Classroom Library Off Bounds...WhAt?!

Hello everyone!

Let me just say....WHEW! It has been one of those weeks! It has not only been crazy in my third grade class but also in my little hometown. Let me just give you a throw down of my week. Earlier this week my town said good-bye to a sweet 15 year old boy who has been battling heart problems since birth. They laid him to rest on Wednesday morning. My husband, who is a funeral director, got a call after they buried the little boy about a 16 year girl who committed suicide. This has been the 5th teenage suicide in my small hometown this YEAR! And the 12th suicide in my small county this year. I have no idea what is going on in our little community but if you are a praying person please pray for our town. Also Wednesday one of  the largest abandoned historical buildings in my town was put on fire! We had to call all the surrounding fire departments to help us out. The house across the street also was completely damaged from the fire. After getting the news of this young girl on Wednesday, Thursday my school was put on lockdown. A REAL LIFE lockdown situation. We were finishing up lunch when we got the all call to take positions. Our 3rd and 4th graders ran to the gym. We were later moved to the lockers rooms. We were on lockdown for an 1 hour and 45 minutes! There was a man a block away from the school who tried to rape a woman and had a gun on him and ran away when the neighbors heard the woman screaming. It was insane!! THEN early Friday morning we had ANOTHER fire to an old abandoned building (just a block away from the previous fire). This fire also caused a fire to our Pregnancy Care Clinic and was completely damaged :(. We have no idea how these fires started or who started them. But this has been a very devastating week in my hometown.

Moving on to some classroom news.

Wednesday I was going to have the "Desk Police" come and see who had messy or clean desks. Well, the "Desk Police" (I) saw that our library was a complete MESS! I couldn't believe what my library looked like and how the kids did not take care of my books at all! So the "Desk Police" decided to tape off the library until further notice.

I first left them a note on the SMARTboard

Let me just say, that my students were in complete shock!


Here is the whole library.

A close up of the messiness!!

So our library was off limits from Wednesday to Friday. I plan on re-opening the library on Monday. But of course with some stipulations. They are now only going to be able to check out books on Monday only. Monday is our only day where we don't have a pull out so we have the extra time. They are only allowed to check out one book. Check in and Check out will only be done on Mondays. I think what I will do, is if I see students treating my books with care and respecting everything, I will allow them to check out more than one book at a time.

We will see how this goes.

Have you ever done this in your own classroom? I'm curious how it went for you?

I think that this class in particular needed the shock value. They are terrible at listening. We are going on our 7th week of school and I am STILL constantly going over rules and procedures. They just don't seem to get it! So frustrating. I hope this helps, and they get the point!

Have a great week!

Classroom Reveal 2015 #2getherwearebetter

Well guys, I have SURVIVED 2 weeks of school! Our first day was actually one of the best 1st days I've had! My new 3rd graders are great! Of course I have my typical stinkers though! Ha! 

At the end of my day I got the best message EVER from one of my parents! She told me how much her son loved his first day in 3rd grade and how he thinks I am going to be his "most favorite teacher ever"! She said he is already planning on getting me something for Teacher Appreciation Week! Bless his heart! (I hope he still thinks this about me when that comes!)

I feel like finally after 4 years I am starting to get the hang of this teaching thing! I am so excited for this year and what it will bring! 

Here are a few pictures of my classroom, tiny classroom. Have I ever mention how much I hate the layout of my classroom? No? Well there might be a need for a blog post about the hatred of my classroom layout in the near future! 

If you missed my classroom reveal on Periscope (@mrscrouse) go and follow me so you don't miss anything else! 

Above is a picture of my desk and table. I bought chevron fabric and HOT GLUED it to my tables. I love how they turned out!

 This is my classroom library. My husband made these bookshelves over the summer. Didn't he do a great job!

  Here are some more up close pictures

This is where I store all of my reading center work for the week. The students just grab what they need.

My English wall

My much need blurt chart and my behavior chart.

Our mailboxes, our tray for mail to file, and where the students turn in their homework.

Here is the classroom after Back 2 School night (the night before the first day).

Love all of my monster themed decorations! Thanks goes to Amy Groesbeck!

Questions? Just ask :) 

Currently: September 🙌

Thank you to Farley at Oh Boy 4th Grade for another currently! 

I am currently laying in bed blogging on my phone (not the easiest thing I've ever done)! So therefore, I am listening to my ceiling fan and my husband getting ready for bed! 

I am loving that I am currently on day 16 of my #3weeksnocheats and have lost 4 pounds!! Woot woot! 

I am thinking that I don't want to go to my masters classes the next 2 nights in a row...boo! 

I am wanting ice cream so bad because I can't have it on my 3 weeks no cheats!

I NEED to go to sleep...I have school tomorrow! And I need to be prepared to teach little minds! 

My 3 goals are to stay organized at school AND at home, have more compassion towards my students, and to be present in every moment I have with my family because I am very busy with school, cheer, and my masters program. 

Head on over to Oh Boy 4th Grade and link up! 

Back 2 School Wardrobe Linky

I am linking up with Lindsey at Miss Johnston's Journey for her Back to School Wardrobe Linky Party! Check out her site!

We started school last Friday (August 14). So I just finished our 4th day! So far so good! I've got 29 little 3rd graders this year. Of course they are as energetic as ever!  So here is what I have worn or am going to wear this week! 

I LOVE palazzo pants! Any body else? They are so comfy and dressy at the same time. These came from Maurice's and believe it or not my shirt and necklace are both $4 specials from Walmart! 

Here is what I wore today! Top is from Maurice's and the bottoms are pre-marriage pants!! I think I bought them when I was student teaching! And they fit again! #winning

p.s. the hair was totally down ALL day at school and went up as soon as I got home (so did the wedges!)

My necklace is new and came from a local boutique in my small town. 

This top and bottoms came from New York and Co. Love that store AND they have a teacher discount! 

The top is old but came from Maurice's and the skirt is recent from Kohls. I just bought the super cute arrow necklace from Maurice's yesterday! 

Capris are a must for summertime in southern Illinois! The top came from Gordmans. Love me some chevron! 

And this of course is what I IMMEDIATELY put on when I get home from school. Comfy yoga pants from Old Navy and a t shirt. Now that's what I'm talking about!! 

Have a great rest of the week! Especially to those of you starting this week!

#2getherwearebetter Bulletin Boards

So, I have not been able to get into my classroom ALL summer. It is a rule our school has to let the janitors do their work without and interruptions or distractions. Understandable, I suppose! Therefore, I will not be able to get into my classroom until MONDAY (August 3rd)! So since I don't have any bulletin boards put up for this coming school year, I will show you my boards from last year! Then I will update you later with my new boards.

Now, let me just tell you that last year, I had to move rooms from my 6th grade room down the hall to my new 3rd grade room. Last year we could not get in the school to work on our rooms till exactly one week before the first day with students. My new 3rd grade room was also getting new carpet. They did not finish with the carpet until the day AFTER I could come into my room. So I got one less day than everyone else to set up my room! To say I was stressed was an UNDERSTATEMENT! I had 5 days to get my room together and the first day I spent moving my things from one end of the hall to the other! I had some very late nights in those 5 days! But I was pretty happy with how some of my bulletin boards turned out. 

1. The first board I have here is my classroom management board. This is where I displayed my Class Rules, Clip Chart, and Lunch Count. This bulletin board is right beside the door. On the top part of the bulletin board you will see the students names and jobs. That is where they could find what their job was for the week. 

2. Here is the other side of bulletin board from above. This is my calendar area and where I displayed the grading scale and classroom ticket prizes. 

3. This is the other side of my classroom jobs board. I (mustache) you to do your classroom job!

4. Here is a bulletin board on the other wall of  my cursive alphabet 

 I really don't have a lot of space for bulletin boards in my room. But expect it to look different for this coming year! Eek! I can't wait to get in my classroom and start working! and GUESS WHAT!? We get to get into our classroom earlier this year! I can go in on the 3rd! I get 8 1/2 days to work in my room instead of 5 woohoo!

Thank you for reading!

Currently AuGuSt!

Can you believe that its time for the August currently from Farley at Oh' Boy 4th Grade? This is insane! Monday I go in for the first day since June 1st to work on my room for this new school year! So far I have 20 little ones in my 3rd grade class for this year. 

For my B2S RAK (Back 2 School Random Act of Kindness) I am thinking about making some kind of little gift to give to my parents. I meet them the night before school starts at our "Back to School Night". I'm not sure what kind of gift yet. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Hope your weekend is going well!

The Evolution of My Blog

Wow!! Talk about a lot of changes through the years! And really that's not all of them! Up above you see a picture of all of my blog buttons that I have created. When I first started my blog (which was 4 years ago in June, cRaZy!) I didn't design my own blog. I just used a free template. The name of my blog back then was, "Crouse All-Stars". I had been graduated from college for a year when I started but had yet to have a teaching job. I talked a lot about the teaching interviews I had went on and my experiences subbing and being an RtI aide at two different schools. 2 years after I started my blog (June 2013), I finally received my first teaching job! That is when I changed the name of my blog to "6th Grade All-Stars". As you can see above, I obviously enjoyed changing my blog design (because I finally learned how to do it!) haha! I taught 6th grade for two years, and last year I got the greatest opportunity to move down to 3rd grade (where my heart truly was). So therefore, the next blog change "Mrs. Crouse goes to Third". After teaching 6th grade for 2 years and 3rd grade for one, I decided that my blog name need to be more general. Because I have ideas for the middle grade levels and the lower levels. So this summer (my 4th year blogging), I changed my blog name to "Mrs. Crouse's Teaching Adventures". I also changed my whole blog design by myself (well, with the help of 2 fellow bloggers which I mention in a previous post). I absolutely LOVE my new blog design!

I can't believe that my teaching career has changed so much in the 5 years that I have been out of school. Here's a little timeline:

-I graduated in 2010

-Got married 3 weeks later

-Subbed for 3 months (absolutely HATED being a sub)

-Got a job as an RtI aide at a teeny tiny school (met some great people there!)

-Got offered another RtI aide job at a better and closer school

-After 11 interviews (yes, 11!). I was SO frustrated at this point, I kept questioning God and wondering if teaching is really what I was supposed to be doing. But then, I finally got the call I had been waiting for,  I got hired in 2012 as a 6th grade teacher.

-Had my son in 2013 :)

-2 years later, in 2014, I got to move down to 3rd grade in the same school

- Now I am getting ready to start my 4th year teaching, and 2nd year in 3rd grade

- My baby is now 2!

I just love how you never know where life will take you! 

All you can do is trust in God's plan for you.

Have a great weekend!

Assess Me!

Tonight I am linking up with The Tattooed Teacher with her Assess me Linky Party! How fun! 

Now, let me explain some of my answers!

1. I do talk to myself, mostly in my head though and not out loud (I'm introverted like that!)

2. I am not superstitious, at least not that I am aware of!

3. I crack my knuckles more than I think I do probably.

4. I am ALWAYS hungry, just ask the hubs!

5. TV is almost always on. I just need some background noise, even if I am not watching it (like right now)!

6. I got my wisdom teeth taken out when I was 16 *all 4*

7. I did shower! YAY (didn't wash the hair though)

8. I went to Disney when I was 5, so I don't remember much.

9. I have glasses, but I don't ever wear them. Contacts for this girl!

10. I have never moved out of Illinois (although, I wish I would most days!)

Have a great night or day!

Monday Made It!

Hey there everyone!

I am linking up with Tara over at 4th Grade Frolics for 

This is my first project that I have done for the upcoming school year. Which starts in 25 days! I can't believe it!

I have been working on re-purposing my stool that I use at my podium.

I started by sanding down my stool. I picked my favorite color of spray paint and when to town on the legs. I then got some fabric and foam from Hobby Lobby and stapled everything together. I love how it turned out!

This now matches my rocking chair and pillow! So excited to see it in my classroom. 

Blog Update!

Hey everyone!

I have made some MAJOR changes to my blog! I have changed the name and gave it a new look! 

A HUGE thanks goes to I Teach. What's your superpower? and Prepping for the Primary Gridiron for their amazing tutorials! Wouldn't have been able to do it without you two! Check out their blogs.