Crazy busy week, new pencil sharpener, and Whole Brain Teaching LOVE

Wow! This school year has gotten off to a bang! I must say I LOVE my class this year. They are an AWESOME group of kiddos. I was totally prepared for this to be my last year in fifth grade, so what does God do - He gives me a teaser by giving me a group of kids that reminds me why I moved to fifth in the first place and how much fun it can be. However, this year has been full of challenges. We have changed our work hours 3 different times so far so I never know now when I am supposed to be at work and when I can leave. We are possibly having off Monday due to Tropical Storm Isaac, but no one knows. Our school is a shelter for a command post for Emergency Workers so today I had to put up a lot of the stuff I just put up 3 weeks ago - wow can't believe I have only been back 2.5 weeks so far - feels like forever. My kids are so good that I feel like we must already be in October/November already. I must admit I feel a HUGE part of it is that I have fallen in love. L-O-V-E with my new main squeeze - whole brain teaching! It is AMAZING. Thank you Pinterest and you fellow bloggers who led me to this lovely universe. I also must thank whoever came up with the "clip" behavior chart. It holds me so much more accountable. The whole brain teaching thing is just wonderful though. It saves me so many teacher hours of lecturing that i find at the end of the day we have time leftover because the time I used to factor in my day as "lost" time, isn't there any more. I am flabbergasted daily at how well this works, even for my big, bad fifth graders who I thought would look at me and laugh the first time I said "Class, Yes" and then I thought they would laugh again when I added in "Eyes and Hands". But, they LOVE it. Especially since they consistently beat the teacher. And, I don't have to lecture anymore about wasted time for talking (which is also wasted time). The eye-opener was when I earned my 3rd point to their 1 the first day and one of my lovelies said "I couldn't hear you - that's not fair." To which I replied, "And, that's the point!" Of course his make me laugh reply was, "Oh, so we DID get the point?" which nicely led to a vocabulary lesson. Anyway, before I get off my whole brain soapbox, if you aren't doing whole brain teaching - try looking into it. It is bringing me so much sanity. Did I feel dumb the first time I did it, Yes. But come on, aren't we all actors and actresses in disguise anyway?!

On another note. I got my Pencil Sharpener from http://www.classroomfriendlysupplies.com/. The kids and I are in love with it. I have never seen such a great classroom tool. I really thought the buzz was crazy (I mean come on it's a pencil sharpener), but OMG! It is FABULOUS! Pencils are sharpened from brand new to pointy perfection in about 10 seconds or less. It is quick, quiet, and oh-so-easy to use. I have shown it to a few fellow teachers who are equally impressed. The next goal is to get my principal to purchase some for us.  I love the suggestion a former colleague of mine had, which is she bought one for each table group. How cool! Kids then never have to ask to get up to sharpen a pencil and since it is so quiet & quick, having students sharpen at their table isn't distracting to others. I highly recommend this product to others!

This Classroom is Brought to you by Pinterest & Me :)

Here are a few pics of my "detective" theme room and the final products of my Pinterest items...

 Bins where students turn their work in - spray painted black and gave new labels to match the ones I made

  Classroom storage bins inspired by Pinterest - these are back to back along side my desk - one set is for students with printer & notebook paper, math manipulatives, and clipboards; the other is for me with craft materials, extra supplies (folders, new crayons, etc.), and other odds and ends. They perfectly fit the length of my desk. :)

 Drawers where I store pens, staples, etc. - inspired by Pinterest (spray painted)

 Clipboards - courtesy of Pinterest project

 New bathroom passes - final Pinterest project for the week

 Calendar board - would you believe I did this one board the most - didn't like anything I did

 Welcome back board - the red cards have all the different things we do in 5th grade and the yellow header says "Hot on the Trail of 5th Grade Success" - all are done in a cute font called Earwig Factory which looks like ransom letters

After the first week, I will change this to "Hot on the Trail of Reading Success" with my CAFE Posters and other reading strategy posters

 "Investigating Science" board - this will change to be decorated according to the unit of science we are studying - first up is The Scientific Method"

 New Guided Reading area set up - bookshelves hold all my teacher stuff, bins on top are for each reading group's materials, pink drawers will hold pencils, highlighters, post-its, etc. for groups, and filing cabinet has graphic organizers and forms, etc. for groups, as well as book units for literature clubs

 Math Problem Solving Board above my window - cute set that went with theme "Math PSI: Problem Solving Investigators" - each poster talks about the different strategies for problem solving exactly like our math series does

Clipboards Made

OK so here are the clipboards I made. I am trying to decide if I like the tape ones better or the scrapbook/mod podge ones better. If anyone has done either of these before, how well did they last? I got this really cute tape for $0.97 a roll at JoAnn's last week.

Front of tape clipboard

Back of tape clipboard

Front of scrapbook clipboards

Backs of scrapbook clipboards

I finished doing most of my drawers today, but ran out of scrapbook paper. Off to JoAnn's in the morning for some more. I got a 20% off total purchase coupon through my app today so that will help. Trying to get everything done this week since teachers go back next Wed. Going to try to finish up the room tomorrow and Friday.

Making Pinterest Projects

   Today I began making my new Pinterest inspired classroom drawers (hiding the stuff inside with the bonus of making them look cute on the outside. I also tried 2 different ways to repair old clipboards. On one I used some very cute packing tape I found at JoAnn's for $0.97 on clearance - cheap option as this barely made a dent in the tape roll. For the other two I attempted, I tried different ways to Mod Podge some scrapbooking paper on them (got a pack of 5 sheets of paper from Dollar Tree and used a 50% off coupon from JoAnn's for the Mod Podge so this was a cheap option also). I can't decide which ones I like better.

   I do know, I love the drawers and I am now going to do this with all of the drawers in my classroom. May even do them for my dance studio's drawers too. I will be adding cute new labels to the front where the old blue ones are, once my order arrives.