Koala Bling

What teacher doesn't like a little bling? When I came across this adorable Koala thumb drive on Amazon I just couldn't resist! 8GB and BLING! I plan to add it to my ID necklace that I want to make. This is another item on my Summer-to-do list!
There are some very pretty ones on Pinterest . You can also follow the Pinterest link to shops on Etsy.

Ten Pin Linky Party

I'm linkin' up with Ashley at Just Reed for a Ten Pin Linky Party to share our 10 favorite pins. This week it's share your favorite pins for Classroom Décor.

 

First, my new theme for this Fall is Black and White so I found a lot of great ideas at schoolgirl style

                         

 

My inspiration came from the creativeteaching. It is their BW collection for the designer classroom.

Creating an organizer to store all of the "little items" that keep the classroom going is one of my summer jobs. I love the bright colors on the one found at downthelearingroad.blogspot.com

My next two come fromAdventuresof5thgrade.blogspot.com everything has it's place and a place for everything will be a lot easier with these two little gems!

I really need to find one of these little cuties found at perciousperks.blogspot.com  The Kinders are always wanting to give me their forms and money. Consistency of a common drop box with make
that easy to take care of.

Storage Drawers

I finally finished up my storage drawers for my room. I found the drawer organizer at Sears. The cute labels are from Deanna Jump. One more thing to check off of my Summer-to-do list.

Classy Makeover

Once a month I try to volunteer at KidsMart in St. Louis. This FABULOUS organization provides children and their classrooms in the Greater Metropolitan Saint Louis Area with the basic tools for learning by transferring, at no cost, the community's surplus supplies and merchandise into the hands of teachers for school children in need. Check out their website http://www.kidsmartstl.org/ for more information. A perk of volunteering is you get to "shop" for things to use in your classroom!

On my last shopping trip I found some sport dry erase message boards. I brought them home and gave one a classy makeover! My new classroom theme is going to be Black and White so I used some contact paper, stickers, a bit of bling and voilà!
(a reversed before and after pic)

Noisy Plastic Playdough Stampers Problem Solved!

Last Fall I purchased a nice set of plastic playdough letter stampers for around $30.00.  I put them in the playdough center with some free printable ABC mats that I found at makinglearningfun.com
The playdough center was popular and LOUD! The kinders spent a lot of time digging through the plastic tub trying to find the exact letter they needed. I realized that I needed to organize the stampers to make them more kid friendly and less noisy. I searched for a holder that would hold all 26 stampers in an upright position. I didn't see anything that I felt would do the trick so I contacted my dear carpenter friend who can make "anything" out of wood! I told him how I wanted it to look and showed him a picture of a wooden scissor rack ($32.00 and only had 12 slots). Three days later this is what he had waiting for me! Isn't it a beaut!?!

 

 

  Cost: $5.00  The creativity of a talented carpenter: priceless!

 

 

Black and White theme: Black Pocket Charts tutorial!

Came across this tutorial while looking for classroom black and white decorating ideas:
http://dalovelysteachingideas.blogspot.com/2012/08/black-pocket-chart.html

A big thank you to Lizette for figuring this out!