Dr. Seuss Classroom x3

It's been a while, I know.  Well if you've perused my most recent (not-so-recent) posts at all you'll know that I've been busy with mommy things.  And SURPRISE! My little girl is not even a year old yet, but we are adding one more to the team.

Can't. Believe. It.
I'm 21 weeks pregnant and have been sick, sick, sick for, oh, the  last 4-5 months.  Ug. But I would rather not dwell on that, so let's get on to the real reason I came to the couch: I'm starting a preschool! (Big cheesy, plastered on grin with deer-in-the-headlight eyes). Am I insane? Yes. Yes I am.  But it makes me happy! So that's what I do. I do crazy and I like to think I do it pretty well.  I'm starting a preschool and mid-school-year I will be the momma to not one, but two babies under the sweet age of 15 months.  Heaven help me.

To the credit of my questionable sanity, I should add that I decided to quit teaching elementary to teach preschool from home BEFORE I found out that I was pregnant with baby #2.  I already had a full class enrolled, so here. we. go!

Anyway, if you made it this far you really deserve a ticket, or a token, or a sticker, or something. Good job! And don't let my candid apprehension fool you.  Let's get one thing straight: I love to teach. I was born to be a teacher. It's in my blood. Just like I know I was made to be a mom. I'm so happy and grateful to do the things that I love. What a gift.

Alright, alright already. Pictures, yes, the reason you visited my obscure, neglected, little blog in the first place. Can I get a drumroll please? And thanks for visiting! Come again.

Months ago, before I knew I was pregnant {again!} I deliberated long and hard about what to name my preschool. If you know me at all you know I've been kickin' around the Dr. Seuss theme for a few years now (Dr. Seuss Classroom x3 - yes it really is my THIRD Dr. Seuss classroom. 1st grade. 3rd grade. Now Preschool.) Finding a name was not an easy feat! But eventually I decided on 'Thinkin' Things.'

My handiwork sign I'm not such a fan of, but check out my little helper. Could she be ANY cuter? 

(Okay, fine, I admit I might be a little biased.)

So we had a little Open House and here's my front door...

(Wreath look familiar? I posted all about making it a few years ago here)

And here's your view as you descend the stairs...

 And here's a little-bit fish-eyed attempt at showing you what the whole place looks like...

...and the other half. 

Have you ever taken an iphone panorama? 

I hadn't, (guess I need a little practice - those stripes really DO line up on the wall) but what a cool little feature! 

Here's the hooks and alphabet (an awesome baby shower gift from a friend!) where the kiddos will hang their backpacks.

 And our crazy straw birthday balloons (download them for free here) and hanging planets. 

 The snack/art/craft/science table AND our pull-down maps. Probably my FAVORITE feature. I convinced my old principal to let me buy them from the school. :)

Our Thing 1 Buddy to "watch out" for everybody and make sure we are all playing safe and be a "model student" for us too - sitting on the special "Thing of the Day's" chair. 

(My "Thing of the Day" is basically like a "Student of the Day" or "Teacher's Helper". It does WONDERS to help with behavior and keep kids motivated) 

 Our writing/listening/reading/drawing table with student cubbies and the special Thing 2 chair cover for my "Thing of the Day" (see how I made it here). 

The AWESOME Dr. Seuss shelf facade my husband made way back when but that didn't get assembled and painted until just now! And a $5 thrift store chair I sanded, painted, and recovered.

 And the playroom! $10 door from the thrift store, easily cut in half by my handy, handsome hubby with a perfect puppet-show ledge stained and added to the top.  

Too bad the lighting makes it near impossible to get a good view inside the playroom. Just take my word. It's pretty awesome. Imagine one blue wall. One bright pink. The rest is a chalkboard. And filled with toys, games, puppets, dress-ups and more. Is it obvious I love it?

 And last, but not least, we have our math wall complete with calendar, shapes, months, days, and color-coded hundreds chart (Want a free copy? Check it out here)

And that's just about it.

 But wait! I want to see pictures of your classroom! Leave me a link so I can check it out!

I'm BACK!!! With good reason {and adorable pics} of my absence

So... I really don't know how many people ACTUALLY follow this little bloggie thing of mine, especially since I have been absent from the blogging world for quite some time, but I have a really good reason.  

And here she is:

If you've visited my blog before you probably know I have a bit of a Dr. Seuss obsession... so I just can't get enough of these pics of my little girlie holding Daddy's glasses and sleeping on some of my favorite stories.

She was born in October so of course I couldn't resist a few Halloween-themed baby photos...

 And a little Very Hungry Caterpillar one too...

And one to capture it all.  LOVE.  We Love her. She loves us.  We love having her.  We love our little family.  We love it all.  

And here are a few winter family photos taken in the blustery cold of January.  

Want to see more? Well don't you worry.  I have LOTS more (more than I can possibly ever post) and more Human Body System products & updates.

*Our baby girl's newborn photos were all inspired (with thanks!) by ideas I saw on Pinterest, so I don't claim them as my own, except for the Very Hungry Caterpillar one... that one I came up with with just the inspiration of my mind :) , and they were all taken thanks to the talented Alesa Larsen 

Giveaway Winner & Wintery Update

Okay.. so I just might be the worst teacher-blogger ever...you know how the holidays are, plus it's like 5 degrees outside and I have been sick, sick, sick for weeks and with all those little kidlets coughing in my face, sneezing, and nose-blowing left and right it has seemed impossible to stay healthy!
But school starts up again tomorrow so my fingers are crossed for a healthier 2013.

Anyway, some of you probably thought I completely forgot about this little giveaway I ran what seems like way-back-when, but I didn't, and the winner of a $20 TeacherNotebook giftcard is
.... (drumroll please....)

 Denise @ Yearn to Learn!

However, if you commented on the giveaway post and you are reading this I want to say thanks so much for your support so please feel free to choose anything from my TN or TPT store that you're interested in and I'll send it to you for free.  Yes, Anything.  :)  Just let me know in your comment and tell me where to send it.  I promise not to be such a major slacker this time.

Here are just a few of the fun things we did before the break...

 We made shaving cream-glue snowmen invitations to our Christmas program... aren't they adorable?
So easy too!

We had sPiRiT Week @ the school.  

It was a pretty big deal because our school has a strict uniform dress code so the kids LOVED all of the creative freedom.  They were so cute.

Monday was crazy hat day so of course I had to go with the Dr. Seuss hat (if you've seen my classroom pics you know why...)  

Tuesday was crazy sock day. Mine were a huge hit. They're like Dr. Seuss & Mrs. Claus at the same time!

Wednesday was pajama bottoms day and I was woefully boring that day.

Thursday was crazy hair day and I stuck with the Dr. Seuss theme and tried to pull of a Who. How did I do?

Friday was our Christmas Program & red, white & green shirt day!  

That also happened to be my Masters Graduation Day.  So I saw their program then gave the reigns to a sub and headed to the university for my commencement.

We did lots more and I promise to be back soon.

 Happy New Year!

The Cat in the Hat Comes Back {freebie}

You've probably seen the adorable "Desk Fairy" idea all over the wild, wild web.  When I first saw it I loved the idea.  When I decided to do a Dr. Seuss theme with my classroom this year (click here if you want to see pics) I thought it would be perfect if instead of a "Desk Fairy" the Cat in the Hat secretly sneaked into our classroom at night to periodically inspect the desks.  

 

My kiddos have been LOVING it.  They are so excited when they walk in to discover the Cat in the Hat left an award, a poem, and his hat on someone's desk.  Their favorite part is that there's always a treat hiding under his hat too!  You wouldn't believe the wonders it has done to their desks!  Suddenly first graders can keep their desks so immaculately clean!

The little guy's desk box pictured below was just one of almost the entire classes' that looked like that!  Now I have happy, organized kiddos and they have a very happy Cat in the Hat (shhhh don't tell!) teacher.    

If your kids have papers and pencils and crayons and tissues and who knows what else coming out the wazoo of their desk you have GOT to try the Desk Fairy or The Cat in the Hat.  You can download my poem for free below.

You can also start helping them get organized by collecting lids from the zillions of boxes of copy paper that your school (most likely) inevitably goes through.  Which, by the way, was a brilliant idea that some genius before me thunk up! Oh the things you can think if only you try!!! 

How do you help encourage your students to keep their desks clean?

Feel free to check out my Dr. Seuss classroom theme too if you're interested. (Click image)

Dr. Seuss Classroom Theme PHOTOS FiNaLly!

Tonight was Back to School night because like it or not school starts on MONDAY!  I can't believe it.  I feel like I have been functioning at 150% at an operating speed of 200 mph.  The last week and a half have been CrAzY!  But I'm excited to finally share my classroom photos.  I'll be back soon with some of my co-workers cute classroom photos too.  

 You would never believe that I got the blanket (yes blanket!) used to cover the bulletin board & create the curtains (yes I did cut it!) at the local thrift store for just a few dollars or that I got that AMAZING blue chest for $5 at a garage sale last Saturday.  Yay! Thing 1 was $8 on Ebay. (Look close and you can see the outlet covers.  You can see my earlier tutorial post here.)

 25 yards of red ribbon at the thrift store: 2 dollars.  Yes it was.

 Shelf, mirrors & leather garbage, yep, you guessed it - ALL from the DI or garage sales.  You can see the original $3 shelf post here.  

Found these guys for $1 each at the DI (local thrift store) and couldn't resist making these...

 They are seat covers for my previously called "Students of the Day" now to be my 'Thing 2' and 'Thing 3' (there was no Thing 1 shirt :(, plus we already have a Thing one in our room :)  

Blue mail slots - $5 at the DI.  Red bow-tie shelf - $2 at the DI (I painted of course).  Flat Pendant from Target. Vinyl quote from Etsy.

 (Below) This is our classroom continents rugs & library reading area...

 Homework tray & pencil cup labels

 Schedule cards huge thanks to Melanie Conger.  You can get the cards here.  

 I always display our spelling words for the week. (Available in my classroom pack - see end of post)

 Our phonogram board, Dr. Seuss abcs & truffula trees!

 Seussified teacher space place.  Love the hanging lantern lights. You can see my blue filing cabinet post and get the birthday balloon template free here.

Cute hiding places! 

 

 Our Saxon Math Meeting/Calendar Board.  (Calendar & pieces from Michaels).

 East sign & clock numbers

 Back to School Poem for students + erasers from Target

 Classroom door display.  ADORABLE Quotes available here and cutouts from Target.

 Things 1-26 Locker Tags (in my classroom pack - see end of post)

Seussified Wreath End-Result (see original post here)

 Peeking through the door. See the curtains and chair covers?

Easel area & Planet Rug 

 Oh wait!  There's more!? Here's the HANDSOME boy that I came home to. Seriously, check. him. out! And look what he's working on.... a Seussified shelf ALL for me and my kiddos! How sweet he is. Best. husband. ever.

 Pictures to come!

Leave me a comment if you like it!  Or send me any questions you have.  

PS - If you want to download the Dr. Seuss Classroom theme things that I created go ahead and click the image below! You can get the classroom labels for free here.   

 

Jessica @ Tales of a First Grade Teacher, Lorraine @ Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies, and Corinna @ Surfing Through Second are all hosting fun linky parties highlighting Classroom Themes/Design.  I have been working so hard (and excitedly) on my theme for this year... Dr. Seuss and couldn't wait to join the parties!