laundry room lovin', phase two.

Almost a month ago, I showed y'all how my laundry room went from this contained, but visually unfortunate mess..

...to this uniform, ooh-and-ahh-worthy cleaning haven...

Like I told you in that post, the only thing missing from my uniform baskets were {try to contain your gasps} labels. At first, I thought I would create tags using my Silhouette's print and cut feature, but I really liked the book labels that were already installed on the baskets....

...and you all know how I feel about keeping things simple and easy, so I thought I would just keep that simplistic look going. All I did was measure the space for the book labels, typed up the contents of each basket, printed the labels on craft paper, and trimmed the labels to fit the measurements.

Hello, simplistically lovely organization!

I love how the room still feels clean and organized, but looks pretty at the same time! Pretty + labeled = happy Eryn.

i heart math tubs.

For the past three years, I have always used our district-adopted math curriculum packets for my math instruction. Sure, I threw in manipulatives and maybe the occasional game or two, but can we say *yawn*?! I mean, what 6 year old wants to do the exact same math worksheet every single day? Yuck.

You might think I was just too lazy to migrate over to math tubs or centers, but the truth is, I really was just plain freaked out. How would I find center activities? How would I organize the kids' rotations? How would I make sure the kids were still receiving the vital knowledge and skills they needed and not just playing fun games? Honestly, I was daunted by the idea of turning away the oh-so-easy-to-plan-for math worksheets and replacing them with math center activities.

After some research over the summer, and some fabulous collaboration with the teammates, I think you will be happy to know that those sweet little district-adopted math packets are currently residing in a lovely green recycling bin. Here's what math looks like now:

Be still, dear heart. Be still.

Rather than passing out a worksheet, the kids are actively engaged in a hands-on, curriculum-based activity, and I think we are all over the moon about our new sitch! But let's get to the best part of our new math set-up...the organization!

I found the galvanized tubs in the dollar aisle at Target and the number labels (for free!) here on TPT. The kids love math AND I only had to spend four dollars?! Praise the good Lord.

Ok, so each tub, obviously, is numbered and holds all of the materials the kids will need for that specific activity:

I have three hands-on activities in tubs 1 through 3 and then either an interactive website or an iPad app for the kids to play in their fourth "tub". I introduce all of the tubs on Monday and the kids complete one tub per day, with their fifth day being a small group lesson with me.

I list the kids' assigned tubs in the same area as their super-powered reading groups:

...so that as soon as we come in from recess, the kids can go straight to their tubs and get started! I'm happy, the kids are happy, the tubs are happily organized: win-win-win!

How do y'all organize your math instruction?

reading rodeos.

I wanted to show y'all how I manage my kids' reading logs in our classroom - thrilling, right?!

We follow Lucy Calkins' model of a Reader's Workshop, and if you are familiar with my dear Lucy, you know that she's big on having the kids record what they are reading, how long they read, the genre of the texts they read, etc. Since we are still relatively early in the year, my kids and I are just working on recording the titles and authors of all the books they read inside and outside of class.

We have two separate reading logs, one for home and one for school, and with the kids always finishing their logs at different times, I needed some way to collect their logs in an orderly fashion (since "orderly" is my middle name). Enter Reading Log binder.

I made my binder cover using A Year of Many First's Monogram Binder Covers (lurve). I then purchased these numbered Avery labels:

I made a table of contents, so-to-speak, tying each of my kids to a numbered tab...

...so that I can easily file my kids' home reading logs...

...and school reading logs...

...quickly and easily! Oh, how lovely! My binder then lives with a couple of other binders right behind my desk.

While we're on the subject, let's talk about our home reading initiative. Each first grade room has one of these crazy awesome reading lofts (aka tree houses on crack):

When our kids fill up their home reading logs (aka "Reading Rodeos"), they get to move all of their supplies up into the Loft and complete their work up there for the day. Talk about a six year old's dream!

If you would like a FREE, editable copy of our Reading Rodeo...

 

...head on over to my TPT shop for your own copy!

How do y'all handle your kids' reading logs?

another bar cart.

After reading this post about my bar cart rast hack, and when you read the post you are about to read on yet another bar cart up-do, you might think that I have a bar cart obsession. You would be right.

During a gals' weekend getaway to a fabuloso antique extravaganza, I stumbled across this little beauty.

Stunning, isn't it?

Oh so much potential! I knew I wanted to spray paint my cart some shade of green, and I went to the store thinking I would get a pistachio color, but then I found this:

Who knew that "Gloss Key Lime" could be so wonderful?! At first, I thought it would be too tweeny, but after a test spray, I knew it would be perfectly chartreuse, just like accent colors in our painting in the living room:

Before we dive in, here let's review what you're going to need if you want to do a similar up-do on a metal cart. You will want a wire brush to smooth out large imperfections in any present rust, steel wool to create a nice, even finish, and then the spray paint of your choice (I always use Rustoleum).

Since the cart was completely covered in rust, I knew that I wasn't going to be able to get all of the rust off, but I did want to get the big, bumpy areas smoothed down. I started by scraping the entire cart with the wire brush, paying close attention to severely rusted areas.

I then used the steel wool to go over the entire cart again, really working to smooth out any imperfections. Once the cart was relatively smoothed down, I wiped down the entire cart with a damp cloth to pick up any "rust dust" (technical term).

Now, it was time to spray! I started off with a very thin, even first coat:

After allowing the paint to dry, I applied three more thin, even coats to create a wonderfully smooth, shiny finish!

After allowing the cart to cure for a good 24 hours, it was time to load that baby up!

I placed it in the corner of our dining room to give that room a little splash of color and I absolutely love the funky chartreuse with the gray-blue chairs and gray curtains!

Lucky for me, obsessions with bar carts aren't a crime.