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Monday, July 22, 2013

Monday Made It (Beginning of Classroom Library Makeover!)

I was pretty productive this week, knocking items off my to-do list at home and school!  
My home to-do list items that I accomplished were organizing areas in my home that have needed it for a long time, so I didn't really "make" anything.  
But I have some projects that I have been working on for school!  
I am excited to share them with you for 4th Grade Frolics Monday Made It.  
I just love Mondays over the summer and Tara's linky!  Everyone is so creative and inspiring!
I have desperately been needing a way to keep track of the blogging world to-do list.  
I can't seem to keep straight all the linky parties, the giveaways I donate to, and posting links on Pinterest, Facebook, and so on.  
When I saw this product, I knew I could use it!
Okay, so I didn't make it...but I printed it and stuck it in this handy binder.  
I'd have to say that I "made" a way to organize my blogging! :)  

Here is a page to keep track of giveaways.  There is a new page for each month of the calendar.
Here is a page to keep track of linky parties for the month.
Here is the first calendar page for each month.  The little squares on each date are to check if the post is scheduled and for status updates for Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
I found these two bookcases this summer at two different garage sales!  They are both very sturdy and have real wood.  I bought a cheap bookcase at a department store last summer for $15.  Well, a student sat on the top of it and it broke.  Good bookcases are SO expensive and I was on the lookout for some good garage sale finds that I could spruce up.
This one was $7:

This one was $10.  A father made it from his daughter's old bedroom furniture set!

I already have two other mismatched bookcases in my classroom, and knew that I wanted to paint all of them the same color.  I decided to go with black because I bought some bright book bins at the Dollar Tree and I knew they would look striking against the black! :)
First, I primed both bookcases.

 I love using these little 4" rollers for jobs like this.
Then, I painted them black.  They each took two coats of black.

 I had my 6 year old stand here so you could see how tall the bookcase is. :)
Don't they look better?  I think it looks much more upper elementary appropriate in black.
I can't wait to put my colorful bins on them but need to put a coat of polyurethane on the shelves.
I may even add some fun, bright scrapbook paper to these bookcases or the two I still need to paint in my classroom once I can get back in there.  
I found some bins at the Dollar Tree for $1 each and knew they would make great book bins!  
I have never had book bins in my library before and am so excited for the change.  
Since I am sticking with my owl theme for another year, I had my heart set on owl book bin labels.
I searched and searched but couldn't find what I really wanted that I could customize.
So, I made my own!!  You can find them here on TPT.
Here is a preview of what they will look like. 

 These are not laminated yet, but I wanted to see how they look on the bins.  
I plan on laminating the labels and applying them with double sided tape.
The owl graphics by Digital Potpourri are so bright and colorful.  
They are just what I was looking for!
I hope my students remember where to return the books that they borrow, but, in case they forget, each book will have a label to help ensure it goes back in the right place!  
(Help is the key word...hopefully, my classroom librarians will be right on top of keeping it organized!).  
Here are the labels I printed for Realistic Fiction so far.  I used Avery address labels 8160.
 
On a final note, yesterday we went blueberry picking.  
There was finally a break in the heat and it was cloudy.  Perfect day to pick some blueberries! 
We picked a combined 12.5 pounds. :)
One bucket is my 6 year old daughter's, one is my husband's, and the other is mine.   
Guess who picked the most? 
Yep, me!  Not gonna lie.  That was pretty satisfying.  
My husband and I compete over little things like that.  
Of course, to rub it in a little more, I pointed out that I also took time to take pictures while picking AND he dumped my three year old's bucket in with his (not that it was much...buy hey!). 
I told him he didn't have a prayer because I am so used to multitasking that I can just do my tasks "super fast"!  Haha!!  
I have yet to meet a man that can multitask like the women I know can. :)  Sorry guys!

Don't forget to go back often this week and check out all the Monday Made Its!!

17 comments:

  1. I love your new bookshelves! They look fantastic. My husband and I just picked up a new one at Target for my classroom. I'm excited to have another shelf in my room.

    Hunter's Tales from Teaching

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  2. Hi Holly~ I painted a book shelf black this weekend too, but I'm not very crafty so I'm saving it for next week's made it. :) LOL! I can post one "made it" a week or I will run out of things to post. ;)
    ~Brandee
    Creating Lifelong Learners
    Follow me on Bloglovin'

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  3. Great job! We have an old bookcase my husband picked up for some reason last year and we've never used it because it's an ugly color...now I'm thinking about painting it. I also have those broken 15 dollar bookcases! I need to begin organizing my classroom library again too. I am debating whether to label the front of the books. My kids can never seem to put them back in the correct places. But, I also don't want the labels stuck on there forever and not be able to get them off if I need to.

    Jessica
    Literacy Spark

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  4. I love the black on the bookcases, they will look great with the colorful book bins. Your labels are super cute! I tried making small labels with see through labels on the outside of my books before but I think they were not obvious enough and I need bigger labels to help my students remember where to return their book. Congrats on the blueberries. My husband and I are a little competitive too but you are right we have the multi-tasking edge :)

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  5. Your shelf looks great! I've got one that I'm thinking about paitning.

    Lauren
    The Sweetest Thing
    Follow me on Bloglovin'!

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  6. I love the bookshelves! You're total right - I like black for middle grades. I just painted all 3 of mine black last week! Your classroom library looks great. I cannot wait to see the final product! :)

    Catherine
    The Brown-Bag Teacher

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  7. Great find and nice job on the bookcases. I love the ABCD one and would love to find one like it for my classroom. They look great in black! Those blueberries look delish...:)

    Vicky
    Life On Willie Mae Lane

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  8. I love the black-it looks classy and will match everything! I had to make my self a binder too-I wish I would've known there was a product out there! haha How fun is blueberry picking??!! Congratulations for taking the win!
    Joanne
    Head Over Heels For Teaching

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  9. I have seen several ideas on Pinterest for keeping track of where books go. You can make clothespins for each student, or use paint sticks and put student names on them, so that when students take a book out, they leave their marker on that bin so they remember where to put it back! Example: http://pinterest.com/pin/141511613264382526/

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  10. Your library is coming together nicely! I've been wanting to paint some of my furniture for a while, but the task of getting it home to paint is too much right now. Maybe next year? I love those book bins. It's amazing what cute things you can find at Dollar Tree!

    Don't Let the Teacher Stay Up Late
    Follow me on Facebook!

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  11. I love the labels for your book bins. They are super cute!

    Your bookshelves turned out great!

    I need to check out that blogging calendar. As a new blogger, I'm sure it would be helpful.

    Mary

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  12. The bookshelf looks great and I think the library labels are awesome! Thanks for sharing!
    Teaching 3rd with Mr G

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  13. I love the black bookshelves with the bright book bins! I can't wait to get into my new classroom to see what I am working with. I hope there will be a space for a great classroom library.
    The Traveling Teacher

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  14. Your bookshelves look great! Hailey from Autism Tank

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  15. I got the exact same tubs and I'm working on updating my labels as well!!! Great minds! Now let's hope I get them done in time, lol. The bookcases look great too!

    Sabra
    Teaching with a Touch of Twang

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  16. I have that SAME ABCD shelf that you have and also painted it black several years ago. I also have that blogging calendar on my wish list. I saw it this week! Great Monday Made It!
    Alison
    Rockin' and Lovin' Learnin'

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  17. I love your book bins! I can only imagine how fun it is to stay at your classroom. Hehe! Organizing is a tiring job, but with these colorful labels and book bins, your students can be motivated to arrange their books and paper works too. I hope they’re taking good care of these book bins. Thanks for the share! :)

    Ruby Badcoe

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