Ok. I have just a few days until I move into my new room. I am going nuts with all the ideas swirling around in my head. Not being able to do anything about it is hard and I am getting impatient. Today I found myself looking in a store for classroom stuff and filling my basket full of fun goodies. Then it dawned on me that I have no idea what I need. I haven't been in my classroom yet, I haven't met with my new team yet, and I have not a clue as to what is in my new mystery closet. I do this every year. I get so excited about "back to school" time that I shop and shop and shop for my classroom and future students. Well, as I was walking down the isle with my heavy shopping basket I decided that I would try something different this year. I put everything back and began to develop a plan. My goal for the next two weeks is to really dig through my boxes of "teacher stuff" and determine what I can use for this year. I am going to try to spend nothing, that's right zero dollars, on getting my room ready. As soon as I decided this I got panicky and started thinking that I need to amend the zero dollar bottom line for the important things like fabric. Can we say shopaholic? I had to calm myself down and tell myself NO. I hope to stay strong in this endeavor but we shall see. I see it as a treasure hunt and when I put it that way it sounds kind of fun and challenging. This will cause me to really think through everything I have in my room and to be really creative with what I already have (and what my family and friends have).Oh yeah those of you in my immediate circle we aware that I might be calling on you to donate that fabric if it comes down to it. :)

Here is a list my top 5 favorite ideas for this new school year....so far.

1. Babbling Abby's opening act (morning work) bulletin board
2. Erica Bohrer's list of things for students to do when work is completed
3. Mrs. Vandyke’s Hollywood classroom theme
4. From The School Bell - Having an interactive words wall. Songs, chants, cheers, and lots of fun repetition.
5. Whole Brain Teaching Homework Model – students may chose to do 1, 2, or 3 star homework. Each star adds a level of difficulty (emphasizing writing). The next day the whole class receives 1- 3 points for each completed homework assignment. On Friday if the class has enough points they get to play “mind soccer” which is a fast paced review game. I can’t wait to try this!