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Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Teacher Hoarder---

Yes, they need a show for teacher hoarders.  I think that's me!! Believe me, my house, not so much---well, don't look in my storage closet right now.  All that stuff has to go with me to school---SOON, so I can buy more!!  Okay, so it's not just purchases.....ever since the invention of Pinterest (YES, there I go again with that SILLY site!) I think I can be all cute and crafty!!  I think I NEED to save all those cans, containers, etc.  Why???? I will just add them to a bazillion other baskets and container that I have from previous years!!  I guess a girl can't have too many baskets....but toilet paper tubes, paper towel tubes, baby wipe containers, baby food jars (okay, I LOVE using the baby food jars for my Christmas around the world unit so we won't go there on that one).  Thank goodness my classroom is FULL of cabinets!!  I can shove LOTS of stuff behind those doors and no one is ever the wiser! ;)

That's just my junk I collect, but do any of you collect papers too???  I'm old school ya know.  Things were supposed to be kept in FOLDERS not on these little flash drives the size of my thumb!  EGADS!!  How is all my crap going to fit inside that little thing????  Technology will never seize to amaze me. 

Today I decided to go through my back to school folder.....*gulp*  It was MASSIVE.  It should have been 4 or 5 folders, but I'm too cheap so it was just one little folder so full that you couldn't even see the tab on it labeled "back to school."  I had hand written plans from the first few days in 2007 in that folder!  HAHAH!!   I must have used them last year, surely I'm not that bad of a hoarder....and in all fairness they were just general notes for routines.  But still.....wow!!

As I was going through my folder, (some stuff circa 1976-and NO, I wasn't teaching then, but I have lovely coworkers who like to share..and I hate to be rude...now you see how I'm a hoarder, huh), I completely forget what I do from year to year!!

I thought I'd snap a couple pictures of crafts we've done.  These are not new ideas (and I'm not sure where they originated), but thought I'd share in case some of you haven't seen them before.

First up----a flower craft.  This is so much fun and has a lot of skills involved.  I use it after reading Chrysanthemum. 


Now mind you this flower has been folded up for a few years in that lovely folder of mine....but you can get the idea of what it's too look like.
Directions:
1) I have them write their name in the middle of the flower with their favorite color crayon.
2) The red petals represent the number of letters in the name.
3) The craft stick stem is to represent the number of syllables in the name.  When I first started this project EONS ago I would already have the craft sticks hot glued together ahead of time, then ask students to tell me the number of syllables in their name, and hand them a stem.  I have found through the years that it doesn't matter if they are hot glued or not, regardless they still need taped to paper if that's the route you take.
4) The leaves at the bottom are for the number of vowels in your name.
We glue ours to blue construction paper and hang out in the hallway.  The students sometimes add a sun, grass, clouds, etc. to their picture before we hang it up.  But it makes a great Back to School activity and looks really cute hanging in the hallway.

Another activity I found in that massive pile of junk was a Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree. Again, ignore the creases....I'm just glad it survived being in that folder, because it is kinda cute! :)
This is so simple to make.  Students trace their hands onto green construction paper, and are given a brown rectangle base.  We glued brown the brown construction paper base to the bottom of white construction paper. Then they glued the hands to the trunk to make a tree as shown.  I gave them colorful dots to put the letters of their name on, and they decorated their tree with their name.  These also looked cute hanging up on the door/hallway.

Finally, I found some coloring sheets I made last year.  I love the smell of new crayons on the first day of school.  I love using activities that get them to use their school supplies.  I remember being one of the students in the classroom all giddy about using my crayons, glue, scissors....I was/am such a dork!  I do think that firsties are also excited about their new supplies....and it's a great way for me to monitor them holding crayons, using glue, using scissors.  It's a fun thing for them, but a fine motors check for me. 

Here are a few coloring sheets made with DJ Inkers graphics.  Hopefully you can use them, or save them for another day......even great for inside recess (as our gym isn't big enough for all of our classes at lunch time). 




You can click the top picture for access to all the coloring sheets!!  

But, before you leave me----please tell me I'm not the only teacher hoarder! :)


20 comments:

  1. I just moved my classroom this week....you are not the only hoarder! I couldn't believe all of the stuff I had to pack up and move...thankfully I am super organized and it was easy! However, I am only going into my 3rd year and have so much stuff!!!!

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  2. Oh, no you're not the only one! I had to move to a new school after mine closed. OMG...the amount of junk I had accumulated in 29 years was amazing. I think they rented a dumpster just for me. The same thing with my files...massive would be a good word!! Pam

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  3. DeAnne, you should have seen what I found when we had to pack up and leave Alaska after 10 years. Unfortunately I just couldn't hold onto to most of it. Thanks for the memories.
    Arlene
    <a href="http://arlenesandberg.blogspot.com>LMN Tree</a>

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  4. Oh the things I found when we were backing up to leave Alaska after 10 years.!!! I could never throw anything away.
    Arlene
    LMN Tree

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  5. You are definitely not the only one. I am of course the worst on my team. I think someone needs to start a show for interventions for teachers. I will have a student teacher this year so my intention is to give her lots of stuff and begin her hoarding behavior. Lol my walls are all done but now we have too many kids and may have to move all my hoarding to another hall. If I didn't have so much stuff i wouldn't mind at all. Ugh!

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  6. You are definitely not the only one. I am of course the worst on my team. I think someone needs to start a show for interventions for teachers. I will have a student teacher this year so my intention is to give her lots of stuff and begin her hoarding behavior. Lol my walls are all done but now we have too many kids and may have to move all my hoarding to another hall. If I didn't have so much stuff i wouldn't mind at all. Ugh!

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  7. Cute stuff! Thanks for sharing!

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  8. I started going through files two years ago...if I had never used it it went out. If it looked like I could find a cuter one it went out, too. Then I took all the papers to our fancy-schmancy copier/scanner and scanned them and sent them to myself. Figure I am on the computer more than in my filing cabinet anyway. (And this way I need never trudge to the copy room again...can print from my computer to the printer just across the hall!) The recycling basket was overflowing!

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  9. Going through files makes me think I am a hoarder too! So you are not alone. I "blank out" about Back to School lessons. It's like August specific PTSD, or something. What every you have to do to get to the first weekend. Then the routine becomes less stressful!
    Plus, if you started going through your stuff without an intervention, then you aren't a hoarder! :)
    EmilyK

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  10. I hate to admit it...but I'm right there with you! I have a huge cardboard cylinder looking at me right now...it looks to "worthy" to just throw away! I know I could use it somehow...

    A Pirates Life for Us

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  11. You are definitely not alone! I hoard and collect as well! I have my parents saving water bottle caps for me haha! Also, I'm a compulsive teacher stuff buyer. SO many cute things out there... I just can't resist!

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  12. We changed buildings this year and it was breaking my heart to have to throw out so much stuff. I do think teachers have a natural hoarding gene in them! :) I like that Chicka-Chicka Boom Boom craft! Thanks for sharing it!

    NotJustChild'sPlay

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  13. OK I think I may be worse about hoarding than you are! I even save containers that I haven't seen ideas on pinterest for them. lol

    Thanks for the idea for the flower. We started school today and I read Chrysanthemum to them. I think we may make the flower tomorrow.

    Kelly @ I'm Not Your Grandpa, I'm Your Teacher

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  14. lol... I gotta tell you that I keep cracking up about your I'm not 'lion' item above! LOVE it! :)

    Seriously... I just changed districts and it took me about 3 weeks of working 40 hours a week to clean out my old classroom. There were so many cool things that I found and many half finished art projects. (I'm not what you call crafty.)

    I also realized and cleaned out 3 closets and 1 whole room of my house of teaching stuff. How in the world did I end up with 10 LARGE (laundry basket sized) tubs full of picture books when my classroom library is packed??? Oh my- if you really need to feel better- I took a picture mid cleaning process of my "teacher room". It is WAY too embarrassing to share with all- but I'd do it for you for giving me a good laugh! lol!

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  15. I think teaching and hoarding go hand in hand!! We all have so much stuff, and we're always thinking, "Hmm, what can I do with this??"
    ❤Teri
    A Cupcake for the Teacher

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  16. Even though I have lots of those little jump drives (which I'm terrified of losing!), I still feel like I have to have a hard copy of everything that I print or copy for my classroom! I've gone from having 2 full size file cabinets to 1. Maybe one day I will be brave enough to go from 1 full size cabinet to a half size file cabinet! That would mean some serious purging though!!!!!

    Karen
    An Apple a Day in First Grade

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  17. Hoarder? Who me? It's a constant battle- me vs. my environment! I even hoard digital *stuff*...saving files because I might use them someday! The cutie drawing sheets- not hoarding, I'll be using them in just a few weeks! Thanks:-)

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  18. You are too funny! I think we all have a little 'hoarder' in us... We are teachers, we collect and collect and collect! "You never know when you might use it!"

    I am a closet hoarder but have fast and steady rules for all of my mentees. I always tell them that if they haven't used it in a year, chances are it won't get used this year - give it away. This way, a different hoarder can have all the goods!

    I have a difficult time letting go of craft things because I am convinced that I will need it to craft one day. Hmmm...

    Good luck with the unpacking and moving!

    Kristen
    I do, We Do, You Do!

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  19. I am finding as I clean out my classroom and ditching that I am a teacher hoarder! But since I have had to move to a teeny tiny classroom that I have to start ditching - no storage! Thanks for sharing your first day pages - super cute! :)
    Cheryl
    Crayons and Curls

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First Grade and Fabulous

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