Another Favorite Item...

If your school is like mine you probably have certain days you can laminate, which can be a pain if you need something on the fly. Well, I'm the Queen of living on the fly, so it can be a problem for me! This year we got some money for our classrooms from our Boosterthon fundraiser, so what did I buy? Yep, that's right. I got a laminator for my classroom! Here it is:

It is a Scotch brand 2 roller laminator. I got it at Target and paid $26. ($28.99, used my RedCard and saved 5%). Then it also had a $10 mail in rebate, so the total cost for it ends up being about $17. You can't beat it. It is GREAT. It uses the pouches, which I wasn't so sure about at first, but now that I'm used to them I love them. The pouches run about $16 for 50 (9x11 size) in the store. But, if you buy on Amazon you can get 100 pouches for around $14. It's a small price to pay for convenience in my opinion.

 It laminates 3mil for standard paper and 5mil for cardstock. Another plus is that you can actually cut your laminated item (like for puzzles or match up games) without it coming apart. It has been a fantastic investment. LOVE my laminator!

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things!

So I've come across some really great ideas on Pinterest and I'd like to share what I've done with the ideas. First of all I'll share my favorite thing of all....DRY ERASE CIRCLES!!!! Oh my goodness how they have made my life sooooo easy! First a picture...

I found these at Ross. They were $6 for a pack of 2. Just as luck would have it they had exactly 3 packs, so I got them all. I put them on my small group table and fell in love. So, I got to thinking about how great it would be to have one at each seat. Well, glory be....Our youth pastor at church works at a graphic design/sign company. One day I showed him this picture and asked him about purchasing some vinyl from him so I could cut the circles on my Cricut. Well, he offered to cut them for me at a small price. Better yet, when he brought them to me he told me that his boss was willing to donate them to my classroom since I was a teacher! Can you believe it? Now I have one on every seat and it's amazing!!

I use them during our phonics time right now. I have a bucket in the middle of each table with dry erase markers and baby socks (2 kids=LOTS of socks). I use my ActiveSlate and can walk around the room and write on my ActiveBoard while the students are working at their seats. It has saved me about 15-20 minutes of instructional time because I don't have to pass out boards and markers, then take them up. I love these things.

Whew, Finally Back to Blogging

It's been hectic in the perch these past few weeks. My children have been sick, I've had some sickness myself, and it's been CRAZY getting back in the swing of things with an infant and a toddler. But, we're back in business and ready to blog about the great and wonderful things happening in KinderKeri's Awesome Owl K5 class. First, here are some pictures of the perch.

My behavior clip system. The red one at the bottom is an Angry Bird, I just took the picture before I put the clip art up!

My calendar board and block center. Everything is green and white polka dot.

View of my reading center. The reading bench is an old coffee table that I gave the Pinterest touch to! The boxes on top are for their Read to Self folders.

Sign for outside my door that tells where we are when we leave.

Word Wall above cubbies.

Proud Perch is where I hang an activity that we've worked on. I change it regularly.





View of the front of the room. You can see this was taken before we finished our first letter cycle.

Owl basket from Target. This is on the table as they enter the door. Folders are dropped here in the morning.

Math center and EQ wall. I got these white boards on the dollar aisle at Target. I use them to post my EQs for the week. Works great!

Owl hat my friend Katie made for me. We use it for our Owl of the Day writing activity. It's adorable!

How do we go home chart.

This is just a preview of my room. Things have changed a bit since I took these pics and I'll update with new ones soon! Next post: A Few of my Favorite Things!