Back to School Freebies and Ideas

Back to School Success Kit

I came across this in my blog hunts for the evening.  I am going to modify some of it to use in my classroom, but thought I would post it to share with anyone else who would be interested.  A lot of what she has made reminds me of Harry Wong's list that can be found in his book, The First Days of School.  This was made for an early elementary classroom, so some may need to change it to fit their own needs, but it might be worth taking a look.

I am keeping an eye out for other back to school ideas and freebies.  A lot of what I find has been on pinterest.com.  Unfortunately, I think their sight is having issues right now, so I will post more of my finds tomorrow.

Back to school shopping!

You can ask my mom, I've always been a huge fan of back to school shopping.  It was like a holiday in itself in my eyes.  I always loved getting a few new outfits to replace the ones that I'd outgrown, but I mostly loved getting new school supplies.  I might even call myself a school supply junkie.  I can't seem to get enough pads of paper, a new binder and folders, new markers and crayons (I love the look of a fresh box of Crayolas!) and don't even get me started on how much I love a new bag!!  As a teacher, I still love the excitement of back to school shopping, but now I get that excited all year long when I get a teaching catalog in the mail.  

I'll admit, usually the catalogs have the same stuff month after month, company after company.  But I still look through them, page by page.  I've gotten better about looking through it once and then tossing it into the recycling bin.  If I didn't, we wouldn't be able to see the floor of my house because it would be covered with them!  But I certainly have my favorites that I shop from every year.  I even follow most of the companies on Facebook and read all of their emails.  I thought I'd share just a few that I find to have the highest quality products at the best prices.

The first, that I use all the time, is Really Good Stuff.  I have never gotten a bad product from them and usually manage to spend my entire yearly budget on one order.  I love their organizational tools (I'm a sucker for bins and baskets as well!)  I try to check out their clearance section often because I can usually find one or two things that are a great deal.

I also like the products from Creative Teacher Press.  A lot of what I get from them are for bulletin boards.  I don't change my boards very often, especially in my new role, but I like to get things with themes and they have a wide selection.  Debbie Diller suggests that classrooms should use no more than three colors throughout the room in order to avoid being too distracting.   Covering bulletin boards with 2-3 colors and leaving them empty at the start of the year can give the illusion of a bigger space as well.  But items can be bought to fill the boards and highlight student work.  

I just came across another company today that I think I'm going to like as well.  They're called Steps to Literacy.  They have a lot of books and book sets (which seemed rather expensive), teaching resources (which would be great for guided reading or intervention groups) as well as book storage.  Their baskets are reasonably priced and their options are quite varied.  I am going to take a closer look into this company and I'll be sure to blog if I get anything.  

Most of all, throughout the years, I have learned that it is best to shop around as well as ask around.  It may take some time and organization  but it will be worth it in the end.   

Let's give this a try...

I've spent quite a bit of my time lately trying to blog for my kids.  It sounds funny, but I figured that I spend enough time on the computer once they are in bed for the night or taking their naps that I would make it a little more productive than just window shopping.  It mostly stemmed from the fact that I have a baby book for my oldest two children, but I hardly ever wrote in them.  I don't even have one for my newest little guy.  So I figured I would use what technology has given me and blog for them instead.  This way, I am able to write about what happened and post the pictures.  I'll call it my online scrapbook.

As I've spent time doing this, and learning more about all that blogs have to offer, I've come across quite a few blogs by teachers and creative moms who are posting a lot of really great ideas and suggestions.  With that in mind, I've decided to try to do the same.  It's my hope that someone out there (be it a colleague, parent, friend, total stranger) can take what I've come across and use it to educate children in a better way.  I don't plan to blog every day, because I'll be honest, I will forget.  But when I find something of interest, I will put it on here.

So, here's what I've got for today.  As my school begins to transition to a completely workshop approach to teaching reading as well as writing, I've been on the look out bargins when it comes to all the supplies that we'll need.  We are in need of books (and lots of them!) as well as book bins, notebooks, book shelves...the list could go on for a while.  My first find has been the Target dollar spot.  I got book bins for my intervention students for $2.50/each.  They aren't exactly what I was looking for, but a friend did get them at a different Target store in town.




These are the best ones to get.  They come from Really Good Stuff.  I got a free sample of this because they are promoting their new bins that don't tip.  It's really great.  But they are really expensive.  Get the cheaper kind from the dollar store  or the dollar spot and let them tip.  It will be okay.  I promise.

I've also bought these in the past.  I let the kids decorate their own.  They love it!  However, they will be duct taped and falling apart by the winter holiday if you use them all the time like we did.  Again, they are expensive considering you can't use them again because the kids will take them home at the end of the year.  

This is also another idea that works great.  A teacher in my building used something similar to it last year.  I've seen them at the dollar stores all ready.  I love the colors they come in as well.

http://mchaffiek.blogspot.com/search/label/classroom%20library

Doing a quick google search of classroom libraries will get you lots of ideas.  You can also visit other blogs, like the one linked under the picture above, and it will take you on a wild goose chase through the web from blog to blog and overfill your head with great ideas as well.

Most of all, think about what will work in your classroom with the group of students you are working with.  What works in the classroom next door, may not work for you.  Do what works best and it will make the teaching and learning process in the workshop so much fun!