Pinspired Linky!

Because last time was such a success {look at my last Pinspired post} I decided to link up again, because, god knows I have LOTS more Pinterest-Inspired creating to do! I will post pictures of my last Pinspired Linky too, but haven't gotten around to it! oops...

Join Mrs. Sheehan from Learning in Wonderland for this fun, "pin-spiring" link-up! Check out my ambitious goals below!

Project #1: My first goal for the upcoming week is to create a Cafeteria Expectations/Social Skills visual for my kids for in the lunch room. I got this great idea from the blog Kindergarten...Kindergarten that I originally found via Pinterest.

I would like to have one visual be for cafeteria expectations, as seen above, and one side of the lunchbox be for lunch-room conversation topics. My kids struggle with engaging in reciprocal, engaging, and school-appropriate conversations. I would like to use this as a way for students to find prosocial ways to communicate with one another during a less structured time, like lunch.

Project #2: I've went back and forth all year about the best way to display a Sight Word Wall. I chose to have it on my bulletin board, but I only have one in the class total, so I have had to resort to hanging work from the ceilings, walls, doors, etc. This would be fine, and I would use these spaces regardless, but I would love to be able to showcase my students' work in more formal, organized way. I have thought about having a word wall hanging from our clothes line in the classroom, like I have seen here, but ultimately decided against it, because it is not very accessible for my kiddos. I also wanted to allow my students to be able to be in contact with the words, and be able to take them to their desks if necessary, but my current word wall does not allow that. Thus, I've decided to take my word wall in a different direction.

Personal word walls!!! I think these would be fabulous, as each student would have access to all the words in their word wall folders. They are also insanely easy. I found this great idea from Sub Hub. I have to brainstorm a bit more in terms of if they should be personalized (based on certain trick words, etc), and having them in their desks, or in a central place they can grab. Either way, I'm excited to give these a try!

Project #3: So as you may know, I am a very disorganized person. I have struggled my whole life with my executive functioning challenges and have had to majorly compensate for this fact throughout my teaching career. I am always on the lookout for a new organization strategy, because I still have not found one that suits me.

In my quest for organization perfection, I stumbled upon KindergartenWorks' post on teacher binders. The gears in my brain started turning, and I thought this would be the perfect weekend project for me!

Project #4: So my classroom team consists of myself, my assistant teacher, and my classroom counselor. We each of our own "jobs" to ensure the classroom is running smoothly, and that includes setting up for the next day. Often, some of these jobs gets overlooked, and things are not done before the students arrive in the morning, so we are scrambling to get those done during the school day (example: writing the correct date on the board, writing student pull-outs times). While I know all the things that need to get done for the next day, the others don't necessarily have them on their minds, which is where the afternoon checklist comes in.

While this is a fabulous post on how Sherrie from Middle School Math Rules gets ready for the next day, I think my classroom would benefit even more by having a visual checklist (yes...very similar to the things I create for my kiddos). I would love to create something similar (probably not with pictures) to benefit my after school routine. It will also ease a lot of my anxiety, when I am the one scrambling around in the morning to ensure everything is done, when I initially delegated those jobs to someone else.

I think 4 projects is good for the week! I can't wait to have these creations completed...they will totally help my classroom run smoother!

Check out my Pinterest for more classroom ideas. To join in on the fun, link up with Learning in Wonderland!