New Attendance Board

Last week I got started working in my classroom.  I posted a few pictures throughout the week as I worked on it, so you can go to the last few posts to see how it's coming along.  Today I'm sharing my new attendance board.  I have always taken attendance and the lunch count in a system similar to this. We have several school lunch choices and of course the option of a home lunch.  Previously, I had a tall filing cabinet right by my door and I used the side of that as my magnetic surface.  For the student magnets, I laminated fun shaped sticky notes and wrote their names on them.  I loved that the shapes were already cut out and were relatively cheap.  They worked with the larger area on the side of the cabinet.  So, here's the solution for my new room and big kids:

Here's what I did: 

 I purchased supplies from my local Hobby Lobby except for the glue which I got on Amazon.  (links to items on Amazon are below if you don't have a local craft shop or prefer Amazon.  For the most part, the Amazon prices were better, for the bottle caps, way better.  I just wanted to do them right away, so I opted for local shop.)

I used the flattened bottle caps so I didn't have so much sticking out, and I liked that look better. 

The magnetic board is from IKEA, here's the link on the IKEA site: 

http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10159443/

The glue I used is called Diamond Glaze.  It worked for both gluing the paper circles inside of the bottle cap and also gluing the magnets on the back.  (click the pic to see it on Amazon)

The E6000 glue would work well too: 

I punched enough paper circles from the star paper for 32 magnets.  Then put a dot of glue in the bottle cap and placed the paper inside.  Then I added the number stickers.  This pack is meant for making a calendar in scrapbooking, but worked perfectly for my purpose to have all the numbers I needed.  Or, use a permanent marker and write them on yourself. 

Once I let the glue on the paper set up a bit, I added the epoxy stickers over to finish the tops. 

To add the magnet, I put some glue on the back of the bottle cap and set the magnet on.  Then I went around the edge with a bead of glue like you would if you were calking.  

Speaking from experience...don't lay them too close together to dry. The magnets attract and you may end up with a jumbled blog of mess... just saying... ;)

To section the board, I used washi tape, which worked so much better than the electrical tape I have used in the past. I used my label maker for the section labels.  You could cutsify that part with a printed label in f a fun font.  To hang the board, I used 3M Command hooks at the top and then at the bottom I used the Command strips alone attached directly to the board to keep it from flipping up as the students move their magnets.  

Here are some more close up pictures of the finished 

I only labeled the first box in each row to give some benchmark for students to find and to replace their magnets.  I wasn't going to separate them into compartments, but my 9 year old said her teacher did it that way and that I had to do it that way to, so I did. ;)

Here are links to the supplies on Amazon, just click the pictures: 

How do you take attendance or lunch count in your classroom?

Classroom Spruce Up - Mason Jar Lamp

The librarian at my school has this darling lamp on her check-out desk.  I thought this was a fun way to add some light to a reading corner or listening table in your classroom and theme it any way you want.  So, I sought out how to make such a fun item.  They are so easy and inexpensive!  You just need five items: (click on the pictures to see them in Amazon)

• A Mason Jar - I can items at home, so I have these hanging around.  If you don't have them around, try a local thrift shop.  You can purchase them in most big box stores in the home canning section or on Amazon:67000 Ball Qt Mason Jar WM 12-pack

• A Lamp Kit - Here are a few options (click on the pictures):

This one comes as a set of 3 (Best Value, make some for a colleague or one for at home)

This is a single silver colored set

• A Lamp Shade - You can embellish this simple white one in any way you desire. 

• A Light Bulb - These kits will fit any standard bulb.  
• Items to Fill Your Jar - Check out your local craft store for small themed trinkets.  Shaped buttons might be a fun way to go.  To cut down on how many items you need to fill your jar, put a Styrofoam cylinder or other similar object in the middle of the jar to take up some of the space.  Then put your themed items around the filler.  These fun colored buttons come in a variety of color sets and would be great to fit any color scheme: 

If you make one of these fun accents, we'd love you to come back and share your picture with us!