Sneak Peek

This will be a short post, but wanted to share one area of my classroom that needed some attention.

I have gotten in the habit of taking pics of my classroom during the last week of school so I can remember what worked that year.  This week while cruising through my pics I came across one that made me desperate for change.  It got to the point that I really could not focus on the rest of the room until I came up with a plan to change it.

Here is the before pic:

Yuck!  Tack strips are helpful, but are ugly!  So I decided to do a "fake" bulletin board around the tack strips.  Here is the new improved wall:

Yes!  Good bye ugly tack strips.  Hello, gorgeous schedule and dismissal board!  The Special Schedule will be helpful during the first weeks of school.  The "How We Go Home" will have clothespins for each student.  I am going to double check with each parent to be sure we have the correct transportation for their little ones ride home that first day.

Do you take pics of your room each year?  Does it help you when you are setting everything back up for a new year?  Let me know in the comments below if you have improved an area in your room this year and what the improvement is.

Craftivity & Contest "Git R Done 2"

My mind is filled with clutter from setting up my classroom!  School starts with kiddos on August 14th.  I am officially on the "clock" on Monday.  I am further along today than I was yesterday.  I really wanted to post photos today of my room...but it is sooooo NOT ready for that yet.  And why am I not ready?  Because I am taking time to do cute craft projects.

I am sure that most of you have seen the cute photos of kindergarten students holding a photo frame that has the quote "My 1st Day of Kindergarten".  I have wanted to do this for 2 years now and I am glad to say I am to the finish line on this one.  Whoop! Whoop!

Here is a pic of what mine looks like:

I am using velcro on the "1st" and the apple.  At the end of the year, I will replace the "1st" with the word "last".  The apple will be switched out each year.  The rest of the letters I used hot glue to attach them around the frame.  I will use these photos in our Kindergarten Memory Book that we put together the last week of school.

Supplies to make this were cheap!  Scrapbook paper was on sale at Hobby Lobby earlier in the summer.  The foam apple came in a pack of 10 at the Target Dollar Spot.  The frame I picked up for $2.99 at Goodwill.  (I used a black sharpie marker to color in a couple of chips in the frame.)  This project was less than $5 to make.  I am so excited to finally have this "craftivity" completed.  Check that off the to do list.

Okay so my title also mentions a CONTEST.  I am calling it "Git R Done 2".  This contest is connected to another goal of mine--to have all of my Donors Choose Projects funded by the start of school.  YiKeS!!!!  I still have two projects left to fund.  One is under $100 and the other is at $285.  So I decided to come up with a contest to help promote donations.  

HOW TO ENTER:

Click on over to my Donors Choose Project Page and donate $1.  Every $1 donation is an entry when you put in the comments "Git R Done 2".  If you use the match code DREAMS (courtesy of the Black Philanthropy Giving Page) your donation will be doubled and you will receive an additional entry into the contest.  Contest ends at Midnight August 13, 2013 (EST)

THE PRIZE:

The winner will receive a $5 Donors Choose Donation to a project of the their choice.  If one of my projects is fully funded by Midnight of August 13th, 2013 the prize will jump to a $10 Donors Choose Donation.  If BOTH projects fund by midnight of August 13th, 2013 the prize will be increase to $25.

THE DRAWING:

I will randomly draw the winner on August 14th, 2013 by 8:00 pm (EST).  I will post the winner right here on the blog and share it on facebook.  (I may draw the winner sooner, but remember this is my FIRST day with the kiddos!)

If you have questions about the contest, please leave it in the comments below for me to answer.  Thanks!!!  Now let's Git R Done!

Cords be GONE!

Whoop! Whoop! My Donors Choose project to make headphone cords disappear in my classroom was fully funded on Monday morning!  This is going to make our listen to read center run so much smoother.  No more cords getting in the way of turning a page, or being tangled up with another student's headphone cord.  Gone are the annoying shorts that always happen in cords.

Everyone HaPpY DaNcE!!!!!

I have two more projects to go for summer funding. First, We Are Authors is a project that will enable our writing supplies to be organized as well as an optional writing desk for up to four students.  This will come in handy as our whole school is focusing on writing this year--Kindergarten through Fifth grade!

We are using Lucy Calkins brand new CCSS Writing Curriculum.  I have attended our district's training and read through about half of the materials. As I progress through this new curriculum, I will let you know my thoughts and how things are working in the classroom.  So far I am loving how the units of study are laid out and are appropriate for the kindergarten classroom.  Click here to find out more about this "spiraled" writing curriculum.

My last project for summer funding is Leveling Up!  This project is for a leveled reader cart that is eye level and easy for students to choose their own "good fit" books.  This will save a lot of my personal
and instructional time.

I have been truly blessed by a discovery this summer for my DC projects--Giving Pages.  If you have not heard about them or used them for your own Donors Choose Projects, you are missing out.  My Cords, Cords, Go Away! project would not have been funded as quickly if it was not for the wonderful  support of the Send A Smile Giving Page.  Giving pages help you promote your project while helping other teachers promote their own projects.  It is a win-win.

My two other projects have recently been added to giving pages.  We Are Authors is on Northern Lights giving page and Leveling Up! is on Kindergarten Rocks giving page.  Each giving page has a purpose and focus that is unique.  I know with the help of these two additional giving pages, I will be doing the HaPpY DaNcE very soon for my two other projects.

Were you aware of giving pages on Donors Choose?  Do you have any funding tips for Donors Choose?  Do you have a writing curriculum?  Let me know...leave a comment below.

Biz Card Script

Before returning to the classroom in 2008, I spent many years in business with my family.  I have worked in my family's candle shop, toy Store, and online businesses.  I even grew up with my grandparents and parents working in fast food.  I have done the party plans selling crystal, jewelry, and make-up.  I have been a bank teller and moved up to an account representative.  My husband and I successfully built a handmade candle business and just recently "retired" from our video production business.  Whew!  With all this business background, no wonder I thought I need to be marketing my classroom to the community.

But I know not every teacher has this same background.  So here are some tips that I have learned through my business experience to help promote what you are doing in the classroom.

This takes practice and I promise it will become easier over time.

Tip 1:  Be Sharp!  Make sure you are "Dressed for Success".  I don't mean a business suit, but you certainly do not want to promote your classroom in a t-shirt and sweats!  Remember you are representing your school and classroom to your community.

Tip 2:  Be a Customer!  I would not recommend using this method for "door to door" promotion of your classroom.  This is about connecting with businesses that you frequent.  Build the connections for future donations.  This method takes time to see results.  

Tip 3:  Be SMOOTH!  Have your biz cards in a place that is easy to access.  I have placed mine in my wallet just in front of my debit card.  Each time I reach for my debit card, I slide one out.  No searching or fumbling in my purse for one--it is ready to go.

Tip 4:  Be NICE!  It is much easier to ask for a donation from a stranger when you have treated them with kindness.  For instance, make sure you leave a good tip for your server if you are also giving him/her your card.

Tip 5:  Be Respectful!  After introducing yourself and handing them the card, have just a couple of sentences to explain your purpose.  Keep it short.  It does not hurt to rehearse it at home, but make sure it is natural.  It should only take 60 seconds or less to hand your card to someone.  Being quick shows respect to the business and other clients who may be waiting.

If you want a "script" to play with I have one below.  Please put your own personality into it.  I have never said these EXACT words but I follow this formula:  introduce my position and school, state my mission, give an invitation to go online, and give the range of donations accepted.  Leave me a comment with your thoughts.

Script
"I am a kindergarten teacher at Dayton Elementary.  And I am letting area businesses know about my classroom projects on a non-profit website called Donors Choose.  If you are interested in supporting education in our community, please take a couple minutes when you have time to visit my website.   Donations from a $1 on up are appreciated and tax deductible."

A Biz Card for Your Classroom

Early in the Spring I designed customized self-inking stamps due to Kinder Craze's blog post that show me how to use VistaPrint to create them.  I love how mine turned out and can't wait to see how hard my new students are going to work to earn one of these special stamps!

While I was creating my stamps, my eyes wondered to the business cards.  Hmmm...How could I use a business card in my classroom?  The answer came quickly.  Along with my preferred contact info I could also include my Scholastic Online Book Order Code, my Remind101 directions and my DonorsChoose web address.  Whoop!  Whoop!  A new way for parents to keep all that info in one spot in an adorable way.  I love my design and spent the extra few dollars to have the cute back on the card as well.  (The black boxes are there to protect too much of me going public.)

Next Question--How to make sure a parent receives and keeps my business card?

The first step will be to include one in my "Welcome" letter that I will mail out to each student asking them to give it to their parents.  I am excited that this will be the first summer that I CAN send them a "Welcome" letter since I already have their addresses from early registration.  I will share the letter after I create it!  Have an idea for a "Welcome" letter--tell me about it in the comments.

The second step is to tape one in each "Take Home Folder" for easy access to my info during the school year.  Since it is a very rare occasion that a folder is lost (might be misplaced for a couple days), this should be a good spot for this info.

Next IDEA...not a question this time...use a business card when I am out and about with local businesses to encourage donations to my DonorsChoose projects.  This required a REDIGN of my original biz card because I want it to just focus on my DonorsChoose link.  I decided to add a quote from my favorite author on the back.

Before designing this new DC Biz Card, I tested out how people would react with my classroom card.  I have handed out 10 cards in the last 24 hours.  Every time I received smiles and positive comments.  Donations have not been made from these folks YET but it is a numbers game.  One of those cards could fund a project!

It will be a few days before the DC Design arrives so I am going to continue to hand out my originals until then.  Why?  Because I posted 3 projects for this summer!!!  If it's meant to be it is up to ME!

I would love to hear your ideas on how to use a biz card to promote your classroom.  Leave me a message in the comments.

Seating Chart with One Click

Thanks to a friend and colleague, this past summer I was introduced to not only Pinterest but the addicting world of Teacher Blogs.  Wow!  What a wonderful way to collaborate with teachers around the world.  Stacey, thank you for opening my eyes to this new way to discover and collaborate.

For this first post, I want to share an "ah-ha" moment I had during our first week of school.  To help with classroom management, I assign seats on our carpet area.  Kindergarten students have such a short attention span that first week--or any given week.  I wanted to be able to quickly record their assigned "carpet spots" but did not want to take up time writing down their names for fear of losing their attention for the lesson that was going to happen as soon as I had their spots recorded.

This idea hit my brain so quickly...I could take a picture with my iPhone!

I was able to have them sit in their most perfect criss-cross apple sauce positions by telling them that I would share their picture with our principal.  With one click I had an instant seating chart and their attention to start our "I Chart" for Read to Self for Daily 5.

Our principal enjoyed seeing their wonderful picture perfect pose when she visited our room later that morning.  My students loved the compliment!