Ditching the Glitz and Glam

Do you love #targetdollarspot, Dollar Tree, Big Lots, and any other retailer that sells all those teacher goodies cheap?  Then do you run home and sketch out your classroom on graph paper (so you can get it to scale), plan the most creative bulletin boards with burlap, and design the cutest table settings ever?  I don’t know about you but I love to decorate, rearrange, bargain shop, and plan layouts for my classroom all the time.  However, I had to do some serious reevaluating at the end of this school year.  My test scores went down.

Now I know it’s not all about the test scores, but at the end of the day that’s what the greater powers are studying.  Sure I could chalk it up to all the days I missed for obligations I had this year that were school related or even that my kids were not as academically strong as my previous group, but as a teacher I should be able to teach any group of kids under any circumstances.  What can I do to make things better?

I started looking around my room at the cutesy decor that hours were spent preparing and arranging between my volunteers and myself.  All the money I spent in items, materials, labor, and decorations that really didn’t assist my class academically.  Why was I wasting my time and money when there are no beneficial results for the education of my class?  What can I do to change?

1. Quit shopping for things because other teachers are buying them. #instagramismyenemy
2. Only place things on walls that are relevant to my instruction at that time. We can make digital anchor charts and reference tables to visit later. Besides, all that clutter gets very distracting and no one can focus if there’s too much.
3. K.I.S.S. No, not the band.  Keep It Simple Stupid.
4. Make my environment like home, not like the “My Little Ponies” exploded in the room.  A cozy and purposeful room will promote feelings of comfort and confidence for my scholars.
5. Use what I already have.  There’s no need to break the bank when I already own the necessities.  Flexible seating, collaborative groupings, and other environments for all learners can be created using what I’ve accumulated over the past five years.

This year I vow to ditch the glitz and glam in decor and transfer all that energy into my teaching.  I vow to spend my time making outrageously exciting lessons for my class instead of trying to recreate the cute rooms I see on Instagram and Pinterest.  The sketches I create will be small group instruction strategies versus bulletin board creations that serve no purpose.  When the test scores come in at the end of the year I will know that my time was well spent because I ditched what wasn’t important and focused on the job I love.  Who’s ready to start this journey with me?  Let’s spread the word #ditchingtheglitzandglam.

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I love the idea of room transformations.  They bring this sense of magic to a classroom.  Last year was my first year doing these on a larger scale and it was also my first year in fifth grade.  Some last a day and some have lasted a few weeks.  This year I did decide not to have them last more than two weeks for a few reasons: 1) After a while I cannot handle the chaos; 2) My scholars lose interest; 3) It starts to get in the way.  Most of the ideas I have used have come from watching other amazing teachers on their blog, but others have come from my own crazy brain (oh yeah we did have one with jello brains) based off of our current curriculum.

For the past two weeks we transformed our room into a safari as we were completing the second half of our ecosystems unit.  I write a ton of grants so some of the materials come from there, but most of what you will see in this transformation came from Dollar Tree and family donations.

In the above picture we have "jeeps" for our safari.  This idea was borrowed from Hope King over at RCA and Elementary Shenanigans.  She used hers for her Jurassic World Unit.  The jeeps are made from plastic table cloths, aluminum foil (jeep grill), aluminum pie plates (two in a pack for $1 for the headlights), and duck tape!  I made 6 jeeps for about $10 since I already had tape.  Last year my families donated items and this was the leftovers so this year it was free!  The hats they are wearing came from Dollar Tree about four years ago, the trees were on loan from our library, the stuffed animals came from my home since we have about five million.

This is a picture from last year to see the whole class view.  The jeeps were modified a touch this year.

This was my favorite picture from last year.  To practice food chains and food webs we had to dig through alligator poop (aka mud from our garden - with real snails and worms).  The weren't sure if it was poop until we left for the day.

This year I used the Smart Chicks' Fish Guts activity.  I made Oobleck for the guts because it was cheaper and I could make so much more of it.  Note: It is HARD to close up the gloves for this activity.  I don't know if it was the gloves I had, but I was dying!!! I had to get my husband to help because my fingers were so sore.  This is not because of the Fish Guts product, simply a future note to self to make a few a day up to this date or enlist family volunteers from our class to come in and assist.  I purchased the animals she listed in her product and created my own food chains.  The last animal is the chain was the "guts" they were investigating.  The kids LOVED this.  It was just as fun as the alligator poop (which I will bring back at the end of the year for an EOG review).

The day I introduce a room transformation I always open my door late.  The scholars know it's that kind of day because all of my windows are blacked out and they can hear music playing.  I also always dress up (if it's more than one day I dress up on at least the first day).  It's so much fun for them and for me.  It doesn't take much but it makes a lasting impression on these kiddos!  I'd love to hear what you do in your room!!!

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Alright teacher friends, it's time to get a pen pal project going.  At first I was thinking only fifth graders, but I want to make sure we can spread the word on a larger scale.  If you know of some teachers who would be interested in this project, please share the link to this post or tag them on Instagram.  This is how I would like to do the project.  Below is a link to a Google Form that will get the basic info:  your name, school address, email address, and other basics.  Then I'd like to see how often we would like to exchange the post cards.  I'm dedicating a bulletin board to this project using the Target Dollar Spot maps.  I'd love to connect with teachers in other countries, so if you know someone either teaching abroad or that is their home, please pass this along to them.  The goal is to have at least one person in each state.  If we get a lot of interest or duplicates, we may have two groups going at one time.

Once the sign up window closes, I will email each group their contacts with the mailing date(s).  The postcard designs are your choice, but it may be nice to have stuff from your home state.  Again, that is your call because the kids will be so excited to just receive notes from other classes.  We can take it from there if we want to add additional communication, such as Skype or letters versus postcards.  But we will start with one postcard being sent around October and go from there!

Here is the link to the sign up area:

Postcard Pen Pals Sign Up Form



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It's that time of year again.  You know that time us teachers have been thinking about all summer. Setting up our classroom.  I don't know about you, but I start planning the upcoming year before I even leave for summer.  I truly think if I wasn't teaching I'd either be an engineer or I'd want to work for Joanna Gaines from "Fixer Upper".  Both jobs speak to me and if I had tons of money, my room would truly show it.  However, if you're a teacher you know the endless supply of cash never seems to find us, so most of us try to make the most with what we have.

Let's talk about where I start.  For me, I measure out my room dimensions (including my bulletin board areas and cabinets) and all the contents in my room.  Then I map it out on graph paper and I even make little room pieces (my inner paper doll loving child comes out and I told you I would be an engineer).  This is what it looks like:

Now I like to tape my entire page and class pieces laminate everything so I can add a small piece of tape to my items and move them around as necessary.  To say I have classroom envy of some of your spaces is an understatement.  Some of you have the LARGEST rooms ever and I may drool over them occasionally.  This is how my layout looks right now.

And yes, that is a stage you see.  One of the awesome parents at my school IS an engineer and has generously offered to help me build one before school starts.  Mine is going to be a bit different than other stages people have made.  It will actually be comprised of five to six pieces (we're still trying to figure out what will work best).  Each piece will be like a box that has hinges so we can store stuff inside.  Because really, who ever has enough storage?  Then each box will be on casters that lock so I can make different configurations.  I'm taking out my kidney table and using the stage instead.  Here are a few options for the stage arrangements.

I like having the flexibility to have stage pieces around my room.  After attending the Ron Clark Academy last year I require all of my scholars to stand when speaking to the class.  Having stage platforms around the room will allow my students to be seen without standing in their chairs.  When I am doing small groups we will make semi u-shaped configurations where the platform is like a table or desk area.  Inside the stage pieces will house carpet squares for scholars to sit on so they are not on the cold floor.

I'd love to hear how you plan your classroom configurations.  I'll make another post once my room is complete, but I'll put pictures along the way on Instagram!  Oh, and if you are friends with Joanna and Chip Gaines, you can let them know I will gladly take any help they want to pass my way with my room!!!

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Since today is my first day blogging (doing my happy dance) I wanted to share one of my favorite classroom transformations last school year.  Our end of year review was amped up thanks to a grant I received called "May the Force Be With Us".  Many of my scholars LOVED Star Wars, not to mention my inner child heart skips a beat thinking about it too, so I wanted to create a fun environment to get us ready for our end of year testing.

Over a few weeks our room turned into parts of this classic franchise and we added a few new things to the mix.  We used a giant Jenga set that I color coded (similar to Hope King's at Elementary Shenanigans) that aligned to different questions, but we named this game "Jedi Jenga".  Students used their pool noodles lightsabers to fight one another off as they moved game pieces that matched the color question they answered.  This game was played during passage review, math skills, and science studies.

Next we played human Hungry, Hungry Hippo that we renamed Hungry, Hungry Jedi.  Scholars had to get plastic balls energy pellets to answer math questions.  Again, problems were color coded to their math problems so they had to be more selective as the process went on.  They also realized they only wanted to get a couple at the time so they had more opportunities to play.  It was so much fun!!! Not to mention my kids rocked their testing.

Now I wonder, what type of room transformations have you done?  How have you spiced up testing reviews?  I'll share more soon.

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Hey everyone. So I'm super excited for my first blog post and I was inspired by an IG post by @adventuresin5th about starting The Essential 55 by Ron Clark (#heismyhero). I'm sure many of you have read this amazing book, but if not . . . GRAB IT NOW! The change that took place in my room was so spectacular guys.

Now I started this later in the year, but I've got big plans for how I'm going to implement it this year. It will basically start DAY 1 and will continue covering 11 rules each day the first week of school. At the end of the week I will put up my poster (that I got at RCA . . . butterflies are forming just reminiscing about it) for the class to see for the rest of year. That last day my scholars will have all 55 typed up as a contract. They will review these with their families and both the scholar and their family must sign and return it the following week. My plan is to video the review of The Essential 55 and post it to our class website. By doing this I can use it as a reference when needed and our families can hear EXACTLY what I have delivered to our class.

The big key to making this successful is to be consistent and make NO exceptions. I am a very loving teacher, but I lay down the law up front and I do not sway from what my expectations are for my scholars. Our learning environment is fun, but we have to have structure to function. Now I want to hear from you. What "wonders" have you experienced by implementing this book in your room? How did you get started?

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