Tried It Tuesday {Organizing Nooks}

Life has just been crazy busy (I know you can relate!). I hope I will soon be able to manage more than one post a week. Last weekend I was at a karate tournament all weekend and was so wiped out by Sunday night. I really enjoy it though and that's what counts!
It's Time for Tried It Tuesday! 

What have you tried at school or home?
If you've never linked up with Tried It Tuesday, just link up any idea school or home related and what worked or didn't work. Simple! 

My Tried It:

Organizing Nooks 

 Last year my system for organizing my book nooks was too much work on my part. I kept track of who had each nook each week and changed out my board. 

Last year:

This year, I decided to try a much simpler system and it is working beautifully so far!

I have four book nooks (blue butterfly chair, purple fuzzy floor pillow, and two blue husbands. Here are a couple pictures from my classroom last year (I forgot to take a picture yesterday).

I teach three blocks of math this year and instead of using the book nooks for reading, we now use this area for our math meeting everyday and students can sit here during math workshop rotations.

I use the same numbers for all three classes and just mark an A, B, or C on their book bins for math depending on what block they are in.
Here is a picture of my math bins for all three classes.

On Monday of each week, I draw four numbers and those students get to choose a nook to use for the week. There is a student in each class with that number, so the same numbers apply for all three classes. If there isn't a student with that number, then that class just has three students with nooks for the week. This week there is no #18 in block 2 since there are only 17 students in that section. I write the numbers on the board on Monday so everyone can see what numbers I drew in block one.

 I made these dual colored sticks three years ago and use them all the time. There are only two sticks left with the green side up. That means only two students have not had a nook yet this year and their sticks will be drawn next week. Then, all the sticks will go back to the green end.

How do I keep track of which nooks students have chosen? The blue chair is the most popular and it wouldn't be fair for students to get that nook two times in a row. I'm not keeping track this year! I have students record the date and nook or choice on the back inside cover of their math journals. When their name is drawn next time, they will have to choose a different nook until they have used all four! I am really loving this different system. Less busy work for me. :)

An InLinkz Link-up

Tried It Tuesday {Book Nook Rotations}

Wahoo!!!  Any NFL fans out there?  One of the many reasons I love the fall is because I love Sunday football.  I am still basking in the glory of a Bills win.  Usually the last minute wins are NOT in our favor, but this one was!  With about 6 seconds left in the game, the Bills beat the Panthers by one point with the winning field goal.  This always makes Mondays so much better.  You should have seen all the Bills gear people were sporting Monday at my school!  Anyway, since most of you aren't Bills fans (you would have to be crazy like me!), it is now Tuesday and I am anxious to see what you have tried recently! 

My Tried It:

Book Nook Rotations
All summer, I struggled with how I was going to organize my book nook rotations.  With great posts like this one by Ideas by Jivey, I was inspired to try something a little more organized than my system last year.  My "system" last year was to draw my handy dandy popsicle stick numbers each time we used the book nooks. Then, I would stick them back in the container upside down (pink end up) so they wouldn't be called on again until everyone had a turn.

This worked okay but I would often forget to draw sticks because I was so focused on moving to our rotations.  Then, the students would remind me, "Who is using the pillows?"  It was a pain sometimes.  

I also purchased two more SUPER SPECIAL book nooks this summer.  One is a pretty fluffy purple floor pillow and the other is a memory foam butterfly chair.  You can see those in the picture below.  I also have a light blue husband pillow ($1 at an estate sale and going strong on its third year) and there is another husband pillow ($15 at Walmart and has a hole in it after one year) under the window.

I decided I didn't want to rotate the book nooks everyday since with just these four most popular book nooks and my three sections of ELA, that would be 12 changes from three different classes each day!  I finally decided to rotate the book nooks every week and set up this board next to the classroom jobs.  

FYI:  For classroom jobs, I have a homeroom line leader, homeroom board boss [not assigned yet, still modeling], homeroom pencil police [not assigned yet], and a classroom librarian for each ELA block.  Read more about my library checkout system here.

My student numbers do not match up for each ELA block because of missing students or add ons.  Next, I decided to print a class list for each block and make a small highlighter mark (color coded for each book nook) on the name as they have had a week's turn at the book nook.  For example, the purple pillow is highlighted in pink.  You can see portions of the names here and the first four students who have the book nooks.  I found this magnetic holder for the name tags at Dollar General last year.

This system is working so far and I am just proud of myself for coming up with a system that I think will be manageable for all three groups.  Also, since students will have their book nook for a whole week, this should also eliminate most last minute changes due to changes in schedules such as assemblies or student absences (only extended absences would be considered for changing the book nooks since certain students seem to miss a day of school often!).  I hope my "tried it" helps someone that may be struggling with book nook organization for multiple classes!

Before you go, I hope you will stop by and enter Gary's giveaway at Scrappy Guy Designs!  He reached 100 followers in such a short time and is offering some amazing prizes!

I am also linking up my post from when I hit 100 Followers with his linky party.  It wasn't that long ago, but at the same time, it feels like ages ago!  I have learned so much in such a short amount of time. Thank you!!