Favorite Pins Friday . . . Er, Saturday

Hiya friends!  Lindsay here . . .

Well this was SUPPOSED to be another Friday edition of Favorite Linky Friday . . . but as I was juuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuust drifting off to sleep last night I remembered that I never actually blogged.

Dangit.

Soooooooooooooooooooo . . . this is Favorite Pins Friday Super Duper Early Saturday Edition! :)

 

As usual, my pins represent all kinds of randomness . . . although I HAVE been thinking ahead to school starting in about a month (sad, sad, sad!) and I am REAAAAALLY excited and motivated this year to get my classroom extra organized!  So some of this week's pins are little things that I saw and loved and that I am hoping (fingers crossed) will serve as inspiration for me!

 

 

First thing I will need to tackle in my quest for a superrific-organized-I know where everything is-classroom is my teacher binder. 

 

 

Sigh.

 

 

I always have the BEST intentions of filing away each important paper and password and schedule, but they ultimately always seem to end up in a giant pile.  Granted, I am pretty good at finding things in "THE PILE" . . . but I think having a system with space dedicated to all of those important paper-y types of things will help . . . I hope!

 

Thanks to Luckeyfrog's Lilypad for sharing how she set up her binder:

 

 

The next area in my classroom to tackle: my meeting area.  I feel like I am a *fairly* organized person in regards to putting things away in my classroom . . . . But there are times when I feel like our meeting area looks a little like kindergarten exploded all over it.

 

So when I saw this photo of Reagan Tunstall's meeting area I about started drooling!  Its so . . . beautiful!  Its organized, calming, purposeful . . . I just fell in love.

 

(Sidenote: I would like to know if her carpet stayed that clean all year . . . It's just SO CUTE!  I had an unfortunate hot chocolate incident occur on my brand new 30 square Lakeshore rug last year and . . . well . . . let's just say my rug will never be the same.)

 

 

Another item on my "Getting my classroom ready TO-DO LIST" is: curtains.

 

EVERY year I have said that I was going to put up curtains in my room . . . and I think the time has come.  Yes, I still need to measure the windows, do some crazy mathematical equations in order to calculate the amount of fabric needed to cover my wall (YES . . . A HUGE WALL) of windows, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand pick my fabric.   Yikes!

 

So this little curtain DIY project was VEEEEERY interesting to me because I thought the big, bold chevron stripes were so fun!  And I am a teeny bit obessed with yellow.  But PAINTING stripes onto my curtains?  Am I crazy enough to try it . . . Hmmm. Still deciding.  But such a cute idea from The Blissful Bee that I thought was definitely worth sharing. :)

 

 

Alrighty . . . next up: bulletin boards.

 

Now my classroom is seriously lacking in the bulletin board department.  I have clotheslines hanging work and art, I utilize part of my white board as my math wall . . . but I still have to be VERY purposeful in what I use my bulletin boards for. 

 

I love, love, LOVE this idea (from Schoolgirl Style) of using my writing bulletin board as a student resource with graphic organizers!  With all of the nonfiction reading and writing that we will be doing with Common Core, I think that this would be a very meaningful part of my classroom - not only for students to use as a reference when writing - but also for adults and visitors to get an idea of the types of things we are working on in class as well!

 

 

A cute little freebie that I wanted to share with y'all was this Bucketfiller Poster Pack from First Grade Fever!  I know Kerri shared some of her cute Bucketfiller ideas in a recent Throwback Thursday post, and I think these adorable posters would be so cute in the classroom as a reminder to our kiddos to be bucket fillers.  Christie even set up a little wall space with a "classroom bucket" that gets filled - love it! (Oh man . . . another cute classroom idea to implement!)

 

 

My next pin isn't anything TEACHER related, but it is something I pinned for my future parenting endeavors .  . .

 

The 36th Avenue is one of my FAVORITE (non school-related) pinners that I follow, and this post was pure brilliance.  Yes, I know my two year old isn't anywhere NEAR needing an organized HW station yet . . . but just check it out.  It's a beautiful thing!

 

I love that she not only has the supplies organized and handy, but a calendar and a clipboard to-do list for each of her kiddos. How. Perfect!

 

 

Now for some TOTALLY and completely non school-related pins . . .

 

Maybe it's because I have been home now with my adorable (yet so naughty!) almost two-year-old for over a month now, but I am starting to get desperate for ideas of things for him to do.  I don't know if its the age or if he can sense that there is a little baby on its way and that he will soon have to share mommy . . . Whatever it is, that child has become like an appendage.  He won't leave my side.  He wants mommy 24/7.

 

It really is sweet . . . until you are desperate for a chance to go pee JUST ONCE in the day - by yourself!  Anyway, when I saw this toddler activity idea I knew I had to pin and share.  It's brilliant, right?  All you need is a cardboard box and crayons . . . check and check!  Thanks Berry Sweet Baby for the idea!

 

 

And finally . . . a little newborn photo shoot idea from Anya Maria that I pinned.  We are talking to Jack LOTS about how he is such a big boy (okay, now I'm gonna start to get all VERKLEMPT!!) and how he is going to have a baby brother . . .

 

And let me tell you - lately that kid has become OBSESSED with babies!! I'm not kidding.  He's like the pope or something . . . going out of his way to hug and kiss random babies and tickle their little toes . . .  We are just PRAYING that his love for babies will continue to hold up when he realizes we are bringing one home in November. Like, to stay.

 

So in the hopes of Jack LOVING his new little brother, I just thought these photos were precious.  Could it be possible to get a shot of Jack lovingly holding his new little brother and looking deeply into his eyes???!!  Let's get real - probably not!  But I still have it pinned - just in case. :)

 

 

Well, that's it for this week's pins!!  Thanks for stopping by, and have a wonderful weekend!  The last weekend of July people!  Make it a good one! ;)

 

Lindsay