I’m linking up with Tara again this week. I guess I’m 2/3 this summer. I’m not getting super into being crafty and spending my time with a glue gun when the weather in California has been this sunny and amazing. This is the first year we haven’t had June gloom…or a winter! So I’m taking advantage and will hold off on major teaching stuff until the end of July {but don’t hold me to it}!
I made it out of bed, does that count? I’ve been sick since the weekend with some sort of stomach bug that makes me think tiny aliens and twisting my insides. Luckily for me, I was able to eat more than rice today!
I didn’t exactly make my new blog but I paid Courtney from Blogs Fit For a Queen. To say I’m obsessed with it is an understatement. It’s so soothing and pretty and I find myself opening it just to feel peaceful. And to be honest, it makes me feel pretty legit. I kinda feel like I’m sitting at the cool kids’ table. I know it’s rude to talk about money but I’ve compared her prices amongst some of the top designers {who do stunning work}, and Courtney is 1/3 of the price. Did I mention this doll is only 18??? She was kind enough to donate a custom blog design and TpT banner during my big reveal last week. Did you win, sweet friends? I appreciate all of you who entered, seriously!
I just e-mailed you, doll!
If you didn’t win, head on over to Courtney’s blog before she becomes super famous. She’s. That. Good.
I made a cutie-patootie clip chart tonight after remembering that I never downloaded tons of digital paper, frames, and other goodies during the May TpT sale. The end of the school year happened, I can’t help it!
I even included corresponding notes that can go home daily. I’m finally getting my crazy roots touched up tomorrow so after that, I’m going to create some more clip charts that my Facebook Friends suggested.
Finally, I wanted to share with you the Memory Book that we create throughout the year. I’m sharing it now so you can get it ready for the next school year. I promise you that once you use this, you will never be THAT teacher who keeps stealing the binder machine to put together your End of the Year Memory Books.
1. Get file folders with the 2 prongs. While you’re purchasing these, buy a 2 prong stapler as well. Then you can cut the folder in half, like the one above. Create a class set. I also bought cute numbers to I can use them over and over. Hang up the numbers and folders down low, so students can put up their work. This was the first year I had students do this and it saved me time. Just make sure you model how to do it and close the prongs properly. You’ll have some strugglers, so have a class helper to get the job done!
We put up monthly writing
Student Art
Social Studies Crafts
I create a monthly collage that I hang on our class door. At the end of the year, I copy the collage onto copy paper and add it to each memory book. I just collate it on the copier and pop it on.
To protect the identity of my kiddos, I’m keeping this picture small. I took a photo of each kiddo wearing a graduation hat. I typed up a cute cover page and added our school name, my name, grade, and year. I printed it out on card stock, glued on the photo, and laminated. I had an awesome parent helper cut out the laminate and pop the covers on the memory books. After Open House, students took their memory book off of the wall, took the staples out, and took it home!
Some of you are probably saying, but the book goes from oldest to newest, rather than the other way around. Trust me, we’re the only ones who would care. If this saves me hours of work, I’m all for it! Plus, it is a great way to display student work during the entire year!
You know what’s funny, as I sit down each week for a link, I think I have nothing to share because I’ve been too busy catching up on the Housewives and the Bachelorette. But at the end of each post, I was way more productive than I thought. Cheers to summer!
(Visited 875 times, 1 visits today)
Great idea for displaying/keeping your memory books up to date! (And I hear you about putting papers in a folder…when we add our writing to our portfolios, the students pick it up assembly-line style and add it to their binder. Except for the five who pick up papers in reverse order, the five who put them in one by one and reverse the order doing so, the five who decide to take out ALL the previous writing, the five who…)
I do memory books with my K4 class too. Each child brings in a 1 inch binder with 30+ plastic page protectors, so we add our "memory" pages in as we go throughout the year. The only draw back is pages copy paper size, so project type things we do we do on a sheet of cardstock so they will fit in. Being K4 we do monthly self portraits and photos, writing samples, etc. It is a nice keepsake for their first school year experience.
I LOVE your new blog design – although I did LOVE your pink buses, too! I love the memory books. do you assemble those at the beginning of the year, and then the kids add to them monthly? I might like to borrow that project. I am glad you are feeling better.
Thanks for the sweet compliment, Susan. I put them up at the beginning of the year and students add to them as we go!
LOTS of cuteness going on here:) Love your first made it…lol! Too funny:) Glad you're feeling better:) I got something like the last month of school and thought I was gonna die! You clip chart is too cute:) Thanks for linking up;)
4th Grade Frolics
She is 18?! WOW.
That clip chart is super cute and matches MY new blog hhaa
I hope you feel better, that is TOTALLY a made it to get out of bed.
The memory book is super brilliant!
Thanks for sharing this wonderful memory book idea! If you really wanted it to be in chronological order, maybe you could have the kids flip the previous page around, so it's facing backwards, before they add the next page on top to display. At the end of the year, the front of the book would be what is up against the wall. Hope that makes sense! I'm going to try it out this year! Thanks again!
Great idea, thank you!