On buying something I didn't need

I have a problem. I really do. I can't seem to resist anything purple and owl-patterned. Combine the two and there's no escaping! 

Over the Easter holidays, I was back in Ireland, trawling through Penney's (that's Primark for my non-Irish readers), ready to fill the rest of my suitcase to the 15kg weight limit. I stumbled upon this lovely purple, owl-patterned coffee flask. It was only €3 - a steal! Just look how cute it is!

That all seems pretty normal, doesn't it? The problem is that I don't drink coffee... or tea... and there's no way I'd bring hot chocolate anywhere in the flask. So that renders it pretty much pointless for me. I put it up on top of my microwave so I could admire it in the kitchen. Again, still pointless! Then I had an idea... Why don't I turn it into a pen holder?

Ah I see, the pens are lost in there. It wouldn't be easy to get them out.

Then I thought for a minute, bounded over to the recycle bin and returned with a scrunched up ball of paper.

Bam! Problem solved! Now my pens are easily grab-able!

After having written this post, I'm not sure how much more enriched your life will be by my earth-shattering revelation. By all means, if any of you do pop down to Penney's (or Primark) and make a pen holder out of a coffee cup for your home or classroom, be sure to comment with a picture!

Classroom reveal: Owl-themed PYP classroom

Hello there, followers! It's that time of the year again - classroom reveal time! I still have a few bits and bobs to do but this is the classroom as it looked today after day 1 with the children!

This is my teacher desk area. I've gone to town on the paper flowers on my own bulletin board. I love my little stationary house from Tiger and my set of drawers to help me organise resources for the coming week.

 Here is my classroom management behaviour clip chart. I got this one from Under The Alphabet Tree and added my own "Are we being principled?" sign.

 Here's the central focus board for my first unit of inquiry. I've displayed the transdisciplinary theme as the centre of the paper flower and will change this according to each unit. Don't you just love the watermelon bunting from Tiger?

Here is one side of work wall (high frequency words). I've kept a section separate for vocabulary specific to the unit of inquiry.

These photos show both sides of my reading/reflection corner. I have yet to add some cushions (and I definitely need to have a word with my children about how to put books back carefully!). The R-E-A-D owls are from Kathleen Amari-Crookston. I made the paper lantern owl display that reads "We love books."

The reflection corner consists of 6 different reflection sheets. You can read more about the exact contents and purchase them (individually or as a pack) in my TPT store.

Here are my Learner Profile and Attitudes reflection sheets. The children will use one of these each week to set a goal. They will then reflect on how well they have achieved that goal using the same sheet.

These reflection sheets will then be stored in this stripy box in A5 folders. Tomorrow, the children will design their own cover sheet for this folder.

As you can see, there are also some Learner Profile and PYP attitudes certificates. These are available for the children to take, fill in and present. to a student who demonstrated one of these attributes/attitudes. I will then hang them up on the classroom

Here is my editing board. The giant pencil is from The Teacher Wife and the "capital letters detective" display is by me (and available in my TPT store!).

If you have read my blog over the summer, you may have seen the post in which I created these owls. Now you can see what they were used for. Each owl's tummy has a picture and a description of each of our essential agreements.

As for the board below, you'll just have to wait a little longer to see what I'm doing with that one. I spent a lot of time preparing some parts for it which the children need to finish in the coming weeks. All will be revealed in due time!

Here is the calendar/birthday area. The adorable owl-themed classroom birthdays display is from Halle Hird, the owl-themed calendar set is from from Apple Girl Amber and the header was from Sparklebox. All other elements were made by me. 

And finally, some more IB PYP displays. The first one is my cupboard, backed with blue paper. The wonder wall is for children to post their questions about the unit. I added a "We are inquirers" sign with cute detective clip art from My Cute Graphics. On the other door, I've displayed the transdisciplinary skills. These are also available in my TPT store.

The other display is on my door. I bought the owls swinging from the tree wall sticker on eBay, added this action cycle freebie and created my own purple lettering. My plan is that the children will take photographs of themselves representing the attributes of the Learner Profile and I will add each of these on clouds above the tree.

 I hope you've enjoyed this little tour. If so, please leave a comment. It'd make my day! ;)

Owl-themed classroom display kit

Good morning all!

For those who have been following my blog, you'll know that I'm planning an owl-themed classroom. I put a lot of time into making resources for this. I've decided to sell a pack of my owl-themed display materials on Teachers Pay Teachers. It costs just $6 (which is in or around €4.40 for my Irish and other European followers).

The kit contains:

• Page 3: "Welcome to our nest!" sign
• 4-10: Class calendar - days and numbers 1-31 plus editable squares
• 11-12: Days of the week
• 13-15: "Yesterday was," "Today is" and "Tomorrow will be" signs
• 16-19: Months of the year
• 20-26: Word wall headers ("Word Wall" and each letter "Aa" "Bb")
• 27-33: Welcome banner (pennant-style)
• 34-37: Classroom management clip-chart
• 38-43: Table numbers (1-6)
• 44-50: How we go home (Header, After-school club, Day care, Walking, Bus, Bicycle, Car)
• 51-53: Blank EDITABLE labels (lined, not lined and circular)

If you feel that's a bit pricey, why not think about buying my owl-themed behaviour management clip chart for $2 (about €1.50)? This is included in the decor kit so don't buy the two together! It's set on a colourful polkadot background and is embellished with bows and owls - very cute!

Clip charts are a great classroom management tool. Write the children's names on clothes pegs. Every child starts the day on the green section. Then, according to the choices they make and how they behave, the peg is moved up or down.

For any Irish teachers reading this, there's also a leagan Gaeilge (Irish version) of the clip chart. This costs the same amount (about €1.50). I don't know about you but I've definitely spent more on a pack of stickers!

Please check out my Teachers Pay Teachers store for more resources - including some free ones in English and in Irish! There are lots of other versions of clip charts there too!

Owl About Me freebie from Classroom Freebies

I stumbled across this "Owl About Me" freebie from Diane at Classroom Freebies. It's a very cute owl template. It has 8 boxes in which the children write information about themselves. The key for these is on a coloured owl which can be placed in the middle of the display. This would be a lovely activity for the first week back at school, particularly if your classroom is owl-themed.

Hop on over to the original blog post to download this for free.

The owl-themed crafting continues - paper lantern owl display

As you've probably noticed from my previous post, I've gone a little owl-mad this summer. Taking inspiration from Pinterest, I decided to make a 3-D sign for my reading corner. 

Quite often, when I make something crafty, it doesn't turn out exactly how I planned it. This was one of those occasions. The phrase "Pinterest fail" (if you haven't already Googled that term, you're in for a treat!) kept springing to mind. 

Originally I had planned to use 4 owls - 2 multicoloured and 2 blue, reading "We love to read!" - but one just wouldn't work. It ripped, it fell out of shape and ended up being a horrible patchwork thing full of staples, glue and tape. Eventually, I threw it in the bin - a much better place for it! Now, my 3-piece owl display reads "We love books." 

Please ignore the drippy glue. It will dry in clear!

I've learned from my mistakes and offer these tips for future paper-lantern-crafters!

• Make sure the lantern is made from strong paper that won't rip if pulled firmly.

• Get the type of lanterns that have a plastic or metal piece running from top to bottom to hold its shape; otherwise you'll end up with a saggy, rugby-ball shape after some time!

• If it's really not working, bin it and start again!
  

Summer crafting, owl-themed!

I must confess. I have been making things for my classroom already. I saw some cute mixed pattern owls on Pinterest about two years ago and had forgotten about them. I was reminded again when I found this patterned paper in Tiger a few months back. I bought it on impulse and put it in my wardrobe for a summer project. 

Being in Ireland with most people my age long-gone from the town, what better way to pass some time than making some owls?


Here's what I did:

I've been making and downloading lots of owl-themed things for my classroom. I thought it'd be better to cut out  lots of display materials when I'm watching TV or sitting in the sunshine rather than when I'm focused on planning at the start of the school year. Watch this space for more owl-themed resources!