Making Progress

Today, I worked on painting the frames I already purchased as well as some storage bins I use for my math journals.

Painting Frames
First, I pulled out the insides. This took a minute, as one of the frames had paper stapled around the back. I sanded them all down a bit and wiped them with a cloth to get the dust off. Then, I sprayed them all. (I am not very good at spray painting- I always get drips from spraying too closely or too heavily. I need to learn some patience!) Below are my tools and pictures. The silver is looking very nice! I managed to get only one cut, and it wasn't even from the Xacto knife. I was careless while handling the glass and sliced the side of my finger.

The sanding sponge (not an official term) is one of the best purchases I made. It is much, much easier to handle than sheets of sandpaper and is durable. This one is a few years old.

I wonder which hotel this came from...

I thought I would need this to cut away the edges.

However, because these had been in my car for a week, the glue was loose and it peeled right off.

I even got around to making my homework board. I plan on getting very strong magnets and sticking it up on the whiteboard. Then, I can write out the assignments to the left or right of the frame. Which do you like better- the cursive version or the print version?

The matting came with this particular frame. I painted it green and then went over the cut-out edges with a black marker to make it pop. I'm so pleased with all of my papers, I had a difficult time choosing which to use!

I wrote on the glass instead of on the paper. It looks neat, and it wipes away easily with nail polish remover.  Hand sanitizer also removes permanent marker from glass, which is more likely to be at school than nail polish remover.

Painting Plastic Organizers

So this next project probably won't be as successful as my frames because I am attempting to spray paint plastic with plain old Dollar Store spray paint. I know, they make spray paints specifically for plastic these days. However, I am on a budget, and I am not too concerned if the paint peels off of these.

I have five of them, and they stack up to the same height as my bookcases, which is great. The downside is they are white, and they get extra grimy very quickly. I inherited them from a teacher who was moving up in the world (to an Assistant Principal), and they fit between 25 and 30 notebooks each.   (25 spirals or about 30 composition books. I prefer composition books, but some kids don't buy them.) This makes them an ideal spot for my three class periods' math journals, plus one bin for social studies and one bin for advisory period. More photos to come when I am done with the painting. I ran out of black paint today. Plus, it was really hot outside and I was ready to get back in the AC.

My plans

I have been looking around the interent for ideas on how to best decorate and organize my room. So far, I have a made a few decisions.

1) I am painting the room purple and green: either all purple with a green border a few feet down from the ceiling all the way around OR two walls purple and two walls green. I have one can of each color. Based on the darkness of the purple, I am leaning towards painting the front and back walls green and the other two purple. (That way the window wall would be darker and the main board wall brighter.) Suggestions are welcome.

2) I am painting all of my furniture black. (Bookshelves, my "Quiet Corner" desk, and my little by-the-door desk that houses my pencil sharpener, daily handouts, etc.)

3) I am covering my bulletin boards with black fabric. Depending on what I find (on sale), I might try to get black with silver accents, like stars or swirls. I will line them with silver boarders and use bright color mattes to make the material on the boards really pop. I have also purchased T-pins this year so that I can  create a nice 3-D effect by pulling some of the items forward away from the wall.

4) I am going to try to frame all of the posters and wall hangings. I already purchased multiple picture frames at a thrift store for a few dollars each. I prepared one already to test it out- I will spray paint the frames silver.

The glass can be written on with a dry erase marker.

There was this huge sale at Michael's the other day, and I bought hundreds of sheets of fancy paper for 50% to 75% off. I think these will turn out really well! Since there are so many things I have to write daily or weekly, I am going to make a lot of frames like this with a heading and space to write. I am also going to use small frames to just make headings (like homework and daily schedule) to hang directly on the whiteboard. 

5) I am going to make my own number line. I have all of that fancy paper, so I am going to cut out the numbers and laminate them. I haven't tested this one out yet, but I am considering using a big, black sharpie to outline block letters and give them a 3-D look. That way, they will all be the same, but with different papers in the background.

That's all for now- I'm also getting into Pinterest, so hopefully I will find some more awesome ideas to use.

A new beginning

So, here we go again. I'm actually going to keep up with this thing this year, and we'll begin with my new room. I'm moving from sixth to fifth grade, and before the year ended I had my students help bring everything upstairs. Since I don't have to stress about moving, I can spend my free time painting, organizing, and planning awesome lessons! Here are the before photos.

My U-shaped table will go in front of this board.

You can see the colors I have chosen: purple and green! 

This is the front board. Notice the speakers up by the projector!

I had better windows in my last room, but at least the kids won't be distracted this year. There isn't much to see from these.

This will be the teacher corner- I am re-arranging my desk.

That doorway in the middle leads to a "storage" area that I am not supposed to use. It's pretty gross in there, but it does have roof access... I wonder if I can climb up there and not get in trouble...