Tried It Tuesday: Shower Boards

Happy Tuesday! Time to link up with my sweetest friend Holly for her Tried It Tuesday!

This linky is great because it's basically like reviews of what works and what doesn't at your fingertips!

I've always had a class set of dry erase boards, but this last set I've had for about 8 years and they were tired looking! I use my boards or my student desks almost every day, but I didn't want to spend over a $100 on a new set so......I finally TRIED the shower board!

You know my husband works at Lowe's, but I've never tried it! LOL! Honestly, I wasn't sure how well they'd work, so I was hesitant, but then I thought for less than $15, it's worth a try!!!

Here they are:

 

What do you notice about that beautiful border?? My sweet, favorite childhood teacher (Mrs. Barnette) helped me wrap these babies!

The duct tape isn't necessary, but it definitely gives it a polished look and softens the corners.

Lowe's has a 4'x8' shower board for $13.47. They cut mine into 12"x12" squares, making 32 dry erase boards. I got the gorgeous HIGH HEEL duct tape on clearance for a $1, plus I had two rolls from sweet friends that saw it and immediately thought of me...I wonder why??!!

If you haven't tried the shower board and you want to make the learning in your classroom more exciting, go get one...tonight!

Quick, easy way to assess your students and they're FUN!

***I always give my students 1 minute of doodle time before I begin my lesson so they can get it out of their systems, otherwise they're too tempted to draw! If I catch them "doodling", I take away their board and they have to use BORING paper...it will only have to happen ONCE in your classroom-I pinky swear! :)

Have a super week friends!

 



Tried It Tuesday: Dry Erase Marker Erasers

Just a quick idea to make your life easier and cleaner! :) I tried two things for dry erase makers and want to share on Holly's Tried It Tuesday!

 

I tried these pom poms glued on the dry eraser markers, but after just a few days all the pom poms were falling off! Maybe I didn't use enough glue...

                      

 

But I got another idea from my friend, AMC from Looking From Third to Fourth:
 

 
 

 Using these Microfiber Facial Scrubber as erasers for dry erase markers!
They are just the right size for students' hands!
Small enough to fit in their group tubs!
They are colorful! (I assigned a different color to each group member).
They are inexpensive! (3 for $1 at Dollar Tree)
They leave no mess and can be washed!
They are perfect!

I love these new erasers! Much cheaper than buying from those companies that sell the dry erase boards! Use them on desks or dry erase boards.
 

 

 These are the perfect erasers!

Your kids will love writing on their desks! Such a treat! And, you'll love the easy clean up!

 

Have a great rest of the week!

Do you have any other ideas for erasers?

 

Tried It Tuesday: Felt Covered Chair Legs

It's Tuesday and time to link up with the one and only HOLLY for Tried it Tuesday! So many great ideas that are tried and true!

 

Last year my floors were HORRENDOUS by the end of the year...scraped, pencil markings, no wax left, you've probably had those floors too at the end of the year!

I've seen people use the tennis balls, but they are pricey and I heard they're pretty hard to cut. So...I decided to try the felt at the bottom of the chair legs!

 

 

Now, our custodians (who are amazing) are teasing me because I made "shoes" for my chairs and they're not HEELS! (Maybe next year I can get more creative!)

I didn't have any pattern or directions for my covers, so there might be a better way out there...but I used one piece of felt per chair. (Hobby Lobby 4/$1). I cut the felt into fourths.



I folded the strips in half to double them for added strength and durability.

Then I wrapped them around the bottom of the chair with a rubber band (black to match of course!).

I've only TRIED this for two days and we've had a couple fall off, but it's so much quieter and I can already tell it will keep my floor in better condition for so much longer!

I'll keep you posted! Even if they only last for a few months I think it would be worth $6!

Have you ever tried this before or do you know a better method?

 

 

Back to School Mentor Text: Miss Rumphius

I love back to school mentor texts-this is our chance to hook them with reading! One of my favorite parts of my reading block are read alouds. I call my students to the carpet (yes, 4th graders love this too!) so they can get up close to the text and be fully engaged. One of the first books I share during that first week is Miss Rumphius. The illustrations are beautiful and the message is inspirational.

Amazon's Description: The narrator's great aunt, Alice Rumphius, wanted to travel the world and do the one thing her grandfather told her she must do. He told her she must do something to make the world more beautiful. Miss Rumphius travels the world and comes back to live by the sea where the story began. She discovered her way of making the world more beautiful was scattering flower seeds so everyone could enjoy the beauty of the colorful flowers. The story ends with Miss Rumphius telling her great-niece that she must do something to make the world more beautiful.

 

Alice is told that there are three things she must do in her life:
1) She must travel to far away places.
2) She must live by the sea.
3) She must make the world more beautiful in some way.

After reading Miss Rumphius, I ask my students to think about how we could make our classroom more beautiful. I get several responses (keep it clean, decorate, move furniture, straighten the books) until I get the one I want...posters!

For my first few years of teaching, I spent hundreds of dollars on premade posters from teacher stores and catalogs, then I thought my students could make their own posters!

 

Each student selects an inspirational quote and interprets the meaning of the quote to illustrate it for a poster. I've done this activity for years and it gives students a sense of ownership of our classroom and it's great for community building.

 

They really brighten our classroom and it "MAKES IT MORE BEAUTIFUL!"

My students make extra for the front office to make our school more beautiful too.
They love that our class gets "orders" for additional posters!

 

 



This picture book is the perfect reminder for teachers that we are making the world a more beautiful place with every student "blooming" in our classroom. It's a great life lesson that we should all do our part to make the world a better place, being example citizens. This book would be great for Earth Day: students could plant flowers (like Miss Rumphius) if you want to revisit this book or wait until Earth Day to read it.

So excited to link up Miss Rumphius with my sweet friends Amanda & Stacia for their mentor texts: back to school linky!

 Last day to enter my giveaway!
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Tried It Tuesday:Teacher of the Day

I TRIED classroom jobs my first couple of years of teaching and it just didn't work for me. I had purchased a couple of job charts at teacher stores, but most of the jobs didn't apply to my classroom or were too primary. I had a hard time remembering who was in charge of each job and then I'd forget to switch the jobs at the end of the week.  So, I came up with Teacher of the Day!

 

This "teacher" gets this chair for the day. They have ALL the jobs: paper passer, errands, line leader, ticket collector, board eraser, Diet Coke carrier :O), anything that needs to be done that day this student gets the job. They pick their own door holder. I start the first day of school and  start in alphabetical order. I love it and they love it! So easy to keep track of.

 

See what everyone else has tried at my friend Holly's Tried it Tuesday! Great ideas!

Scan to Win Reward Cards!!!

It's FINALLY finished! You're going to be so excited! My newest creation will make your classroom reward system one of a kind!

 

 My Scannable Reward Tickets (60 pages) will give your class the jumpstart they need! For a little over 10 cents apiece, you will want to be the first teacher to have this new incentive! Each reward comes 10 to a page, select and print the rewards that suit your class from the master list. (There are rewards appropriate for every grade level!) You'll be as excited as the students as they "scan and reveal" what they've won! EVERY student will want one! Prizes include: 100% on an assignment, lunch with 3 friends in the classroom, icy pop, movie during lunch, keep a drink on your desk all day, etc. Best part...the rewards are free or of little cost to you and they're reusable! What an easy way to incorporate technology in your classroom! All you need is a QR Code Reader App (free) and you're all set! Use these reward tickets for classroom management, participation, excellence...the possibilities are endless!

Print today...use tomorrow! (Your students will love you!)

 

I hope you'll visit my TPT store! I hope you're as excited as I am about these tickets-let me know what you think!

 

Would you like a chance to win these Scannable Reward Tickets??!!

Just follow these steps:

1) Pin my Scan To Win Reward Cards on Pinterest
2) Leave a comment with your email and the Pinterest ID in the comment (all you have to do is copy the URL after you pin it to your board and then paste it into the comment section).
So easy! I will use a random number generator to find the winners! Two lucky winners will be selected Thursday evening! Thanks for entering and reading my blog!

 

Fabulous Finds!



$1 in the Dollar Section of Target! Mini pocket charts are great for posting schedules, word work such as prefixes, making words, synonym/antonym matching games. Endless possibilities for a dollar! I have enough for my class to work in pairs. I can assess with a quick glance!

Student chair covers for a $1 at Target. They have a pocket to place a message or student name-I personally love to congratulate students on their successes and will personalize messages.

Giant fly swatters $1 each at my favorite store-Dollar Tree. If you play the game SWAT-these are perfect!



Found these bins at Michael's for 70% off! Yellow bins were a little over a dollar and perfect size to hold pencils. Their entire summer section is 70-80% off. I made labels for my bins and if you click here you can have them for FREE!



I've linked up with Mrs. Santana over at The Learning Tree for her Frugal Finds linky party. Check it out!