from a week to several months to complete.  It is based on the concept of bottle cap art.  So the first thing that I had to do was start collecting lids.  For about the past six months I have collected every cap, lid, and container top that we have used in the Perry house.  

We go through a lot of apple juice, bottled water, and gatorade so it didn't take long for them to accumulate!  Most of the plastic within the bottle containers can be easily recycled, however, the lids are a different story.  This project is another great way to "go green."

I also used a piece of wood from Home Depot.  They have all kinds of scrap wood, and most of the time it's either very inexpensive or free (especially if you tell them you're a teacher)!

I used two small paint samples that we had lying around the house.  We're also in the process of completing renovations in our dining room (chair rail installation, painting, and new flooring-soon)!

I painted one a turquoise color (deepest aqua).

The other one is called rich navy.

Christian helped me out by sorting all of the caps by color...he had so much fun!

Then I selected the images for the paintings.  The first one is a crab.  

My very very very talented brother in law began painting, and I was so impressed!

Here are the final touches!

I added the orange bottle cap lids and made a letter "c" with some yellow caps.  You can either use some small screws and a drill or some basic wood glue.  I used a drill because I like the effect of the metal in the middle of the caps.

 

The next painting is an octopus.

  I added two bottle caps for the eyes, and some additional clear ones for bubbles!

"C" is for crab.

"O" is for octopus.

I have one more to add to the collection which will either be a sea turtle or a seahorse.  I loved this project!  If you're in the DFW metroplex, and you're interested in some bottle cap art for your classroom, e-mail me.  My brother in law does a phenomenal job, and he completed both of those paintings in one evening.  I just added the caps and the words.  The inspiration from these paintings came from two resources.  

 

This year I plan to have my students collect bottle caps to create their own art for our classroom and school.  I also plan to use the handprint art to make our classroom a more inviting and engaging place!