What Works... and What didn't Work!

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

YAY! I am so happy to be involved in this AMAZING giveaway by teachers, FOR TEACHERS! A big warm hug to The Inspired Owl’s Corner and Pawsivitely Teaching for putting this together.

This LINKY is great. Sharing SECRETS…
Ooo la la!

EXCEPT that…I am going to share with you 3 secrets that DIDN’T work for ME! And how I Learned from my mistakes.

#1. GO BIG OR GO HOME

It took me SIX YEARS to realize that crayons did not belong in a BIG tub in the middle of my student tables.

For 6 years I was dealing with…

Students constantly digging in the tub trying desperately to find the JUST>RIGHT>COLOR for their masterpieces.

There was Yelling and screaming ya’ll.

It was a wreck!

Then… an angel came last from Lakeshore Learning. WHOA!

Saved. MY. LIFE!

These are my UNSTOPPABLE, totally amazing crayon totes.

LOVE THEM. USE THEM.

#2. ORGANIZE, ORGANIZE

So, we ALL know that we need to step it up in the organizing category, right?

Well... ok, I did. (Raising one eyebrow?)

So, one secret that I’d like to share is how I organize my interactive notebooks and

WHAT NOT TO DO!

I ADORE my notebooks and I use them every week. The students have worked SO hard with them. This is what they looked like at the beginning.

Can you see how beautiful they are? Yes, I agree… LOVE!

I thought that it would be a great idea to have them design the front covers during the first month of school. This would allow the students time to create pride and wonderment with their notebooks.
NO. IT. DID. NOT!!!

EPIC FAIL!

First of all, kinders at the beginning of school CANNOT COLOR!

Nope. They just plain can’t.

They need me like I need them.

So guess what?

My notebooks this year are a HOT MESS!

Scribbles, crazy daisy colors, + some just colored with pencils all over the notebook. Can you believe it? Yep, I can.

Every time I get them outI think

awe man…

Why did I do that? So, next week we are going to strip off the front covers and make new ones and NEXT Year I will wait until the last month of school to design covers.

#3. DAILY FIVE? LITERACY CENTER organization

Three years ago, I fell in LOVE with Daily Five and I needed a way to organize my centers. I wanted a one-touch system that worked continuously, with me or without me. Then, I found this at Michaels Arts and Crafts.

RAINBOW COLORS!

I LOVE it.

Each Center has a drawer and a purpose. I will love this forever.