Sunday, August 14, 2011

Some bags look alike...


Many airports have a sign at the baggage claim area stating, "Caution!  Some bags look alike"

Last year our District purchased laptops that communicate with our interactive whiteboards.  All of the laptops came in an identical black bag.  At a recent computer training, someone took home their computer in MY bag!  Normally, that would not have been an enormous disaster... however, MY bag contained my external DVD drive, my new remote, and my new (purple!) thumb drive!

Consequently, I decided to personalize my bag so that I would not be at risk of losing it again.

Crafty I am not!  First, I  had limited work space.  (I did check to see that the burners were off!)  Second, I had no idea how to use the tools involved in this project.   After several hot glue disasters, the project was simplified greatly from the "be-ribboned" picture I initially had in my head!

You will notice two items in the upper left corner of the photo at the top of the post that help tell this tale more completely: a soccer ball-shaped ice pack and band aids.  These were necessary to lessen the pain of losing several layers of skin to glue mishaps.  Further, the white glue lets you know that I eventually gave up on the glue gun altogether!

The project turned out okay (the purple ribbon did cheer me up!).  Thankfully, it looks less crooked in real life!

Here's another secret:  At the end of the adventure, the paper plate in the picture was securely glued to the counter top...


Saturday, August 13, 2011

I heart that flowered bin!





Oh Me Oh My!

I do so LOVE this new flowered bin.  I found this at the Container Store in San Diego, and I cannot wait to use it in my classroom.
I think I will use it as my Finished Work" basket, since I know I will be seeing it often.  I will have to look at it whenever I pick up a pile of papers to grade, but those sunny flowers will make the job a little easier!
Yippee.  Yippee.  I heart that flowered bin!

Getting Started

After spending HOURS perusing the Clutter-Free Classroom site, I knew that my own tip-toeing into blogging would not be far away.
I was just so impressed with the creative ideas of teachers on so many sites--and I was ready to give it a try.
So... drum roll... this blog was created on August 12th--and actually posted on the 13th because it took me so long to figure it all out (It seemed so simple in the description!)
I hoping that this blog will be a catalyst to chronicle my classroom set-up and adventures this year.  Further, I hope that there will be increased interest in classroom blogs that involve upper grade teachers along with our primary grade friends.
Mostly, I am awed and inspired to tag along with so many talented teachers. 
I can't wait to learn more!

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