2 Days Left....

Monday, September 30, 2013
I just wanted to let you know that Amber over at Sparkles, Smiles, and Successful Students is having a Teacher Shirt Giveaway!  Stop by over at Amber's blog and enter her great giveaway!  Good luck everyone!




Wednesday WOW!

Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Happy Hump Day!

I am linking up with Em at Curious Firsties for her weekly linky party, where you can share something positive either within your classroom or within your personal life.



The first positive news comes from my classroom.  My students worked so hard this week in completing their Ontario Standardized Testing on Language.  I am so proud of them!  Both my students and I are also thrilled that part one of our testing is now officially over.  Part two will be held next week.  Next week's test will focus primarily on Math.  One test down and another one to go......Yey!!!

The second positive news comes from my personal life.  As you might already know, I have three boys.  They are all actively involved with hockey.  You can easily say that my home away from home is the ice rinks.  Tonight, my 12 year old had his hockey game.  I am happy to announce that they won their game.  Way to go team!!!  Here are a few pictures of my son's team.  My son's team is wearing the dark blue jersey.

Getting ready for a face-off!  



Final victory celebration!
  
Lastly, don't forget to check out Melisa's blog;  A Teaspoon of Teaching.  She is hosting a great giveaway over there!

Here's a question that I posted to my students on Edmodo.  What hidden symbol do you see when you look at the FedEx logo?  Any guesses?




"Remember to Laugh!"

Budding Blog LinkUp

Sunday, September 15, 2013
I hope everyone had a relaxing weekend.

I'm taking a quick moment to link up with Jess at I{Heart}Recess for her Budding Blog Linky.  This linky is for those bloggers who have less than 200 followers. I think I definitely qualify in that category.  All I have to do is link back to I {Heart} Recess and answer Jess' questions.



1.  Why did you start blogging?
I love love love collaborating.  I truly believe that it is through collaboration that we become better teachers.

2.  What is your favorite subject to teach and why?
Oh my!  Can I pick two?  I think I'm going to go with Math & Art.  I like math because I love working with numbers, pictures, shapes, and manipulatives. I love art because students can be creative with their work and freely express their mood through pictures and color.  

3.  Describe your teaching style.
Collaboration, Hands-On, and Gallery Walks!   I want learning to be meaningful and enjoyable.

4.  Give three interesting facts about yourself.
     1.  I am obsessed with Instagram and Pinterest.  If you follow me on either one of these sites, you'll know why.

     2.  I speak 4 languages;  English, French, Armenian, and Turkish.

     3.  Back in the day, I've played 4 instruments;  piano, violin, clarinet, and the recorder.

5.  Do you have a TpT store?  If yes, post the link.
At the moment, I do not have a TpT store.  However, it is on my Things to Do list.  Once things settle down for me, I am hoping to become a TpT seller.

Please visit I {Heart} Recess to see other bloggers with less than 200 followers.

Have a fabulous school week!

"Remember to Laugh!"

Five for Friday...

Friday, September 13, 2013
Wow-wee Wow-zah!!!
I don't know about you, but I am just simply EX...HAUS...TED!!!  The first two weeks of school have been a whirlwind.  I've been meaning to post for the past two weeks, but the next thing I know, I have fallen asleep on the couch.  Finally, today I feel somewhat back to normal.  So, I am linking up for the very first time with Doodle Bugs Teaching.  Thanks Doodle Bugs for hosting a great linky.

fiveforfriday2



1.  This week was our Open House.  Students were encouraged to become tour guides and show their classroom to their parents.  I didn't want my students to forget any important details around the classroom, so I had a checklist prepared for each of my students.

2.  Students completed Ladybug's Teacher Files' "All App-out Me".  This was a quick and colorful activity that my students truly enjoyed completing.
 


3.  We also worked on our cameras.  These cameras are from The Bubbly Blonde.  My students had so much fun with this activity.  They were pretending to take pictures of each other. They couldn't wait to show their cameras to their parents.




4.  Our school is working very hard in becoming a candidate for the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.  Students are encouraged to understand and demonstrate the ten IB Learner Profiles. I wanted my students to somehow remember the ten crucial attributes.  Lucky for me, I came across an art activity created by Runde's Room.  Jen had put a new spin on the traditional All About Me poster.  It was easy, fun, and colorful;  perfect for my 3rd graders.  I was inspired by her talent, but rather than doing an All About Me, I had my students write out the ten Learner Profiles instead.      



5.  We also read "The Day the Crayons Quit" by Drew Daywalt.  Students compared & applied the characteristics of the book to their own lives by applying and understanding the IB Learner Profile attributes of Caring and Open-Mindedness.


Well, that's about it for now.  I'm going to go and see what everyone else has been up to.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!  My weekend is filled with hockey, hockey, and more hockey!
 
"Remember to Laugh!"

Classroom Reveal & Giveaway

Monday, September 2, 2013
I hope you are enjoying your long weekend!

I'm linking up with Tales of a First Grade Teacher to reveal my classroom.



Here's a quick glimpse of what my students will see tomorrow morning when they walk into their third grade classroom for the first time.  (Not to toot my own horn, but I've been told by some of the teachers at my school,  "Your classroom is so bright, colorful, and welcoming!")  Hearing that means so much to me.... I hope my students will like their classroom as much as I do.  I must worn you though, there are tons of pictures....this is a loooonnng post.


This bulletin board is right outside my classroom door.  At our school, we are asked to post our daily subject schedules, monthly calendar, and our monthly programming.  The glitter clothspins are from Michael's. {sorry.....the picture doesn't do justice}. The lime green background is a sheet of fabric bought at Fabricland (a Canadian version of Joanne).  The name sign is made out of a wooden paneled frame, wooden letters, wooden flowers, scrapbook paper, and some fancy ribbons.

 
As my students enter my room, they will see their names on our classroom door.  The huge hanging frogs are carpets from Dollarama (a Canadian version of the Dollar Store).  I just hot glued ribbon to the backs and hung them up with 3M hooks.  The frog name tags are from Erica Bohrer.  She has a welcome sign for all grades.  On our door it reads Looks Who's Hoppy to be in Third Grade.  You can get Looks Who's Hoppy to be in School HERE.


The Exit Slip poster is hung just by our classroom door.  I used green chevron washi tape to make the individual boxes.  Those little dots at the corners of the boxes are student numbers.  For the life of me, I cannot find the creator of the "Ticket Out The Door!" title.  If you know who it was that created this wonderful title please let me know so that I can give credit where credit is due.


Underneath the Exit Slip poster is the washroom signout.  Prior to going out to the washroom, students will be asked to move their name from the green section to the top non-green section.  Upon their return, they will move their name back down onto the green section.  I Modge Podged scrapbook paper & some yellow ribbon onto a cookie sheet. My handy dandy hubby drilled two holes at the top so that I can hang it using a 3M hook. The students' names have magnetic tape on the backs.  Mrs. Beattie's Classroom also has some great pointers on the use of magnetic tape.   By the way, Mrs. Beattie is celebrating in reaching 500 Facebook followers with a fabulous giveaway.  While you're over there getting pointers on magnetic tape, you might just want to enter her amazing giveaway, too.

 
I am in love with my lime green teacher toolbox.  Thank you Where the Wild Things Learn.

  

I wanted to share my free Teacher gift from Staples.  Staples was giving out these lovely Post-It Apples to teachers with any purchase.   As for the bell....I'll 'ding' it from time to time just to get students' attention.


This is a picture of my desk.  The yellow bucket houses pencils.  I used duct tape to tape the flowers onto the tips of my pencils.  This way, I know exactly who has borrowed one of my pencils from afar.  I just love my Smurf nameplate...{I posted the instructions on my previous post.}  The green cup houses numbers 1 through 17.  Students will take a number and wait their turn as I make my way around the classroom.


Students use hand signals in order not to disturb their peers.  This wonderful tool comes from Clutter-Free Classroom.


This old sentimental clock was given to me by my be-lated grandfather many many moons ago.  I wanted to use it in my classroom, but the original maple color was not matching with my classroom colors.  So, I spray painted it lime green.  The wonderful circular numbers are from Where the Wild Things Learn.


This is my Teacher Board.  The glitter clothspins are from Michael's.  The yellow and blue background are placemats from Dollarama.


My ruler holder.  It use to house Pringles, but now it'll house rulers!  I Mod Podged scrapbook paper & some ribbon around it.


Students' workbooks, notebooks, and duo tangs are right in front of my desk.  I used lime green fabric to cover my old blue metallic desk and hung a Welcome banner right at the center of it.


Here's a close up of my workbooks, notebooks, & duo tangs bins.  The labels are from Miss Math Dork.


This wall houses all the attributes of an IB Learner Profile.  These posters are from Celebrate-Learning Designs.


The is a view from the back of my classroom.


My desk and filing cabinet. I used placemats from Dollarama, added magnetic tape onto the backs, and put them onto my drabby old filing cabinet.


Here's a close up of my filing cabinet.  The blue bins will house students' Finished, Unfinished, and Needs Correction work.  Underneath the table are a couple of lime green crates.  This is where I will have our one-on-ones.

SMART Board and whiteboard.  


Picture take from the back of the classroom.  The zebra bins house the classroom library books with more books underneath that shelf.



A close up of the whiteboard.  At the far left corner is the different types of genre.  (Again, if you know the original creator of these genre posters, please let me know.)  The middle bordered section of the whiteboard will house all the important information that students need to write into their agendas.  On the right of the border, are a list of subjects.  Students can refer to this section of the board to see what they still need to work on.  I also took a suggestion from an Instagram follower and bought those lovely heart facecloths that are hanging off of the whiteboard.  They are from Dollarama.  She suggested to use them as a whiteboard eraser.  What a great idea!  (Sorry, I cannot remember where this lovely suggestion came from.)

I should also add that I use magnetic tape on anything and everything that goes onto my whiteboard. The borders have magnetic tape.  The subjects have magnetic tape.  Even the date has a magnetic tape on its' back.  (sorry....I don't have a close up picture of my date.)

On my windows I have all the different subjects.  Students work will be displayed here.  I spray painted my clothspins lime green and hot glued them onto yellow cardstock.  The yellow background is vinyl tablecloths from Dollarama.  The banners are from Where the Wild Things Learn.  Each banner spells out a subject.


These are student mailboxes from Staples.  I used paintchips to label them.  I also used paintchips to label students' desks and hooks.

That's about it...

Have a great day tomorrow!

"Remember to Laugh!"

Smurfs - Desk Nameplate

Sunday, September 1, 2013
Well helloooo there....

Some of you have already gone back to school with your kiddos and some of you will start this week.  Either way, I wish you ALL a wonderful and a successful fun school year!  

If you have read my post from August 9th, you would have learned that I love, love, LOVE the Smurfs.  I grew up with these cute little blue guys.  (shhhh......this little news might just have slightly given my age away.)   If you're also following me on Instagram, you know that I also saw the movie Smurfs 2.  What a great movie!!!!   I definitely recommend it!

I have taken my Smurf obsession a step further and brought it into my classroom.

Today, I thought I share with you something that I created and designed.....a Smurf desk nameplate.  You can easily change this up and replace it with one of your own favorite characters.

I used these four wooden planks from Michael's and hot glued them one on top of the other.  This will act as my base.
Sorry, I don't have a picture of the base. 

Next, I used these four wooden rulers from Staples.

I hot glued these rulers onto the base.  Two rulers on top of the base and one on either sides of the base.

Next up are these foam stickers and wooden trees from Michael's.
 
Using the foam letter stickers, I spelled out my name on the trees.  

The next step includes my little blue friends.

Hot glue the wooden trees along with the little blue people along the "ruler base".

Here's a picture of all my little friends hot glued onto the base.

Next, I used these Crayola crayons for an extra touch of color and to act as the Smurfs' fence along the back.  

The crayons along the back. 

I added my grade level and some butterflies.

Here's the finished product!!!!

I am so happy with the end result!  Isn't it just adorable?  I can't wait for my students to see this on Tuesday morning.

Do you have a nameplate on your desk?

"Remember to Laugh!"

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