Classroom Reveal & Decor Giveaway!

School is back in full swing for this teacher and lots of new changes! New classroom, new school, new grade levels and new decor!

My entire classroom was moved to a new school this year! We were moved from the elementary school to the high school. Our elementary school is now Pre-k through 3rd and our high school is now 4th - 12th. So instead of teaching 3rd - 5th now, I'm teaching 4th - 6th, so I got to keep all of my same students from last year! :) 

I LOVE my new classroom! I'm in an indoor campus now, I have windows for once, two bathrooms, a storage room....and my room is huge! Come on in!

I typically go with only a color theme in my classroom, but this year thanks to Creative Teaching Press, I threw in a little emoji fun this year!

Students place their daily logs, homework, and agendas here upon entering the classroom. My room is usually a work in progress the first few weeks, as I continue to move things around and change things up. I'm planning to change these tags to emoji tags.

My storage room is on the right as you enter! 

My lighting is not very good in my classroom. I love it because it is calming for my students, but not so good for taking photos. So excuse the dim photos.

 Here is my reading center.

 My math center.

 Teacher small group table.

 Computer center. I'm still waiting for my other two student computers and I also have my iPad station set up here now too. (not pictured)

Morning Meeting whole group board.

My reading center. This center has already evolved, as I now have a chevron rug here, a bigger tent, and the books in the crates are now on a bookshelf.

 Since I have two bathrooms, I decided to make one a student restroom and one a staff restroom. I think I'm going to change the signs to emoji signs. On the bookshelf is our IEP tubs and we'll be putting our Wilson Reading binders on the bottom shelf.

I love the counter and cabinet space that I didn't have in my previous classroom.

 Our behavior goals bulletin board that my students state every day. (excuse the glare)

 Our birthday display.

 My new Emoji calendar set.

 By my backdoor is my desk, treasure tree, binders, and incentive charts.

 Emoji incentive charts.

Writing center with rules and topic cards.

A peek at my desk.

I've already rearranged my student tables a bit and again, I now have chevron rugs on the tile.

Now who's ready for a giveaway?!

 How would you like to win the ENTIRE EMOJI DECOR COLLECTION from Creative Teaching Press!!? That's right...the ENTIRE Collection.

All of this could be yours! Creative Teaching Press if giving one of my readers the entire Emoji Collection! Nearly 40 decor components are included. Just to name a few, the winner will receive nametags, nameplates, bookmarks, borders, die cuts, certificates, birthday crowns, stickers, calendar set, clip charts, lesson plan book, gradebook, incentive charts, welcome banner, magnetic borders, and much, much more....all Emoji themed! You can see everything in the collection here.

I can't wait to see who the lucky one will be that will win all of this awesomeness! Enter below and good luck! Winner will be announced on Sunday, 8/3.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

14 BTS FREEBIES & GIVEAWAY!!

 Back to School is just around the corner! It's time to get serious and start focusing on all of those classroom ideas we had on our list! 

I've got 14 FREE set-up resources and posters to help you get started! Just click on the link you are interested in and download! :)

IEP Schedule (Editable)
Open House Sign In Sheet
Check Out List
Line Up Chart
Student Info Sheet
Accommodations Flipbook
BTS Supply Wishlist
Hello Desk Nametags



3-Dimensional Posters
Money Posters
iPad Rules
Subway Posters
Groups Poster
Safe Spot Poster

Want even more free goodies!?! Enter below for a chance to win $50 worth of resources from my store....your choice!
a Rafflecopter giveaway

You might also find this useful if you missed it last year!!! It is a collaborative resource I put together last summer with 24 other special Ed bloggers! It's loaded with tips and freebies from each of us!! Check it out here.

And don't forget this Sunday I'll be hosting "SPEDtacular Freebies" again! Be sure to stop by and link up a freebie of your own or to download some freebies! Last week we had 40 freebies linked up!!! :) If you missed it, you can still grab them here. 

Cheers to a great 2016-2017 school year!!!

Transform Your Cabinets into Whiteboards

A few months ago, I decided to get the courage up to try out this spectacular whiteboard paint. I had began co-teaching with the resource room teacher and with all of the resource room students, I did not have near enough board space. 

I like to provide my students with daily practice on the whiteboards rather than worksheets, as it is more engaging for them. They can't wait to get to the whiteboard every day to do the activities/math problems written under their name. 

This is what my cabinet looked like before I transformed it into a whiteboard.

I used this dry erase whiteboard paint that I purchased from Home Depot. This box is $20 and will cover the doors of about 3 of these cabinets. (I only painted the two doors of the cabinet). 

Painted right on a laminate surface and a few months later, still holding strong! We use them daily. This paint is just amazing! Erases and wipes down clean and smooth just like a commercial whiteboard. No smearing or staining!! 

I'm planning to do my other cabinets very soon....but here are some things I learned along the way for next time and when you do yours! 

 1. These particular cabinets or other laminate cabinets require 3 coats. I used no primer!
2. Wait at least 24 hours between coats. The package directions state I believe 15-20 minutes, but this doesn't work for laminate and a straight up and down door that is not lying down flat. I followed the 15-20 minutes and my paint was not ready for a second coat. The first coat began to bunch up and peel in many spots.
3. Use a sponge roller to apply, not a brush.
4. Use really good painters tape to tape up any plastic handles on your cabinet. I taped my plastic door handles with regular masking tape and the paint seeped through getting all over the handles. I thought no biggie...nothing a little acetone can't fix!! Well the acetone began eating the plastic! So needless to say, I still have whiteboard paint on my handles if you look closely. My principal mentioned that if it really bothered me I could use black electrical tape to cover them! LOL! I'm surprised I haven't done this yet! If you only have metal on your cabinet, acetone will work like a charm! It did on my hinges and cabinet locks.
5. Last and MOST important!!! Don't make the same mistake I made and mix it all at once. There are two cans in the kit that you mix together to activate. It has to be used within 1 hour of mixing, so once you mix it you can't save it. Not only did I mix it all at once and had to do all three coats within an hour, I was forced to waste the remainder which could have done two more cabinets. Since I didn't know this, my other two cabinets weren't prepped and ready to paint.

I recommend to do three cabinets, which is what I have left to do....mix only a third of each can. Apply one coat on all 3 cabinets. Mix another third 24 hours later and apply a second coat to each cabinet, and 24 hours later mix the last third and apply the third and final coat!  

My students and I absolutely love our whiteboard cabinet! It's allowed me to utilize all of my space and given me the additional whiteboard space that I needed! And despite the mistakes I learned from, this cabinet is very functional for what my intentions were and I can't wait to see how much more awesome my other cabinets are going to look! 

Hopefully these tips will help you in transforming your cabinets into whiteboards!!

Check Out The Bender Bunch Classroom for 2015-2016

When I said the day before school started this year that my classroom was not ready, it wasn't! My classroom is always evolving throughout the year! Maybe I'm just a very indecisive person, and yes I admit I am, but I also, believe it or not, love change! I like to change things up and keep things fresh! I also have a tendency of putting up decor and then not liking it and taking it down days later, rearranging furniture that isn't working for me, or finding new things on TpT or in Blogland that I want to do!! The Bender Bunch Autism students definitely learn to deal with change in my classroom, and it's not always pretty, but has transferred into positive learning experiences for them and their parents!  

My classroom dynamics can also change drastically from year to year, and throughout the year, making it difficult for me to always pre- plan and organize my room! So finally, after four weeks, I finally have my room ready, for now at least, and am ready to show it to all of you!

I LOVE the size of The Bender Bunch room (it used to be two classrooms), but so dislike that I have NO windows! Our classrooms are also outdoor rooms, not inside hallways which I miss! This makes it difficult to decorate doors and outside displays due to the wind and harsh weather we get here in the desert! The Bender Bunch room is one simple long rectangle with no creative architecture and cinderblock walls.....and we know how much teachers hate cinderblock walls!! :) I mean who would put cinderblock walls in a classroom, right?!

So with that being said, here is The Bender Bunch Classroom!!!

This is the front entrance and what you will see when you enter my classroom. The Bender Bunch kiddos place their school agenda, homework, and daily behavior log into the appropriate tray and then hang their backpacks on their hook that is located on the other side of the brown cabinet you see. 

This is the whole group area of my room and where students sit and store their belongings. This is where we hold our morning meeting, review rules, goals, and do group activities. They had already stacked their chairs for the day when I took this photo, but they all sit around these two tables. 

A view from the back of the room.

A peek at The Bender Bunch job chart, behavior clip chart, daily schedule, and treasure tree. I love The Bender Bunch treasure tree rather than a treasure box. It entices students to work harder for something they can see all day long, and eliminates the time spent digging through a box to decide while often damaging other treats in the box. I also love that my students can relate to the behavior clip chart since it displays expressive faces rather than colors. This helps them to understand better and coincides with the report they take home each day. You can get the visual daily schedule here and my visual behavior clip chart here. 

This is the new Bender Bunch writing area!! One of my goals this year was to place a stronger focus on writing. It's funny because I absolutely LOVE writing and it was my most favorite subject to teach when I was teaching Resource and when I was in GE student teaching. But then, I got students that couldn't really write and my writing materials were packed away. Now, I have students that have great writing potential and so my goal for this year is to incorporate writing into our daily instruction. We're starting simple, but The Bender Bunch is already seeing progress. Pencil is from "The Teacher Wife," writing anchor chart is from "Sweet Sound of Kindergarten," and writing prompt cards are from "Teaching with Love & Laughter." 

During morning meeting, we review The Bender Bunch rules every single day! These rules are from Kristen Smith's Back to School Procedures Pack!

Then we review our morning meeting board! Some of this review is on our smartboard.

I've already changed up this board since I took the above picture five days ago with my new magnetic hundred's chart to 120 from Lakeshore and I love it!!! See what I mean!? Still evolving!

These are my student's individualized IEP tubs in the Rubbermaid containers and the bins are for them to store their materials in. I had thought about making the bins book boxes individualized for each student, but that is still evolving! All of my labels are available in my "Mega Editable Labels" set here. 

This is The Bender Bunch Number Work Center. Students go here for 20 minutes each day during our center rotations. Materials are at our fingertips on these shelves, and the activities students are to complete each day are organized in the blue, green, and pink trays you see according to their assigned group color. 

This is The Bender Bunch Independent Reading Center. Students can also read books on the iPad in the tent using the "Epic" app. This tent has really enticed my students to read, and it has become their favorite place to be in the classroom. :) I only have 3-4 students at a time in this center, so it works perfectly. They spend 20 minutes a day in this center and can also choose it during free choice and social time.

This idea came from "The Resourceful Room." Due to the cinderblock walls and having such a difficult time hanging things, she created bulletin boards using foam poster board and you can staple right into it just like a bulletin board. Just brilliant! Student goals are to the right that each student states following our class rules each day. In the middle is our "Word Collector." I am loving this so far and got the idea from the Daily Five or Cafe Book. I've always had word walls every year. I've tried many different kinds and styles, but they've never been effective for my students. I've noticed that often throughout the year my students will say during reading or a conversation, "What does _______ mean?" I decided to use this word collector as a place that we can collect all of these words that we learn about and discuss in the classroom!  

This is The Bender Bunch Word Work Center. 

Again, resources are at our fingertips and daily designated activities for each group are located in the color coded trays to the right.

Left side of the Word Work Center and Rotation Chart. Students spend 20 minutes a day in this center.

Teacher Table Center Rotation with board divided for my three rotations (last year I had 4). Students get small group direct instruction here each day in reading and math for 20 minutes each day. 

The Bender Bunch Tech Center. 

We are fortunate to have 6 computers, 3 that are touch screens.....

....and 7 iPads that are kept here with headphones attached!

Our Safe Spot/Break Area...I'd like to make this area a little more cozy in the future, but it works for now!

Below is our Cool Down Area for students that are harming themselves/others or causing severe property damage. And yes, this bulletin board has already been revamped since this pic was taken. The green tub you see hanging to the right is where my aide places all of my parent's notes or important paperwork that comes back each day in their backpacks.

Some views of my desk area.

Because this used to be two classrooms, there is another sink and water fountain station in the other back corner of the room as well. This one is off limits to my students and is only for teacher use. It is where we keep our microwave, Keurig, and other goodies. Unfortunately, I also have my colored printer there, which is probably not the best spot, but is the only spot I can put it since it is networked. 

Above that is our "Snapshots of our Year Together." I have had this for 3 years now and just love it! You can get it from "That's So Second Grade" here. By the end of the year, it is completely covered in our photos. I place the photos on the posters at the end of each month. 

Here is a closer look at my birthday board and my sight word board that is not only my most favorite thing in my room this year, but the biggest timesaver and most effective assessment tool I've created. You can read more about it here.

And this is my one thing that hangs outside my class with industrial strength velcro to withstand the high desert valley winds...The Bender Bunch line up chart! It allows me to keep students separated that should not be paired together. And yes, the different fonts are driving me crazy....yet another thing that is evolving in my classroom! :)

I hope you took away some inspiration from The Bender Bunch Classroom and hope you're having a great year! :)

Thanks a Bunch,