Honeymoon + Hallway Cleaning = Lucky Coincidence

I've spent the last two weeks in and out of my new classroom as much as possible, but with a not-yet-potty-trained puppy and being a bridesmaid in my best friend & cousin's wedding, it really has been more out than in!  Luckily, the week the custodians in my school are cleaning and waxing the hallways (which means no one allowed in the building for a whole week!) is the same week I will be on my honeymoon in ARUBA!!!  That really just worked out perfectly b/c if I had to miss 2 separate weeks for honeymoon and hallway cleaning my new first graders may have been coming into a not so pretty classroom for Open House on September 1st.  I am feeling lucky!!  Hopefully I can pass that luck onto my husband while he's at the casino at our resort! :)

I do have pics of what has been done so far in my room and I finally have the pic of my goodies that I bought a couple weeks ago.



Bottom of closet BEFORE...old posters
 and such.



Top of closet BEFORE...old, odl, old reading series books, workbooks, etc.  





I actually found the phonics workbook my school used when I was in 1st grade!  Yes, I  work at the school I went to for K-12! 



Closet AFTER....yay! My supplies.....all organized!




Here are my goodies from JoAnn's, Target, and Borders.



After the big, broken shelves were taken out by my awesome custodian, there was a very scary mess underneath.  He swept, scraped, and scrubbed the years of grossies left behind then waxed my classroom floor.  The bulletin boards that were hidden behind will be used for my Bucket Fillers display, center chart for Math Trays & Reader's Workshop spots, and I haven't decided on what will go on the third board.



I bought these three fabrics and decorated the boards with them.  I love how it turned out!  I will post pics of how it looks when it is all put together.

Honeymoon starts tomorrow! Everything is packed and ready to go....now just watching a movie and hopefully getting some sleep tonight but sooooo excited!

Is it terrible to bring a notebook to jot down school ideas that pop into my head while relaxing on the beach?  Nah...I knew you'd understand! :)

<3- Mrs. Bushey











Wait...what was I doing again?

Setting up my classroom is one of my favorite parts of the school year....but I can sometimes feel like a bouncy ball in there.  I start sorting a tub of teacher resource books and end up wiping out the cupboard underneath the sink!?!?  Somehow one thing always leads to another then another until there are half completed jobs still to do the next day.  Oh well...even though my room still looks scary to the custodians who frequently pass by and just shake there heads at my piles, it really has gotten better....I promise!  So here are a few more pics of what I've been up to in Room 10....my new classroom!

This sideways bookshelf (woops!) is now filled with my own reading and math supplies and looks a whole lot neater!

I had some little helpers (another first grade teacher's daughters) help with clearing these shelves.  All of these books were left in my classroom by former first grade teachers!  I love books...but holy cow this is a lot of sorting to do.  These books are now all covering my carpet and the shelves are filled with games/toys for indoor recess and free times.

Tomorrow I need to tackle this cabinet full of posters.  Another gift left by former teachers of Room 10.

When I got home (after I stalked my many fav blogs) I drew up a plan for how I will arrange my classroom this year.  I probably won't be able to to move things around until the end of the week when things are sorted a little more....but hopefully it works out as planned!  I just can stand to have my room the same way two years in a row!

Alright....puppy was chewing on the chair in our living room and is now chewing on me!  Time to tire him out and get some rest so more miracles can occur in Room 10 tomorrow! :)

<3 - Mrs. Bushey

Whistle While You Work! Day 1 in Room 10

Okey Dokey!  So I got into my new classroom on Monday morning and, luckily, the custodial staff had moved as much as they could into the room....BUT.....my new room is pretty full of ooooold first grade materials that were left for me to sort through.  I knew this ahead of time so this is why I'm getting a head start on my room set up this year...a whole month ahead!  Blog stalking has made me excited to get in there though so its all good!

So this is what I walked into:

I organized all the paper that was left in the room.  Here's a before and after.  Now I just need to put it back on the shelf.

These shelfs were full of supplies.  I went through it all and now they will be taken down so that I can use the bulletin boards behind them.  Can't wait!

And here is all of the supplies that I will not need.  I've already had a team member stop by and grab some goodies for herself. :)

So because I was so overwhelmed....then overworked on my first day of setup, I forgot to take pics of the supplies I bought the other day.  Day 2...promise!  I'm babysitting for a friend the next couple days so I have a break from the classroom!  Stay tuned for Day 2...

<3 - Mrs. Bushey

Back to School Shopping....great finds today!

While shopping today in the Clifton Park, NY area, I picked up a ton of great classroom goodies!  I will only be able to give a list of items and the stores I bought them at today...no pics (camera cord is at school plugged into classroom computer...pretty sure it's been there all summer!  Woops!)  Big plans to start cleaning out old supplies from my new (to me) classroom tomorrow.  So I will hopefully grab that cord and post some pics tomorrow before my PTA meeting. I know...PTA meeting already?  I can hear the summer clock ticking away! ANYWAYS...back to the back to school shopping :)

First of all.....JOANN'S was having a 50% off sale on children's decor items and school supplies.  So fashionably fab for the classroom!  I got the following: canvas storage box w/ chalkboard space to label....so cute!, 2 small plastic bins, 2 adorable composition notebooks that I'm planning on using for team meetings and possibly student observations throughout the school year, glitter alphabet stickers, warm fuzzies (great behavior management/character ed. idea from Mrs. Dillard), and fabric, of course!  The bummer part was that I didn't have my school ID on me to sign up for the teacher discount card....I would have received 15% off my entire purchase!!!  Oh well....definitely next time!

Then...BORDER'S going out of business sale.  Bought some Dr. Seuss books, Little Miss Chatterbox by Roger Hargreaves (I plan on using this to discuss chatting during listening times), and a giant floor puzzle of North American animals.  All items were 20% off and one of the Dr. Seuss books was 40% off b/c it was a Christmas book!  They even had a sign in the store that said, "Don't keep our sale a secret, spread the word!"  I immediately thought of my blog....wow I'm like a true blogger now!

And finally...TARGET dollar spot had perfect mini buckets for Bucket Fillers!!!  They were $1 each and fun colors!  I also grabbed some bookmark and sticker incentives, a plastic tray for paper organization, and sparkly warm fuzzies (see link above)!  Yay!  For all you Dr. Seuss fans, there seemed to be a Dr. Seuss theme happening at the Clifton Park Target dollar spot.

Pics coming tomorrow!  Day one of classroom declutter begins tomorrow morning!  Unfortunately, I need to clean out old first grade materials from my new classroom before I even begin to think about setting up my own supplies.  Thank goodness I enjoy organizing......or oh boy!  I'm inspired to take pics of my classroom progress as I go thanks to bloggers like Ms. Leslie Ann from Life in First Grade. 

That's it for now!
<3 - Mrs. Bushey

P.S.  I just previewed my post and this will really be so much prettier when I add some pics to my posts!  I'm sensing a pic theme in this post....really gotta get that camera cord!

Mrs. Bushey's Very First Blog!

After searching for pictures of first grade classrooms, I came across Mrs. Dillard's Blog: Oh the Places We'll Go.  I was blown away by how much first grade info I could gain thru one quick glance!  I felt like I had spent the day observing in Mrs. Dillard's classroom (I wish!) :)  This led me to other blogs just as incredible as hers and I WAS HOOKED!  Only a week later....here I am...writing my very first blog post!  So exciting!

I have named this blog Apple Pie Spice because the wonderful ideas shared between educators are the "spice" that creates a great educational system.  Let's face it....the apples and crust just wouldn't be the same without all that yummy sugar and spice!  Okay...gotta stop talking about apple pie when there is none to be eaten in my house right now!  It's leading to a major craving!

My purpose for this blog is to, hopefully, spread some creative ideas while I stalk the blogs of others and gain some new ideas for myself.  I truly believe that by sharing with fellow teachers I will be inspired and motivated to be the very best first grade teacher I can be!  We all have those days when nothing seems to work and you end up huffing and puffing as you lock that classroom door.  It is on those days especially, that I will turn to my new blogging crew and stalk a few inspiring educators' blogs.  This will be the first of many Thank You's that you will see from Mrs. Bushey!  I have another month left of my summer vaction but I am already being kept up at night with classroom ideas running through my head thanks to you! :)

Looking forward to finishing up summer vacation and starting a new school year....all while stalking and BLOGGING!!!

<3- Mrs. Bushey