Greg here - and I'm about to get real! I have a confession to make. I know I might take some heat for it, but it needs to be said. I don't work as hard as Becky. In fact, I bet that most primary teachers work harder than I do. I've spent time this summer scheming projects, making connections, and building ideas for what could possibly get accomplished in my classroom. I am extremely excited at what I have planned for my students! But primary teachers don't have that luxury. They also need to spend countless hours preparing their rooms for that magical first day of school. 

Over the past 9 years, I learned that this is the most stressful time of the year for primary teachers. There is so much to get ready! And when those children finally make it to your classroom on the first day, you have a constant barrage of activities to keep them engaged (so they won't miss their mommies). I like to keep things moving in my classroom, but I indulge in the 20 - 30 minute activity every now and then.

For two days this week, I worked in Becky's classroom to help her prepare for the beginning of the school. Here are two pictures I took on Monday morning.

For primary teachers, this site is not new. Unfortunately, MANY MANY people do not understand what goes in to preparing the primary classroom for students. 

Here is a quick review of a *few* of my jobs.

That's right - labels on 23+ folders, plus additional stickers inside of each folder. Pencil boxes prepped with the appropriate equipment for each firstie to tackle the most difficult craftivity!

Seriously, Really Good Stuff's tape strips are where it's at! 23 desks prepped and taped!

Altough I thoroughly enjoy the Houghton Mifflin math series, their perforations do a number on your fingers. Since the first graders can't tear the pages out of the book (neatly), I do the honors. I've done this job for 9 years - it's tradition!

I have learned that it takes a village to get ready for the kiddos. There is a serious labor of love and attention to detail that is impressive. If you want to see all of my hard work (and Becky's too), stay tuned for Becky's classroom reveal post in a few days.

This post is really a thank you! Thank you for all of the extra time and hard work that you've put in over the summer. I understand it's a great deal of energy that may sometimes go unnoticed to those out of the education world.

Best.

Greg here! We're excited to join the Teacher Blogger linky hosted by Falling Into First! Welcome to everyone who stumbled upon our blog. We hope you enjoy!

For those of you who haven't ready our blog yet, we're bringing an interesting perspective/reflection to our classroom experiences. I teach 10th & 11th grade social studies and Becky is with 1st graders. (Read our about section to find out more about our personal lives.) She and I will be sprinkling in the more unique aspects of our teaching lives, and we also collaborating on a few projects that will be coming up in the future! 

Okay, here are the answers to Stephanie's Q&A. In the words of our 4 year old, "Let's Roll!"

We had fun participating! Looking forward to learning about our fellow teacher bloggers!

Hi everyone, it's Becky! I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for my very first Monday Made It! 

I decided to trade in my unnecessarily huge teacher desk for a much smaller one (pictures coming when I link up with my classroom reveal), therefore I needed something to hold all of my "stuff." So I jumped on the teacher toolbox bandwagon!  Found this baby at Lowes, and then spray painted it a nice Seaside color. I just love the way it turned out! (Editable labels courtesy of Common Core and So Much More.)

My second project is my ribbon chandelier. I had this project pinned ever since I saw it on Babbling Abby's blog last year!  I took a wooden rings used for cross stitching and tied tons of ribbon all around it.  I must say that I used more ribbon than anticipated, but I am very happy with the way it turned out! 

My third project was inspired by my bestie.  She saw that I was looking for a bench for my reading area, and then shared the milk crate bench idea with me from Just A Primary Girl. After realizing that I had most of the materials from another bench project (see below), I decided to go for it! I can just see my firsties reading here now! (The book basket labels are definitely in need of a face lift!)

For my fourth project, I made these magnet numbers for my new job chart! I glued the 1 inch number circle onto a 1 inch magnet, and then glued the flat marble on top! So simple! I love how the marble magnified the numbers to make them easier to see! (Editable job cards courtesy of Tweet Music.)

5.  And finally...the "piece de resistance!" Greg and I finally finished our entry way closet!  We had been so tired of having a coat closet stuffed full of coats, hats, and gloves, and had been swooning over all of the entryway closets/lockers on Pinterest.  So, instead of spending a small fortune on the entry way lockers, we decided to go with the closet idea!  The hardest part was finding new homes for our coats, and being honest with ourselves (or just myself!) about what coats I really need!  So here are the messy before pictures...

And here is what it looks like now! (Big thanks to our friends who helped hang the very heavy shelf!)

It's tough to see, but there are bins above the shelf for our winter accessories too.  I love that we now have a specific space where the boys can place their daycare bags, coats, and shoes.  They now come to sit on the bench to get their shoes on in the morning, and it is nice to have a clean space designated to our everyday items.  I must say that this was Greg's project, and he worked very hard to get this accomplished before school started!  

Well I think that I have squeezed in enough projects!  I can't wait to show you how all of my classroom projects come together in my classroom!  Good luck to everyone as you begin your first weeks of school!

Be well,
Becky