A Whole ‘Lotta Back to School Randomness

And so it has begun.  Another new school year.  As cheesy as it sounds…I’m SO excited!  Another year to grow…to try new things…to do things better…and to love on {and teach, of course!!} a new bunch of sweet babies!!  This year is extra special to me because BOTH my boys will be with me…the littlest love will be starting Pre-K and my first born is starting Kindergarten!  STOP.TIME.NOW!!!!

I really tried to savor every last bit of summer that I could.  That meant that I stayed out of my classroom until a few days before teachers started back….which was this past Monday.  I work way better under pressure anyway, so I was pumped to spend as much time with boys before the school year as possible :)

Our rooms get rearranged over the summer with all the cleaning that goes on.  I spent the bulk of my summer break *thinking* about my room and trying to formulate a plan for it…I wasn’t crazy about the set-up last year and I was stumped as to what I should do this year!  But I didn’t have to do too much thinking.  Our sweet janitors rearranged a lot of the furniture just trying to put it in a place after they deep cleaned the carpets and I absolutely LOVED the way they set it all up!  Sometimes it just takes a fresh pair of eyes, y’know?!

One of the {minor} things that bothered me the most last year was not having ANY staple-capable walls in my room.  I tried adhering clothespins to one of my bulletin boards, but the weight of the pins tore the paper off the wall.  Fail.  SO…I started taping things up, but every time I removed what I taped up, it would tear my fadeless paper and well…it looked a HOT mess!!  Fail…again. 

So this was my solution…

Cork rolls!  They adhere to the wall {using hot glue!} like a boss.  Then I just covered them with butcher paper and now I can staple at my leisure.  Praise Jesus!  {I got these at Hobby Lobby…I think they’re $14.99 a roll.  I stocked up over the summer using my 40% coupons with each purchase :)}

I also used this fun little idea I found via Pinterest…hot gluing push pins to the back of clothespins!  It took 5.4 seconds and they work perfectly!!  I can remove them SO easily and they don’t damage the paper…they just leave little holes and that looks WAY better than rips & tears!

We had Meet the Teacher night last night which would explain my blogging absence over the last week{ish}.  I’ve been super busy trying to put the finishing touches on my room {still not finished} and getting things ready and organized for our first day {Monday!!!}  Let me just tell y’all that I have the absolute CUTEST, most precious little kinder babies and I can’t wait for our first day together!!!!  I sent them all home with a bag of “Ready Confetti” and a cute little poem.  Thank you, Sarah {First Grader at Last!} for this precious, PRECIOUS idea!!!! 

I even have a sweet little class mascot this year {inspired by Teaching with a Smile}…

I found him at Wal Mart in the supply section {$5, I think?!}  He’s a little pencil pouch!  HA!  Makes him easier to hang on the white board, although I need to find a better system, for sure ;)

Like I said, I still have quite a few things to do in my room to be ready for Monday, but here’s a little sneak peek…

It’s not completely different, but the layout is SO much better…and I do love the new little touches and areas/stations/spaces I added this year.  I’ll be back this weekend to take you on a little tour :)

Until then, have a great rest of the week!!!