Whoooo's ready?

Not me! This summer has gone by WAY too fast.  I can't believe that I will meet my new class in two days.  The last week has been crazy with pre-planning, meetings, working in my classroom, and so much more! I am excited to start a new year but also nervous about the unknown.  I am so thankful to work at a wonderful Christian school.  Every year I set goals for myself as a teacher.

This picture sums up my goals for the year:

As a teacher it can be pretty easy to lose sight of these simple words.  I am praying that I will show all these fruits to my students, parents, co-workers, and sweet husband.  I am blessed.

I am already finding myself searching for ways to feel joyful with my husband on tour during this time of the school year.  He is such a huge support in my life and it can feel challenging to start a new school year without him to cheer me up at the end of a long week.  

So....

for some crazy lovely reason I decided to change the theme of my classroom this year.  You know I can't get enough of owls and birds so when I saw the new line of owl products in the School Box catalog I just had to go for it!  One thing turned into another and I went a little overboard with the changes.  I think it is because of my love for fabric, colors, and cute things that made me want to change the look of my classroom.  

I don't have many before pictures but basically my old theme was "stars." No real reason why- but now it is OWLS, you can't miss it when you walk by my room!

Bulletin board outside my door 

This is a bookshelf that I keep all of my books for lessons (aka books the kids can't touch)

Last year this had star fabric on it but I loved this colorful fabric at Hobby Lobby so I made a new cover and attached it with velcro!

These big pillows go in the reading area and the old star fabric was all torn up so I made slip covers for them.

These are the new pillows.  The pattern is so pretty.  Slip covers are great because my class gets lice every year, ugh! Fingers crossed I make it another year lice free.

I like to have a class verse so that my kids can memorize it and it is a great reference for behavior problems.

Philippians 2:14-16

Owl helper chart- the owls with their names slip into the tree trunks!

Finished classroom library.  This was a huge project last year!  Sorting the books into categories with the kids and creating labels....so glad that is finished!

The polka dot baskets from Target are my favorite

This tree started out as a "thankful tree" that a dad built for me.  I have kept it up all year round and have welcome bookmarks on it for the kids on the first day of school.

These next few pictures are not fabulous- I was trying to work and take pictures and the picture taking ability obviously was lacking...

These are the Birthday Bags.  I got this idea from a kindergarten teacher when I was student teaching.  They are empty but I have each students name typed on the bag for the month of their birthday.  They are an easy way to display birthdays that adds some fun to the classroom.

Don't you like my new poster that says "You are responsible for you!"  We will see how that works out....

I made these last year on my cricut and they have been really helpful.  Each morning I write what we will be doing in each subject- it also cuts down on a lot of questions :)

These are hanging in the windows of the room.  They are hard to see but this window says "Welcome" and each letter has chip board accents with animals on them.

"to 2nd Grade!"

My new owl calendar!  It came with owl borders and some blank posters.  I had to get a little creative with the blank ones because it didn't come with anything for the weather or days of the week.

I put fabric up behind the calendar instead of paper so that it won't fade throughout the year.

What would I do without my cricut?!?

Can't believe summer is over :(

This is my first year with this wreath on my classroom door.  I started it last year but didn't finish it till this week.  I used double sided paper and made them into pinwheels.  They are just pinned into a styrofoam wreath form.

The great thing about teaching 2nd grade is that most of them still love school :)

Happy new school year to everyone!! Good luck!