8 hours of picnicking, sunbathing, rock skipping, giggling, splashing fun with my 5 kiddies and my Mom. It was awesome. I cannot believe that summer is over already!
That being said, I popped into my class again today for a few hours to wrap some projects up and was happy to see the floors waxed and my desks out. One person (or people) you can never appreciate enough is your janitor. I am going to grab him some cookies on Monday to say thanks :o)
I have this wall where I have been experimenting with different products to make "boards" on my cinder block walls. My last attempt included duct tape and sticky backed wall paper. Its the pink bordered square on the left.
It held up until the humidity set in at the end of the year. Unfortunately it took the paint with it and left an eye sore on the wall that was 4 by 6 feet.
I was at the dollar store and I saw these:
They are cork board tiles - 12 inches by 12 inches. I also grabbed some black carpet tacks. I found they are the best thing for cinder block walls.
So, a whole bunch of cork tiles and carpet tacks later I added a black border. The black border was a consolation. I wanted a polka dot or chevron border - but all Staples had this late in the year as those ugly sparkly borders or one with apples - neither one appealed to my designer bone. So I settled for black - it matches everything right - and split the "board" into two smaller boards. 
I also added some small lettering to the bottom of the boards and printed all of the math and science outcomes we are going to work on in the first term on cardstock. These were supposed to be color coded but I ran out of colored ink some time back and forgot to replace it. Needless to say I was working on the "outcomes" at 2 in the morning when all stores are closed. So I settled - again - for black.
Forgive the quality of my pictures - the light streams in all morning in such a way that they always look grainy. You get the jest of it anyways. It is not exactly how I pictured it - but it is better than it was. I will likely invest in a new border yet to break up the black.
ANYWAYS - I am feeling generous tonight and for a few hours I am going hold a FLASH FREEBIE!! Well, two of them
For you middle school math teachers - grab my Fun Math Challenges for a limited time. In this pack you will find several groups of fun math challenges or games. They were designed for grade 6 to 8 and review basic skills such as integers, problem solving, division, multiplication, and decimals {and more!}.
My early years audience grab my Guided Reading Strategy Resource Mini Pack. This was one of my most used resources daily when I taught grade 1! It includes: Chunky Monkey chunking Book, Stretchy Snake Stretching Book, Flippy Dolphin Vowel Flip booklet {cut and paste and read and record}, Parent communication form, Printables to create a Velcro folder Reading Group Recorder, Print and make Velcro Group “strategy” strips, and Reading strategies mini posters for group work.
Enjoy!
