Category: Uncategorized

How to: Crate Seats

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The first time I saw someone post about crate seats, I knew I needed them in my classroom. After switching over to flexible seating, I’m always on the lookout for any new seating options. I especially love if something can double as storage.

I recruited my mom as I always do for most of the DIY projects I take on for my classroom. So give her a round of applause for helping with these!

Let’s start with what you need to make your own crate seats:
-Crates
-Fabric (I bought two yards for four crates)
-Ribbon
-Scissors
-Stapler (the heavy duty kind, not what you have in your classroom!)
-Plywood (sizing will vary depending on what crates you are using)
-Cushioning of whatever kind you choose (I used an old memory foam bed topper)

Step 1: Measure and cut your plywood to fit the inside of the crate you are using. We literally DIY’d this with plywood and other wood we had from other projects. However, you can take your crate to somewhere like Home Depot and they will measure and cut the plywood for you.
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As you can see it fits perfectly inside the crate!

Step 2: Cut your cushioning to fit the tops of the wood.

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*Tip: We used spray adhesive on top of the wood before adding the foam to help it stay put better.

Step 3: Cut your fabric to fit allowing for some overlay to staple the bottom. There’s no need to cover the entire wood top and bottom since nobody will see the bottom.

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Step 4: Cover seats with the fabric and staple bottom securely. Cut and fold corners if needed.

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Step 5:  Add ribbon. I do not have a photo of stapling the ribbon. All you need to do it make your ribbon into a loop however long you want it. Staple it to the bottom of the seat where it will stick out of the crate. This allows you to easily remove the seat top from the crate at any time. You can clearly see the ribbon in the photo below.

Step 6: Admire your adorable new crate seats!

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I think these seats are some of the cutest things EVER! Seriously. I also personally tested each seat to make sure kids will not fall through them and that they are secure.

Below are what they look like in my flexible seating classroom.

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-Miss Layfield

Classroom library? Nah, library classroom.

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First of all, I LOVE to read. I always have and I’m 99.9% sure I always will. This past half school year, I taught all subjects. However, this year we are departmentalizing our second grade. I will only be teaching reading, English, writing, and phonics. That news made me feel like a kid in a candy store. All my favorite subjects!

Being a new teacher, I did not have a lot of books in my classroom when I started. Since then, I have done a DonorsChoose project, had people donate books to me, and bought a lot on my own. Seriously, if you are someone who has donated to me in any way, you have a special place in my heart forever.

I read somewhere that a classroom library should have close to 1,000 books. I believe it too! I don’t have nearly that many, but I’m working towards it.

Why would I want that many books?

I think it’s very important to expose kids to as many books as possible within the classroom. I love our school library, but I also wanted to build my own as large as I can get it. I know it will help with activities in the Daily 5 and during Guided Reading. It helps expose kids to books they may have previously not gotten to read and having books surround them in a loving environment creates a positive connection to books for them.

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I know a lot of people level their entire library. I honestly just don’t believe in that. I have one row  of book bins in the above photo that are leveled by Guided Reading levels. These books are also not Reading Counts test books. I did that on purpose. I wanted the leveled books to be used specifically for tracking what level a child is on and also so that students learn to read books other than the ones they can take a test on. Their Reading Counts goals are important, but I feel exposing them to books that don’t have tests attached to them helps them to develop a love of reading instead of just thinking they need to pass a test to get points. They should be developing  a love of reading and I aim to help them do that.

All of my other bins are organized based on book series, characters, and similar topics. They are numbered bins with corresponding numbers I will put on stickers on the front of the book so that my kids can easily put them back where they got them.

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In second grade, a lot of kids aren’t reading a lot of chapter books. However, when I had a few last year that definitely could read them and did read the ones I had in the classroom. I know when I was in second grade, I was reading chapter books and would have panicked if my teacher didn’t allow it. So, I went out of my way to make sure I also have enough chapter books in addition to picture books to challenge students and provide those high readers with what they need.

Knowing what reading level my students are on is important to me and helping them progress while developing their love of books is my goal. I never want students to feel like books are punishment or reading is boring. I never want to be a teacher that tells a child they have to read now because they didn’t at another time. To me that is completely detrimental when helping students develop their motivation to read. I never want to tell a child they have to read from a specific bin of books or that they can’t choose something slightly above their level because challenging themselves is a good thing. I only want books associated with positive things in my class. If a kid thinks reading is boring, I think they haven’t found the right book yet and hopefully I’ll help them find that right book.

The title of this post says library classroom instead of classroom library. That’s basically what I went for when designing my room. I didn’t want a specific area for books in my classroom. I have them literally everywhere. I did that because I wanted the kids in my class to associate books with positive things. I aim to make reading fun for them and to me, a variety of choices when it comes to books helps with that. I want to see kids when I ask them to get a book walking around the whole room searching for the perfect one just as if they were in a library.

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I do hope my future students develop a love of books and reading. I hope they remember that Miss Layfield made reading challenging and fun. I hope struggling readers in my class make that breakthrough and find a book that sparks their want to read. I hope all of my future second graders succeed in reaching their reading goals because reading is essential to the rest of their lives.

-Miss Layfield

Let me introduce myself…

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First of all, welcome to my blog! My name is Lauren Layfield or Miss Layfield to my students. As you could have guessed, I am a teacher. I have the pleasure of teaching second grade in the great state of Texas. I teach at a Title I school. I couldn’t have asked for a better career.

You may be wondering why the name of this blog is ‘Tales of an Accidental Teacher.’ Well, the name comes from the fact that I never planned to become a teacher. I recently graduated from Sam Houston State University in December 2015. I received my degree in Mass Communications with an emphasis in Multi-Platform Journalism. I had every intention of becoming a journalist in one form or the other. I even received a job offer to work at a newspaper upon graduation. Something about that didn’t feel right, I turned it down and I am so glad I did.

Moms always know best right? RIGHT.

My mom is actually the one who saw the job opening for an elementary teacher at the school in my hometown. The same school I attended my whole life. She told me to apply for it and go for it. If I didn’t like it, I didn’t have to do it long term or pursue my teaching certification since at the time the job was just for a long-term sub. The idea scared me to death. I had never taught before. My Mamaw, who had recently passed away, also had told me while she was living to get my teaching certification because she thought I’d be a great teacher. So there I was with two of the most influential women in my life’s voices in my head telling me to go for something I never knew whether I wanted or not. So I did…and I got the job.

I literally interviewed and started the same day with only a half a day to prepare for the kids coming back from Christmas break since I started mid-year. I was terrified, excited and nervous. After my first full day of teaching I told myself it wasn’t for me. I thought I was absolutely the worst teacher ever, but me being who I am I kept going.

Guess what? It got better. Within about two weeks, I knew I had found where I belonged. It wasn’t easier by all means, but I absolutely LOVED every minute of teaching. I loved never fully knowing what to expect when I walked into the school. I loved the students I taught. I felt like they needed me, but more so I needed them. They gave me purpose.

Becoming a teacher was a complete miracle wrapped in an accident. It was truly a God moment in my life. I truly feel I have been placed where I belong and cannot be any happier with my life at this moment.

 

Oh and yes, I did receive my teaching certification through the Texas Teachers alternative certification program and was hired as a full time teacher. I will be returning to teach second grade again at the same school and I’m so happy about that.

I cannot wait to share my adventures with all of you.

 

-Miss Layfield