Napkin Books & Organization!

Have you ever had a BBQ or party and bought those pretty napkins to match the theme/decor? And then at the end of the day as you're cleaning up you have a random handful of napkins left over and you think "Do I just toss these or what?". On the one hand you don't want to be wasteful, and on the other hand you don't really know what to do with them other than use them up which is at least better than throwing them out, but seems a waste of their pretty factor.

Enter the napkin book! Cut a few sheets of paper slightly smaller than the napkins, slap it all together like a paper sandwich with the napkins as the buns and staple on one side! Voila! A napkin book that is sure to enthrall your little writers! These little dealies are tons of fun to write in, plus they help your little ones brainstorm! After all, the inside has to match the cover right? So whatever's on the napkin will inspire the writing! Here's one made from leftover 4th of July napkins:

If you pop a few different types of napkin books into your writing center you'll be pleasantly surprised by the impact on your students' writing motivation!

Update on Organization Day 6 zillion (or so it seems!).

~~Squirrel~~

One of my little men this year was a super smartie and his Daddy taught him about infinity (yeah, I know, how I got from zillion to infinity is beyond me too!). This little guy promptly turned around and taught the rest of the class about this sideways 8 number! Thereafter whenever we were doing more than/less than I would have to specifically include directions not to use the numbers zero or infinity. Otherwise I'd get a bunch of problems that looked like 0 < 25 > infinity or 0 < 47 < infinity etc. It's the super smart ones you have to look out for!

Onto Organization. Ugh! I am consoling myself with the thought that my plan for the summer only includes organizing until the 14th, so I only have to survive the next 4 days and then I'm done, whether or not I'm actually done lol! I think I have spent more time strolling down memory lane than actually organizing this weekend.

You see I keep finding writing samples, cards from students and photos of center time! Some of these little wonders are still at my school and I get to smile thinking about seeing them in August. Others have moved on and I spend a minute wondering how they are and remembering their special characteristics. I absolutely love my center time pictures because you can see the joy in each student, the intensity as they pile blocks or "play" in our housekeeping center.

I found a picture of 4 of my girls from 2 years ago. One of them loved Skippyjon Jones. Obsessed over him actually - had all the books and could quote parts of them. Now, she was a bit of a prickly pear, didn't get along well with her peers simply because she was on such a different level. On the day of the picture however, she had communicated her excitement about Skippyjon Jones to the other girls and orchestrated an ear-making station. She finagled paper and yarn from me and carefully engineered paper ears that I then hole punched so she could thread them on the yarn. It took several tries to get the ears exactly right, but when she finally had her prototype finished she carefully taught the other girls how to make the ears and assisted them in tying the ears carefully around their foreheads. My picture shows the 4 of them with their ears on, laughing uproariously and mugging for the camera. It was an amazing moment for that girl and for me as a teacher.

So, you see, I haven't gotten much accomplished in the way of organizing, but I do have a renewed excitement for going back to class. I think I am going to have that picture enlarged and framed tomorrow, to remind me that those every day moments are little miracles and that is why I continue to teach!

As for my mini mountain of  boxes, I have whittled it down so now I have all of the boxes from the cubby space up in my computer room. So far there are three that I haven't opened yet. I have emptied 7 crates! My theme containers are filling up and I keep exclaiming over various treasures that I find as I unpack!

 After yesterday's organizational tornado in which I emptied almost everything onto the floor, I did have to tidy up before I could continue today. My husband was saying something about needing a clear path to the door in case of fire or something so I grudgingly cleared the floor. In one corner of my computer room I have the three boxes that need to be unpacked. In the other corner rests a conglomeration of 1/2 filled containers of miscellaneous stuff. I have a lot of flotsam and jetsam that needs a home that doesn't exist yet! I'm hoping that by unpacking these three last boxes I will be able to come up with a plan for all the little things that don't really fit any where. Maybe I'll just wind up with a container labeled "Neat stuff that doesn't fit with any theme but that you absolutely can't live without". I wonder what graphic would fit with that?