Fixing Up Your Classroom

I’ve been out of the classroom for 5 years now, and sometimes it makes me a little sad.  Don’t get me wrong,  I love being a gifted coordinator, but sometimes I miss interacting with the students and fixing up a classroom.  Today I was looking at old pictures of when I taught, and I came across some pictures of my old classroom.  I used to really get into fixing up my classroom to match the theme of the units I was teaching.  I suppose my favorite two classroom designs were for my marine biology unit and my unit on Ancient Egypt.  I must have spent a fortune fixing up those classrooms, but it was worth every penny.  Whenever I decorated my classroom, I wanted the kids to feel they were immersed  in the unit, so I kinda went all out.  I thought I’d share a few of my classroom pictures with you.  These were taken in 2000-2001 and 2001-2oo2 school years.  You can tell by the computers!  Everyone always asks me how I made the murals on the walls and ceilings.  Well, the murals on the ceilings were actually pieces of tagboard cut to the exact dimensions of the ceiling tiles.  I copied the designs onto each one and painted them with acrylic paint.  When they were dry, I just slipped them into the dropped ceiling frame.  Now I was a lot younger then, so I don’t know if I would get on a ladder to do it today.  The murals on the walls were ecru sheets that I draped over some closets and using an overhead projector, I traced the designs from a coloring book about ancient Egypt onto the sheets using a sharpie pen  and then I painted them using acrylic paints.  I had an old mattress box I laid the sheets out on to paint them.  Believe it or not, they still look as good and vibrant today as they did back then.  The gifted program taught a unit on ancient civilizations last year and four of the gifted specialists used the murals in their classrooms.  We had to have a drawing because everyone wanted one and I didn’t have enough to go around.

The next set of pictures was from my unit on marine biology.  I hung shower curtains over the windows so it looked like you were in an aquarium when you entered the classroom.

It’s fun looking at old photos.  What old classroom photos are your favorites that you like to pull out?

Well,  that is all I have for today!  Remember to always…  Keep ’em Thinking!

Another Great Giveaway!

I just love giveaways, don’t you?  My friend Amy Swan over at Happy Teacher Heaven is having a fantastic 100th Follower Giveaway!  Tons of super teachers have donated items to her giveaway to support her success.  Be sure to hop on over to her blog and check it out!  And while you’re there, check out the wonderful freebies she posts on her blog for you to download!  In fact, one of her freebies was featured on the Teachers Pay Teachers pinning board as a top download, so be sure to check out her blog to see all the great stuff there.  To enter the giveaway, just click the image below.Thanks for stopping by!  I’ll have a new post real soon!

Remember to always….  Keep ’em Thinking

 

Spring Linky! and a Giveaway

Happy Monday morning!  Just wanted to let you know that I am linking up with Sam Kelly over at Mrs. Kelly’s Klass blog.  Click on the button below to see lots of neat units and lessons created especially for Spring!  I’ve included a link to my Beginning Logic Puzzles and Activities – Spring Theme, but there are TONS of other great Spring items for you to discover!

Next, I want to share with you a great Giveaway by Teaching Tales Along the Yellow Brick Road.  She is celebrating 100 followers on her cute blog and has received over 40 donations for her giveaway!  Hop on over for your chance to win some awesome  items for your classroom!

Well, I must go and get ready for work!  Have a great week and remember to always…. Keep ’em Thinking!

 

 

Beginning Logic Puzzles and Activities – Spring Themed for Grades 1-3

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!  If you know anything about me, you know how much I love to teach kids to think and use logic and deductive reasoning.  Well, I combined that with my love of all things spring and created a huge pack of spring themed logic puzzles which I just put up on  my TpT store!  This pack has 48 puzzles in all – 24 matrix logic puzzles, 12 magic square puzzles, and 12 Sudoku type picture puzzles.  That’s enough to keep your kiddos busy until the end of the year.  Like everything else I create, there are different levels of complexity to  all the puzzles so you can differentiate according to the needs of your students.  I am so excited about this new product!  The clip art is fantastic.  I found a great new clip art source at Lisa’s Country Clipart – You’ll have to check her out.  I love all the kid faces I can use in my logic puzzles.  It makes them so much more colorful.  Here’s a great preview of the puzzles which you can also check out if you go to my Teachers Pay Teachers Store by clicking on the picture below!

 

That’s all I have time for today!  Remember to always…  Keep ’em Thinking!

Susan

 

It’s a Birthday Giveaway!

Hello all!  I’m participating in a Birthday Giveaway with Susan over at First Grade Friendly Froggies!  She has three different giveaways with tons of wonderful products, so be sure to hop on over to her blog and check it out!  Just click on the button below and it will take you there.  If you enter giveaway #1 you will have a chance to win lots of great items plus my Making Sense of Dollars and Cents unit on money for grades 2-3.  Hop on over and check it out!

BrainQUEST: A Brain Awareness Extravaganza

On Saturday, March 9th, the elementary gifted program is hosting an event we call BrainQUEST: Explore Your Amazing Brain! At our local mall. Each gifted classroom is hosting a different station with hands on activities about the brain. The stations include Nifty Neurons – kids learn about neurons and make a model of a neuron, Your Amazing Brain – kids learn about the parts of the brain and make brain hats, Can You Believe Your Eyes – kids learn about optical illusions and make a flip book, Listen Up! – kids learn about the importance of following directions and have to build a Lego construction following verbal instructions, Do You See What I See? – kids make inkblots and decide what they see in their pictures, The Nose Knows – kids match up vials containing different scents, Do the Stroop! – kids do the stroop test to see how the brain deals with conflicting information, Daily Doozies – kids complete brain puzzlers to keep their brains sharp, Memory Maters – kids complete a memory game, Let Your Fingers Do the Looking – kids identify mystery objects using touch. Also a local hospital has a display about the importance of diet, exercise, and sleep to keep your brain healthy, and biology majors from a local college have a display of different animal brains. Whew! It’s going to be a busy time! We have a program where students must complete 6 stations to receive a brain goodie bag filled with brain pencils, brain erasers, a brain stress ball, a brain coloring book, brain stickers, a brain button, and free coupons to things in the mall. Next week I’ll have lots of pictures to post showing everything from the event, so be sure to check back.
That’s all for today! Remember to always Keep ’em Thinking!
Susan Morrow