Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Paint Me a Happy Teacher!

It is amazing what a little time, a lot of effort, and a gallon of paint can do!

I have rested quite a bit this summer.  I have not really thought that much about school!  Really! But knowing that I did not KNOW the true state of my room following the waxers, I needed to check it out. This is what I walked into...






     Merciful fates, how do I end up with so much stuff?!?!? And it looks so overwhelming sitting at the door like this!  The floor was well waxed, but nothing went back where it had started.  Well, I could have sat in the floor and had a fit, but the kids were with me and that would not have set a very good example. SO, I decided that this was just a good opportunity to clean up and rearrange some things. 

     I put all three of us to work moving and organizing.  I found things that I had totally forgotten having squirreled away!  I threw away a lot of junk. And, I decided that, since it was all being moved anyway, I should just go ahead and paint the awful pieces!  No, I'm not joking.  AWFUL does not even begin to describe the state of these pieces of furniture.  I am sure that at some point the color choices made sense. But not now.  And the years have taken their toll.  AND... I have just not had the summer energy to paint them yet.  But this year is it!

      See....

Did the circus loose their bookshelves?


How did this get SO bad? (It had been mostly covered, but still!) 

     I already knew that a dark grey was what I wanted.  I love seeing the pictures of the super bright, happy, busy classrooms.  But that is just not my style.  I have seen to many kiddos be over stimulated in spaces like that.  I need my room to be calm and peaceful.  I was very glad my two amazing helpers had come along!
Don't let him fool you!  He was happy to help!

See!













They worked so hard!

And it all paid off!




    
     WOW!  Isn't that an amazing difference?  I am thrilled!

    I have a bit of organizing left to do, but my room is just about kiddo ready!


Thursday, June 16, 2016

 Tap. Tap. Is this thing on?

Hello! and Welcome!

I am excited to begin this new journey.  It will be mostly about a first grade class's adventure in learning!  There are so many things to explore and know, and I do my best to teach those things to my firsties!

As we are well into our summer break here in West Tennessee, there will not be much happening in the classroom.  Tell me about your summer plans!  Summer or not, I am working on school related things.  I will be getting back into my room next week to begin arranging and planning. (Did anyone else hear the maniacal laughter?) No? Hmmmm......

I  started a TPT store this year!  I am excited to share the things I create!  I plan on offering some surprise freebies here on the blog. (hint, hint...be sure to follow both on TPT and the blog)

SO, to start, I will share the Introduction to the United States Unit I created for my firsties this year.  We had a lot of fun learning about where we live. I promise as the year begins that I will work on taking good pictures of kids at work! Please head over to my TPT store to snag the full product! 
 
  

I will get the hang of this blogging thing!  I look forward to knowing who you are!

Happy Teaching!
Ashley
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Spinning-A-Yarn-In-First