I Can't Help It!

Even though we have 8 days of school left, I can't help but be thinking about and planning for next school year. Today was a BIG eye opener for me. My sixth graders (5 of them) left for science camp today. While we were working this morning it really hit me... this is my class for next year. Boy, are things going to look VERY different for me in the fall. The dynamics are very different. The skill level is going to be very low. What worked this year is not going to work next year.

So in my spare time tonight... because I have a million other things I could be doing, but chose not to... I was cruising Pinterest. I found a few classroom organization boards. Then there was this......

Cue the birds chirping and the heavens opening up.

 

I seriously need that file holder. I mean, come on, it matches my classroom perfectly and makes my type-A little heart happy.  So I clicked over and found out that this teacher is offering teachers some free products from Mardel.com.  Yes, please.

 

I searched their educational products site and found my wish list grew quite long. But if I had to choose my top three things to purchase, top on my list would be the File-tastic in black. Soooo many uses! And it's so pretty!

 

When testing a few of my students for their IEP progress updates this week I was frustrated with the fact that they cannot retain counting money.  Due to my Banking on Good Behavior system in place this year, they can count bills like nobody's business. But next year I think I'm going to make things a bit more challenging by switching out bills for coins. I have a feeling that this motivating classroom management system which includes a class store every Friday will have them counting coins in no time. This Thinking Kids Money Set would really motivate them to learn to count money!

 

Then I found this Big Money- Magnetic Coins set. It would be perfect for practicing counting coins, a counting money problem of the day, or displaying how much money could be earned for certain tasks in our classroom economy system. Perfect!

 

 

I just can't turn my teacher brain off. Somehow I'm always thinking about things that need to be done or planning or organizing. So many things to be done but so little time to do it in. Can't wait until summer arrives so I'll have some much needed down time!