Five for Friday!

I am so excited to be linking up for Five for Friday with Doodle Bugs Teaching!  For me, it is just a small miracle that I remembered to take pictures of five different things.  I am busy getting my room ready for another year.  My first day is Aug. 26th. 

1.  I had to take down the love notes from last year.  Boo hoo!  I had such a sweet group.   I always try to have a little spot in the room for love notes.  They really are gifts in kinder world and they need to be respected as such, ya know...?  Last year they were above my desk area along with all the important calendars and memos from school.  I took a picture of them because I almost posted them on Instagram.  (@mrsbyrdslearningtree)  It was sad to recycle them, but I am sure there will be more to replace them soon enough.  It makes me excited to meet my new sweeties.

2.  I got my weekly communication folders for the year made.  My sweet husband, Duane, came in one afternoon to help me in my classroom.  He taped all the sides of the envelopes to make them indestructible.   They will be decorated on the back by little students on the first day as one of their jobs (that's what I call centers in my room).   Then I laminate them and they really do last all year long.  Duane also helped me by taking apart and completely cleaning my overhead projector.  I haven't used it for three years.  This is the year to either use it or lose it.  I am going to let the kids do open ended activities on it for a choice during center time.  (I took Duane out to dinner to thank him for his help - that's a win win!)

3.  Today I fixed our class book box to get a few more years out of it.  It was falling apart, so it was either duct tape or papier mache and painting it.  I think this was a better option.  I'm not super thrilled with the neon colors, but that's what I had on hand, so that's what went on the box.  We make lots of class books where each kiddo creates a page.  They are great for thematic units, and the kids like to read them.  This is the box where they live in our classroom library.

4.  So this one actually did make it onto Instagram.  I just had to share.  I keep the balls and ropes in a big red bucket/tub/you know...  I took everything out and the bottom of it was DISGUSTING!!! It actually had a layer of dirt in the grooves in the bottom.  I took it outside to rinse it off with the hose.  Yuck!  Thankfully, it was hot today and the tub dried really quickly.   Can you guess my room number and the color of my class' recess equipment?

5.  I did a post yesterday on using your kiddos names for literacy learning in the beginning of the year.  It has lots of ideas and you can get this FREEBIE Name Bingo game too!  You can find this post right here: Name Games! and a FREEBIE!

Don't forget to stop by Doodle Bugs Teaching to see all the other great blogs that are linked up.

Thanks for stopping by!
Happy teaching!