Five on Friday - Back to School Style

It's Friday!

Like a real Friday - the one that happens at the beginning of the weekend before you have to go to work on Monday.  

As excited as I am about Monday I'm feeling a tad bit sad about summer coming to an end.  I'm a fan of not having a schedule and being able to do whatever I want each day.  

I've been doing some things to prepare myself for Monday and I thought I'd share them with you.

ONE.

Tuesday I went to the salon and got my nails done.  It was so nice to just sit still and relax a couple of hours before Open House.  

TWO.

Sunday night I have every intention of taking a nice hot bath with a Lush bath bomb and going to bed early.  I'm sure it will take me awhile to fall asleep so I'm going to get a head start.  If you've never used a Lush product...go ahead and splurge.  Treat yourself.  I promise you it's well worth it.  Those little green bath gels on the bottom are my favorite.  I can't remember the exact name right now.  They will make your skin so silky soft.

THREE.

I like to spend time doing something I enjoy that I might not have as much time for once school starts.  For me this summer that has been reading.  I should have this book finished before Monday.

FOUR.

It helps me feel prepared for the week to have my outfits planned out.  I don't do this all school year long, but I like to do it the first week at least.  I'm always exhausted that first week and if my clothes are picked out already, well that's one less thing I have to worry or think about.

FIVE.

And last but not least I like to have my bag packed before I go to bed Sunday night.  I do this so I can take my time and make sure that I don't forget anything.  Last year I didn't do this and I made it to school without 3/4 of the things I needed for the first day.  It was not fun and I don't want to repeat that this year.

What do you do to prepare yourself to go back to work?

Five on Friday

ONE.

Every year it seems at least one student ask me about a class pet.  I always tell them it's enough work just taking care of them.

One year I inherited a huge fish tank.  It remained empty for a good portion of the year until one of my students caught a fish and brought it to school.  We put the little fish in our tank and named him Ryan.  Students took care of him and I did absolutely nothing until the end of the year.  I was not about to keep this fish all summer.  I took him to the river and set him free.

For whatever reason I'm considering getting a class pet this year.  Call it peer pressure.  Several of my Instagram friends have been talking about class pets and it makes me think it wouldn't be such a bad idea.

I'm leaning towards a Beta fish.  They seem like they would be easy to take care of.  Maintenance is the number one factor.  I need this pet to require little to no work.

But I also think it would be fun to have a rabbit.  My biggest thing against the rabbit is I don't think my dogs would do too well with it when I had to bring it home for breaks.

Do you have a class pet?  What kind?  

If you don't have a class pet, what's stopping you?

TWO.

One month from today students will be walking into my classroom for the first day of school.  ONE MONTH!  What have I done to prepare?  Pretty much nothing.

I just can't seem to get excited about a theme or color scheme.  I have several ideas but can't seem to put them together for one wonderful vision. 

I went to Hobby Lobby today and saw a few things that I really liked.  Maybe a vision is starting to form.

THREE.

I created these Mathematical Practices posters a couple of weeks ago.  I wanted them to be simple but after I printed them I didn't like them.  They were too simple.  But I'm not sure what it is specifically that I don't like or want to change.  What would you do to spruce these up a bit?

FOUR.

Next year I will be coteaching 7th grade Math class.  The students who will be in my class haven't experienced a lot of success in Math.  I want to change that.  I want to help them to have a growth mindset and feel successful.   I love the idea of have "The Fridge" to celebrate their growth.

FIVE. 

Speaking of growth, I've been working on a digital data tracking notebook for my students.  I believe there is something very rewarding or students when they can track and see their growth.  I'm really excited about this idea.  Right now it is simple.  I'm not sure if I want to keep it that way since I've never done anything like this or if I want to add more to it.

Five on Friday

Those items that you just can't imagine teaching without...

ONE.

I'm a huge fan of anchor charts.  They cover the walls of my classroom.  And if I'm going to make that many posters then at least my markers can smell delicious.  Sure I could teach without Mr. Sketch but it wouldn't be nearly as fun.


TWO.

My personal laminator.  This wasn't originally purchased for classroom use, but now I can't imagine not having it.  This thing has laminated countless numbers of task cards.  It's perfect when I don't have time to use the big laminator at school or when I just want the convenience of having this small one.



THREE.

File folders are such a huge help for me with organization.  I shared a little about these on instagram the other day.  I use folders to organize student paperwork.  I have two folders for each class.  One for "To Be Graded" and one for "Graded".



FOUR.

Every teacher needs a little toolbag in their classroom.  Of course this contains things that I will probably never use...maybe even some things I don't know how to use.  But I know I'm thankful for this little bag of tools.  You never know when you are going to need a hammer or a screw driver.



FIVE.

My Yeti!  Y'all I drink water all day long when I'm teaching.  I love that my Yeti keeps it cold.  And it has my name on it so that's a bonus!