Yarn Art Mural

This Monday made-it takes us into the classroom. I have a concrete block wall that is not eye appealing. I found this idea via pinterest...a.k.a the website that is stealing everyones creativity.

Supplies:

Yarn

Clear command hooks and strips

Letter cut-outs

scissors

Step by Step

1. Pick your color yarn. The darker the color the more the letters will show up. For the command strips I bought one pack at a time with 40% off various craft stores (Michael's, Hobby Lobby, Jo-Ann Fabric). I used around 141 command hooks. Each corner of a letter needs a command hook.

2. Either print out your letters or draw them yourself. I did a mixture of drawing and printing the letters. The bigger the better.

3. Tape up all your letters to see how you like the placement.

4. Start with one letter at a time. Stick on a command hook on each of the letters corners.

5. Once all that letters command strips are on start wrapping the yarn on the hooks. I wrapped each letter around about four times. The more times the thicker the letter will look. I used one continuous strand of yarn and did not cut the yarn until all the words were done.

5. Continue with each letter. Sticking on command strips and wrapping the yarn.

6. When all the words are complete I draped each color yarn to connect to one another. Then cut the yarn.

July Birchbox

This maybe by far my favorite Birchbox to date!

I love the theme Glamour magazine choose for their box: THE SENSES.

SMELL: Annick Goutal

This is the first perfume that I have liked from Birchbox. It has a nice fresh lemon scent that is not overpowering.

TOUCH: Boscia B.B Cream SPF 27

Lovely B.B cream decent coverage and not heavy

SEE: Color Club Blue-ming nail pollish

The perfect Tiffany blue colored pollish

&

Stilla lip glaze

TASTE: Tea Forte minteas

HEAR: Neon earbuds

An Open House

The drill today was to smile and wave

{as well as answer about 100 questions}

Nothing too challenging occurred during open house, but some sweet moments did:

Parents of ESE students saying that my school was recommended for their child to attend due to how we handle ESE. Apparently our good reputation is getting around town!

A proud student showing her parents her interactive notebook that was on display

Old students of mine dropping by to say hello as they venture on to high school this year

A student reflecting on how they are going to make this year better than last

Parents admiring the room and commenting on how nicely it looks

A student smiling with excitement as they discover we will be writing more poetry this year

A parent noticing that their child finally began to smile when they were in my room

I need to remember these moments throughout the year when things are not looking so sweet

H54F: All things school

Well, I am officially in the school routine...at least pre-school routine:

Meetings

trainings

procedures

classroom set-up

3 hour smart board training

Lets just say I felt less than smart leaving this training. Great ideas, but unfortunately there were about 3 million ideas being thrown at us during this time.

Classroom supplies

The smell of fresh crayola crayons is amazing...enough said

 Puzzle Lamp

Saw this cool lamp at Ikea. Little did I know that the lamp was made out of puzzle pieces.

 Banner TLC

Finally had the time to cover my banners with fabric. Now they look pretty from the front and the back

Completed Classroom

My room is complete and I love the outcome. For not having any windows it does not look that shabby.

Happy Friday everyone...Off to open house tomorrow!

Classroom: Before and After

Yep, here is the classroom before...pretty impressive right?

And here it is after a couple of days. I am pretty amazed with how fast my room comes together each year.

{More details soon to come}

Instagram ribbon banner

First off I love this project for many reasons:

1. the pictures capturing memories from last year

2. the life that it will add to the cement block walls

3. the colors

4. the movement that happens when the picture twirl and ribbons sway

5. It took little time to assemble

I discovered you can print your instagram pictures via Printstagram

{warning: expect to wait 4 weeks for the pictures to be delivered}

On a positive note the prices are reasonable. I also purchased a mini book of all the photos.

I picked the same ribbons that matches the banners I created last year. Speaking of the motivational banners...they had a little plastic surgery on Friday. Last year I did not have the time or patience to back the banners with fabric. Therefore exposing what I did not finish. I put off covering the back with fabric until summer. Thankfully, I had enough fabric left over to cover the backs. They look so much better now that they are 100% complete.

Both the banners and ribbon tassels will be going up in the classroom tomorrow.

{Pictures soon to follow}

Find me on instagram

@ helloitsmeg

H54F: The beginning of it all

Another high five for Friday From My Grey Desk. This week was completely different than last. First off teachers started back on Wednesday! Students come on August 8th! Goodbye summer hello school year!

 {Lots to do lots to do}

Summer's last breakfast with my mom and sister

Like I said before I will miss summer time breakfast the most. It's my favorite meal of the day and this joy is completely gone during the school year... although there is the weekend! 

Ruth's hot pink nail polish

My sister and I decided to give Ruth a mini manicure and yes we only painted one nail. Ruth is deciding if she likes the look of painted nails.

 Danger Zone

Less than 24hrs back in town and I find myself here. The good news is that I can only spend about 20 minutes in this store...it's a tad bit overwhelming!

Power Tools

I bought my first drill to hang this mesh shelving unit...and truth be told I plan on returning the drill now that its hung...Why can't you rent a drill?

Classroom Beginnings

I am back in my windowless classroom. Bland walls will soon be jazzed up with some color. The current state of the classroom resembles yucky cold oatmeal.

Three letters: ESE

ESE = exceptional student education/educators

{a.k.a special education}

Due to political correctness and all that jazz ESE teachers educate an exceptional bunch of students.

{Like we did not already know this}

For those that glanced at the "my journey" portion of the blog you might of discovered that I have a specific learning disability in the area of auditory processing. Due to my label I guess you can say I have some first hand experience with special education.

I was identified with having a disability when I was in 1st grade and my disability remains to be my ever present shadow. My SLD does not play much of a significant role in my life now a days unless I am taking  a test (processing issues) or dabbling in some math (I avoid math like the plague).

Through my disability I have learned countless lessons, cried numerous tears and have climbed invisible mountains that seemed impossible. My disability has been a blessing in disguise in more ways than one.

{more about this at a later date}

Around the 11th grade the whole college and career decision hits you like a ton of bricks. I always knew I would attend college and given my families track record for landing somewhere in the education field; I presumed I would go into education as well.

My natural instinct decided on special education because...well...I know what it's like to be an ESE student I might as well hop the fence and be an ESE teacher.

My journey in becoming a teacher was fairly easy a couple of bumbs in the form of tests and professors nothing too out of the ordinary. Since I have SLD that is the group of students I wanted to teach and with a degree in varying exceptionalities k-12 I could do just that.

I feel that I can relate to my students in a way that no amount of training or degrees could. I have fought their fight and have come out on the other side victorious. This is why I choose ESE as my profession...I was born to be an ESE teacher...It's in my blood or DNA.

Why Middle School??

If you would of told me five years ago I would be teaching 6th, 7th and 8th graders (and loving it) I would of called you a liar.

Well, I could not imagine teaching any other group of students.

{maybe high school...would not step close to elementary}

Truth be told when I was going to school and aiming to teach special education I had no clue what grade I wanted to work with. I just assumed I would end up in elementary.

The program I was in required that I have four internship varying from elementary to high school. Here is where I was placed for my internships:

#1- Kindergarten

{singing the alphabet is not my thing}

#2- fourth and fifth grade

{this was a nice change from the little ones}

#3- sixth, seventh and eighth grade science

{loved every single minute}

#4- second, third and fourth grade

{too wide of a range for students}

When my third internship was approaching I was asked if I preferred middle or high school. I told my professor I did not have a preference and to surprise me and boy was I surprised!

I landed an internship teaching science to 6th, 7th and 8th grade ESE students. To sum up my experience in one word I would have to say: Outstanding!

I have a dry sense of humor, am a tad bit sarcastic and like to think outside of the box. I have never felt so comfortable teaching a group of students...I had found my home!

I have truly enjoyed teaching middle schoolers these past three years. They inspire and challenge me on a daily basis. I love that they are miniature adults just discovering who they really are. Having the opportunity to mold them and watch them grow is pure bliss.

{I could go on, but I will stop}

I guess you can say that my tolerance level is pretty high since not only do I teach middle school, but work with student who have disabilities.

Stay tuned to find out why I decided to go into ESE

Book Frame

Another Monday Made it and of course this one was inspired by Pinterest

{shock}

I knew I wanted to make this book frame so my mom and I headed toward the Goodwill book store. We needed to find a sturdy old book that could with stand being cut into. We both found these old children's books to use.

Supplies:

3 cardboard rectangles varying in size (L, M, S)

hot glue gun
cutting board

exacto knife

old book

ribbon

pencil

letters

ruler

Step 1: Measure out three rectangles from a piece of cardboard. Going from large, medium and small. These will become your frame you will cute around for each section.
Step 2: Starting with the largest rectangle trace that shape on the cover of your book. Then start carefully cutting out the book cover. This will take time because you are cutting through cardboard. Use a steady hand as you do not want to cute outside of the outline. Once the cover is loose enough you will be able to pop it out. Some stray cardboard may be left on the edges, just cut it out.
Step 3: With the largest rectangle again you are going to use that as a guide and cut ten pages at a time. I put a thin cutting board underneath ten pages so I would not go any farther. Make sure you cut the corners out nicely as it may rip.
Step 4: Determine how deep you want each section to be. I ended up having each section 130 pages or so. After you finish with one section move on to the smaller rectangle until you have created your frame.
Step 5: After all the sections are cut out arrange your words how you would like them. I put my words on a separate sheet of paper and just taped it in...just in case I want to change the message in the future. You could also hot glue each of the pages together, but I like how then looked loose and such. I did hot glue the front cover to the first page. Oh and string a ribbon through the binding so you can hang it.

H54F: Summer Endings

Hello last week of Summer

Yep, that's right I have to report back to school on Wednesday,

So for this High Five for Friday From my Grey Desk I am bringing you all the joys of summer!

 The Beach

My goal this school year is to make it out there once a month

 Watching Rue

 perfect the art of lizard hunting

 Breakfast

Yes, I will miss enjoying breakfast at my own time because starting next Wednesday my meals will be on a schedule.

 Time for projects

My list of little DIYs has gotten shorter, but throughout the school year the list will grow and I will wait for summer again.

Fun little trips

My time mostly will consist of school thinking and little excursions will happen less.


I hope you all had a wonderful week and are enjoying your summer!

H54F: A little of this and that

To be honest everyday feels like Friday during summer and to be completely honest I am a little ready to get back into the swing of things!

Summer is usually pretty predictable and the school year well...

 Florida summers means afternoon storms

hello downpour

 Walks with Rue

when it is not raining

 Games with the family

I lost at Skip-bo

 Projects inspired by pinterest of course

Trips to cute little places like The Lollicake Queen

and today on this Friday a visit to the beach

Sad to say I live 20 minutes from a beach and this is my second time venturing out there.

Hope your week was lovely as well!

Helpful tips for Donors Choose

I don't know about you, but I would like to be wise with my money in regards to the classroom. I want to dump bushels of dollars in my classroom to make it the very best and thankfully Donors Choose helps me do so!

{Click the picture to go to Donors Choose}

Donors Choose is a non-profit organization that connects public school teachers with people who want to fund classroom learning.

Through Donors Choose I have had six projects funded, including the most recent one yesterday! The donors can be anyone that are interested in the project you created. They can give as little as $10 or fund your project completely.

Tips for creating a successful project on Donors Choose

Specific- Do not ask for the moon and back. Create small projects that have a theme: vocabulary, biographies or book shelves. If you want to build a classroom library start with one genre at a time.

Simplicity- When writing your projects details write the bare minimum. Answer the question the best way possible and make it appeal to anyone who would donate. You are motivating people to donate to your project. Sell yourself!

Amount- I have found that projects under $200 get funded faster. Your project has to be over $100 in materials. Projects of larger amounts take time to be funded.

Creative- Create a title for your project that will grab donors attention!

Pictures- Donors Choose has you select a picture for your donor page. Bright, colorful, fun and smiles never hurt!

Communication- Your donors will want to hear from you once they donate. Thank them as soon as possible!

Gratitude- Once your project is funded you will have students create thank you notes! This is how you keep donors interested in your future projects!

If you would like a look at my past and present projects for an example here is a link:

{Ms. Hall's projects}

OR
Here is a project that needs funding and time is running out!
{Ms. Hassel's project}

Dolphin Tale

A while ago my mom and I visited Winter the dolphin from Dolphin Tale in Clearwater, Florida.
{bonus teachers get in for FREE}

{Facts about Winter}

Lives at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium

Rescued from crab traps in 2005

lost her entire tail and two vertebrates due to this incident

She was not a year old when this happened

Despite the odds learned how to swim like a fish swaying back and forth

A prosthetic liner was created just for her called WintersGel

She does not wear the prosthetic all the time

A book and a movie was made about her remarkable life

I think the tale of Winter is inspirational and very fitting for students to relate to. I was so inspired by her story that I wanted to bring Dolphin Tale the book into the classroom for my students to read as a whole. So what do I do create a Donors Choose project for this book!
{Great news half way funded}

Dear Students,

Another Monday Made it inspired by the one and only Pinterest. When I saw this letter to students I knew it was a must for the classroom. I thought what a wonderful reminder for them (as well as myself) that I am here to support them even when it seems the opposite.

 Pretty simple projcet to put together

Supplies:

foam poster board from the dollar store

foam paint brush

paint maker

paint