Welcome To the Jungle

No, this post isn't about Axl Rose.

I always TRY to put something cute on my door for Back to School night. This year my theme is "Mrs. Chilton's Cheetahs are WILD about Learning!" This was a very simple, yet eye catching, addition to my door and my theme!

All I did was tape a looooong strip of bulletin board paper to the inside of my door frame. I cut vertical strips after it was hanging securely. Then I used the same paper to dye cut the "Welcome to the Jungle" title over the door. I can't wait to see their faces when they step through the "leaves" and into our room! What kind of things do you decorate your door with?

Revive!

My students have always been "Mrs. Greene's Goodies", but I've never quite had a classroom theme. I'm a minimalist at heart and my CDO (that's OCD in alphabetical order) likes to keep things CLEAN. This year, however, I was so inspired by the trillion and one ideas on pinterest that I decided to create a full on classroom theme. Since I got married in April, and am now Mrs. Chilton, I decided on Mrs. Chilton's Cheetahs. JUNGLE THEME SAY WHAT!?!?!? I wish I'd had enough foresight to take before and after pictures, but I didn't...boo.

Anyway! Project número UNO on the docket was to REVIVE my old, blue bookshelf. I rescued this thing 8 years ago from the trash pile. You can kind of see it in the background of the picture below. (I hope I blurred the faces well enough!) Functional? Yes! Beautiful? No way! So...in keeping with my jungle theme, I spray painted the inside of the shelves (it took 3 cans of "Saddle Gloss") and covered the outside with decorative duct tape (3 rolls of leopard print). I was so proud of the outcome! What are some of your REVIVAL success stories?

Those Ratty Crayon Boxes

It's summer and I'm looking for some things to do from home that will help get my classroom ready for the next school year. In my classroom, we share everything (including sniffles and sneezes, but that's beside the point). We have tables instead of desks, and we share the materials in the middle of the table. Crayons, scissors, glue, pencils, it's all in there and we just grab what we need when we need it. By the end of the year my materials caddies are pretty beat up with crayon and pencil marks on the inside and outside. But, let's get real! Am I going to replace all 10 of them every year? No way! I'm cheap, and I'm on a teacher's budget/salary. Here's all you need to return them to their wonderful, preowned glory every year:

•Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (knock off brand works just as well)
•Goo Gone

Yep, that's it. Spray some goo gone on that magic eraser and start scrubbing! Actually, you don't have to scrub hard at all. I like to stick them in my dishwasher afterwards to get all of the slimy Goo Gone off of them.

And that's it! Just like new!

Lunch Choice

This little bookshelf is right beside the entrance to my classroom. Every morning I greet my students at the door and tell them today's lunch choice. (Tomorrow is Chicken Nuggets or Grilled Cheese Sandwich...yum!) Each student pulls his or her own card (made from blank index cards and peel and stick labels) and places it in the basket that corresponds with their choice. I also have a bucket in the middle for students who brought their lunch. This is a quicker way to add up the lunch tally AND as a bonus, it's also how I take attendance. If a student's card is still in their pocket, it means they are absent.

Colored Pasta

I use colored pasta as math manipulatives. Around different holidays, you can find different pastas! You can also use fun pasta like SpongeBob or Princesses. All you need is: dry pasta, food coloring, rubbing alcohol, Ziploc bags, paper towels, a drying tray.

First, put the pasta in the bag. Add 1/8 cup of rubbing alcohol for every 1/2 cup of pasta. Add as much food coloring as you want, depending on how dark you want the pasta to be. Shake the bag around until all of the pasta is colored. Drain the bag in the sink and dump the pasta onto a paper towel covered tray to dry. It usually takes about 2 hours to dry one bag of pasta.