It's Currently August!!

Is it really that time already?!? Time for the August Currently?  I am in such denial about the ending of summer that I could barely handle turning over the calendar this morning! 



Listening - I LOVE that there are marathons of Friends reruns every night.  I miss that show!

Loving - The weather in my neck of the woods has been pretty amazing lately.  I know that many people are questioning whether it is actually still summer, but I will take 70's and low humidity any day!!  Especially since this is how most days have looked around here in the last few weeks.

Beautiful blue skies and big, puffy clouds!!  I'll take it!!

Thinking - I have not accomplished much from the To-Do list that I started the summer with.  It seems that I always have high hopes for all the organizing I will get done at home and in my classroom over the summer.  This summer I also had dreams of creating many products for TpT and my classroom.  I have so many ideas floating around in my head right now!!  In reality, that's not really the way it pans out.  In reality, I would rather spend my summer resting up and decompressing from the school year.  In reality, family time comes first.  I have been teaching for quite a while, and I'm not going to lie...I really enjoy the time off that summer provides.  I LOVE spending time with my two beauties and the hubby, whether we are spending time with friends, relaxing at the beach, reading together for hours, or cuddling up doing nothing at all.  That is what is truly important in life.  That is what I will remember when my babies are grown.

Wanting - This one is kind of self explanatory after the last one.  :)

Needing - Since I have tried to make the most of my summer, I will need to kick it into overdrive next week.  All in all, my room is pretty much ready to go.  I still have not received a class list though, so I will need to do locker tags and desk tags and finish my C.A.M.P. binders and...and...and...anything else that requires the students' names.

B2s Must Haves - (I, too, am whispering the s)
*I always need to buy new sets of pens and markers.  It just makes those mundane tasks like grading and note taking easier when you have some brand new pens! 
*I also must have copious amounts of coffee in order to survive having to set an alarm. 
*Last year I found an amazing binder set from Amy at The Resource(ful) Room.  It truly ramped up my organization in a very good way.  I am excited to be using it again this year.

Amy has MANY different color options and patterns like camping, frogs, monsters, candy, dogs, zebras, jungle, and the ever popular Boho Chic, that you are sure to find a set that suits you.  Oh, and I can't forget the AMAZING part...they are all FREE!!  Yes, FREE!!  She also has editable versions available in her TpT store.  So, please, click the picture below to go check her website out!!

 

I hope that in the midst of all the crazy preparations for B2s, you will take some time out to enjoy the last waning days of summer!!

Organization for the New Year

Today I am linking up with Hope from 2nd Grade Shenanigans to share my organizational plans for the New Year.  I seem to have the same problem as many of you.  I pin lots of phenomenal ideas on Pinterest to help me get organized, but never actually implement any of them.  I am planning to change that in the new year.  Here are some of the things that I have planned.

I don't know about you, but I seem to pin recipes more than anything else.  The pictures that pop up on Pinterest just look so darn good, that I end up pinning far more than making.  I also seem to find myself scrolling though my phone while walking through the grocery store to find a recipe for a dish that I am inspired to make that night.  My plan over this winter break is to create a recipe binder like this one from Clean Mama to get all those fabulous pins downloaded and kept in one place.

I also love this idea for organizing my cabinets at home and my shelves at school.

Such an easy thing to do, I find myself wondering why I didn't think of it!

I LOVE this list of house cleaning tasks to keep me on a regular schedule.  I will be printing this out and hanging it on my refrigerator.

Here are some things that I actually accomplished in the last year in my classroom that have made a HUGE difference for me. 

I spent an enormous amount of time organizing my classroom library before the end of the last school year.  I bought the baskets from Really Good Stuff and they fit my books perfectly.  I started by removing all of the books from the shelves and placing them into categories.  This allowed me to see what my labels would be and helped me determine how many bins to purchase.  I am extremely pleased with the end result.

I also began an organizational binder and a lesson plan binder to help keep me organized.  I found these great FREEBIES from The Resource(ful) Room.

 They have made a HUGE difference in the day to day operation of my classroom.  I have a clear place to put everything from MAP data to IEP invites and information.  There is also a calendar portion that I flip to at least a hundred times a day.  Okay...so maybe it's not that many...but it sure feels like it!  Once I downloaded the set, I promptly told everyone I work with about them.  The great thing is that Amy has the sets in so many different colors and themes you are sure to find a set that matches your classroom.

She also has sets that she created for Daily 5.

I used them to organize all of my Daily 5 materials this summer.  Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of that here at home.  I will need to add some next week when I stop by school to get a few things done.

I am excited to have a plan for some projects that will help me start the new year off on the right foot!  I will be sure to blog again to let you know how they all turn out.