I Made It: The Student Tracker Board

I got a lot of comments on my last post about this lovely board I made for my classroom:

Ok so I totally got this idea from Pinterest but I can't find the pin now! Aaaggh! So if you pinned this originally please let me know so I can give you credit!

Here's my quick and easy tutorial!

Materials Needed:
- cookie sheet (I got mine at walmart but you could use a dollar store one too)
- round magnets (again from walmart, they come in a pack of 50)
- hot glue gun and sticks
- pretty ribbon
- cardstock or labels printed with "In the Room" and your destinations
- cardstock printed with numbers or names

1. I printed all my labels. I used publisher to make the circles with numbers and painstakingly cut them out.
2. I glued magnets to the back of each number.
3. I glued a ribbon to the top and then the "In the Room" label.
4. I put all my numbers on the board to make sure I would have enough room for them.
5. I glued the rest of the ribbon and labels to make the remaining sections/destinations.

The awesome thing is I never had to explain this to my kiddos! They saw it and just started moving their numbers down when they left the room. In case you are wondering Mr. H is one of our resource teachers that some of my students see and VI stands for our Visually Impaired department.

I hope you enjoy!

Back To School

Yep, I'm already back to school for a new year! In year round we start our new school year in beginning of July. But before you start to feel sorry for me remember that I just had 4 weeks off which is one week longer than my usual 3 weeks. It was fantastic!

I don't even know where to start with this blog - so many ideas, so many great things I've found, phew! Also I took pictures of my classroom at the end of my last workday but they were taken with my phone and are no good. Boo that! So instead I'll share some things I'm loving so far about this year:

1. I'm loving Whole Brain Teaching. Yep I've joined the WBT bandwagon! I did my research over my break and watched a ton of youtube videos. So far it's going great! Class? Yes! is such an easy and quick way to get my kids attention and they are loving the scoreboard. I'm also loving mirror and teach okay. I feel already that my lessons are becoming much more interactive and engaging. The kids are gesturing, talking, and moving. It's awesome! I still feel like I have a lot to learn with WBT but I'm taking it slowly with my comfort level. One of my favorite examples of WBT is this video below. I love how engaged her students are but how it's not a LOUD screaming classroom. I can't handle that!

2. I'm loving the new school supplies. Anyone else have to seriously avoid the back to school section at target and walmart? If I go there I WILL find something and I WILL think of a reason I must have it!

I made this little "Where Am I?" board after seeing it on Pinterest here. Love it! 

3. A little more sleep! My school is starting 45 minutes later this year. While this means my afternoons seem to stretch on a bit more I'm liking the mornings. I'm still getting to school way before I have to be there but I'm getting a bit more sleep and having some quiet time in my classroom in the morning to get things done!

4. Pinterest - Goodness gracious I was pinning it up over break. Even at the beach on vacation! If you aren't following me on Pinterest you should - especially my "Beginning of the Year" board. Lots of great ideas - many that I have already used!

5. Blog world! Seriously YOU all rock! I have found so many awesome ideas from YOU! Also I love the blog comments! Sorry that I definitely not the best blogger ever about posting frequently but thank you to those of you who stick around and share some love!