Shhhh... do not disturb! Freebie & Winner

I'm supposed to be making cookies right now.... but I'm watching General Conference and drinking hot chocolate.... so here I sit, blogging instead!

Today I wanted to share a little freebie with you.... A few years ago at a math training, I came across a clever idea of decorating folders as "office cubicles" for the students to put up when taking tests... the concept was that each child would decorate the folder much like adults decorate their cubicles... family photos, sports team posters, etc., then you would laminate it, and they had this great little privacy folder to put up when taking tests. I immediately fell in LOVE with this idea... then remembered the mobility rate at my school... I would be making cubicles every other week as new students came an went... feeling defeated, I tossed the idea out the window and didn't think much more of it.  Fast-forward to the second week of school that same year... It was very apparent that a few wandering eyes and chatty Kathy's were in need of some sort of privacy folders in the classroom (as well as a reminder to be quiet during the test!!), and that's where the "do not disturb" folder idea was born!

So what exactly is a "do not disturb" folder?  I'm so glad you asked :)  It is simply two folders that I have glued together and put this cute little cover page on... Here are pictures of the original folders my students made a few years ago.... the great thing about these folders versus cubicles is that I can use these folders for a few years and don't have to throw one away each time a student moves (which is quite often in my classroom).  The first year we made these, I printed them in black and white and let the students color them.... they loved using the folders that they had each created, and it was fun to see which folder they would get each time I passed them out for a test. (note: these folders are 3 years old and were created before I discovered the awesomeness of Kimberly Geswein Fonts... so the new ones have been updated with her fonts :) )

 

 

So, as you can see, the kids did a pretty good job coloring the folders themselves.... however, I didn't take into account the fact that my class might get bigger, and I didn't think to make extra folders.... so I made a full color version when I quickly needed to make a few more folders... this was a good and bad thing.... students were fighting over the few folders that were "better" because they were printed in color.... so I ended up making 6 of the "nice" folders, which I keep together and would give to the table being the most quiet as we are getting ready to take the test :) problem. solved. I think in the future, I might just make a full class set with the new full-color cover sheets... my kiddos this year are really into scribbling... I'm a little bit worried about how some of the cover pages might turn out!  Anyway, here's a few pics of the folders in action, as well as a pic showing how to make them.  Click on the colored pic above to download the freebie for yourself :)

"do not disturb" folders in action

These are kind of small... I used 2 folders, but have seen it done with 3 folders as well, to allow for a little bit more work space on each desk.  This is what I get for not gluing the folders together myself... I love parent volunteers... but sometimes, things don't turn out quite like I had them pictured in my head...*sigh*...

As you can see, this is just 2 folders overlapped, with the cover glued in the center.  I laminated the folders for durability.

I've seen folders where they put number charts or ABC / sound cards inside the folder... so you could totally do that inside the folders if you want :) I was in a hurry and didn't put anything on the inside of the folders.

I hope you find this useful!  I'd love to see pictures if you make them for your classroom :)

and finally.... the winner of the educents pin it to win it contest is.....

 

 

just a few more days to pick up this great bundle! Hurry before the deal expires!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

 

YAY!  You two lucky ladies get to pick any item from my store for free :)  Happy Sunday, everyone.