Monday Made-It 7/28

Well, I am officially back to school everyone! As a new teacher, I started with meetings and trainings last Thursday. Those continue all week until Meet the Teacher this Friday, August 1st, and kids come back the following Tuesday, August 5th. Stay tuned for pictures of my classroom!!!

With all this busy-ness, this will probably be my last time linking up with 4th Grade Frolics Monday Made-It (not actually sure when they're officially over for the summer...) but I am excited to say that this is my FAVORITE Made-It yet!!!

This was a huge project that all started when I was deciding how I would organize all of my students' materials. My second graders sit at tables, which means that there is no individual storage for textbooks, folders, notebooks, etc. I decided to put a small shelf at each table to hold book boxes and textbooks, but that still left homework folders, math notebooks, and a few other small things. After lots of internet research, I knew exactly what I needed...CHAIR POCKETS!

The problem was, even in bulk the cheapest I could find them was $7 each and I just couldn't afford that as a first year teacher (can any teacher??). So I decided to make them and they turned out GREAT!  I had a hard time finding a solid tutorial online, so I took a lot of pictures and this blog post is me trying to make my own tutorial...I figure there must be other teachers out there who want great storage for their students without breaking the bank! Keep reading to the bottom to see pictures of the final product. (Side note: I had never used a sewing machine in my life before this project, so trust me when I say anyone can do this!!!)

I wanted these to be sturdy and long-lasting so after shopping around, I ordered Duck Cloth as the material I would use. I waited and waited until it went on sale at JoAnns for just under $4 per yard. I bought 8 yards and that made 30 chair pockets, so they ended up costing me just over $1 each. YAY!

1. I started by cutting rectangles that were 30 inches by 18 inches. On the 18 inch side that I cut (the other 18 inch side was the edge of the fabric) I folded up and sewed about a quarter of an inch to prevent fraying. Don't worry that the 30 inch sides are cut and might fray because they will become seams that are turned inside out.

2. Then, I folded the sewn edge up 9 and a half inches, with sewn edge/flap facing out, and sewed along each side. Once the edges were sewn, I flipped the pocket that I had just created inside out, so that all seams were on the inside.

  This is after it was flipped inside out:                                                  

3. See in that second picture above how the sides fold in a little bit because it was flipped inside out? The next step was to make a small cut on each side so that the top half lay totally flat.

4. Next, I folded the top edge down to meet the top of the pocket. I sewed along the edges, and then flipped the top pocket inside out also.

That's literally it! It's not hard at all, and they look great...I ran by school this weekend to try them out and I am in love with how they look:

Here are some things you might want to consider if you are going to try this pocket:

• Originally, I made them 30in x 16in...those fit on the second-grade-sized chairs, but they were stretched too tight to fit much inside the pocket. 30in x 18 in is a tiny bit loose, but they seem to be staying on the chairs just fine and since they are not stretched so tight, a binder and some folders/notebooks easily fit inside. The moral is, measure your chairs and do a practice one first!
• I wish the top pocket that goes over the chair was just and inch longer, to be even more secure around the chair. To do this, cut your fabric to 31in x 18in (are whatever the width) and follow all of the step exactly the same. 
• The best part about this project is that nothing has to be totally exact and they don't have to be exactly identical. The pattern is very forgiving and yours are sure to turn out great!

Please, PLEASE leave me feedback, follow my blog via email on the right, and wish me luck for Meet the Teacher this week! I will be back with pictures and stories as soon as I have them :) Thanks <3

Monday Made-It: 7/7

Happy Monday, everybody! It's scary to think I only have a few weeks left of this wonderful summer vacation - I have this week at home, next week at the beach, and the following Monday I'll be in my classroom getting it ready for my new kids! I officially report back on July 24th, and kids start August 5th. YIKES! I have a lot to do...and this weeks made-it doesn't actually prepare me for the year, it's just cute! :) The plan is to try to get some stuff done this week, so that I can enjoy my week at the beach without any stress! Anyways, enough chit chat...I am excited to be linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for another Monday Made-It!

This weeks project was actually about revamping an old project, I recovered my desk chair:

Sorry if the picture is a little blurry...I tried retaking
it a few times, but I think it's just the pattern.

This chair has gone through a lot since I first bought it! When I bought it from Pottery Barn it had lime green polka dots to match my Freshman dorm room (ends up, they would have matched my first classroom, too!). Then, I recovered it with navy chevron to match my dorm room my second year of college.

When I bought it, it had green polka dots...then I recovered it with navy chevron!

Since then, the chair has sat in my parents garage and last week my mom came up with the great idea to recover it and have it at my reading table! It was very easy, but I imagine the process would be a little different depending on the chair...

First, I took off the panel that covers the back of the chair (in other words, you'd spin the chair around to see the part not pictured in any of these photos). Keep that panel handy because you need it later!! Once the fabric was off, I took the padding off the back which revealed the hardware that holds the chair together. I grabbed a screwdriver and took the whole chair apart, including taking the wheels off, because it is much easier to handle in small parts. The first time I recovered the chair (with navy chevron), I went ahead and just put the new fabric over the old fabric, puling it tight and using a staple gun to fasten it on the bottom. This time, I took off the navy chevron and put my new fabric over the original green polka dots, pulling tight and using a staple gun to fasten it on the bottom.

Once I had covered both the seat and chair-back, I had to cut away some of the fabric on the back and bottom because it was covering the holes where the hardware attached. Once the holes were visible again, I put the whole chair back together.

With the chair back together, I attached the padding that I had taken off the back using a staple gun. Then, I used the original panel I had taken off the back to trace a new panel with my new fabric. Since I didn't want staples showing, I used fabric glue to attach that panel over the padding on the back of the chair. Voila! The chair feels just like new without having to buy a whole new chair! I bought this fabric on sale at Hobby Lobby, and I already had the staple gun and glue, so the whole thing ended up costing me about $10. Love that!

If you are going to try to recover a chair of your own, I'd love to see before and after pictures! :) If you liked this post, please consider following me by email on the right or reading about how I came up with the name of my blog. Thanks!

Monday Made It 6/23

Happy Monday! I can't believe there's only one Monday left in June...this summer break is going by WAY too fast! I am excited to be linking up with 4th Grade Frolics again for Monday Made It:

I missed last weeks Made It linky because I spent the week in Santa Barbara with my mom. It was BEAUTIFUL and it definitely re-energized me to come back and get some stuff done. This weeks first project was...

Student supply caddies!

I got the original idea from this pin and had to make them right away! I love using community supplies in my classroom, rather than having each student keep individual supplies in a desk or crayon box, but I've been wanting something a little more home-y and unique than the typical supply caddies. These mason jars from Walmart were the perfect thing :) They come in packs of four, so I hot glued the four jars together (If you have fewer supplies you could just glue 2 or 3 together to save some money!) and then glued these labels on:

Sorry for the glare...

I made them using these chalkboard labels  and the Kimberly Geswein font called Second Chances Sketch. (Side note: I'd like to post these on Teachers Pay Teachers, but I'm not sure how to change the security options on my PDF so that the clipart cannot be copied. Any advice?) Since I didn't have access to a laminator but wanted these to stay in good shape, I covered them with packing tape on both sides and cut them out again. Cheap lamination for small items! :) Then I hot glued them onto the mason jars.

The signs are for each table - rather than calling them "Table 1" or "Blue Table", I am going to label them as continents because our first social studies unit is maps! I am going to laminate them and then glue them on a popsicle stick with a ribbon tied underneath (like you can see in the first picture!).

I also had time this week to make the labels for my Word Wall!

Obviously these are just the first few letters, but I am so excited about them! I bought the Paisley, Turquoise, Blue and Green Collection from School Girl Style and that's where these come from. They are technically supposed to be table signs, but they are perfect for my word wall. I am going to have a ribbon coming down from each where words can easily be attached, kind of like this. Once I had downloaded the file all I had to do was add the letters, using the Kimberly Geswein font called Primary Italics. It's a good one to know about if you teach D'Nealian like we do! 

I hope you enjoyed my Monday Made-Its this week, and I'm looking forward to looking at all of the fun projects that are linked up with 4th Grade Frolics! Please consider following me via email on the right hand side of my blog if you've enjoyed my last few blog posts :) Thanks!

Monday Made It 6/9

Happy Monday! I can't believe the weekend has already come and gone...I met with my new teammates all last week to plan for the upcoming year and this week I'm attending a training all week. The good thing was, during planning I got to see the room that will be ALL MINE next year! :) It's currently being used as the summer school office, but it's very large with lots of good storage and wall space. I can't wait to get started putting it together for my first year of teaching!

Since I've been a little busy, I only have one Monday Made It again this week, but I'm still so excited to link up:

This week, I made my new schedule cards that I will use for our agenda next year.

You can tell from the bottom, right picture that I had made them on my computer using digital paper, digital frames, and clipart. I simply printed them on card stock, cute them out and rounded the corners, glued them on black card stock, and then cut them out and rounded the corners again. I'm planning to laminate them and put magnets on the back so they can go onto my whiteboard as our schedule everyday. The picture on the left shows what that will sort of look like!

Unfortunately, I can't share this file because the clipart and fonts do not belong to me. However, my original inspiration came from this free file from The First Grade Parade. Enjoy!

Monday Made It 6/2

Today I am linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for my first ever Monday Made It!

Heading into my first year of teaching, I have a lot of projects to work on this summer and I'm hoping the weekly Monday Made It linky will keep me on track. I am very excited about my first project....

 (Actually, I only have 1 Made-It this week, but I wanted to use this cute button anyways!)

Crate Seats!

These were pretty simple to make: all I needed was crates, wood (I used particle board because it is cheaper than plywood), foam, fabric, and a little ribbon. Once I (actually my dad!) cut the wood so that it sat on theinner edge of the crate, I just cut foam to fit on top, covered it with fabric, pulled it tight and staple-gunned it on the back. That easy! I actually bought a mattress topper from Target because the foam at the fabric store was too expensive. A twin-sized mattress topper was enough for all eight seats that I made :) That last step I did was to fold a piece of ribbon and staple it on so that the seat part can be pulled off easily, and these can be used for storage as well! Here is a picture of the first four, so you can see my classroom color choices:

I still need to get the stickers off a couple! They peel of very easily :)

Blue and green! Actually, lime green, bright blue, and teal with black and white as the neutral colors. I am so excited! My classroom is currently being used as the summer school office, so I can't get in and start doing things until the end of the month...until then I am just letting all of my projects pile up in my room and garage :) 

Thanks for stopping by! I have a couple days of planning this week and some training next week, but hopefully I get some time to have several good projects next week...

June Currently

I am SO excited to be linking up with Farley at Oh Boy Fourth Grade for June's Currently...This is my first Currently AND my first Linky Party ever! This is probably your first time at Good Thing You Were There, so welcome :) See my blog post about naming my blog right here. Without further ado...

Listening: One of my favorite things about the beginning of summer is the French Open! I studied abroad in Paris 2 years ago and actually got to go, so it has been something I look forward to ever since...For me, it's definitely a sign that the school year is over and it is time to celebrate SUMMER :) Which brings me to...

Loving: I am LOVING that it is summer! I so enjoyed my year of student teaching, but I was ready for a break and ready to start preparing things for my own, first classroom!

Thinking: Of course every teacher has plans to get a million things done in the summer, but since I am heading in to my first year of teaching, I am starting from scratch! Yikes! I have a huge to-do list of things to do like mapping out the year, planning the first quarter, and decorating and organizing my room. Any advice for a first year teacher is MORE than welcome!!

Wanting: As a recent college grad, I feel like I have so many friends who headed straight to Europe after receiving their diplomas! I absolutely love traveling, and I don't think I will get to do much this summer, but I am always planning my next big trip ;)

Needing: Between Teacher Appreciation, graduation, and my birthday, I feel like I have been in a constant thank-you-note-writing-mode for the past couple months! I really need to buckle down and get these last few done before they are too long overdue.

Summer Bucket List: 1. I go to the California beach every summer with my family and I just can't wait! Unfortunately, I've got about a month and a half to wait...I'll just have to sweat in my Arizona back yard while tanning until then.   2. Like I said before, I have so much to plan and prep for my classroom next year!   3. I am hoping to take time this summer to learn some more of the ins-and-outs of the teacher-bloggy world! Again, advice is always welcome :)

If it's your summer, too, Happy Summer!! Enjoy your well-deserved break! If not, good luck with your last few days...there is a light at the end of the tunnel :) Thanks for stopping by!

...And So It Begins!

I am so lucky to have spent the past nine months student teaching in a second grade classroom in Tempe, Arizona. My last day in that classroom was last Friday, but the good news is...I HAVE A JOB!!! Just a few days prior, I received not one but four job offers and ultimately got to choose to work at my dream school next year teaching second grade!

That being said, I have a lot of work to do this summer :) Setting up a classroom is something I have looked forward to my whole life, but it is already proving to be more work than I expected (but so much fun!). There are so many little things you have to think about. Here are a couple things I have picked up so far.

I bought this rug and these ottomans from Ross a few weeks ago and I am planning to put them in my classroom library:

This picture is from Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits but I went to Garden Ridge and bought that cute rug the second I saw it on her blog! I can't wait to use it as my main gathering area:

When I bought this chair from a thrift store, it was forest green. Since then I have painted it and plan to use it as an author's chair/share chair/celebration seat/etc. It's not completely done, and it's certainly not perfect, but I am really happy with how it turned out:

(Ignore that hose in the background!)

I got these drawers from Michael's for Christmas...only a teacher would ask for rolling drawers for Christmas! I plan to use the small drawers for Word Work/Literacy Stations and Math Games and the bigger drawers for flash cards and other large manipulatives:

Last but not least, on my last day of student teaching my mentor teacher and second graders spoiled me with these rolling drawers full of school supplies:

They are full of pens, pencils, crayons, markers, Sharpies, paper, 

white board markers, etc! Everything a new teacher could possibly want!

I haven't even begun to make a dent in all that goes into putting a classroom together, but it has been so fun to get started :) Now I just need to think about bulletin boards, student storage, organizing data, curriculum mapping, new textbooks...the list is too long! 

Any words of advice for this new teacher??