Back to School Mode!

Hey all! Hope you are enjoying the last few days of summer. It's down to days now! AHH! I am trying to soak up as much sun as I can, and spend lots of time with this foster pup! 

Isn't she the cutest? How the heck does she lay like this?? Hopefully girlfriend will get adopted soon!

But unfortunately school is calling me back. Its actually screaming at me to come back. The chaos that is my classroom right now is making my skin crawl. Look at this mess!!

I'm hyperventilating a little....I moved classrooms this year, just right across the hall. But apparently moving 10 feet is a bigger deal than I realized :(

However, I knew where I wanted most of my stuff before I moved it! I don't know if you all have read Debbie Diller's book, Spaces and Places: Designing Classrooms for Literacy, but it is AMAZING.

I learned so much about how classroom organization and management of spaces can affect your classroom environment! Debbie suggests that you make your classroom plan before you touch your furniture. 

I think we know that as teachers who want the perfectly functioning classroom, we tend to *ahem* change our minds fairly often. She says to use sticky notes to create a topographical map of your classroom, that way you can move everything without straining your muscles (or without redrawing a map of your classroom 200 times)!

I have done this in the past, but have now found something even better! It's a website that you can use for free called floorplanner.com. It gives you any classroom furniture you could use/need, and also gives you a 3D view of what it looks like! So awesome!

I'll keep updating you as my classroom gets more and more put together :)

For the exciting news, make sure that you come check back in August 1st! Myself and tons of other bloggers have gotten together to create a bloghop/giveaway that is going to be AMAZING!

I've seen some of the products in the giveaway and they are fantastic. You do NOT want to miss this!!

Have a great Sunday!