Tardy to the Party- Classroom Reveal

Hello buddies-

So I may be incredibly late to the party, but I always show up! So this year I made the change from Fifth Grade to Third Grade. That meant my Harry Potter classroom theme of 9 years had to go. I LOVED that theme, but it was;t really appropriate for my third graders.  Here's what it looked like to refresh your memory....

It was an incredibly MAGICAL room and I loved it!  

When I was done taking everything down it was pretty depressing! 

Yup! depressing is the best way to describe what my room looked like when the year ended.

But I didn't waste much time.  It was time to start painting, time to say goodbye to the Magical Purple and Silver and HELLO to the heroic Blue and Yellow!

 

 

So I spent a a great deal of my Summer (the parts when I wasn't floating in the pool) getting my room ready to welcome my Super third graders. I didn't do it all by myself. My mother has never cut more laminate in her life as she did this summer.  My Co-teacher created the curtains with help from her nice when it came to hand-painting the designs.  Pun completely intended, but I think it looks SUPER!

Here is my job chart and our SUPER Class behavior chart. Our goal is to move Superman up to the top of the skyline. When we do we turn a blue letter red and when the entire word is red we have a class celebration. 

I hate the wood look of my room so I covered my closet doors and walls
with laminated blue cloud bulletin board paper

Our SUPER Behavior chart- available in my TPT Store

Remember all that laminate I was talking about!

Tables Power Up by working as a team

In this picture you can see the wood panels above my closets that I really thought aged the room. 

I found these pillows at 5 Below- $5 a piece-LOVE IT!

All heres need a place to hide their capes- For my third grade heres it's behind these Superman and Wonder Woman curtains. 

Window curtains- We used read because we felt it looked like a superheroes cape. 

Saw this on Pinterest and had to make it outside my classroom for us to display our work throughout the year. 

I spruced up this old mailbox by painting the outsides and
placing laminated colored paper in each draw-another Pinterest idea. 

Loved this poster I saw on Pinterest and made it large to put
near my mailboxes. 

With the lights out, it looks like my curtains glow. 

My dad built this table and I completed the design.  The best part its low to the floor so my friends can sit on pillows and work here. 

Thanks for joining me for what I hope will be a SUPER year! 

See ya later!

-Damien 

Some Sandpaper, Stain, and a Desk Makeover!

Hello buddies-  

Like many teachers my Summer Vacation ends about 2/3 weeks before it really ends as I head back to school to open a room for a new group of students.  Part of saying goodbye to my Harry Potter theme was taking the down the signs that covered my desk proclaiming myself as a Hogwarts professor.  When I took it down I noticed how, well, TERRIBLE my desk looked.  It was time for a makeover. 

I took off the top that was screwed onto the desk when I inherited it 10 years ago.  What I found wasn't pretty!

The wood was old.  There was glue all over it from the wood attached over a decade ago. Basically it was in BAD shape, REALLY BAD shape!  

So I quickly took it home and got to work.  First there was never ending sanding.  Then there was staining with some leftover stain from the hardwood floors in my house.  Lastly, there was the polyurethane. To be honest-I'm not so good with that so my Dad came in and saved the day there!

Here it is sitting in my driveway. 

The final product came out so well it almost looks too good to be in my blue, yellow, and red Superhero themed classroom. 

Here it is in my classroom- Doesn't it look GREAT!

I am THRILLED with the final product and regret not having done it years ago!  Isn't it a thing of beauty?!?!?!

Have a GREAT day buddy!

-Damien 

Up, Up, and Away!

Hello buddies-

Where I live there are 28 days until I have to officially report for the first day of school and 36 days until I get to meet my new third graders.  It's great! I have plenty of summer left but I have been getting the teaching bug. Yup I NEED to laminate! I NEED to hang! I NEED to organize books!  It's an illness-I know! (and one I am sure many of you suffer from.) Sometimes I just NEED to get my teacher on! Ya hear me?

I am SUPER lucky that Summer school is being hosted in my building this year and therefore they are starting to clean the classroom at my end of the building instead of Kelly's end of the building- SORRY KEL! So my room is ready for me!

Here's my first made it Monday!

I use a clip chart in my classroom and until this Summer it was Harry Potter themed.  With a new theme became a new clip chart. I absolutely love my Superhero themed clip chart with punch cards for the kids.  I didn't use punch cards last year but this year I am going to, with the move to a lower grade. The kids will be working towards earning special treats by a certain date.  I love the way it all came out. 

Made it Monday #2 takes place in my classroom. I went in today to get some things done and finished my bulletin boards and the new Math board that I made. 

I'm using red, yellow, and blue to add to the superhero feel of my room. I'm not 100% sure what is going on this board yet, so stay tuned!  

What I love is how my large bulletin boards came out. 

Doesn't it look very heroic! I love the large size buildings (a tip from my buddy Kelly) as I was originally going with much smaller buildings. It leads directly to my Math board.  Here's a close up on the Math board...

Again- I'm in LOVE with it!  

Lastly, I made a cover for my September binder. 

So a new product in my TPT store, some classroom set up, plus time to float and read-

Not a bad Monday!

How was your Monday?
Your Buddy, 
Damien