I am ALWAYS looking for easier ways to hang up classroom decorations; posters, alphabet charts, and more. We can use poster putty and Command Strips only. An alphabet chart needs a lot of poster putty, 4 corners X 26 letters = too much time. Plus it has to come off the wall next May.  I was dreading  contemplating this task today, and alphabet and a 0-20 number set needed to go up on the walls. I looked at the mess , supplies I had on the desks and got inspired.  Step 1: Staple/Tape the cards to strips of border, I have plenty of that. Step 2: Continue for the length of the border strip, or cut the border to the desired length.  Step 3: Attach the strips to the wall with Command Strips, Poster Putty, or whatever you are allowed to use.  Time saved now & Time will be saved in May.  ...

I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for Made it Monday. I've been working a lot of little projects all weekend. Here goes....               My clothes pins needed a makeover. The striped ones have magnets on the back and are for my board in the classroom. The orange polk dot ones have a push pin on the back and go on my hallway bulletin board to hang student work.        Birthday straws! A friend found the fun straws at the dollar store for me. Print, laminate and cut out the balloons, a little tape and a cute, inexpensive birthday gift for my kiddos.       I teach Kindergarten. That means anything and everything can be put to use. I added alphabet stickers and mod podge to more clothes pins. These will go in the word work center. The kids can clip the letters to word cards to spell the words.     That is it for now. I am working a several more little things, but the......

I was in town this morning. I live in the country; I really do "Go to town." Depending on the errand I need to run there are different stores I will drive by. Today was a Goodwill store in a nicer area. You know what I mean, the neighborhoods around the store are a little more affluent. I stopped in, you never know what you might find. I walked by the toy section. Nothing. Kids books. Nothing caught my eye. I always check out the furniture. Jackpot!! I saw this toy box. It is white, clean, not too big. The best part; the price $9.88. I get to the register and she's training another woman. She starts walking though  the steps to enter the item, then I hear her say something about a discount. Discount?? Yes, Please! It was on sale. I got it for $8.00. Even better!  Now, what to do with it? I don't want to paint it. I could cover the white areas with colored contact paper, dry erase contact paper, or chalkboard contact paper.  What to put in it? I have severa......

Welcome. I am linking up with Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd and Lucky Little Learners for this month's #2getherwearebetter talk. I hope you are getting inspired by the wonderful bulletin boards you are seeing. That is my hope: INSPIRATION. Because this year I need it. I have not done mine yet.  I have lots of surfaces I can decorate. I use the longer bulletin board for student work. It is outside my classroom and there is a wall across the hallway that I use. I have ordered some colorful circle border from Teacher Created Resources that I will use on the outside board. I use decorated clothespins to adhere the student work. It save lots of time when I am changing out work. On the wall, I have a different system involving yard, Command hooks, and clips, but that is for another post.  As you can see I left my blue double border up inside. I did it last year and it still looks fine. It is too much work to change every year. I am not sure what to ......

It is official. School starts tomorrow. Bright and Early! Ready or Not!  I am ready, well my room is at least. I really don't have a theme that carries throughout all my decorations. I like bright colors. I have started putting border around large displays on the walls. It adds a finishing touch to the display. It also helps the display stand out on the cream colored walls. This is the view from my desk. Complete with my Tervis tumbler. I drink iced tea all day. I have several tumblers that follow me everywhere I go.  This is the view from the door. We use tables for Kindergarten. I am using shower caddies to hold the scissors, glue, and pencils for the table. Each student will have their own box for crayons.  I have set my tables and chairs so that everyone will be able to see the piloting a 2:1 laptop program this year, so the kids will need to see the board. Lots more on that throughout the year.  Here is the reading corner. I f......

Oh My! There is so much to do for back to school. I could post something new for a month to talk about all the items I am creating and things I am doing. But I won't bore you. I have been using clothes pins on my bulletin board for a couple of years. It makes changing out the student work so much faster. As I was redoing the board this week a teacher stopped by and commented that the clothespins would be cute if they were painted. I completely agree, but decided to use washi tape instead. Less Mess!!  Here are my supplies all lined up. Hot glue gun, thumb tacks, clothes pins, and washi tape.  I started by gluing the thumb tacks to the clothes pins.  Once the glue dried, I put the washi tape on the other side. I found this tape at the dollar store. Primary colored hearts will match my bulletin board perfectly.  The little bit of color adds just enough to go from blah to cute. Add washi tape to your supply list. It is a simple way to......