Calendar Wheel

I first saw a Calendar Wheel from Lune de Papier and I asked her how she made it.  She responded with a recent video on how to draw one.  It makes my September seem so well-rounded.

And the link for the video is here.

Happy September!

Removable Folders for a spiral or gradebook

Since I am trying to make my gradebook more BuJo friendly I know I will be using more pages in my gradebook this year.  I also really want to adapt my book so that I can keep everything in one place.  To keep all of the papers I need to grade, I wanted to make folders.  It was important that they were sturdy, because they will inevitably get a beating during the year, but I also needed them to be flexible.

I found a video that involved punching holes down the side so it could be put in and taken out of a spiral notebook.  The tutorial is here.

Granted, I probably should have been actually grading papers rather than punching all those holes, but now I have a great spot for all those papers to go.  Worth it!

BuJo Color Tabs

Since I am starting a new BuJo, I decided to create a tab system with the small hole punch stickers I got from the Dollar Store.  I made a fold out index to remind myself of the categories.  I saw something similar from Boho Berry, but she uses marker on the sides of the pages.  I like the consistency of the stickers better.

Hopefully this will make it easier to find pages.

Homework Assignment Collection

I have only one graduate class this semester, thank goodness, so I drew up a collection to keep track of the homework for it so I could have it as a reference.  The color for my school work is blue, so it turned into a pretty blue page.  The dates for each class have the homework due listed below it.  I put a strip of washi tape at the bottom so I could easily find it in my book.

Now to actually start my homework...

Dollar Store Haul

I know that people spend loads of money at craft and scrapbooking stores, but most teachers know that if you want some cheap supplies, you take yourself to a dollar store.  I got a lot of post-its which I use for reminders when school starts.  I also found colored dots which I will use to make tabs for my BuJo and label stickers to jazz things up a bit.  There was also ribbon to make bookmarks for my school BuJo.

The best find was this Optimus Fine Point Pen.  It is a felt tip that is honestly comparable to the Faber-Castell Pitt artist pen in the S size.  The greatest part was that it was $1 for two!

Washi in Unexpected Places

It took me a while to get on the washi tape bandwagon, but then I saw some at Ikea in a three pack for $3.99 and then single rolls at Target in the dollar spot.  If you feel like dabbling, it's a pretty cheap way to try it out.

I really like using it to mark pages I flip to often like calendars, collections, and trackers.

Sunburst Gratitude Log

For September I want to try something different with my gratitude log.  I saw this on Heartistic Jess's YouTube channel and I really like how it turned out.

The tutorial is here.

I am going to use my sunburst to keep track of what I am doing for self-care.  I started my social work internship last week and I already know that I will have to take time for myself everyday to stay centered.

Gradebook Bullet Journal Spread

School starts next week for me and I am going to make my grade book prettier.  I already ordered a new grade book in June so it was waiting for me when I got in to school today.  I use a House of Dolittle Class Record Book.  It has always worked well for me with plenty of spaces to keep attendance and grades, this is my third year using one.

I have seen a lot of teachers writing their plans into their Bullet Journals, but I keep all of mine on the computer so that it is there for me the next year.  I also really do not like it when you get to the opposite page of the grade book because you have to look all the way on the other page to keep track of the line for a student.  I realize this is not a terribly big deal, but it is annoying when you have a stack of grading you have to enter in.

So here is a blank page for one of my classes.  I have a class list, but there is no way I am going to fill in any names until the first or second day of class because schedules can change.

I decided to try to use my grade book in slightly different way so I would not have to use both sides of the page for grading.
I made my label for the class bigger so I can find it easily and made the months at the top much bigger.  The highlighted columns are days where there is no school.

On the other page, I used washi tape to put my plans for the class for that week.  I hope to keep track of notes regarding how far we got and how well the different activities went.  We are using a new curriculum this year for science.  Overall it makes my grade book look nicer and I hope it keeps me organized.  I may put another piece of paper below the names because I will definitely not have 35 students in any of my classes.

Olympic Gold for Kayla in Judo-Again!

So exciting that Kayla won gold for the second time!  It will be sad to see her leave for MMA aka the dark side, but she is an inspiration all the same.

Harrison captures back-to-back judo gold medals for U.S.

Adding an Elastic band closure

My brand spanking new notebook for September did not come with an elastic closure, but I really wanted one, so I made it happen.  This video helped be get there.  The only difference is that I stapled the elastic to that when the elastic band is put in place it covered the staples.  It was really easy though.



Here was the end product:

My New Notebook for September!-Mandalas Blank Book: Dotted

I am soo excited!  I needed a new notebook for September and did not want to spend the $20+ for the moleskin and other notebooks people generally get for Bullet Journaling.  I found this beauty and I am in love and it was $8!

The paperback cover is so smooth and the green color is a little darker than the picture.  The Mandala design wraps around to the back cover.  There are no other colors or designs available if you want the dot grid.

There is a really nice front page where you can put all of your information in case it is lost.  I absolutely cannot wait for September so I can get it set up.  I actually may buy more just to have them on hand for the next time I need a book.

There is even contact information on the back to contact the designer and publisher of the book too.  I am very tempted to contact him to ask if he is going to make new designs.

Bullet Journaling is scientifically good for you

Read the article that is circulating about Bullet Journaling from New York Magazine.  It does bring up a good point that the cognitive effort of putting tasks to paper as well as allowing your mind to wander as you doodle can be therapeutic.  In my Child Trauma grad class last week we talked about art therapy for children and my teacher made us doodle.  She said, "Draw a tree, a house, and a person."  I took out my Bullet Journal and came up with this, maybe I will add color later, maybe not.  I did feel less stressed as I drew it though.

Daily Spread

I have been BuJoing for a week and a half and I finally have a daily page that I was proud of, and I looked so productive!  I like to write the banner for the day and figure out my to-do list the night before so that I am not worrying about it as I try to go to sleep.  It's nice to have some time set aside to doodle as well.  I am especially proud of my feather.

I know some people put a lot of effort into doodling and decorating, but I had a second graduate class that started on the 7th and had quite a bit of homework to do in order to be prepared for the first day.

A look back in July-Memories and Tracker

The end of July signaled my first month of officially Bullet Journaling.  I am very happy with my July memories page, but not sure if I will stick with it.  I have seen other people writing important or memorable events instead of doodling them, but have not decided which I really like better.

One part of Bullet Journaling that I really kept up with was the tracker.  I did some doodles before class one day to fill in the bottom.  It was good to have a visual of things I am doing consistently and things I am falling slightly behind on.

Daily Time Tracker

Sometimes when I look at other people's Bullet Journaling styles I see something really cool and then realize that it is not for me.  That happened this week with Boho Berry's Time Tracker.  She puts a line across the top with the hours of the day and then colors them in with what she is planning on doing and color coding it according to her preset categories.  I tried it for three days and quickly noticed that I do not pay attention to it or keep up with it at all.  I sometimes stop for coffee at the end of my morning run, or get stuck in a YouTube spiral, it's what summer break is all about right?

It did introduce me to using highlighters in my Bullet Journal which could open a whole new world to me though.  Do you realize how many highlighters teachers have?  I literally have a bin of them that I let students use when we are reading articles in class.

Weekly Spread

I am just so delighted with this spread that I had to share.  Someone asked how to keep track of assignments as a student and I felt this was the best example because I had a lot of homework this week.  Green is the color for my graduate student work so I looked at the syllabuses (syllabi?) for my two summer classes and wrote down everything that was due for the week.  I also wrote down what lesson planning I wanted to do for teaching since we are going to start a new curriculum in the fall.  Yes, teachers do work during the summer.  Once I have my weekly spread finished, I look back to it when I start making my daily spread.  I only write out one daily at a time because life happens.

I have found that doing this on Sunday evening while watching reality television really helps me get a handle on what is coming up for the week.

Future Log- Calendex System

Another feature of Bullet Journaling that I really like is the Future Log.  I tried the Eddy Hope Calendex System that I got from Boho Berry.  I especially like how each box represents a week of the month and the overall sleekness of the design.  I only went for a 3 month Future Log because I did not want to be reminded that summer break will in fact end one day.  Also, I cannot plan that far ahead:

I used the colors I established in my Key for the different areas in my life.  The green squares are to remind me that I have graduate class that day.  I put a piece of glittery tape along the bottom of the page so I could find it more easily as I continued my Bullet Journal.

Yearly Mile Goal Collection for Running

The part that I like the best is the ability to keep track of your goals with the Bullet Journal.  I have a goal to run 1,000 miles for 2016 so I made a collection page for it that I am pretty proud of.  Every 20 miles I run is another hexagon colored in:

I ended up drawing in too many, but I still like it.  It's amazing how motivating it is to color in another step.  It also gives me a visual that I am on the right track.  Running is something that really helps me stay sane, it is my "Me" time.

I have seen other people put collections in for budgeting and other money matters, but there is no limit to what you can do!

Books Read Collection- Rebecca Caudill Edition

I teach middle school, so if you can remember from way back, each year there is a list of books that are recommended called the Rebecca Caudill Nominee List.  It is a list of 20 books and ever since I was in middle school myself I have wanted to read all the books on the list for the year.

Enter the Bullet Journal Collection:

Each time I read one of the books on the list I draw in the spine of the book and the number of lines on the spine represents how much I liked it from 5 stripes (amazing) to 1 stripe (not my favorite).  I read every night before bed as part of my winding down routine, so I figure this goal will be fairly easy to accomplish even when things get super busy once school starts.

Others have done a list of books they want to read, but I wanted this collection to have more direction to it.

Level 10 Life Collection

I decided to try out the Level 10 Life Collection that I modified from Boho Berry.  It was nice to reflect on the different areas of my life and see where I can put a little more effort in.
It was also nice to see that there are some areas where I wanted to put a 10, but figured I should leave it at a 9 so I could have something to work towards.  I just got my second degree black belt a few weeks back so I figured high marks in Health, Fun, and Personal Development were in order.

And yes, I am the only girl with a black belt besides my sensei.

BuJo Set-up

If you have seen videos and pictures of how other's have set-up their Bullet Journals, I did pretty much the same thing.  I have my Index at the front with the key on the next page.  One thing that I knew was essential was to color code.  I use regular pens and have a variety of colors so I included it in my key.  Plus I am a very visual person so the colors really help:

Most of the symbols are from the original system.

The Kokuyo Campus Todai Dotted Notebook

Since I am new to the BuJo game, I did not want to invest much into this new venture.  Also, I'm a graduate student.  I looked at so many different reviews and ordered these puppies for $10 for the 5 pack:

It took about two weeks for them to arrive from Japan.  They are pretty thin, but they fit in a school bag or slide into the pocket of a binder brilliantly.  They have 35 faint lines with 26 columns of dots.  There are 30 sheets in each one which I liked because I will use one for the rest of the summer as a test BuJo and then will use the other four for each quarter of the school year for my internship.  The binding keeps the paper in really well and you can fold it over or lay it flat depending on how you like to journal.

I am super excited.  So much so that I am not going to wait for the new month, I'm going for it!

Have you heard of Bullet Journaling?

Being on summer break, it is pretty easy to get wrapped up in something new.  This all started, as it sometimes does, with a BuzzFeed article.  After I read about what a Bullet Journal is, I got into a few hours of YouTube videos and then found myself heading down the rabbit hole.  I came out of it at the end of the day well versed in dot grid paper, washi tape, and a new method of to-do listing.  I had a sip of the BuJo Kool-Aid and ordered books on Amazon, anxiously waiting for my notebook to come.

So I feel like a better question is: What is Bullet Journaling to me?

I have always leaned on the side of order and to-do lists and love them to death.  The thing is, post-its are not terribly pretty.  I have also tried to keep planners, but could never find one that fit all of my needs.  I am a teacher and I am in graduate school for school social work with my last internship coming up this school year.  I have full confidence that the next 9 months are going to be really rough and felt I needed to be organized.  It seemed that a Bullet Journal system would be my answer.

Now as I wait for the notebook to arrive, back into the rabbit hole.