Back To School Essentials

Today is August 1st.  School starts in one month (for the children)!  I officially head back to work on August 27th, but I have already spent a week working in my room (here) and countless hours on Pinterest and reading teacher books.  What can I say?  I love my job.  Sure, summer is for relaxing and holidays and all that, but it's also about getting excited for next year!  : )

I know schools in many areas start earlier than us, so my Pinterest is flooded with "back-to-school" ideas and blog posts.  Inevitably I read them (all) and start to get excited and a little antsy to go back.  I have some "Must Haves" not just for back to school, but for the whole year.  These are things that I absolutely always have in my classroom.

School Supplies

Obviously, we teachers need a good stock of basic supplies on hand for our day-to-day work.  I am fortunate to be given an order form and a spending limit and am basically able to order whatever I need.  This is in addition to our student supplies, for which we receive another order form and spending limit.  The supplies will be waiting for me when I return to school in a few weeks.  I order things like pens, white-out, masking tape, Scotch tape refills, whiteboard markers, staples, paper clips, and sticky notes.  I have many essentials that I re-use every year and do not need to be re-ordered, like staplers, scissors, hole punches, etc.

I always supplement my boring, standard supplies with some fun, exciting supplies...like a 24 pack of Sharpies (all different colours!!), Mr. Sketch Smelly Markers (did you see they have some new colours out this year?!?!?!), colourful ballpoint pens (planning is so much more enjoyable when you use a different coloured pen for each subject area...), and of course, a better selection of Whiteboard Markers (black, red, blue, green gets a wee bit tired....fuchsia anyone?).

Cleaning Supplies

We have cleaning supplies provided to us by our custodial staff.  However, I am not convinced that the school board issued cleaner is all that great.  I also don't like the way it smells, and the cloths that we are given just do not get washed enough (yuck).  

Elementary School classrooms are disgusting cesspools of germs and illness waiting to happen.  Right?  I always have a healthy supply of cleaning wipes on hand.  Always.  I prefer the "no name" brand (Superstore) or "life brand" (Shoppers Drug Mart) to Lysol because of the smell, but any brand will do.  I use these mainly to wipe tables, but also to clean other things and germ-collecting spots like door handles, computer keyboard and mouse, and even a good wipe of the communal supplies (pencils, scissors, etc.) to cut down the germ-sharing as much as possible.  Side-note:  I am thinking about running things like scissors and manipulatives through the dishwasher before school starts....thoughts?

"Kitchen" Essentials

No, I do not have a "kitchen" in my classroom (unless you count the one in the house centre...but last time I checked those appliances don't actually work...and the chairs are a bit small...) but I do eat at least 2 meals in my classroom every day.  I struggle with getting out of bed in the morning, so I take my breakfast with me and eat it at work while I prepare for my day.  I also eat lunch in my room most days, though one of my goals is to spend a little more time in the staffroom now that I won't be busy with lunch-time music rehearsals all the time.

When I got married 4 1/2 years ago, my hubby and I found we had duplicates of almost everything, since we had both been on our own for a while prior to meeting and getting hitched.  Most of it we gave away or got rid of, but a few things came to school with me, like the microwave!  It is really nice to have in the classroom to heat up my lunch, to make some oatmeal in the morning for breakfast, or...what I usually use it for....to heat up my coffee that I never seem to be able to drink! I have a single cup drip coffee maker in my room as well (I bought it for about $10 at Superstore a few years back and recently found one at WalMart for $10 that I bought to have at home after our Tassimo bit the dust).  I also have a small collection of dishes at school like a couple plates, a bowl, coffee mugs and utensils.  

Though I pack my food for breakfast and lunch most days, sometimes it just doesn't work out.  Sometimes I can't bring a lunch for whatever reason, so I just plan to run out and grab a quick lunch from somewhere close.  But....what happens when that doesn't work either?  Unexpected meetings, parent phone calls that take longer than planned...then what?  I always keep a few things in a desk drawer for these days.  These also come in handy for those days when you end up staying way too late and just can't face the thought of going home and cooking dinner!  They aren't always the healthiest option (instant noodle cups?) but it's better than going hungry!  Here is a list of items that may be found in my desk drawer at any given time;

     - Tuna Salad snacks (you know, the ones that come with crackers?)

     - The aforementioned instant noodle cups or other instant soup cups

     - Dole fruit cups (I try to find the ones packed in water, not syrup)

     - Granola bars

     - Fruit-to-Go fruit leather bars

     - crackers 

     - a selection of tea bags and coffee grounds, obviously

This year I want to have some roasted chick-peas or something on hand for an extra protein boost that is nut free.  Any ideas?

Kids bring their own snacks to school where I teach.  Kindergarten is a half-day program, so they do not bring a full lunch.  At least a couple times a week, there is a child who doesn't have a snack, for whatever reason (sometimes it just didn't make it to the backpack, sometimes you know it's because the family can't afford one).  I always have snacks available for those students who may need something, but I have learned not to make the snacks too exciting.  I have had trouble with kids lying about not having a snack so that they could get one from me, or even hiding what they had from home, etc.  I will keep granola bars (nut free), soda crackers (boring!), and plain apple sauce on hand.  I usually only offer the apple sauce to kids who can't have the granola bars or crackers (I had two kids this past year with severe gluten allergies).  This past year I also went through a lot of plastic spoons because kids would bring yogurt, pudding, apple sauce, etc and hardly ever bring their own spoon!  It got a wee bit annoying.  I may include something about sending utensils in my Intro Newsletter this year.

Toiletries and Personal Items

I have learned over the years that it never hurts to be prepared.  All these items should be fairly self-explanatory!

     - Advil

     - cough syrup (in locked drawer...for ME, not the kids!)

     - Fisherman's Friend or other throat lozenges

     - nail clippers and nail file (it sure sucks to go through a whole day with a jagged, torn-off nail catching on everything!)

     - hand sanitizer (we also have bottles of sanitizer for the students provided to us)

     - hand lotion (especially in winter around here...my hands start to look like I have dragon scales...)

     - feminine hygiene products (unless you are a man...)

     - dental floss, and a travel toothbrush and paste!

     - a little travel-size case with deodorant, make-up compact (powder), lip balm, hair brush, bobby pins/hair ties, etc.  Because sometimes you just need to freshen up.

Us teachers spend a LOT of time in our classrooms, right?  It may seem silly to have such a long list of "must-have" items, but my room is my second home, and these things can help make the day go a lot smoother!  

What are your must-haves?

Classroom Progress #1

This week the weather hasn't been all that great, and I'm heading on holidays next week so I decided to do something CRAZY and go to my school.

Actually, for me this isn't crazy at all.  Each year that I have worked at this school except for one (last year) I have gone in during the summer.  Some people do call me crazy.

I enjoy a nice quiet day in my room, without the pressure of start-up being only a couple days away.  I think I am more creative with my space when I am relaxed.

Relaxed = Summer.

And...as much as I love my colleagues, I enjoy the focused time alone, without the distraction of sitting and chatting and then feeling guilty and stressed about it when I finally get back to work!

At the end of the year we just finished, I said goodbye to half of my position (teaching music) and hello to full time Kindergarten!  I also moved classrooms.  This basically involved shoving everything anywhere as quickly as possible.  Organization?  What's that??  

Classroom moving motto = Get 'er done.

This is what things looked like when the Custodian first opened my door for me...

Not so bad!  When I left, most of my furniture was stacked in the hallway and crammed on the carpet so that the floors could be waxed.  Our Custodians are awesome at starting the set-up process if you draw them a little map on the whiteboard, which I did!  Yay!  

So that cut out a big chunk of work for me and I was able to get started on sorting through some things right away.

Classroom library books, waiting to be sorted;

Math supplies and manipulatives; BEFORE

Math supplies and manipulatives; AFTER

I just need to add the cute little labels I made!

In my old room, the recessed coat hook area was blocked off and used for storage.

I was in a room that was exactly the same size, but I used it for two programs; K and Music.

I had a rolling coat hook rack in the hallway so that I could maximize storage in the room.

Now that I am only doing one thing, I don't really need a giant storage cave anymore and I can use the coat hooks in my room!

However, my shelves and curtains used to hide a multitude of sins.

Not earth shattering, but oh dear, are those boxes ugly!

Ah, much better!

Loving these inexpensive Sterilite containers with dry-erase marker friendly labels!

Somewhere along the way I inherited this ugly little brown shelf.  It used to hide in the storage cave with a class set of glockenspiels stashed inside.

In my new world, it is front and centre in my teaching space as it is exactly the right size to extend my counter area and gives me some extra storage.  The bottom shelf is accessible to students on the other side and is filled with supplies for an art/crafts centre.  

The top shelf is for teacher and carpet-time stuff.

The yellow box contains my number line cards, sorting mats, 10 Frame cards and DIY rekenrek cards.  The green basket has some dice (traditional, colours, letters, shapes), some sparkly wand pointers, my crocodile game, my rhyming basket, and a cute little hedgehog holding a strawberry....for....um....because it's cute.

The edges of this shelf are pretty rough and ugly....

So.....Washi tape!

 Have you seen the paint stick book dividers on Pinterest?

I went to my local Rona store and sweet-talked the awkward man at the paint counter into giving me some FREE paint sticks.  He didn't seem very happy about it.  But he let me have them anyway!

                                      

Using the FREE stuff that a parent gave me (here) I made some cute themed dividers.

Most of the pins I have seen for this project are alphabetical - for book titles, or authors, 

or even reading levels.

These dividers are for my own personal books that I keep at school to use for lessons and 

read-alouds.  I have them organized by theme and/or subject area.

Here are my finished dividers (plus a cat head);

And another angle (with another cat head!);

And here they are in action (no cat heads....);

Something I was working on today was cleaning out my big map drawer unit.  It has very large, but shallow drawers and is perfect for storing items like um....maps (hence the name...), posters, chart paper, etc.  I have not sorted through it in a few years and managed to find plenty of stuff to recycle and get rid of.

I came across many things that I made or purchased early in my career and have since replaced.

I was fortunate to be hired at the end of June way back in the day, giving me the whole summer to start planning and preparing things for my very first classroom.  It was terribly exciting!

I had no extra money at all (I worked at the Gap that summer!) and couldn't afford all the fun and cute teacher stuff that I can afford now.  Its kinda funny....I didn't have the money when I really needed the stuff.  Now I don't really need any stuff but have the money.

Anyway, I am pretty crafty and artistic, so I made most of my posters, charts and classroom decorations in those early years.  In my sorting today I came across these oldies;

They are pretty old and sad looking now. 

The laminating is all bubbled and peeling off (the machine wasn't working properly when these were done).  I just couldn't bring myself to throw them out.  Maybe I can salvage them?

(yeah right)

I will not be going back to my room until the end of August.

That's what I told the Custodian, anyway!  We'll see if I can actually wait that long.

Though my room is still quite a mess I did get a crazy amount of stuff done this week.

Now I won't stress and obsess over my room all summer, drawing tiny floor plan ideas in a notebook and scribbling down all kinds of crazy little plans.

Well...to be perfectly honest I will still scribble down all kinds of crazy plans in a notebook.

I just don't need to do the floorplan ideas because it's all set up.

Ha.

Summer projects!!

On the second last day of school, this AWESOME parent stopped by my room and said she had something for me, and could she just grab it quickly from her car...

I know this parent pretty well, after having taught both of her lovely daughters.  This Mom and I have lots in common, especially a love of all things crafty!  

She came in with this GIANT box, as well as a zippered case and a bag BURSTING with crafty things that she was getting rid of!!!

JACKPOT!!!

I brought it home to sort through and organize over the summer.  After moving classrooms, I have enough sorting and organizing in my room waiting for me.  But of course I couldn't wait...nope, I busted into this baby on the FIRST day of my summer break.  You should have seen the mess I made!  Stuff everywhere!

Anyway, what a goldmine of stuff.  

Stickers, stamps, fancy-edged scissors, and beautiful paper.  

Just looking through it all inspired me.

For the last 9 years, I have had two jobs - teaching Kindergarten half-time and teaching Music half-time.  As you can imagine, I have had to split my time, my energy, my focus, my resources, and yes, even my creativity between these two positions.  

Now, as I am one summer away from only doing one job (full time Kindergarten!), I find myself thinking of all the possibilities...

How will I organize and set up my classroom???

What will my classroom theme be?

What are some things I have wanted to try but have not had the time, energy, or resources for?

Etc....

One thing I have wanted to freshen up for a few years now are the letter signs for my Word Wall.  

For 9 years I have been using hand-me-down signs that were passed on to me with the classroom when I first started at this school.  The signs had been part of one large letter banner that was cut apart...somewhat crookedly, I might add.

They have served their purpose, and there is nothing *wrong* with them.

But, I really like the pennant look and for the last couple summers thought about making my own set of pennant-style letter signs for my word wall.  It just never happened.

This box of crafty goodies contained literally the perfect amount of paper in literally the perfect colours for me to make my signs.  I was feeling pretty tired and wanted a lazy day anyway, so I turned on some netflix, got my paper cutter and lap desk, and got started.

I used the fancy-edged scissors on some of the accent pieces, and stuck everything together using the glue tape dispensers that were also in the box!

If I find the right size of letter stickers I will use those for the actual letters.  Otherwise, I will just write them by hand with a nice fat black marker. 

After laying some out on the floor to show a sampling of the colour selection, my darling cat Gretchen Lightning decided she would like to play with one.

She was having so much fun getting in my way that she called her darling sister, 

Molly Marshmallow over to join the fun.

I will be sure to take some photos when they are completed and hanging in my classroom!

SUMMER!!!

You know what those are???

Hmm?

Do ya?

Those, my friends are strawberries.

Delicious, sweet, juicy strawberries.

Anyone know where I got them from?

No?  Nobody?

Ok, I'll tell you.

From my garden!!!

It's summer time, baby!!!

And now it is OFFICIALLY summer...nope, not because we have passed the summer solstice and all that mumbo-jumbo.

It's summer because SCHOOL is OUT for kids

AND FOR TEACHERS!!!!

FINALLY!!!!!

: )

(If you are not a teacher and do not have the summer off, I apologize for rubbing this in your face.)

A Thoughtful Gift

I had the BEST kids this year.

Seriously.

The best.

You know what (sometimes) goes with the BEST kids???

The BEST parents.

Yessiree....I was blessed with some of those this year, too.

I had some really awesome, supportive parents.  Not many of them could come in and volunteer, but many were willing to help from home if I sent little projects home.  Even more than that, I just knew that these parents were supportive of me and what I was doing in the classroom.  They were always kind and friendly to me.  What a gift.

Teacher gifts are an interesting thing.

First of all, they are unnecessary.  We don't need to be given gifts at the end of the school year.  

Where I teach, I usually receive a handful of gifts from kids and their families, at Christmas time, and then sometimes at the end of the year.  Whenever I do receive gifts, I am extremely grateful and appreciative.  Truly, I am.

This year some very thoughtful parents and kids gave me some very thoughtful gifts.

This photo is of a beautiful shadow box that one parent made for me.

I can't wait to have that on my desk as a daily encouragement!

(An awesome teacher is hard to find, difficult to part with, and impossible to forget.)

A thoughtful gift, though not necessary, is a powerful thing.

Teaching can actually be a lonely profession at times.  

Often teachers are criticized and judged.  Many see teachers as a bunch of lazy whiners.

"Must be nice to get the whole summer off..."

"Must be nice to be off work at 3:00 every day..."

"All you do is play with kids all day??  Must be nice..."

I'll save my snarky responses for another blog.

When a family gives a teacher a meaningful gift, it encourages us.  It motivates us.  It inspires us.

It does not matter what the gift is.

It does not matter how much the gift cost.

Sometimes you get a gem like this Mom who spent her time making a beautiful and thoughtful keepsake for me.

I am blessed.

If you teach somewhere and you are not so blessed...

perhaps you did not hear any kind and heartfelt words of gratitude this year...

Let me tell you...

You are amazing.

You are appreciated.

You make a difference.

The kindest words...

Today was the fourth-last day of school.

For me, it was my fourth-last day as our school's Music Teacher.  As I explained in
this post I am going to be teaching Kindergarten full time next year, instead of half-time K and half-time Music.

As eager as I am for this year to be done, and as ready as I am for the summer and for the changes that are coming, part of me wishes I could just suspend time...just a little.  Just to soak up a few more moments.  Like today, at the year-end assembly, dressing up in Justin Bieber shirts, sideways hats, and busting out "Baby" with some kids, including students beat boxing and rapping (very well might I add!) just because we can.  Or spending almost an entire afternoon watching children face their stage fright, get up in front of their peers in class and share something, like a song on the piano or singing a solo.  Magical.

As one class arrived this afternoon, student after student after student came and handed me cards that they had made.  I almost lost it right there.  I didn't read the cards right then (for lack of time and the inevitable crying...) and then after a tough phone call about a kid, a parent meeting, and some more packing and cleaning for the big classroom move, I forgot about the cards.  Luckily I tucked them in my bag and they came flying out when I pulled out my laptop at home.

And boy, did I cry.

And question my decision.

And cry some more.

It is just too sweet not to share some highlights.

"You are the BEST music teacher ever.  You are fun, intelligent, smart.  Thank you.  I would not learn music if I did not know you."

"You have been a great music teacher over the years.  I miss you as a teacher.  You have an amazing voice and I think you can play every instrument in the world."
(aw...not even close, but so sweet!)

"I will miss you as my music teacher, I have never met someone quite the same as you."

"I'm going to miss you because you're my first music teacher I know and you taught us everything you know.  Thank you for that."
(aw...hopefully not everything...)

"You were the best music teacher a kid could imagine.  You were strict for the good of things.  I'm just so sad I don't wanna taco bout it."
(yes....she drew a little picture of a taco.  Amazing.)

This one made me laugh the hardest;
"The year was awesome.  You made it a year to remember by putting on the Spring Production just using your powers.  It was spectacular.  You are amazing.  I wish we could make this year a bit longer."
(oh yes....my POWERS!!!!!  And yeah...I kinda wish we could make the year longer, too.
Sniff, sniff...)

And the one that just hit me like a ton of bricks;
"I loved the Spring Production that you made this year, it was fun.  Music will always be in your heart.  You will still play instruments but at home not at school.  You will always be a music teacher inside your heart."
(Ouch.  But the best kind of ouch.)

I'm sorry...I can't see the screen anymore...excuse me while I get a tissue.
Maybe the whole box.

when you love what you do...

Yesterday I enjoyed a lovely lunch with some fabulous colleagues and friends.  It is VERY close to the end of our school year.  So close....I can almost taste it!

The end of the year is probably one of the most exhausting times for teachers.  In elementary school, we go right to the bitter end...no exams or alternate schedules.  We are busily trying to make sure we have covered our curriculum, completed projects, and accurately assessed each student in each area.  Then we have to tackle writing the dreaded report cards.  Our board adopted a new reporting system this year, which we are all still getting used to.  One we have written our report cards, submitted them for review by our admin, and made any necessary corrections, we still have to print, file, stuff envelopes, and send them home (but not until the last day of school).

Then we still have our student work to compile and send home.  In Kindergarten, I put together a large memory book / scrap book with work from throughout the year, along with photos and special mementos.  Thank God for an amazing volunteer this year who really helped with those.  Hours and hours of time, and a surreal amount of gluesticks later, they will be ready to send home.

We also have a number of special events in the last week of school.  There are assemblies, presentations, parties, and our annual Sports Day, when teachers each run an activity station outside while the students travel around and have fun on the last day.  For myself, I am editing a video of a school-wide music project to share at the final assembly, practicing with 2 different groups of students who are performing at one of the assemblies, planning the Kindergarten Year-End celebration (an assembly for parents to attend at which the students share poems and songs, etc), making a slideshow for Kindergarten, and preparing some special gifts to send home with my kids, parent volunteers, and Educational Assistant.

Whew.  I'm tired just thinking of it all.  And on top of that....many of us are moving classrooms this year.  That involves a crazy amount of cleaning, purging, organizing, and obviously moving.  My colleagues' plates are equally full.

Believe it or not, I do not say any of this to complain.  Our school is no different than any other school....we are not any busier, nor are we working any harder than teachers anywhere else.  This is just the life of a teacher at the end of the year...am I right?  (Yes.  Yes I am.)

I say all of this because I was very struck by part of the conversation with my friends and colleagues yesterday at lunch.

There we sat...tired, stressed out, and just totally done.  We were so happy to have the chance to sit and enjoy a nice lunch together.  We were all finished our report cards, and though we all had a thousand other things on our to-do lists, we all chose to spend some time relaxing and enjoying each other's company.  I love these ladies, I really do.  I'm not sure I would have made it through the last 9 years without incredible friends like these.  Truly.

But the part of the conversation that leaves me inspired...well, it didn't even hit me until afterwards.  Until this morning, actually.

I slept in a little today, because I could.  I have lots to do today, but I know somehow it will get done.  So I made a GIANT cup of coffee and some breakfast.  I sat on my couch (which I vacuumed yesterday...yay me!), grabbed my laptop and started checking pinterest!  As I was happily reading and pinning away, I had to grab my "Next Year" notebook to write down a couple more ideas.

Anyway, I realized how crazy it was that I have a half-filled notebook about next year, when I still have a week left of this year.  Next year, people.  I have a mountain of stuff to do, I have the whole summer ahead of me, and I have HALF A NOTEBOOK filled up with ideas for NEXT FREAKING YEAR.  Am I nuts????

Then I thought about lunch yesterday.  Inevitably, the conversation turned to the upcoming school year.

One by one, each of us expressed how excited we were about next year.  Excited.  

A few of us have big changes in our positions coming.  We have had conversations and meetings about students who will be coming into our classes next year (some of whom are incredibly complex and challenging students). In the midst of our stress, our tiredness, and our overwhelming list of things to do in the next week...we are all just so excited.

It's easy to feel excited in the middle of the summer, when you are relaxing in the sun on a patio with a drink in your hand.  It's easy to feel excited once you have had time to relax and recharge after the insanity of a school year.

But there we sat...right in the thick of the year-end madness.  Exhausted and barely hanging on.  And one by one our eyes lit up as we thought about the year ahead even though we aren't quite done this one.

It just makes me love what I do even more.  It makes me respect my colleagues so much more.  This is one of the many reasons I feel so incredibly blessed to be where I am, at an amazing school, working with such amazing people.

Now....it's time for me to tackle that to-do list.  : )