Sunday, July 21, 2013

Shopping Trip!

I went to the Parent-Teacher Store for the first time yesterday. OMG it was overwhelming! But, I got a lot of great things for my classroom! I will probably have to make another trip because I don't know if I have enough to satisfy my vision for the room. I want it to be as inviting as possible! Anyways, here are my Parent-Teacher Store finds:

For my header bulletin board and student work wall...
Borders and a poster to go along with my jungle theme...
My favorite purchase!
 Name plates and postcards...
 Welcome display + more...

I also stopped by The Doller Tree and Big Lots yesterday.

Flashcards and a poster on shapes from Dollar Tree...

I finally found book bins at Big Lots! All of these for $10...

And today I got these floor tiles from Sam's Club. They were a little pricey at about $22 for a set of 8. I bought 2 sets because I wasn't sure if one set would be big enough for all of my students to sit on. However, I think these will be a great alternative to an educational carpet which can be expensive!



That's it for now!

~ Ms. Ige

Friday, July 19, 2013

Day 1 of Classroom Set-Up

I spent approximately 10 hours working on my classroom today!

First, I had to sort through and organize the things that the former teacher had left behind. Deciding what to keep and what to throw away was difficult because I had no idea how some of the materials were used previously. But eventually, I got it all figured out. Then I took down all of the old bulletin boards and attempted to set up my desktop computer. That didn't go so well. There were way too many cords and no labels so I had to ask a teacher across the hall for help! Afterwards, I took a break to get lunch and make a trip to Walmart to pick up a few things. When I returned, I finally got to start personalizing my room!!! I moved the furniture, arranged my classroom library area, put up my Alphabet strip and backgrounds for bulletin boards. I'm happy with what I accomplished today. I plan on going to the Parent-Teacher store this weekend to get more things. My walls are terribly bare! Here are some pictures of my progress so far:

I used orange fabric for the two bulletin boards pictured here. The fabric was given to me by an awesome teacher on my team! I used green plastic tablecloths for the banner ($1.97 for a 2 cloth value pack @ Walmart) and border that I found in the dollar section at Target.
This area still needs a lot of work! I got the carpet for $19.97  and the body pillow was $8.98 at Walmart. I've had the green tub for a while and just used it to carry in all of the books I have purchased so far. I intend to categorize my books using book bins, I just haven't found any yet!
I love the bright neon colors of these bins! I found them at Walmart for $0.97 each. I'm going to use these to store student supplies.
A view from the other side of the room. :)

I hate that I can't work in my room on the weekends. There is so much more that I want to do!

~ Ms. Ige

Thursday, July 18, 2013

First Year Jitters

My first year of teaching officially begins in exactly TWO weeks! There is much preparation to be done and I am so excited to start my career! I finally got a chance to go into my classroom today and will begin set-up tomorrow. I "inherited" quite a few things from the teacher who was in my room previously so I will have to dedicate a lot of time to cleaning and sorting through all of this "stuff." Here is a picture of my classroom at present:


There are cabinets and a sink on the other side of the room. I can't wait to start decorating. Out with the old, in with the NEW!


~ Ms. Ige