Let's Get Acquainted with Tried It Tuesday

It's time for Tried it Tuesday, which is brand new to me!

So, this Tuesday, I'm tyring two things:
1. Tried it Tuesday (ha!) and
2. Really, I tried to add tabs across the top of my blog.  I am forever trying to improve it, and although one of the tabs is "Techie Tips", I have tried and tried to get my tech post to only show up on that tab, but can't do it for the life of me!  I have searched all over google, bing, and yahoo for how to make a post "stick" to the right page, but all I can find is about making "static" pages, which is not what I'm after.  This Tuesday's tried and failed...anybody know how to fix that???

I have had so much fun with  Latoya's Flying Into First linkies, and I do spend much more than half my time in my classroom, so I definitely have some favorite spots to share with you:

1.  This is my little corner of the room, but, as you can probably see, it's where I do all my small group teaching.  I gave up my traditional desk, for a writing station, but still use the drawers for storing  not-too-often-used items.  This area, though, is my favorite, and houses most of my leveled reading materials, learning games, and my binders,etc.  It's cutesied up with the junk-hiding fabric hot-glued to the table, and has pretty organizers in and on the bookshelves.

2.  My Reading Station is great!  When it actually looks like this, I know no one's been reading, but, the kids love the chairs, and the colored book bins separate my leveled "free reading" and baggy book books.  Each bin has a laminated label, on which I can write kids' names, and change them whenever I need to.

 3.  These are the math station and writing station.  I think math is probably the kids' favorite, because it's where all the hand-on manipulative materials and math games are, and gives them room to play with a partner.  I also have a few math reminders glued to the walls back there, to help them with strategizing and post station instructions and choices on the bulletin board.  I like the writing, because there are exemplary texts there, and some reminders for how to write, what to write about, how to revise and edit, and some literary craft reminders.

 The "bucket" stools get moved all around all the time, and are made from used and empty wax buckets (like paint buckets, but free from having the school floors waxed).  I spray painted them with that Krylon plastic paint, upholstered the seats with foam and fabric, and then finished them off with coordinating ribbon.


Happy Wednesday!