Bated Breath

Have you ever felt as though you're in a creative slump and then all of a sudden you get a thousand different ideas for a thousand different projects all at the same time?? That's me right now. After feeling like all my creative juices had run dry I was feeling very slumpy.

The solution? Retail Therapy! (crafter style!) Somewhere in the middle of my online window shopping I realized all of a sudden that I have a job! (Yes, I know I've had a job for years, but fast food doesn't count!) For the first time I could actually afford to finally purchase a spinning wheel!

I've always loved crocheting but didn't fall in love with spinning until visiting a fiber guild meeting near my house. I've been using a drop spindle to spin all my fiber and I have to say I think I'm doing a pretty good job at it! BUT, naturally I've been drooling over everyone else's wheels... Anyway, long story short, I finally forked over the money for one Saturday and I am SO excited for it to get here!

I'm going to wait to spill all the details on it until it gets here but I did want to share the news! :D

In the meantime, the wheel shopping kicked those slumpy creative juices into overdrive! I began by finishing up all the half spun bits of fibers lying next to/on my spindles. After setting the twist in everything and actually emptying all my spindles, I suddenly realized I'd found the perfect project for at least one of the yarns...socks! (To wear when I spin, of course!) While waiting on the yarn to dry after setting the twist, I super groomed my angora bunnies to make sure I had plenty of fiber once my wheel got here! :) Naturally, I needed to make room to store the yarn I finished so I crocheted a quick cowl out of some Super Bulky yarn I had laying around. Unfortunately this is Florida and actually wearing the cowl would be very uncomfortable, however the weather this week happens to be very rainy so....I finished up a raincoat tonight! :) I also practiced Navajo Plying on my spindle with some Angora yarn, and now I'm looking for the perfect low yardage project. I'm thinking an ear warmer would look pretty, especially after the yarn halos. I'm hoping that I can finish up the socks tomorrow, and crossing my fingers that the wheel arrives on Wednesday! I've got a whole host of yarn projects planned for it including spinning a handpainted Shetland Top roving, raw Angora fiber harvested from my bunnies (possibly dyed first?), and tackling my first art yarn!

I'll try and get pictures up as soon as possible. Particularly of the rain coat, but it really depends on the coming weather. Here's hoping the anticipation doesn't kill me!

Refurbished Rocking Chair

Growing up I was convinced that every teacher needs a rocking chair! I vividly remember Ms. Sample's wooden rocking chair, there were certainly many wonderful memories there including read-alouds of my favorite stories, calender math every morning, and show-and-tell. (She didn't call it that, but I can't remember what it was called. It was pretty cool though, each week a different student got to do the calender in the morning and share things about themselves.) It was awesome getting to stand in front of class that day in my red tights and get the morning started! :)

Unfortunately a rocking chair is one of the pieces of furniture I was missing. Luckily a teacher at my mom's school was changing careers and asked Momma if she knew anyone looking for a rocking chair! It was well loved, to the point where the seat had busted through but I knew with a little handiwork it would look good as new for the next generation to love. :)

As you can see the paint is chipped a bit and a few screws were coming loose (haha, clearly a sign it was meant for me!) The overall structure of the rocking chair was actually really pretty, I particularly liked the runners. Over the course of about a week I fixed it up and I'm proud to say it has gotten plenty of use already in my class....

I started by ripping out the old seat and reinstalling a plywood one I'd cut based on a template I made from a piece of cardboard. (Let's face it, my dad cut the corners because my saw work was a little wonky...but I did everything else, I promise!)

Afterwards I tightened some of the screws that had worked their way out from normal use and sanded the old paint in the areas where it was chipping. Then I primed the rocking chair once, and gave it two coats of paint. This color is actually called, "Biltmore" one of our family's favorite vacation destinations! :)

Unfortunately the seat was still a little rough so I added a cushion and, viola, my very own rocking chair! :) So far I've mostly used it when reading "A Land Remembered" to the class. The students also take turns sitting in it during silent reading. I was worried they'd fight over it but they've been particularly considerate with each other about taking turns! They make me so proud sometimes. :)

Enjoy your Wednesday!

~Farm Girl Teacher

Class Jobs

Class Jobs

 Shortly after graduating I was able to spend some time substitute teaching. I actually learned quite a bit through this and I loved to be able to see how different teachers do things. I saw all kinds of neat ideas and saw what worked and what could use improvement. I also feel much more comfortable writing sub plans now as I know what's helpful to share with my sub.

One of the things I liked when coming into a class was finding that the students had very clear jobs they were aware of. This really makes the day go by smoother when they know what their responsibilities are. Additionally, I feel that class jobs encourage students to work together to accomplish a task as some of my jobs are actually team jobs. I also liked that many teachers used picture frames and ribbon to display various things. Combine these ideas...and an awesome job chart is born! (It's hard to see but each section has a simple but related picture)

My jobs are:

Line Leader: Self explanatory. :)

Door Holders: I have two, necessary for the layout of our school.

Pencil Sharpener: This person takes the basket of dull pencils and sharpens first thing in the morning.
This person is the only one who sharpens pencils and it only happens in the morning to avoid unnecessary disruptions during instruction.

Postmaster: Helps me collect/pass out papers and take notes, papers, etc. to other teacher or rooms.

Maintenance Crew: This crew consists of four students. They must work TOGETHER to keep our room clean. Two handle dustpans, one cleans desks and makes sure all chairs are stacked, and the fourth cleans the whiteboards. I don't assign these specific jobs, they must work out the disputes among themselves and take turns when delegating tasks.

Snack Team: At our school classes receive snacks certain days of the week that come in a rolling laundry baskets. Two students take care of the basket, one takes it to the room, one drops it back off in the cafeteria in the afternoon. Again, students must work together when delegating tasks.

Class Assistants: Two students who help with miscellaneous things. These tasks can range based on what we're doing during the day and where I actually need assistance.

Technology Manager: This person turns the lights on/off, turns the projector/document camera on, makes sure the student laptops are plugged in to charge, and helps other students use the laptop if they need it.

In Training: This section is where the 'extra' students hang out. They aren't specifically assigned to a job, but they fill in for absent students. I actually have a small enough class that none of my students are in training, they all have jobs.


Please feel free to email me at thatfarmgirlteacher@gmail.com if you'd like me to send you the jobs I created. If you'd like the colors to match your ribbon, let me know and I can change it before I send it.

~Farm Girl Teacher

Take a Peek at my Classroom!

 Hello! Today I wanted to share a few things I've incorporated into my classroom. Enjoy!

Displaying Student Work 

One of the challenges I knew I'd be facing with my classroom is the lack of wall/bulletin board space. One wall is taken up completely by windows, while this limits areas to hang things, I have to say I really do love the amount of sunlight it lets in. :) We have a beautiful oak growing outside our window and I find myself rarely turning the lights on and allowing my students to work from sunlight instead. :) Two walls are bulletin/white boards, and the last wall is cabinets and shelving. While I do like the storage capacity of this wall I felt like it would be impossible for me to display student work. I believe this is important as it improves my students' self-confidence and allows me to display work that meets or exceeds my expectations. In order to optimize this space I created these little ribbon strips that fit over the door...

The holder is a giant loop. The front part of the loop is made from ribbon and the back part is elastic. This allows the holder to fit snugly on the door without damaging the door with adhesives, nails, tacks, etc.

Back side (inside of door)

The clothespins were hot glued on the front and each student is assigned a pin. For the most part I allow them to maintain their own clips, however I occasionally have them all post similar things. In this case each student had an ice cream cone hung. As the students learn their multiplication facts they get to color each of the related scoops. (There's a 'two's' scoop, 'five's' scoop, etc.)

The clothespins are spaced just far enough apart for 'computer -sized' paper.

Positive Behavior System

I firmly believe in the power of a Positive Behavior System. The school has a system already in place that consists of handing our tickets when we catch students being good. I wanted to add something within my own classroom though and my "Seeds of Success" were born...

The bucket in the middle is filled with seeds (colored cotton balls). If students are able to meet my expectations for a task (i.e. good behavior during lunch is worth 5 seeds, specials are worth 3, and each of my subject areas are worth 2. Perfect behavior during fire drills, tornado drills, lockdowns, etc. are worth 15 seeds.) they get to place the specified amount of seeds in their jar. (The decorated jar.) If they are unable to meet my expectations they gradually lose their seeds and have to give them up to me. (My jar is the undecorated one.) At the end of the week if they have more seeds than me we do a fun activity. (Ideas include no shoes day, choose your seat day, homework passes for everyone, eating lunch outside, cool science experiment activities, math games, SmartBoard games, etc.) If I have more they don't get their reward.

To build on the PBS ticket system used by my school. I also hand out gemstone rocks to the individual students. Once they earn five rocks they can trade them in for a ticket. These cute little buckets were purchased at Target. They have little chalkboard shapes on them where I write their names.

I know the lighting is bad. Sorry :(

~Farm Girl Teacher

The buckets line the windowsill and students can keep their rocks, tickets, lunch tag, special pencils, etc. here.

The students really love just having this little area just to themselves!

The Wait is Over...Owl Phone Case!

Finally, the wait is over! I have been trying to get this pattern posted for longer than I care to mention, but it is finally here! Check out the three cases I made...

The center one was made for Mom's Samsung Galaxy, the green one was the original and is made to fit my LG Smartphone, and the purple one was made for my sister to fit her Pantech Jest 2. It also holds my dad's ancient flip phone but he didn't want me to make him one. lol

One of my favorite things about this pattern is that the wings double as pockets so it can hold spare change for the vending machine, ear bud style headphones, or chapstick!

The pattern is relatively simple, each of the pieces are constructed individually and then sewn together to complete the look. Use soft yarn to protect your screen from scratches, and use bits of leftover yarn from your stash to make the wings! (The green is from the baby converses I made, the pink is from a lanyard, and the purple is from a scarf!)

Please visit my Craftsy or Ravelry Shops to purchase the PATTERN.

If you're not interested in crocheting but like the case, contact me personally through comments, Facebook, or email (thatfarmgirlteacher@gmail.com) and we can discuss purchasing a finished project. :)

Looking for more projects? Go here.

~Farm Girl Teacher

Project Share & New Passions

Happy Labor Day! I was really hoping to surprise you all with a new pattern for the owl phone case I've been working on, however it's still in the drafting stages as of right now. (I made several prototypes and gave them to family members. Unfortunately I'm waiting on my mother to get back from the grocery store so I can photograph hers! lol) I feel like I haven't blogged in forever, mostly because it's still the first few weeks of school and I'm exhausted! This weekend was wonderfully rejuvenating though and I'm excited to share my labor day project with you! Can I get a drum roll please........

Ta da! I LOVE the look of this dress! It comes from New Look pattern A6067. The New Look brand is one of my favorites, and I was particularly drawn to this pattern. I also love the fabric, I think the colors transition well from summer to fall. (I intend to wear sandals in the summer, and transition to pumps or possibly boots and tights as the weather cools.)

I bought the pattern and the fabric over a year ago but I knew it was going to be very tedious. Unfortunately I've been continually putting it off since then. The fabric was purchased at JoAnn's and the dressmaker was a Christmas gift from my parents. (Her name is Joann, bet you can't guess why! lol) I seriously LOVE my dressmaker and use her all the time. Plus, it means I don't have to do my hair when I want to share my looks. :)

That zipper only took me one shot! Literally the best zipper I've ever inserted! (That I didn't rip out six times)

I am always looking for patterns that are comfortable as well as modest, after all, I don't want to have everything hanging out while I'm teaching long division! Another thing that really drew me to the pattern was the chevron pleating in the center front...

A little difficult to see, but trust me, it's beautiful!

I knew that this would contribute to the tediousness of the overall construction but I loved it! It also has a fully lined bodice and instructions on how to sew a belt to match the dress. I chose to forgo the belt that came with the pattern because my fabric was already so busy. I decided it looked better overall when broken by the solid brown belt.

I have to be honest, I was a bit curious to see what my neighbors would think of me dragging my dressmaker through the yard to photograph it. (The lighting in the house is awful!) Turns out it wasn't the human neighbors I needed to worry about....

After shoving Joann in various places in our garden I kept feeling as if someone was watching me. I turned to see this....

Beginning to feel a little self-conscious, Joann and I took our little photography section to the side yard. I mean, our animals should be used to my antics, right?

Nope, the first to notice was Tux....

He moved in to get a closer look...For those of you who don't know his real name is Leo's Tuxedo, I think Tux was just helping me get a few formal shots :) The two horses in the background are Jose and Drew Piney, neither of which seemed to care what I was doing in the least. Anyway, Joann and I moved into the back yard and....

That's when our fourth horse, Colby took notice...Unfortunately I had a really hard time catching him in action, he was actually terrified of Joann and kept running back and forth...lol

Anyway, that's the dress I wanted to share. :) I spent Saturday pre-washing my fabric and cutting my pattern pieces/lining and construction took almost all of Sunday, that being said though, I think it will look awesome at school Tuesday!

I'd also like to share a very new passion of mine...Zumba! Some how I'd missed this particular bandwagon but Mom and I went to our first Zumba class last Wednesday and LOVED it! We had a great time and it wasn't nearly as difficult as the video we'd been doing at home! (Okay, we'd been sitting on the couch watching the people in the video dance, but same thing, right?) For those of you who live locally we went to JC Karate in Ridge Manor. The overall environment was wonderful, they really are a wholesome, friendly, small town business and we really felt so welcome there!

Enjoy your Labor Day!

~Farm Girl Teacher