Recycling the Overhead Apron

I love cleaning out the drawers and cabinets before school starts. It is my cleansing process, which prepares me for the coming year.  This year I found my old overhead apron. 

WALA! Just want I needed!!! Pockets ready to hold stuff.

Supplies for the creation of my newest organizational tool.

Glue the button magnets on the back.  I am a bit obsessed with magnets and my hot glue gun!!!

Finished product.  I have since used a white paint pen to record what would be in each pocket.

Yellow: Student name sticks - "choose" and "done"

Red: Sticks with brain breaks - sitting breaks, standing/moving breaks, "walks"

It's place in the whole picture.

 

 

 

Keeping track....

   I have seen colored cups and tickets on desks for how to keep track of students who come and go.  Then I saw on a website and Pinterest that a teacher used magnets on a piece of metal.  She suggested a flat cookie sheet.  LOVED THE IDEA!!!  Students come and go all day.  I am sure it is the same in your room.  I am good at remembering the regularly scheduled places and times.  However, DIBELS testing comes and kids are in and out.  Band lessons rotate every week.  It makes me dizzy! 
   So...I drove right down to the Goodwill (love it for recyclable/reusable items).  Could not find a cookie sheet. :( Did see tv trays.  The ones I bought are smaller than the usual but I thought they were different. Stopped by ACE Hardware to buy spray paint and painters tape.

                                   (Sorry, cannot seem to get it to rotate and stay rotated!)

  Then went to work.  Sketched how I wanted the layout to look.  Taped up the parts I was not going to paint maroon and went to town on spraying.  The maroon did not cover well.  It took several coats but all the others were only one or two coats.  Waiting between coats and between colors is VERY important.  Green was dry to the touch.  However, when the paper was taped down it did not all come back off.

              

   After all four were painted, I used Sharpies to decorate, divide, and label the parts.  Since the main objective is to know where my students are located, I make various sections for them to place their magnet when leaving the room.

                                        

 

 

   The pictures no matter how I try are not coming out well.  I hope you get the idea. I plan to use the Command Velcro wall hangers to put them on my wall. My magnets and glue gun are at school which makes it hard to finish this project.  I will be using flat round glass beads used for the bottom of aquariums or vases to write their numbers.  (Each student is given a number which is used for various organizational areas in the classroom.)  Magnets will be hot glued onto the back.  I will then be able to use the glass beads year after year.  

     When I finish this and put it up, I will add an up date.  Maybe with various pictures of this year's classroom set up.  I am going with an extreme sports theme.  Any ideas?  Seen any on the internet?  Love to see what ideas are out there!