I've had a busy couple days here crafting away! I've been trying to consolidate my stuff as much as possible, moving everything every year made me realize I needed a lot less than I have. So I've been revamping organization as well as creating some new things to go along with my color scheme for next year...here's a look at what I've been up to....

I love this banner I made, got the fabric at Walmart for a dollar a yard, I only bought half yard of each so it cost me a total of $2.00 plus the ribbon for a dollar at the dollar tree, and then heatbond to hold it together $3.00 - total project $6.00, the colors are a lot brighter in person!

I had quite a bit of fabric left over even after making two 5 yard long banners, and I had these pillows from my reading center I wanted to match...

So I covered them with the green, pink and black, then made a small pillow with the patterned fabric, check them out......

Again, LOVE - though my son is telling me it's a little to girly and I need to find a boyish print to add as well!

I got on the organizer bin band wagon and made these....

You might remember my previous post with all the 5 drawer sterilite bins, I've condensed eight five drawer units into these two organizers, and I have the boxes they came in to move them so all my little goodies don't go falling out everywhere like they did when we moved a few weeks ago! I am going to use the drawers I replaced around the house!

The spray paint was a little bit of a pain, I am sure I got a bad can, it kept dripping out like water and wasn't covering at all so I had to go back and get more! 2nd can worked like a charm and within an hour they looked great!!

I got green scrapbook paper in 2 patterns from Michaels (on sale 5 sheets for a dollar) and used glue dots to put them in the drawers, I printed theses lovely labels, but ran out of ink so alas some of the drawers are still blank!

Finally I wanted to spruce up my clipboards like everyone else, so here they are.....

modge podge is still drying! I spray painted the edges first then modge podges on the paper in fun animal prints and my colors!! (My daughter picked it out - again Michaels has a big sale on scrapbook paper right now-I got a 25 pack of animal prints in 5 different colors for $3.00)

OH, and did you notice the little feet on top of the organizers up there.......I had to get to Kohl's right away

and pick up a new reading buddy, I love Skippy Jon Jones, and so will my students :) Happy Saturday everyone!

Read more »

Unknown

You may remember my post from last summer where I painted and decorated tuna cans to use as beginning sound tubs, if not you can check out that post HERE! Anyway, the cans were working well but I continued to collect little things to put in them and some of them weren't closing anymore. I had them all in a larger tub and at one point several of them dumped out and I spent about half an hour going through little things putting them back in the right tubs, not to mention when I bought a new item I would have to take all the cans out to find the one I needed, so I decided to do something different, this is what I came up with....

 I went to Lowes looking for the drawers knowing I needed 24 but couldn't find them so I ordered them online here http://www.zorotools.com/g/00108790/k-G3904661/

 I put all the little things in the drawer, and kept the tuna cans for when i want to just take one or two letters out at a time for centers, they fit nicely in the drawers with the little things.

I love it, and can't wait to use it in my classroom this year! I think the labels turned out really cute too, you can get download them below if you want!

Read more »

Unknown

This week on Endless Pinabilities we are celebrating our Countries 

Head on over to see the Patriotic pins we've been admiring, and making! Including the wreath I made for my front door..I love it :) Click on the picture above to head on over and see some adorable red white and blue!!

Read more »

Unknown

Remember this......

 

I pinned it a while back and wanted to make one for my classroom! It's one of the pins I shared over at Endless Pinabilities last week! Well yesterday I finally had some time on my hands and here's how it turned out!

I love it!! It was a little more difficult than I thought since I got the M with the dots, and had to figure out how to go around those, and then the top was to far apart to just glue the hanging ribbon on the back it kept falling forward so I had to put two little hooks in the top and then add the ribbon. I can't wait to add it to my classroom door.

Stay tuned to see what else I've been working on! I've really been Pinterest inspired!

Read more »

Unknown

Well I finally got to do a little shopping and crafting today! I was so excited that Michaels  AND Hobby Lobby  are right down the road from me :) Oh an Target, and Dollar Tree!!!! Needless to say I had a full morning of retail therapy :) Here's what I found...

I got most of this from Michaels dollar bins! I am going to spruce up the wooden M for a desk decoration, and the two picture frames will hold my kids pictures, I just loved the style.

 These are little chalkboards with clothespins on the back, six for a dollar, I'm going to write students names on them and use them on different charts such as Who needs to take an AR test, or who needs to conference with me.

 I love love love these adorable apple clips, in green and red, can't wait to make some games to use them with! They also have little clothes pins on the back of them!

 

Remember that wreath I pinned - I got some ribbon and embellishments, can't wait to make it and show you how it turned out!

Do you see the oak table in the pic's above, it's new - well new to me - I got a round oak table with 4 chairs on craigslist for $40, even my husband thought that was a deal we couldn't pass up! It's beautiful and I love it :)

I also got wooden letters and scrapbook paper, plus all the supplies needed for my 4th of July crafting to be featured on  Endless Pinabilities next week!!! Can't wait to show off what I'm working on :) Head on over and follow the new blog so you don't miss out on some awesome celebrations ideas!

Read more »

Unknown

Today I was at a writing conference...all day long...seriously from 8:00 this morning until 4:00 this evening! It was a long day, and it was freezing in the building so I rode home with the windows up and no air on, my husband thought I was crazy when I came rolling in the drive - it's in the mid 80s outside. Plus the entire conference felt more like a plug for the authors books than a learning session for me :( I was really looking forward to this and I sat through hours of slide after slide of pages from particular books and locations of where to get them :(

There was one bright spot at the very end of the day, It was more reading related than writing but Debbie Diller was there :) She was explaining her literacy workstations and I really loved the videos she showed of how it worked in the classroom - I agreed with what she was saying about how kids can't do centers for an entire 90  minute block, and more than 2 kids in a center is asking for trouble. The problem is now I'm confused, I liked The Daily 5 and I think there are a lot of similarities but I think I like this better, so my question to you is... How do you do reading?
 
Have you used workstations, or Daily 5. Do you think one works better than the other, have you blended them at all? I would really appreciate any insights you have!

(by the way, Debbie made sure to tell us her book was out 3 years before the Daily 5, and that her editor is also the editor of Daily 5 - I don't think she was really happy about that - she said her editor said that workstations and Daily 5 are the same thing)

I'm headed back tomorrow to hear Katie Wood Ray, Ralph Fletcher, and Debbie again - she's discussing math workstations and I'm pretty excited about hearing what else she has to say!

Thanks in advance for your responses, and Happy Almost Friday :)

Read more »

Unknown

I've decided to create a facebook page for my blog, mainly to keep my personal and school stuff separate, but it also gives me another way to share with all of you, so please head on over and "like" my page I would really appreciate it!

The Resource(ful) Room on Facebook!

I tried to move all of the pages I had liked under my personal name to this page, so if your missing a "liker" I am sorry I may have lost a few in the process, I will try to add you back if I see you are missing!

Hope your all having a wonderful Tuesday!!

Read more »

Unknown

Well we've been in Indiana for a  whole week and I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel of boxes! Things are getting put into place, all except my classroom stuff :(

I have a job here - teaching special education K-12 again, and you'd think I would just be satisfied that I was able to land a job right now!!!

Buuuut (it seems there's always a but in all good things for me) it's 40 miles from our new home - about an hour drive each way and I'm not feeling real good about that come winter.

What do you think, is that a long drive to you? I know some people drive a long ways to get to their jobs and I feel like I'm being a little greedy here looking for another position.

The other part of this dilemma is I really want to teach elementary only. K-12 is a huge stretch and takes so much work! I've been applying for several jobs closer to home and at the grade level I would like but I just want to be settled, and get started on getting ready for a new year. I hope I don't sound totally horrible...I am appreciative of being able to get a job, but I don't feel great about it.

On a much better note, I'm joining fellow bloggers on a brand new blog created by Tanja aka Ms. T from Journey of a Substitute Teacher. It's dedicated to all the wonderful pins we've been finding on Pinterest....

head on over to check out what I've got in the plans for this summer...see ya there!

Read more »

Unknown

Well - It's been a busy start to my summer break! We are finally moved into the new house but it still looks like this....

Boxes and totes still sitting in the dinning room, most of them are seasonal decorations, the kids school work I've saved, stuff that lived in the basement and needs to find a new home.

This is classroom stuff still sitting in the dining room, mostly boxes of books, I can't get into my new room until August so I have to store it all up here while I wait...No fun ;(

School wall in my bedroom!

Yep, it's the whole wall - floor to ceiling - school stuff! And I even got rid of a lot of stuff before the move!

At least it's all organized - that did make moving it all a lot easier!

So all this moving, packing, unpacking is the reason why I'm late to post the winner of my summer activities giveaway! Without further delay the winner is....

I'll send you an email so I can get your info to the right people and you can get your prize!

Please stay tuned to my blog, I know it's been slow going lately as life has been pretty crazy but as soon as I'm settled in here (hopefully by the end of the week) I'll be back with freebies and summer projects I can't wait to get started on! So much has changed for me and I can't wait to share all of it with all of you! 

Thanks for reading..Happy Monday!

Read more »

Unknown

Our last day is tomorrow, I am so going to miss these little guys...

 and while their home enjoying their break I know they should still be learning everyday. Summer loss is huge for students with disabilities that's why I love Carson Dellosa's Summer Bridge Program. I wanted to share this with you....

 They have also agreed to give away a summer learning packet to one of my followers! /Check out what you could win...

 Here's how you can enter!

1.) Leave a comment telling me how you help students continue learning over the summer!
2.) Follow my blog - leave a comment!
3.) Share this giveaway on your blog, facebook, or pinterest - leave a comment!

A winner will be chosen on Saturday evening June 9th! Please leave a blog or email address so I can contact you if you win. Thanks for checking out my blog and Good Luck!!

Read more »

Unknown

Here it is June already!! The last couple months have flown by. I feel like I spent most of April trying to catch up and May apologizing for being behind. I can't believe the events that have unfolded in that time, and can't wait for things to settle down again so I can get back into blogging like I want to. This week is crazy - we get out of school of Thursday, and the moving truck comes on Friday, so much to do - just not enough time.  Hopefully it slows down soon! Anyway Thanks to Farley for giving me something to blog about!!! Here is what I am doing currently.....

My husband and I think Ireland looks beautiful, but he refuses to leave the good ol, U-S- of A! He is super paranoid that if we ever leave we won't make it back - I say it's to many crazy movies, he says it's just a normal fear???? We have been traveling around Indiana since we are moving there and love Indianapolis, there's a lot to do there! We would like to go to Virginia this summer - I think I've mentioned that my daughter is into retro TV - she loves the Waltons and wants to go see the house the series was filmed in. It's also a beautiful state so that's where we plan to go this summer.

Hope your all enjoying your last few days if your still in school like me! If your already out for summer, then I am super jealous :)

Read more »

Unknown