My Ever-Changing Classroom

I am teaching Kindergarten this year and it has been a month already. In this month, I have rearranged my classroom a total of 4 times. Moving centres around to different locations based on the traffic in the classroom. But I think I have finally found the perfect spot to put things where I like. Although I am sure I will move something else around :)

Below is my main carpet area. A brand new white board easel was given to me so I have set that up. I will have to move it up a little bit so the chart paper fits. The wooden easel you see on the left side of the picture is now gone. It is resting in storage. I also got a brand new shelf that is on the left with the blue bins. I was so excited about those. That shelf is full of math manipulatives. I will be taking pictures of what I have and making a post about the Math Centre sometime soon too. 

Here is what my room looks like from the rocking chair point of view. I have floor toys in those areas under that big counter. I have tables on the right side of the picture. In the middle of the room I have the paint easel.

This is my cute little reading area. A few kids fall asleep here but the children are in love with my cushions and my stuffed toys. I got those from thrift stores for fantastic deals! 

Here is my dramatic centre. Right now I have a home centre going on. Thinking about changing it up in a few days. For now I have puppets, babies in a crib, a baby centre which has a diaper changing table and a shower area (I scored this from a thrift store for 6.50!!), the kitchen set and a dining table.

Here I have kept a little construction/tool site, big blocks bin (in which I have recyclable cones) and the sand box on the side. The area looks empty right now but with 26 children in the classroom, it gets BUSY!

Last to show right now is my messy desk. It is NEVER clean. Unless a supply teacher needs to come in. Then, I may tidy things up just a little bit.

I still need to start some crafts and put them up on the many bulletin boards that I have. I also bought a typewriter that I am going to put next to the computer (right after I put an organizer shelf on the back counter!!) I will post more picture later on (close-ups) as the days go by. Keep posted! And thanks for reading!

Me? An Award? Yay!

My blog won an award! WOHOOOO!! I am delighted to have an award for my blog, the Liebster Award. It was given to me by another AMAZING blogger and one of my closest friends, Nothy Lane, who has two equally amazing blogs: A Question for the Teacher and Aft Agley. 

Here is how this works!

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.
2. Answer the 11 questions the person giving the award has set for you.
3. Create 11 questions for the people you will be giving the award to.
4. Choose 11 people to award and send them a link to your post. Go to their page and tell them.
5. No tag backs!

11 Things About Paige Turner:

1. I have a pet bird and a pet chameleon!
2. I love reading. I wish I spent more time reading but it's hard in my busy life!
3. I have a younger sister and a younger brother.
4. I enjoy traveling very much. I have been to England, France, Scotland, Italy, Greece, Spain, Cuba and different states in America.
5. I really like technology. I wish I was more of a tech whiz!
6. I really enjoy indoor rock climbing. I have been a few times this month and I think I have become obsessed!
7. I want to write children's books someday.
8. I have a bucket list. It currently has about 120 items on it. I have done over 50.
9. My biggest pet peeve is people without manners and politeness.
10. Because of my profession, I present myself as a bit of a girly girl. But anywhere outside of my profession, I'm nothing of the sort. I am crazy about video games, anime cartoons, and outdoor adventures.
11. I am currently enrolled in Masters of Education.

Liebster Award Questions:

1. What is your favourite book?

Favourite book? Oh man. This is hard for someone who loves reading. I would have to say my favourite books may be "The Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini as well as 'Salem Falls' and 'House Rules' both by Jodi Picoult. Visit my tab My Reads to find out more!

2. Tell us about your perfect day.
I have never actually thought about this before. My perfect day would consist of time spent with family and friends on a place that is extraordinary in the world (tropical island perhaps). I would enjoy listening to music, reading books, going on an adventure on my perfect day. 

3. If there were more hours in the day, how would you spend them?
I would definitely blog more, exercise a lot more, bake a lot more and perhaps write books! I would also play my cultural drums more often and do henna more often.

4. Have you bought anything recently on Ebay?
Nope. But I did buy something off Etsy. It's a really cool online shopping site where people sell things from their personal/private businesses. I bought a Dragon Ball Z (an anime tv show) bracelet.

5. What can't you live without?
Umm, I have no idea. I'm not crazy about materialistic things too much. I may say my car! I love my car hehehe.

6. Who can't you live without?
Definitely my family. 

7. What was your favourite childhood TV show?
Too many to count! I would say Pingu, Mr. Dress Up, Arthur, and the Magic School Bus!

8. Who do you call on a great day?
My family and my friends.

9. Who do you call on a bad day?
My best friend.

10. What is something that doesn't matter much to you now, but meant a great deal in the past?
Hmm, this is something I haven't thought about before either. I have no idea!

11. What is one thing you do today that you still want to be doing in 30 years?
Reading! And spending time with family!

Questions for Future Award Winners!

1. What is your biggest pet peeve?
2. What is your favourite song?
3. What is the most beautiful memory you have?
4. Any favourite movies?
5. If you could recommend a book, what would it be?
6. If you could have the choice of living anywhere, where would it be?
7. If you could create the "perfect world", what are three things you would have?
8. What is your zodiac sign?
9. What or who was your motivation to start your blog?
10. Who is your hero?
11. If you were related to anyone famous, who would you like to be related to?

Here are other bloggers that I am giving the Liebster Award to. CONGRATULATIONS on your AMAZING blogs!

A Special Kind of Class
PreK+K Sharing
An Educator's Life
Kinder Books With Everything
Diane's Musings
Let's Teach Something
Little Tiger Growing Up
Teachers Ink Reflections
Corkboard Connections
Cool Cat Teacher
Katie's Nesting Spot

Bulletin Board - Soaring Into Kindergarten

Oh my goodness, how time flies! I am already into the third week of school and have not gotten a chance to post anything because of how tired I already am. Here is a small post about my bulletin board that I made in my first week of school. Enjoy!

Here is what I did:

• Took wrapping paper. One full roll was perfect for the size of my board

Source: http://www.sophiesfavors.com/themes_tiffanyblue_aquabluegiftwrap_sub.jpg

• Put borders around it

Source: http://images.shopletcdn.com/productimages/300x300/EJ034256.JPG

• Cut out letters for the title (I didn't laminate mine; you can always do that for yours if you want to use them again)

Source: http://melissa.depperfamily.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/P1030670.jpg

• Take construction paper and cut it out as kites. Drew the lines of the kites. 
• Wrote the names of the students
• Added a few stickers (4-5)
• Took birthday tissue paper string to make the ends of the kite. And you are done!