How To Get Permanent Marker Off of Plastic - Classroom Tip

I worked in my classroom every day last week. Some days were longer than others, but overall I spent a lot of time at school working, working, working.

By Friday afternoon, I was sitting in my room taking it all in and feeling quite overwhelmed again. I really think I have a problem that many teachers face...I want to buy SO MUCH for my classroom! I look around and see old, reused materials - things that aren't perfect - and I want to replace those things with new, shiny, clean things.

But, I can't. Because if I did, year after year, I would never have any money! *insert pouty face*

So, instead, I selected a few items that I would replace, and decided to fix everything else!

Some of my "fixable" items were these plastic baskets. I bought these for next-to-nothing from a retiring teacher my first year. She had previously used them as cubbies for her students, so they were each numbered for that purpose.

That year, I honestly didn't even care about the marker on them - they were nearly free! I used them as-is in my classroom library and they served their purpose just fine. Not once did my kids ask about the numbers!

This year, however, I knew I wanted to clean them up a bit if I was going to continue using them. Earlier in the week, when my youngest sister was helping me in my room, I had her try the finger nail polish remover method...NO LUCK.

When that failed, Google came to the rescue and suggested this method: Dry Erase Marker. Success!!!

How To Get Permanent Marker Off of Plastic
1. Use dry erase marker to color over permanent marker. (Hint: Color in entirety. I made several "coats" of dry erase marker by repeatedly going over the same spots.)
2. Wipe off dry erase marker with dry cloth.
3. Wipe off plastic with wet cloth.

Repeat process as necessary.

I hope this method works for you, too! It helped me save a little money by making these plastic baskets last at least one more year in my classroom. Yay!

Later this week, I'll show you what I decided to replace in my classroom! After all, that's the part that I'm REALLY excited about!!!

PoeTREE - Classroom Anchor Chart

I'm really discovering that teaching poetry is much more fun in 5th than it was in 3rd. Because of the level that I'm working at with my students, we're able to delve much deeper into analyzing poetry and its meaning.

We've discussed figurative language: similes, metaphors, personification, hyperbole, idioms, and onomatopoeia. I even found this really neat Dictionary of Idioms in my classroom. I know at some point another teacher handed it down to me & my kids really enjoy talking about the idioms that are listed in the book.

The most valuable resource we have in our classroom this year is our poeTREE. Our poeTREE is designed as an anchor chart that students reference when they're analyzing poetry. I've included various elements of poetry and I've also listed the strategies I expect them to use when they're working with poetry (see the swing?!).

PoeTREE - Poetry Anchor Chart

We started parent conferences at our school this past week and I've had parents say, "My child told me all about the poeTREE." It makes me excited every time!

I got this idea from various pins on Pinterest and this was what worked best for my students. You know how I LOVE making anchor charts, so I hope that you'll find a little inspiration in this one. :)

Enjoy!!

Classroom Library Readbox Labels - Free Download

Hey there!

I feel so lost in the mix and CRAZY right now! I've headed back up to school this week and I've been working like crazy in my classroom. I even recruited a classroom helper, my 10 year old sister. :)

It's been a lot of fun, but just like last year, I'm just ready to get the classroom decor and organization done so that I can begin preparing for my first day of school, August 27.

As I'm making things for my own classroom, I'm always keeping you all in mind. I have some Chevron print classroom labels in the works (mine are done, but yours aren't) that I plan on sharing soon. But, FIRST, I have some classroom library Readbox labels to share.

Classroom Library Readbox Labels - Free Download

I first saw this idea on...Pinterest!

I thought it was adorable and that it would work perfectly for sprucing up my classroom library a tad. So, these done and uploaded AND FREE to you!!!

I hope to be back soon with pictures of my classroom this year and more downloadable products for YOUR classroom. Stay busy, my friends! It's ALMOST here!

Enjoy!!

STAAR Wars Bulletin Board Designs - Texas Standardized Testing

It's April and the STAAR test is right. around. the. corner. My students have been working so, so very hard this year and while I'm nervous about their performance on the state assessment, I'm ready for them to show off their knowledge!

Since I teach third graders, we'll be testing on April 23 & 24. We have two weeks before the test. Two weeks for my partner and I to remind our students just HOW smart they are, just HOW much they've learned this year, just HOW much they can do completely on their own! We're all about boosting self confidence over the next couple of weeks and we have several things up our sleeves in order to make that happen...

I'm starting off slow, though, and I'm showing you one of those things first.

{I hope to be able to show you the other in time for testing in case you'd like to use it in some way for your kids, but we'll see how quick we can get it done!}

So, first are the STAAR WARS bulletin boards we have created! This theme has been floating around throughout many different places, but we chose to rock this theme when 5th grade teachers on our campus let us order some shirts they had designed that were STAAR WARS-themed.

Here are some larger images if you'd like to see each in more detail. We used the tagline, "May the skills be with you" and posted strategies (for math AND reading) in each of the bursts!

The only "negative" critique we got from our students is that, "Luke has BLOND hair!" Duh! What were we thinking?! {We're totally not Star Wars people; we had NO clue.}

We took the shirt idea and decided that since our boards were facing each other, we could, in some way, make it look like Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker were "fighting" across our hallway.

I'm a little unsure of whether or not we achieved that completely, but regardless, our kids have loved the bulletin boards! We're all about making our kids happy because that's what helps them become successful! :)

In case you'd like to design a STAAR WARS bulletin board of your own, I'm supplying you with the letters and some taglines to attach to your bulletin board...for free! As far as Darth and Luke go, well, I may or may not have "free-handed".

Note: "Free-handed" requires quotes because I cut them and drew them without an outline, but I relied heavily on images of both Darth and Luke that I had googled. It really wasn't that difficult, although my teaching partner refused to believe me. My advice though: give it a shot! You CAN do it! :)

Want to create one of your own? Download these STAAR Wars Bulletin Board Letters & Taglines for free from my TeachersPayTeachers store. Enjoy!! :)

Circus-Themed Curtains for Classroom

My, my, my. It's already September and I've got the first week of school under my belt!

I anticipate feeling similar to this every year at the beginning of school, but I at least hope that it gets slightly easier to manage.

I had comments on my blog, new followers and all, and I didn't even know it...sorry guys! I'm back, slowly recovering, and finding my balance. Hopefully I can get back into the blogging world quickly.

The first thing I wanted to share with you? My classroom curtains!

I owe a lot to my other half for getting into my room the Saturday before school started to help me get them made and hanging.

Aren't they cute?!

I am in love with them and they really give my classroom the circus vibe. :)

Because I've already spent tons of money on my room in other places, I didn't want to buy curtains or have any made. I used paper from the school workroom. Yes, it did take us a great deal of time - we had one large red strip and then cut out numerous white strips and glued them to the red paper.

To hang them in the room, we used velcro.  Since the long, rolled strips of velcro were cheaper, we bought those and cut them into small pieces. It made the hanging much easier and much faster once the curtains were made.

As you can (hopefully) tell, this picture was taken before the rest of my room was ready. I can't wait to get more recent pictures of how GREAT it's looking now that everything is organized.

Did you do anything special in your classrooms this year? What theme did you use?

I'm so curious to see other classrooms since I've had myself practically locked in my own for the past couple of weeks!