Teacher Tool Must Haves

Now I KNOW I'm crazy!  It's 9:00 on the night before the first day of school and I've decided to go ahead and link up with my friend, #TeacherMom, for her linky....it's every Monday during the month of August and I was going to just skip out on this one, but...well...I caved.

Here are my must have teacher tools for a "successful school" year....

Teacher Tool #1: A Schedule

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a schedule and routine driven person.  I'm lost without a plan, people.  Seriously.  It's like angelic choruses go off when I finally get my schedule posted in my room! AHHHHHHH! {sung at the very top of my lungs :)}  You can grab my schedule cards here...and now they are updated with an adorable new look!
The colorful I can objective cards can be found here.  They are included in my Common Core Units if you already have those or you can get them all separately.

Teacher Tool #2: Whole Brain Teaching
I just love love love the whole brain teaching philosophy.  This is one of my favorites {above}.  Whole class rewards through smilies and frownies.  What I love is the echo they give back because it just gets their attention so quickly.  And it makes a negative seem a little more tolerable when we all get to act out our "oh no" sad faces and voices!  You can grab all of my whole brain classroom management "stuff" here.

Teacher Tool #3: Silhouette 
Ya'll!!! My mother-in-law has one of those Silhouette machine thingies and they are pretty awesome! They can cut out just about anything.  And, honestly, I didn't really care too much about it until I started setting up my room.  Finding die cuts that are in western theme can be difficult.  I have never been able to find horse shoe die cuts that are the right size...or sheriff badges.  So this machine made this a ton easier!

My sweet mother-in-law cut out these horse shoes to decorate my hallway.

I love how they turned out!  She cut them on self-adhesive vinyl so they stick perfectly!

I forgot to get a closeup of these, but she also made boots and hats out of vinyl too!  Love the flexibility with this machine and so thankful for a mother-in-law willing to help! :)

Teacher Tool #4: Chalk Markers
I'm really not sure how I survived without chalk pens.  They are just the greatest.  I love that I can write on pretty much anything with them too....like labels, plant pots {a Fruit of the Spirit is on the front and back of each pot}....

And decorative chalkboards!  I had so much fun doodling one of my favorite Bible verses on this one for above my desk!
 which leads into my final Teacher Tool....

Teacher Tool #5: A positive attitude!
It's going to be a *great* year for me because I've decided it's going to be a great year.  And I'm choosing each day to see the good and admirable things in my students, my teaching and the people around me.

Check out more pics from my classroom on my Classroom Tour 2015 Blog!

And link up with your teacher tools for Back To School!

7 comments

  1. OMG. I am so glad you linked up. I didn't realize how much we have in common! I CANNOT EVEN TELL YOU HOW EERIE THIS IS. I totally could have written this blog post!! I love love love your schedule; especially that you have your common core standards right there with it. What a great extra piece to add a bit of structure to your day! I LIVE & DIE by my plans. I cannot cannot manage without one. I tease that I'm autistic in that way (in a non-offensive manner?).. BUT DON'T MESS WITH MY ROUTINE.
    Also. i just got a silhouette for my 30th birthday!!! I've been DYING for one. I feel like such a grandma asking for thing like that for my birthday but WHATEVER MAN. They're AWESOME.
    AND! I'm chalk pen obsessed!! Did you see my post from Charlie's Shower?! Chalk pen galore!! :)
    Anyway, great post! Have a fabulous first day back to school!!!!

    Denise Hill, #TeacherMom

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    1. Okay, I seriously thought I replied to you, ummmmm, 5 days ago! That's hilarious! I love finding fellow routine followers. I might go in full on panic mode when it's changed. And don't you dare try to surprise me or be spontaneous...unless you want to see a freak out! :) Glad we've connected!

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  2. Um. In my superlong reply about how much we are alike, I forgot to mention that I wrote my Thesis on Brain Based Learning. ;) LOVE!

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  3. I love that you put the "I can..." cards next to your schedule cards. (I love simplicity, so don't feel stressed to update them any time soon!) Do you put them up at the beginning of the day or at the beginning of that part of the day?

    I LOVE that Philippians verse too. Definitely one of my favorites that I think about a lot.

    Thanks for sharing!
    Sarah from Mrs. Jones Teaches :)

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    1. Yes, I love the simplicity of them too! Just need to make more labels and work on a product cover to make it a little prettier! I put them up for the week...and some stay longer depending on what we are working on.

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  4. I really enjoyed your classroom tour. I especially liked how your CCSS were displayed next to your schedule. I hope you had a great first day back at school.

    -Angela
    Sugar Cube Learning

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  5. Love your Western theme -- the bandanas on the wall are great and the horseshoes around your board are, too. Teacher Tool #5 is terrific and so true--a positive attitude makes all the difference!

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