My Lesson Plan Experience

I spent a lot of time last summer visiting lots of awesome teacher blogs. From what I saw, a teacher binder was a sure-fire way to succeed in being an organized, efficient teacher. I put a lot of work into making one -- I made customized weekly lesson plan pages, added monthly calendar pages, a student info section, a birthday list page, and so on and so forth. It was FULL before school even started!! I was thrilled, thinking I'd be so organized and that I would keep up with it every week.

Want to know what happened?

I didn't!

I got so many new handout pages from faculty meetings, and I just shoved them into the binder without even hole punching them! It was a mess in there. Around November, I had given up on the binder and it was just laying on the giant pile of junk in the corner of the classroom.

Judging me.

With it's judgmental binder pockets full to bursting.

So since that was a complete and utter failure, I decided that this next year I would simplify. I decided to create a simple lesson plan book that was just for that -- lesson planning. Not for student info, not for birthday lists, not for anything except the basic essentials. And especially, no pockets. None. Zippo.

Here's how the cover turned out:

Nice huh? I thought it was cute as could be. :) I had my school laminate the front and back cover pages so that it would be a little more sturdy, and I printed it on heavy cardstock paper.

On the inside, I only have 4 sections:

1) A page for continuing education-
If you're a new teacher reading this post, here's something that I did not know about until almost the end of the school year. You will have to turn in your CPE information and certificate copies! OH MY GOODNESS. I had no idea, so obviously I just put the workshop certificates into the giant corner pile of doom after every workshop. My suggestion is to write down the name of the training, the date/time, and the location of the event. Also, keep a file folder of all the certificates handy so that you can add to it as you go along. Sorry for the rant. Here's a picture. :)

Lime green! Lovely :)

2) A page for DRA Scores (because it's helpful to keep track during the year for grouping) -

Sorry for the retina-burning sensation caused by a ridiculous amount of orange.

3) Weekly planning pages -
I chose this setup because I prefer the days to be vertical instead of horizontal. It is easier for me to follow. Also, I put just the subject because my old planning pages had the actual time there, which really messed me up on days that did not follow the routine. I was looking into getting a cute Erin Condren planner, but she puts the lesson plan days horizontal. Sad :(

Purple is my favorite color, so obvs I picked purple for these pages!

4) Monthly calendar pages -

The blue color is WAY prettier in person. Silly iPhone. And yes, I did already fill the calendar out through to next May. Don't hate.

My goal for the summer is to really get myself organized and get everything to have its own home in my classroom. I learned from my mistake, and I am not going to let it happen again!

If you would like a copy of the documents shown above, just click any of the photos!

You can also CLICK HERE for the link, if you haven't figured it out otherwise. If the link doesn't work, please, oh please, let me know so I can figure out what I did wrong. Thanks!

I hope this was interesting to you in some way. Maybe it will give you the motivation to minimize like I did. The coil binding was done at Office Depot for only $3 and some change. Not too shabby.

My next challenge? The scary cabinets in my classroom.

Math and Art and random junk closet. The math items are organized by concept (geometry, counting, time, money, weight)

Literacy and Fine Motor. And random junk. This one needs lots of help. I need a professional organizer to come help me!!!

Looks like I will be one busy woman this summer! Thank goodness I have the Optimum Organization linky party that helps me keep my mind focused on a goal. I will need all the support and encouragement I can get. Cleaning/organizing is NOT in my nature.

I'm also linking up with Manic Monday and Monday Made It...because I made my lesson plan book! :) Also, I made a huge mess of my cabinets. Does that count?

If you want to check out the linky parties, click the images below.

How do you manage your lesson plans? 

Do you have any advice on how I should tackle the scary cabinets??

America the Beautiful!

A while back, my class studied American symbols. We talked about the Statue of Liberty, the bald eagle, and more. We even got to focus in on some of Texas' symbols, such as the mockingbird and the bluebonnet. It was a fun unit of study. I thought I would share a craftivity that the students did during their Art workstation time. This wasn't an original idea. I believe Mrs. S. from next door found the idea on Enchanted Learning...or something. Sorry I can't source this!


Each child got to create their own bald eagle! They had to trace their foot and both hands for this activity, so it kept them REALLY busy. Some had their workstation partner help them out with the tracing. It took a while to cut out, and some got a bit frustrated after they cut off a finger or two from the hand tracing. (Nothing a little glue can't solve!)

It turned out really cute. I loved how each child did the project just a little bit different. I had a completed one hanging on the wall at the station so they had an idea of what they were trying to accomplish. It was amazing to see all the varieties on the same idea!

If you haven't heard of BrainPop Jr., you should really look into getting access to the site from your school. It is a fantastic learning tool! My students love to watch the videos on there. During this unit, we watched the video on the American symbols. I wish the site was free, but it's worth the cost.

I hope this gave you an idea for a future patriotic art project for your class!

How do you teach the American symbols? Let me know in the comments below!

I'm linking up with KindergartenWorks for her Kindergarten Show N' Tell linky! You should go check her blog out if you haven't before. She's fantastic!

I'm Back! (Summer Bucket List and Lessons Learned)

Can I just say... WOW! I've been gone for a long time. Sorry to all those who were following me here and enjoying my blog posts. It's now summertime, so I have more spare time than before. I finished my first year of teaching and LOVED IT!

Here are some of the things that I learned:

1. There will be challenging times, but talking to a veteran teacher about problems or concerns really helped me get through them. I am blessed to be working alongside a veteran teacher and dear friend (she taught me in 4th grade!!) that really understands me and wants to guide me.
2. Don't be afraid to be firm. I had a hard time at the beginning of the year with classroom management, but once I stepped up and was very firm, the students responded well. I had one girl who cried daily for almost the whole first semester. When I stepped up to the plate and was consistent with her, it was almost like magic!
3. Saying goodbye is hard. Enough said. :(
4. If you don't have a good organizational strategy for tackling the constant paper flow, you have to spend an eternity cleaning your classroom at the end of the year.
5. I take way too many pictures of my sweeties. Seriously!

Obviously, I've learned a whole lot more than that (like don't-trust-email-to-inform-parents-about-field-trips-because-it-will-go-to-junk-mail-and-the-parents-will-be-confused-the-day-before-the-field-trip), but I want to get to the fun part of this post. The linky party!! 

Yay! Here's my SUMMER BUCKET LIST!

--- Sleeeeep! Waking up at 5:20 everyday is NOT COOL.

--- Start grad school to begin the path of getting my Master of Education - Reading Specialization

--- Train for the Run or Dye 5k

--- Clean the horrifying mess of a classroom that is left after this whirlwind of a school year. Here's a terrifying, horror film picture of it. I hope it makes you feel better about your own classroom and/or gives you a chance to share your awesome organizing tips to help me out... It's a bit embarrassing to post this, but the first step to fixing a problem is owning up to it!

--- Use up all my awesome gift cards from super sweet parents.

--- Buy and label some Sterilite storage shelves and ACTUALLY USE THEM FOR SOMETHING this year. The one you see hiding in the corner back there in the picture? See it? Yeah, it just held all my junk and didn't even help me out this year. Woe is me!

--- Go shopping for new teacher clothes! :)

--- Read for enjoyment and for professional development. Mainly for enjoyment.

So that's it! I've missed all the interaction that I received last summer from you guys. Your advice helped me out tremendously this school year. I will post some cool stuff I've done and some ideas that really worked later on.

What's your favorite way to manage paper flow in your classroom? Is it even possible!?

Workstations Frustrations!

I have been slacking in posting on my blog! Don't hate me! I miss the blogosphere, too. :( Especially now.

I'm having some trouble with my workstations. My kids really enjoy them, and center time is their favorite part of the day. I want to give them more time in each station, but the way I have it set up doesn't allow but 5-7 minutes in each one. I have from 10:00-10:40ish for stations, and they don't get their work done. I want them to finish their work!!


Could you give me some suggestions on how your rotations work? I do not want it to be a free-for-all type situation because I want 1-2 in each station. Preferably just one. (I have 10 kids! I know!! Don't throw any tomatoes at me!)


What has worked for you? Maybe I'm just over thinking it. How would you organize my classroom stations if you had 10 kids to work with?

My stations are: Listening, Write the Room, Word Work, Puzzles, Math, Writing, Play-doh, Library, Computer, and Creative (Art).

Word Work Station

Math Station

I'll ask another question next time! Thanks for all your love and sharing!

My Super Short Post!

Well guys, I'm very sorry I've been MIA.

Blogging in my first year of teaching was a great idea at first, but let me just say that it is pretty much the hardest thing ever to do. I've been so busy planning, printing, talking, eating chocolate, and lying in bed in the evening thinking,"Is it normal to want to sleep at 8:30???" that I forgot to post.

I've been asking tons of questions on my Facebook page about the ins and outs of Kindergarten, though. Drop by to help me out!

I'll be posting a lot of classroom pictures sometime soon. For now, here is my September Currently!

Hope you're well! Leave me a comment with an answer to this question:

What kind of behavior management systems have you tried? Which are your favorites?