Classroom Pet Peeves

Alisha over at The Bubbly Blonde is hosting a linky party for teachers to share their biggest classroom pet peeves! Of course, I absolutely love my job and can't imagine doing anything else, but I think EVERY teacher has a few pet peeves. It's just bound to happen when you're spending 5 days a week in a smallish space with 20+ rugrats all day long! So...here are my top five:

1. Tattling & not problem solving...enough said!

2. Poking me to get my attention all the while saying, "Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. Cooper, Mrs. Cooper" repeatedly in a whiny voice. It's enough to make a teacher want to change her name! Once I turned around and poked the kid back and asked him if he liked it when I did that to him to try and FINALLY make my point. He started crying...not the right kid to try that strategy with! Oops!

3. Whiny voices!

4. Stepping on my feet! Kindergartners are heavier than you would think! 

5. Telling me, "I can't" when I know you can or you haven't even tried yet.


So, what are YOUR classroom pet peeves?!

I'm Ob-Seussed!

Whether or not my obsession with Dr. Seuss related items is healthy is a whole other story, but I just HAVE to share all the Seuss-tastic goodies I've found for my classroom and nursery in the past few weeks! I already had Seuss classroom rules, 2 places you'll go posters, and mini cat hats.

I ordered some bulletin board items from Amazon for my classroom to increase the amount of Seussiness for the upcoming school year. Last year I started my Seuss-themed room, but this year will be a whole new level of Seuss!

Seuss Number and Alphabet Strips

Seuss Birthday Poster and Horton Poster

I also found quite a few things at Michaels that I didn't have yet!

Seuss Borders, Read Every Day Poster, Stickers, Activity Book, 5ft Cat, book marks, and refills of Seuss Hats

Last, but not least, I found a TON of fun stuff at Borders. How sad is it that they're closing?! I had to use a lot of self-restraint not to buy every Seuss book that I don't yet have in my library since I had already spent so much on these fun things:

Floor Puzzles

Stuffies for the baby! Cat in the Hat, Horton, Mini Horton, and Go, Dog Go!

Matching Game, DVD, and Card Games

Oh yeah, and I also found this Eric Carle ABC game at Borders for the beginning of the year!

I can't wait to start setting up our nursery and my classroom. It's going to be Seuss-tacular!


     

Seuss Giveaway!!

This has got to be one of the most awesome giveaways I've seen lately, but I may be a little biased due to my L.O.V.E. for all things Dr. Seuss!
Tara over at Fourth Grade Frolics is giving away a Dr. Seuss book charm bracelet from Sophie's Beads on Etsy for reaching the big 250 follower mark! I ABSOLUTELY MUST HAVE THIS BRACELET!!! :o)

Check it out!!

Back to School Bonanza Giveaway!

Head on over and check out this awesome Back to School Bonanza! It's a giveaway you don't want to miss out on!

Target Goodies!

Oh, how I love the Dollar Spot at Target! I've gone twice in the past week, and I was thrilled to finally find the Dr. Seuss goodies that I've seen other teachers post in blogland recently. My classroom theme is Dr. Seuss (and my nursery theme will be as well!), and I've scarfed up a whole lot of fun things for my class! Check out my stash!!

First Trip:

alphabet work mats, addition work mats, lined white boards, number match puzzle

Second Trip:

bins, pencils, pins, stickers, bookmarks, markers, notepad, socks

holographic bowls

holographic cups

 In addition to these goodies, I purchased the Seuss nameplates, Seuss newsletter template, and Seuss classroom forms and substitute info from Mrs. Magee at First Grade Brain! She also has all sorts of other themed classroom items available...check it out!!






I also bought some Seuss goodies from Amazon, and I will post those as soon as my last shipment arrives. This year's room--which is a new classroom (to me) nonetheless--will be MUCH more Seuss-ified than last year's few posters and projects. I can't wait to see how it turns out!

Summer is Here, and I Need Help!

Wow...the past month or so has been hectic yet productive. We made it through a zoo trip, field days, and awards ceremonies. School officially ended for students on June 23rd and for staff on June 24th. 

I am making the move to the other elementary building in our district, so I spent about a week packing up my whole classroom, transporting my supplies, sorting through the mess of items just shoved into cabinets without any rhyme or reason, then FINALLY organizing and putting away all of my things plus the worthwhile things I found in the classroom. A projector complete with filmstrips, large cassette player, OLD printer, and box of records were among the gems that were found stashed in this classroom. Needless to say, it was quite exhausting for a pregnant lady! Thank the Lord for sisters and husbands who help with the heavy lifting and organizing! Thankfully, I am done, and my new room is ready for summer cleaning. I'm sure I'll be spending extra time in there in August getting everything just right, but for now, it's good enough!


Now, here's what I need help with! I had desks in my old room...well, actually tables that had 2 desks per. Similar to this guy:

I am glad to be done with them because they took up a lot of space and really limited the ways I could arrange my classroom.
In my new room, it's all tables. There will be 4 students per table and 6 tables total similar to this:

My question for all of you is: 

How do I manage the students' folder, 2 ELA workbooks, and crayon box?


I'm not particularly keen about the idea of the fabric pockets that go on the backs of their chairs. They seem messy to me. I like to keep things organized! I was thinking maybe color-coded table tubs, but I'd LOVE to hear what has worked for others before I go out and buy anything.


So, let's hear it! What do you do to manage your students' supplies if they don't have desks? What has worked for you? What hasn't worked?