To Do Lists and Pinterest Projects

So...I know some of y'all are heading back to school already, but here in Michigan, we have a state law that says we can't start until after Labor Day...which is a beautiful thing, in many ways! However, I realized yesterday, I have one month of my summer left to complete all the things I need to do--YIKES.

In the interest of trying to prioritize, (and instead of doing the actual work, because, well, I am the only adult awake in my house right now with the four and two year old, so I can't do a whole lot of any projects!), I am here on my bloggie, trying to create a list of the projects I most want to finish before the school year starts. So, in no particular order, here are my Pinterest Projects I most want to complete this summer. No, none of the images are mine. I will TRY my very best to link them up to their proper homes on the web, though...

First of all, there is this, from the blog NewlyWife:

I bought a great corkboard, with a heavy duty wood frame, for $2 at a garage sale earlier this summer. I have a gorgeous turquoise chevron fabric, I just need the nailhead trim (because I LOVE that detail), and then I will be getting this project done. My board will be oriented vertically, and I think it will sit on my desk, leaning again the wall...it is WAY heavy, and I am also sure I won't be able to get our custodian to drill into the walls to hang it for me...sigh. It'll be great at my desk, though!

Next up, labeling binder clips to mark their mailboxes, from Teaching with Love and Laughter:

 I wanted to do this last year, but didn't know I wanted to (LOL) in time to order the clips with my classroom budget, and just could not afford them at the price in stores. This year, I ordered them (yay!), and they should be just waiting for me in my classroom. I need to get some paper (thinking turquoise, of course) and probably wait till closer to school starting for this task, so my class list will be as "correct" as possible (do you all get tons of before-school-changes too?). I am hoping these will be easier to see than the signs I have contact papered to the sides of their cubbies in the past, as well as easier for other teachers (speech teachers, Title I parapros) to use.

Then, there's the math journals...

Oh, the new things that are happening with math in my classroom this year! First off, I decided mid-way through the year last year that I really wanted to try math journals. I never quite got to it, though. This year, I am starting the year with them. These journals are from Living, Laughing & Loving, but I don't think I am going to do mine quite this way--I will use full notebook, for one thing. I do love her labels, though, and might just use those (they are free on her blog).

Also math related...

I have GOT to figure out better, more kid friendly math manipulative storage. We have made the daunting switch from EveryDay Math to My Math (Singapore Math based), and I know my manipulatives are going to need to be out at tables a LOT more. I have a sorty-thing kind of like this (picture from the kindergarten kindergarten blog), but I think my bins are a lot bigger. I also love the bins she uses for their "problem solving" materials...may just have to get some (these are from the same blog post I linked to above).

Now, let's not even think about the billion things I have downloaded from different amazing teachers over the summer, and still need to print, cut out, laminate, organize...I don't think a month will be enough!!!!