Beginning of the Year Scrapbook Page

Earlier I talked about the End of the Year Scrapbook that we create for our kids.  I thought it would be a good idea to show specific pages that I used in case you are interested in creating one too.  On the first day of school I like to give my students a chance to express themselves in an easy, non-stressful way.  This is a great little page by Doris Young that gives them something easy to do to ease us back into routine.

While they work on writing and coloring, I pull kids to take photos of their first day of school.  I make sure I have some kind of sign showing it is the first day of third grade.  This year I found these adorable signs on TPT by Teach and Tell Us that the students color themselves. I'm going to see how they turn out, but I'll probably have another sign ready for my kids to use just in case.

All you have to do is put each student's picture on a background and you have your first scrapbook page. I also include the "I'm Glad to be in grade 3" page in the scrapbook because my kids had some super cute excitements and nerves.

Give a Teacher a Hot Glue Gun and She'll Ask For...

Last week my family helped me get my new shelves put together.  This week third grade hallway got decorated.  Give us a hot glue gun and we can do just about anything.

Staining Shelves

So I am incredibly lucky that my Dad has been nice enough to build me wonderful shelves for my classroom. When I started my first year I just had two or three shelves that were hand me downs from the last room. It wasn't a big deal because my back wall had shelves that were almost five feet tall and went across most of the wall. Then I moved to my current classroom and I had a small shelf that ran the length of my back wall. I enlisted my Dad's help and he built me four shelves that spanned my back wall. Of course, a teacher can never have enough storage so this summer I wanted more shelves to put at the front of my room. This is where I plan on putting my students' individual boxes with manipulatives, books or personal task cards. It may also end up housing some of my centers.

I'm also very lucky that my Mom volunteered to help me paint the shelves. I decided to stain the shelves and I have to say they turned out great. 

In Process:

First Coat Complete:

DONE:

The Work Begins

I am about six weeks out from the start of school.  That means I am focused on everything I need to do to get my classroom ready for the new year because there never seems to be enough time.  My friends and family tend to roll their eyes and remind me I have plenty of time and I should take a break and chill out.  I might be a little bit of a workaholic...or a lot. I spent June working summer school and when summer school was out I went and stayed with my family for a week.  My first day back I planned to laze around and watch tv and be a total bum.  Then I got on Bloglovin and Pinterest and checked my feeds.  An hour or so later I was headed into my classroom to get started on all the awesome ideas.  Go figure. I count myself lucky that I get paid to do a job I adore.

I am grateful that in my third year I am staying in the same classroom and teaching the same grade level. My first year I was in first grade and my second year I moved to third grade.  This will be my third year and I feel like I get to really settle into my room and the routines I already worked with last year.  I also know that this year we are starting a new math series AND a new reading series simultaneously.  This upcoming school year should be very interesting.  In a way a lot will be the same and on the other hand a lot will be different.  That's why I'm determined to get a jump on it this year.  As teachers we put soooooo much effort into our classrooms at the beginning of the year and parents, students, and administration usually see the final product.  I decided I would start with some before pictures this year to show what my classroom looks like without the effort and attention.  These are the "no make-up/just rolled out of bed" pictures that we all dread...get ready for it...

I will say that this is actually after several hours of work.  My shelf in the back was loaded and I managed to get it unpacked, but some of it ended on the table.  I'm looking forward to posting some lovely after pictures when I get a chance.