To Do- Before the First Day of School!

School is getting closer and closer, and I am really starting to fret about it! I thought to help me stay organized that I would join Lorraine over at Fabulous 4th Grade Froggies for her To-Do List Linky Party!

Hopefully you all will help hold me accountable with all of this too!

1. Finish my Middle School Language Arts Vocabulary Word Wall pack for my classroom and then place it in my stores for you all. 

2. Paint my new bookshelves for my classroom library that a family friend is building for me. 

3. Get my back to school packet put together.

4. Put my room together that is completely in boxes. Who knows when I am going to get in though!

5. Plan at least the 1st 6 weeks of school, which I am pretty sure I will be doing alone since I plan on using CSCOPE and the other 6th grade ELA teacher more than likely will not. 

6. Create my whole class writing journals to use during Work on Writing for the Daily 5. Have you seen the amazing ones from Layla @ Fancy Free in Fourth? I am in love with them!

7. Order my easel! Check! I just did this this morning!

8. Figure out my room arrangement and where I am going to put my new rug and easel. :)

9. Stock up my cart on Teachers Pay Teachers with lots of things for the BTS sale that I can use in my classroom. 

10. Make some back to school goodies for my fellow 6th grade teachers.

11. Get ready for my Principal Certification that starts August 25th.

What is on your to do list before school starts?

7.

21 and Counting

Twenty-one days is all that I have left until I have smiling 6th graders entering my classroom for the first day of school. That seems so far away, but I know that it will be here before I know it. :( 

Don't get me wrong, I am excited to start school again, but it just seems like I haven't had much me time since I've been working at a summer camp. 

I got some not so great news this week from my AP about the status of my classroom. If you have been a follower for a while you know that I had to move out of my classroom three weeks early before the school year was over so they could get started on the construction in my end of the wing. Since I have been gone pretty much all summer I emailed him to see the status of my classroom thinking that I would love to get in there next week when I am back in town to set up. I was informed that there is no way that will be possible and that it will still be several weeks before we will be able to get in there. I am now freaking out!!! I know that I am not going to have much time during our week of Professional Development, so I am hoping that it will at least be ready the week before. Have you ever been in a situation like this? 

Have you seen the giveaway that Lindsay is having over on her blog in honor of her 1st Bloggy Birthday?

You should go and enter for your chance to win too!

I also wanted to link up with Mrs.Crouse from 6th Grade All-Stars for her 1st ever linky party!

She is getting ready to start her first year of teaching 6th grade and I am so excited for her! It is super easy to participate in the linky party, you just have to answer the five questions and then link up over at 6th Grade All-Stars!

One. What grade do you teach?

This coming school year will be my 2nd year teaching 6th grade Language Arts. 

Two. What is the greatest advice you received during your first year of teaching?

I received so much great advice for my first year of teaching and I was also extremely lucky that I got to work with so many amazing educators during my observations and while I student taught. I think the best advice I got actually came from my principal. I was lucky enough to also have my principal has my high school Algebra 2 teacher. I was in a strange situation this past school year and was the youngest on my 6th grade ELA team quite a bit. They were not as open to some of the ideas that I had to best meet the needs of our students. She told me that as long as I knew I was doing what was best for my kids, if it was different than everyone else when my door was closed, that was totally fine with her. 

Three. Do you have a checklist that you use when getting your classroom ready?

Unfortunately, I do not. I know that I need to make something to help me out, but I am still figuring it all out. 

Four. What are some must haves that you must have in your classroom that you cannot live without?

There is so much that I could not live without. On the list would have to be Anchor Charts, Interactive Notebooks, markers, post-its, an extensive classroom library, and my dual board. :)

Five. What is something that all teachers should have in their classroom?

I am a firm believer in having a classroom library no matter what grade or content you teach. So many people think that they only belong in the Language Arts classroom but that is not true. 

I am also currently working on a giveaway in honor of having 700 followers. Stay tuned because it will be up soon!

Back to School Wishlist

As back to school gets closer and closer, my wish list keeps getting bigger and bigger. I am excited because I learned a lot from my room set up this past school year and I am glad that I have the opportunity to redo it completely. You've got to love having to pack everything up for construction. I just have my fingers crossed that I will be able to get in there the week before we have inservice. I am starting to get a little nervous about it. I am super excited though because I found some tables on my campus, so I will have 4 tables that will seat 6 each instead of 24 desks in my classroom. I cannot wait to see how much more room I have with this. :)

Wish #1:

I want several sets of these to house my book clubs books and folders. I think it would make life so much easier for them and they would always know where their things were. The problem is, I need 5 sets of theses at least. :(

Wish #2:

I need some supply caddies for my new tables that I will be getting!

Wish #3: 

An easel. I know you are probably thinking, this girl teaches 6th grade, why the heck would she need an easel? I love meeting with my class as a whole group and we make anchor charts all of the time. This would be the perfect tool to help us meet together for our charts.

Wish #4: 

A rug for us to meet as a whole group. If you have one, where did you find it? I am not wanting to spend a bunch on it, but I also realize that this is something that will go with me no matter where I am teaching if I spend my own money on it. 

What are the must buy supplies too when they go out at the stores? Is there something that you stock up on every school year? I am thinking that I will be getting lots of markers and glue. It always seemed like we would run out of them last year.

What is on your back to school wish list?

This and That....

There are lots of exciting things going on in the life of Miss Klohn right now! 

One. As of 3:00 p.m. on Saturday I can officially say that I am finished with my Masters in Education degree! This is such a huge relief! I have decided to add the principalship semester, so I will do that that in the fall, but it is only one semester. I never would have thought that I would have my Masters degree the summer after finishing my first year of teaching. It was no way easy, but I am so glad that I decided to do it. I know it will be way worth it one day. 

Two. Today marks the start of our upper elementary book study on The Daily 5. Be sure and head on over to the book club blog and check it out for yourself! 

Three. I hit a huge milestone on this little ole' blog of mine...600 followers! I cannot believe it! Never did I imagine there would be this many people interested in my adventures in teaching. There will be a celebration giveaway in the near future so stay tuned!