That picture above is hideous and makes my beautiful classroom looks ugly… but it gets the point across about these storage ottomans that I absolutely love! I love these ottomans, and I want you to love them too. Did you catch the movie reference?!? Brian’s Song?? That movie makes me cry… not sure if people actually watch it though…

Our PTA has a fundraiser every year. There are various incentives for the classroom to raise money (like raising $200 is homework passes, $400 extra recess, $2500 is in-school field trip). This fundraiser provides money for playground equipment, easels, rugs, books, and more. One of the incentives was giving each classroom $200 toward any classroom purchase of their choice.

Originally, my kids wanted a classroom pet. Um, no thank you. Miss PC is not going to be feeding and cleaning the cage of a smelly guinea pig. The book fair was coming up, so then my kids wanted to use the money on books. I have a fairly extensive classroom library, and I am a children’s book snob. I am not a fan of those Wimpy Kid or Big Nate books that all the kids love. I work hard to stock my classroom library with quality literature. If the majority of the classroom library is quality literature, the children are more likely to pick it up. No “trashy children literature” in my classroom. I was hesitant to have them pick out $200 in low-quality books.

I have a large class this year… 28 students. During my small groups in reading and math, the kids would always have to find chairs somewhere in the room and drag them to the table. It was tight, squished, and a waste of time. I realized how deeply in need of seating we were, so I convinced the kids into wanting to spend the money on new seating. I told them how soft, squishy, and FUN having little ottomans would be! I don’t think seating can ever be fun… but whatever. They happily agreed and were ecstatic when these little cubes came!

I bought them from Walmart for $16.60 each. Here’s the link if you’re interested. Free shipping and they arrived at my school. Thankfully my terrific kiddos happily carried them into my classroom from the office. Such troopers.

The BEST thing about these ottomans? THEY HAVE STORAGE INSIDE. All those hideous extra tissue boxes, hand sanitizer containers, Clorox Wipes, and notebook paper have a home. I hate looking at them, so these items were previously squished into a cabinet so they would not be aesthetically unpleasing. Speaking of hand sanitizer, several kids in my class call it “hanitizer.” Cracks me up. “Miss PC, where is the hanitzer?”

Happy Friday! I am off to eat some raw cookie dough in my fridge and then head off to happy hour for an hour (or two) of extra happiness.