Teacher Tuesday

Quick update on the library... I started decorating today... Pictures will be posted next Tuesday! I LOVE how my hallway display turned out! Even better than what was in my head! Now I just need to work on the hall of fame area... I left it a mess... I wasn't a fan.

Pirates galore!

Teacher Tuesday... a look back on the 12-13 school year!

Today, I am looking back at some of my creations from the 2012- 2013 school year! I really got into decorating this school year! This post will look at some of my decor and the famed Read Across America Day!!!

Each 9 weeks had a theme this year for AR, so each 9 weeks, the library got a makeover!!

1st 9 weeks theme was "Go for the Goal," and I got to put my Michael Phelps obsession on display :)

front entrance

Side Entrance

Wall Display- their names went on a star when they reached their goal.

2nd 9 weeks we had a popcorn theme, "Pop Open a Good Book and Meet Your Goal."

Their name went on a piece of popcorn when they met their goal.

Christmas

I got busy during Christmas! Got rid of all of the AR decor and went Christmas CRAZY!

The right is my version of the book tree I found on pinterest (on the left).

This is when I decided to get Dr. Seuss CRAZY!

A wreath I made for the front office!

The side entrance was turned into a gingerbread house!

Read Across America Day 2013 :) 

We had a great day! Our theme was "Reading is Our Thing."

We had guest speakers, activities, special visitors, a themed snack section, and a basketball game!

The library door, LORAX, greets the students!

Background

Horton

Cat In the Hat

Office Door

Dr. Seuss Books

Happy Birthday Banner

Thing 1 and Thing 2

A look at the Dr. Seuss area.

Beezelnut Splash  (fruit punch)

The snack table!

Truffula Trees and seeds (cookie sticks and nerds jelly beans)

Butter Battle Crackers and cream cheese

One Fish, Two Fish (gold fish)

Hop on Pop (popcorn)

Go Dog Go (cocktail weenies)

Guest Speakers... Mr. and Miss. Junior at JSU

Kids enjoying the speakers.

Cat in the Hat :)

It was a GREATTTTTTT day!!! 

Moor Door Decor- Spring Break Edition

I do actually have other things to blog about, but this is more fun... After spring break, I will blog about Disney!! For March, I wanted something springy, and I wanted to incorperate a little Disney into the door since I will be making magic at Disney World over spring break : )

I am in love with quotes these days... I find that most of the time other people can state think 10 times better than I can, so i have decided to just let them say it best. With that said, I try to let quotes inspire my door themes. For March, I found that easy. Walt Disney once said, "There is more treasure in a book than in all the pirate's loot on treasure island." I used this quote to inspire this little mural....

***i will be the first to admit that these ideas are much better in my head. i am inpatient, so i work quickly. this creates numerous flaws in the design compared to the image i pictured.....

This is a view of the entire door... Treasure Island

The inspiration...

Mickey in our ship... the kids named is U.S.S. Rice, but you can barely see that.

The tree on the island... poor tree. let's just say palm trees are not my specialty.

The treasure chest..... since Walt Disney says there is more treasure in books, the kids made jewels with their favorite book titles on them. So here you have a treasure chest of awesome books.  They had a lot of fun doing this.

A close up of the jewels.

Have a great spring break! I will make a little magic for everyone out there!!

More Door Decor - Mardi Gras Style :)

I think my favorite thing is decorating my door each month. For February, I left up my "Be Cool- Read" design until mid month. Somewhere between the flu and jury duty, I found time to get into the Mardi Gras spirit. Here are a few pictures of the "Lassiz le Bon Temps Rouler with a good book" door.

This is a view of the entire door -- masks, beads, festive colors, boa looking border.

A close up of the sign.... in case you do not know,

 "laissez le bon temps rouler" means "let the good times roll."

A close up of the border... I thought the polka dot resembled Mardi Gras beads.

I also had a banner in the hall from Oriental Trading that said, "Happy Mardi Gras: WCES 5th Grade."

After enjoying a parade at school, a month of King Cake, and a two day vacation from school, it's back to the real world. Mardi Gras holiday is officially over. Today is Ash Wednesday. Lent starts today, which is a time of sacrifice. Even though I am not Catholic, I think I will be taking part in Lent. Giving up something you really want for 40 days seems like it could lead to a lot of good. Now I need to quickly decide what I will be sacrificing during Lent.

5th Grade

It's been so long since I have blogged on 5th grade life.... That's probably because 5th grade life keeps me pretty busy.

Each month, I try to have a theme on my door... Yes, I do teach 5th grade and not kindergarten, but I promise that the kids like the door being decorated just as much in 5th grade as they do in kindergarten.... and, it's therapy for me.


Here are the themes I have used thus far this year.

August - I chose a theme that was store bought... it was a cutesy social network type of theme. I bought it from reallygoodstuff.com. If you're a teacher, and you haven't heard of that website, you should make yourself familiar with it!!

September means the start of football, so of course I had a football themed door. Unfortunately, I cannot find the picture I took of that door. The theme was "kicking a touchdown for reading," since I teach reading. It was adorned with sample reading questions on the skills we were covering in September.

During October, I had fun!!! I found some super cute ideas online, and I made them my own. The door theme was "We are Batty About Books." For an art project, the kids made bats out of coffee filters and they were attached to the door below....

If a door was not enough, I also decorated the hallway... we do not have any bulletin boards that I can use, so I use my door, the hallway, and the extra white board as bulletin boards. 

This is our bulletin board for October--- "Witch books have you read?" The kids wrote book reviews on the stories they were reading during October.

October is also Red Ribbon Week, so I decorated the hallways with Drug Free posters for the occasion. 

Because I was sooooo busy during October, I failed to get a new bulletin board up during November :( 

However, I made the time during December!! The #1 thing I was taught in education school was the power of being able to beg, borrow, and steal.... For December, I used that knowledge and stole a super cute Christmas door from Emily Babb at louisianabrideblog.com (if you do not follow her blog, you should)

The kids traced and cut out their hands, and I glued them to the predecorated door. It was really fun, and the kids liked seeing their hands on the board. 

This year, I have become obsessed with window clings... how silly... 

January!! "Be Cool- Read" I love my snowmen and snowflakes-- perfect for January's wintery conditions! 

February also has a lot going on!! This month, my door will be decorated in Mardi Gras (Laizzes le Bon Temp Roulez), the math teacher is decorating in Valentine's, and the Social Studies/Science teacher will do Black History. March is a secret :)

April will have something to do with MCT2 and Spring, and May will be MCT2!! 

Other than door decorating, we have been doing a lot of reading in 5th grade! We read Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry last semester along with smaller things in between. It was a tough read for us, with a lot of interruptions. We are in the middle of reading The Watsons Go to Birmingham right now, and it is their most favorite book ever!! After we finish the Watsons, we will read Locomotion (my favorite)!! 

Well, that is all I have right now! It you are interested in donating money to a great website that benefits students, check out donorschoose.org.

Peace, Love, and Geaux Tigers : )