Summer School & Friday Letters

I’ve been doing some major slacking lately… I’m supposed to be preparing for the summer school class I’m teaching in July, and I haven’t done anything since school got out 3 weeks ago. I’ve been thinking, "It’s only June! I’ve got plenty of time!" But now that it's June 29th, I'm starting to feel the pressure to get things done. The class doesn't start until the 23rd, so I'll still have about 20 days (from when I get back from this weekend's mini-vacay) before I start "moving in" to the classroom I'll be teaching in. 

The program only lasts a month {mornings only, Mon-Thurs… yay!} so there won’t be a ton of decorating to do. I can’t not do anything though… I’m thinking I’ll at least throw a few posters up on the walls, hang up my “Meet Mrs. K” poster, and decorate with some math & behavior anchor charts. I’m not really sure what else to do after that. Of course, Pinterest has given me a ton of ideas, but being the not-so-crafty girl that I am, I don’t have many art or craft supplies to start with and the hubby has banned me from spending money on “things for my future classroom” until I actually have a full-time teaching job… haha. {Too bad I came home at the end of the year with 2 more boxes of school supplies than I took to school in September! Oops… ;) One of the teachers from our school gave away almost her whole classroom because she was retiring, and I pretty much scored the jackpot…}

And so, does anyone have any suggestions for some quick & easy classroom décor ideas that won’t cost a ton of money?

I’m very excited to have my own little class. I'm teaching a math class of at least 13 3rd & 4th graders. Many of them are students I worked with this past school year, so that'll be nice. We're adopting a math workshop/ work stations model, and read Debbie Diller's Math Work Stations book to prepare.   

The students aren’t too familiar with math work stations, and neither am I, so it will definitely be a learning experience… haha! I’m praying that I don’t have too many pulling-my-hair-out moments… :)  Anyway, the book is pretty good and I recommend it to any elementary teacher. Lots of good ideas.

And with that, I move on to Friday Letters with Ashley for Friday's letters! I enjoyed this last time, so I’ll be doing it again. And probably again and again... :)

Dear Husband… I love you. You’re such a wonderful guy. Thanks for putting up with me and loving me even when I’m obnoxious… :)

Dear Every school district I’ve applied to thus far… Pick me! Pick me! Pleeeeeaaase PICK ME!

Dear Online Applications… you suck. How am I supposed to stand out when I’m just one name out of hundreds and thousands?

Dear Coffee… Oh, how I’ve missed you!! I sort of “gave you up” and drank tea for almost two weeks. I failed that challenge today… and it felt so good! I’ve decided that I’m allowed to drink as much tea as I want, but only 1 cup of coffee instead of several, because I suck at self-discipline.

Dear Favorite Starbucks Mug… I need to thank you for being a super oversized mug so my 1 cup of coffee can really be like 2 or 3… :)