My Classroom: The Finished Product

Here it is!!!! The pictures from my room with all of its finishing touches (taken before the first day of school…which was 4 weeks ago…sorry I’m behind)

What do ya think?!

Missing in Action

Deep breath in. Deep breath out.

That’s what I have been repeating to myself over and over again during the last 4 overwhelming, rewarding, nerve-racking, exciting, confusing, happy, stressful, and wonderful weeks…also known as my first month of teaching.

So if you thought I fell off the face of the Earth, I didn’t. I just have been surrounded by middle schoolers 7 hours a day and have been trying to adjust being a member of “the real world.”

In all seriousness, it really has been great. Even the days I leave home at 6:45 AM and don’t get home until dinnertime, I know that this is what I want to be doing and where my passion truly is.

There has been a lot going on with starting my first year as a middle school teacher, and I will try and post more this week about everything. I also just realized I never posted final pictures of my classroom. They will be up soon, so stay tuned =) PS- I just returned from my cousin’s wedding in Hilton Head…it was AMAZING! A post on that soon to follow, as well…

While You Were Out

Even though school hasn’t even started yet, I’ve had to think about sub plans because I will be missing two days in September for my cousin’s destination wedding…in HILTON HEAD =)

SO, I created this cute little while you were out form to leave for my substitute teachers to fill out.

This will help me get the basic summary of the day:

• who was absent
• what students were on their best behavior
• which were not
• any specific comments about the day
• and the name/contact info. of the sub for future reference

To get this form for yourself, download here =) WhileYouWereOut

Pink Slip

While doing my student teaching, I observed a real problem in the way late assignments were handled in my classroom. I wanted to try and avoid this from the beginning of my first year of teaching, by creating a late-assignment slip.

I found this You’ve Been Pink Slipped! idea on Pinterest (surprise, surprise). I love it and it is very similar to what my teachers used when I was in middle school.

It clearly documents what assignment is missing, why the student does not have it, and requires a parent signature.

My favorite part is that the slip asks WHY the assignment is late. The student can choose from the following options:

• I did the assigned homework, but I did not bring it to class
• I chose not to do my homework
• I forgot to do my homework
• I did not have the appropriate materials at home
• Other

This holds the student accountable for his/her actions and allows the teacher to discuss the problem with the student. If the behavior continues, the teacher can use these slips to look for a pattern in why the student is not turning in his/her homework.

I will have a specific file in my desk where I will hold all of these slips to refer back to as needed.

To download this file click here: PinkSlip

Parent Communication

I have been working on a parent survey  to send to my student’s parents during the first week of school.

I combined some examples of these surveys that I have seen on other blogs. I picked the questions I liked best and chose the ones that would give me  the information I need.

Here is what I came up with…

(to download file click here: ParentSurvey)

This will help start communication with parents, as well as give me background information on my students so that I can work to best fit their individual needs.

I also came up with a parent communication log that I can use for each student and keep in a binder…

(to download file click here: ParentCommunicationLog)

As I continue to make these various worksheets/forms I will be sure to upload them! =)

Class Rules

I have been putting off creating “class rules” for my classroom. I wasn’t sure if it was too young for middle school or if by sixth and seventh grade the students already knew what was expected of them…

BUT I finally found some examples that I liked and used those as a starting point in creating my own. I knew that I wanted my rules to be simple and to the point…and not too baby. I also didn’t want to create too many rules for fear that students would just forget them…nor did I want the rules to be super wordy and end up confusing my students. So here is what I came up with:

I feel as though these rules cover pretty much everything and clearly state what I expect of my students. I will post these rules in my classroom for all to see, as well as go over them with my students at the beginning of the year. I will refer back to them as needed.

I am happy that I decided to create my own rules, especially since this is my first year of teaching. No matter what age students are, they need to know what is expected of them and know that they are held to a high standard.

Only 22 more days until the FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL! =)

Click here to download this poster –> Class Rules

Classroom Craft

The other day I was feeling crafty and decided to make something for my classroom.


I stumbled upon an unused frame and some leftover fabric from when I made my  jewelry board.

I had seen on Pinterest using old frames to make dry erase boards so I thought I would give it a try.  I taped the fabric to cardboard and placed it inside the frame (with the glass in it).

And voila, a cute, decorative, little dry erase board in minutes (…it literally took me 4 minutes)!

Not sure exactly how I will incorporate this into my classroom but we will see =)

What fun & creative classroom crafts have you come up with?

Classroom Decor

“To teach is to touch a life forever”

As summer is starting to wind down I have started setting up my classroom and getting organized. I received this adorable canvas from Scott’s mom (who is also a teacher). She found it at TJ Maxx – LOVE that place!

I have the day off from nannying tomorrow so I’m going to go to my classroom with my mom and try to do my bulletin boards. I will try to remember to take pictures and post them! Can you tell I’m a first year teacher and VERY excited? Who sets up their classroom in July when the first day isn’t until August 21st?! =)