Summer is winding down, and I've been trying to kick it into high gear before school starts.  I finally set up a teachers pay teachers selling account. (even though I only have 2 items on there so far.)

Link to my store:  http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Amber-Reeves

I have worked on a few other projects too...I finally finished my bucket seats!  Whoo-Hoo!  I am thinking about adding some ribbon or something to decorate the actual bucket, but I love how tall the actual cushion is.

I also made a new job chart.  I created round print-outs with my jobs on them, glued them to a ribbon, and each kid will have a clothespin with their name on it.  I will clip their pin on the job title for the week. (YOU CAN NOW BUY MY JOB CHART ON MY TEACHERS PAY TEACHERS WEBSITE!!! HERE'S THE LINK: http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Owl-Job-Chart)

And FINALLY, I made a "What to do when you are finished with your work" cup.  I want to give my students free choice for the activities most of the time; however, you always have that kid that comes up to you and asks, "What do I do now?"  even though they know what they are expected to do.  I have decided that my students get free choice unless they come and ask me what to do or if they are sitting and doing nothing.  At that point, they have to come draw from the cup and find out what activity they must do.  (Also, there may be special days where it's not free choice - just pick from the cup.)

Well, hopefully more projects to come....hopefully more items on TeachersPayTeachers...and hopefully more things to post!  :)

Here are some pics of my latest projects.

One of my buckets (Needs more embellishments???)

Job Chart

What do I do now? cup

It's been a pinterest, crafty kind of day.  I started working on 5 gallon bucket seats for my classroom. (I am in love!)  I will post pictures of those later because the paint is starting to scratch off - even though I used plastic spray paint.  After, I put a sealer on them, I will post pics.  Did I say I am in love?  Cuz I totally am.  :)

I did get one project finished.  I made the supply drawers out of the tool box.  The problem I was having is that I want the drawers to sit on my desk and the back of them will be facing my classroom. There isn't a back to the drawers so you can see all the little clear drawers, and that just doesn't look nice and organized to me.  SOOO, I covered the back of the drawers with cardboard, scrapbook paper, and ribbon.  Added my name, some flowers, and a felt owl and VOILA!  I now have my own name plate - per se - on my desk! 

Note on the ribbon:  I put it all around like a border, but then I also went around the top and sides so you didn't have to see the cardboard when you looked down on it.

Note on the: The font for my name, "Mrs. Reeves" is courtesy of Kevin & Amanda Scrapbook fonts.

  

Front of the drawers

Back of the drawers

Seriously, it's summer and my brain WILL NOT turn off.  I can't sleep at night because all I do is think about what I would like to work on for my classroom.  Maybe I'll be able to sleep tonight after posting this and getting another thing marked off my "I really want to do that" list.

Last week, I posted my rewards catalog.  I created coupons to go with each of the items in my reward catalog.  I like the coupon idea because I don't have to keep track of who received which reward and whether they've used it or not.  (If they lose their coupon, it's so sad...They must keep up with coupon to claim their prize.)

There are 15 different coupons and 2 of them have a punch card because students can use them on 3 different occasions.

I have included a link to the coupons on Scribd.  Feel free to print them, and if you want something changed or added, let me know and I'll be happy to fix it for you! 

                              (Sidenote:the fonts are from KevinandAmanda...my favorite!)

                                                     Link to:     Reward Coupons

Soooo, I start a blog and don't visit it for 5 months....that's not a great way to start, but hey!  Atleast I'm back.  :)

It's summertime, and I love to work on classroom stuff in the summer.  I CAN'T STOP!!!  I may be a tad bit addicted to working on school stuff.  I think I will blame pinterest.  In the last day, I have decorated a toolbox to hold all my supplies, made scrapbook frames to write my objectives on, and finally, retyped my rewards catalog.

Rewards Catalog:That's where I want to spend my time today.  I despise having to buy trinkets for my treasure/prize box.  I started getting away from it last year, and I think I am fully getting rid of it this year.  I may have a small prize box for special rewards, but for every day use, I MUST GET RID OF IT.

I am going to have sticker charts, and when students get their stickers charts filled, they may browse through my catalog to pick their reward.  I am going to make coupons so the students may use the rewards anytime they want.  Also, some of the rewards are usable on three occasions (like using the teacher's supply box).  I am going to make a punch card coupon for that.

All these rewards are FREE!  That's what I love about them.  And they get to choose what reward they want and when to redeem them.

I have attached the link to the pdf document.  If you would like a copy with anything changed, like your name or another page added, let me know, and I would love to fix it for you and e-mail it!

                                                  

                                                            Reward Catalog PDF

Okay, here it goes.  Writing my first blog, TAKE ONE.  Where do I start?  I guess I will start with my classroom.  In previous years, my classroom was ocean themed, and I felt like I needed a change this year.  I decided to go with an owl theme...Hence, the name of my blog, "Learning's a HOOT!"  With the change in theme, I needed some new catchy sayings to put around the room.  "Oceans of Good Work" just wouldn't quite work anymore.  I chose "Hoot-Hoot-Hooray for Data,"  "Look Whooo's Read a Good Book,"  "Reading's a Hoot." My favorite part is the tree I made for my reading corner.  For the tree, I used green and green polka-dotted (which I love) scrapbook paper for the leaves.  I just drew and colored the owls on poster board.  I also made some owls for the "Look Whooo's Read a Good Book" bulletin board.  I used scrapbook paper and buttons for those owls.   

Anyway, you've gotten a peek into my classroom.  I hope to share my teaching ideas, experiences, successes, (and hopefully not failures) with you.  Lots more to come!!!