That's How I Felt

I'm sticking with the classroom updates today, although this is another quick project that anyone could do for their home office. Well anyone with felt, a sewing machine, and a bunch of things that you need easy access to but don't want cluttering up your desk.

I actually completed this project before I started the blog, so there are no "during" photos, but here's the finished product. I'll explain how I did it after so it actually makes more sense for all you visual people.

 Basically, I cut two pieces of felt to the same size and sewed them together. This organizer is about 18 by 24 inches, but obviously you can make one for whatever size you need. Next I figured out what I needed to store in here and outlined these things in pencil on the felt. The next part is pretty obvious - I sewed 3 sides of each shape that I outlined and cut the fourth side so there's an opening. Now my stapler, scissors, masking tape, pop-up tape (best invention ever!), index cards and file folder have a nice place to live.

In order to secure the organizer to the desk, I bought a cheapy towel bar from Target and screwed that into the metal desk. Then I tied two loops through the organizer and onto the bar. She's been happily hanging there for about 8 months now and it's so nice for all of these supplies to be out in the open, yet organized.

Another quick update I made to my classroom was for my homework challenge bulletin board. I have done this homework challenge with all of my classes since my first year teaching and it really has motivated the students to complete their homework.

This is how it works: everyday that every student in the class has their homework done, the class earns a letter. Once the class spell out a word, I bring in that treat. I always start with Pizza Party and the first class to spell it gets a Pizza Party. Then every class moves onto brownies, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream and so on and every class earns their treat when they spell the word. For the first time ever, I had a class spell all of the words I already mentioned and "strawberry kiwi frozen yogurt." That's 26 letters, by the way. They were begging me for homework over the weekend just to spell the word. I was such a proud teacher :)

All of this to say, I finally jazzed up the board just a little.

I printed out the period numbers onto scrapbook paper and then cut them out. I also used a circle punch to make the big turquoise circle and then laminated them together. The board obviously fills up once school starts and the kids start doing their homework. I have a feeling that I'm going to have another group spell strawberry kiwi frozen yogurt this year! I decided to use simple craft paper on the bulletin boards this year. Hopefully it holds up well.

How do all of you teachers organize all of your go to supplies? I'd love to hear more ideas. Anyone else use sweet treats as a motivator? I'm all for it!

Thanks for reading,
Kathleen

Linking up to: 30 Handmade Days