Monday, June 11, 2012

Summer Projects!

We've only had 2 weeks of summer vacation so far, but already I'm thinking of going back into the classroom this week to tackle some summer projects! It's pretty hard to keep a teacher away from school for too long!

Last year I wasn't able to get into my classroom until just days before school started, which was really tough! This year though, I begged the custodians to clean my room first, and they took pity on me. Here's what my classroom looked like last week...it sure looks a lot bigger without all of my stuff!



The floors have been cleaned and waxed and my furniture is being moved back in today, so I can go in and get ready for next year anytime now! I'm so excited that I won't be going crazy in August racing to get it all done since I can work on it a little at a time all summer.

After catching up on all my blog reading these last few days, I see that lots of you are WAY more organized than I am. Wow! I really need to get my act together, so I've decided to tackle organizing my files into theme binders. I'm really hoping that this way I can clean out an entire file cabinet or two and get rid of them to make some more space in my classroom.


I'm thinking that if I better organize the closet in my classroom, I'll have space to store all of these binders in there. It took forever just to label all the binders-so I can't even imagine how long it's going to take me to organize all of my papers inside each binder!



After I tackle all those binders, I think that I'll also have to rethink how I store my center games and materials. I've always done literacy centers and so I feel like I have those materials under control, but with implementing math work stations for the first time last year, I feel like now I have way more stuff. I think all this organizing is going to take quite a bit of time!

What classroom projects are you tackling this summer? Anyone else overwhelmed by all the organizing they need to do?

13 comments:

  1. Oh you are sooo lucky to be able to get into your room so soon! I hate having to rush to get my room together at the last minute. I'm planning on doing monthly binders myself this year. I can at least work on that from home for the most part. =)
    Bobbie

    The Daily Cupcake…A Kindergarten Blog

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  2. I love how big your room is and your storage- oh my! I am staying busy as well. I have been doing daily projects, but am going to start sewing curtains to cover my classroom cubbies. Have fun with all your organizing!
    www.kindertrips.blogspot.com

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  3. I agree with Mrs. M! You are very lucky to have access to your classroom throughout the summer; that would be a dream come true for me! Our school hosts summer school for the entire district and every one of our classrooms is in use so I am lucky if I get access to my classroom a couple of weeks before school starts.
    I had thought about doing the same binder organization with my themes/files since I've made my monthly boxes, I could place the binders in them and get rid of the pesky file folders overflowing with papers! Any chance you would be willing to share those cute little labels you've created? I would be eternally grateful!!
    Thank you and have an amazing summer!! Hope to see more pictures of your classroom's progress :)
    BTW, do you have a classroom theme?

    Take care,
    Ana
    ana.gonzalez@tcu.edu

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    Replies
    1. Hi Ana, if you still want the binder labels, go ahead and email me and I will send you a copy. Good luck organizing!

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  4. I am all about organization this summer & it's starting to overwhelm me a bit & I'm not even on summer vacation yet! lol.
    I just found your blog & I'm your newest follower. :)

    Lisa
    Learning Is Something to Treasure

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  5. I spent 3 days last week with my ONLY returning team member working on our scope and sequence. I will have 5 new people on my team in August. I've also been working on games/activities for the first few weeks of school.

    Usually, my room is one of the first ones finished, but this year it will be one of the last. Kind of bummed about it.

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  6. I am inspired by your binders. That is exactly what I would LOVE to do this summer. Summer has not started for us yet. Not until the end of next week. We have lots of Common Core curriculum work to do this summer, so I am hoping to fit in some of my own organizing. Good luck!!

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  7. It definitely has taken me all of our two weeks off in order to get into a productivity groove. I spent one week doing piddly stuff, and one week with doing what I thought was productive. But, I am LOVING every minute!
    So wish I could see your classroom in person. So great you have all summer to work!
    -Leslie @KindergartenWorks

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  8. I just found your blog from a pin on Pinterest. I just became your newest follower too. That's wonderful that you have so much time to work on your room before school starts!
    You are invited to visit my blog: Teaching Kindergarten Kiddos.

    ~ Lisa

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  9. I am making felt food with you! LOL! I can't wait to see your classroom...put me to work :-).

    My project for this week is to sort out my monthly boxes. I'm not sure how to organize the material--by theme or by subject. And, of course, I've been printing everything I'm finding online! I have a new stack of paper to sort!

    ReadWriteSing

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  10. GOOD GRIEF your room is gigantic!!! I'm your newest member! Love your blog! Come visit me sometime!

    Nicole
    lanierlions.blogspot.com/

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  11. Meredith, thanks for following me! It's so funny that you're talking about starting math stations, because I'm going back to kindergarten (after teaching pre-k for 3 years) and my team and I were talking about math stations today. I just put up a free product on Teacher's Notebook that you might want to download. It's named "Number Fill In The Gaps 1 to 20 - Shirts". Stay in touch so we can share math center/station ideas! :) Thanks again. Oh, and I'm your latest follower.

    Sharon Dudley, NBCT
    http://teachingwithsight.blogspot.com

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  12. Sorry Leah-I don't know about that website...but it sounds great. Let me know if you ever find it!

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