My classroom is just about done, which I am thrilled about considering it only took me about 5 days to do this year! :-) Here are some pictures. (The pictures are not the best ever....but hopefully you can get a general idea of what it looks like.)
On my "crafty day" the other week I also made this Books Needed Board with two pieces of cork board, ribbon, and hot glue. I will thumb tack the books up each day so students know which ones to have on their desk.
While visiting with another teacher in her classroom, I noticed she had this desk by the door. She said she didn't want it anymore and so was waiting for it to be taken out of her room. I said, "I'll take it!" It will be the perfect size for my laptop and document camera to fit on. The only thing was the back was pretty beaten up....
So I went to the new Joann's and bought some fabric. With a little cutting and a glue gun the ugly back was hidden from sight:
Here is a picture of the desk at the front of my room:
Now for the tour:
A little reading area by the window along with the How I Act discipline system:
A view of the front of my room.
I put boarder around the white boards this year!
My door:
I took string from the jewelry making section of Michael's and tied it to command hooks to string clothespins across the door. Students will write a "tweet" on an index card to hang up on the door telling about something they learned that day/week. (I used the little birds from Pixar's short film "For the Birds" but you can't see them very well in this picture...)
My reading corner complete with the TRAVEL acronym to finish out the sentence "Adventure's Out There so let's TRAVEL". I also have the house from "Up", clouds hanging from the ceiling, and the clock was turned into a sun (the sun has the minutes written around it for easy reference as well). During the first week of school students will make a picture of themselves holding a balloon to be put on this wall.
My library!! I spent a lot of time on Thursday working on organizing all my books (which really aren't too many as a 2nd year teacher :) ). This is my fiction section:
I have a classroom library ribbon with clothespins on it for each student to use to mark where they got their book from:
The view from the front door of my room:
Our Writing Desk:
A wall:
Look! There's the Book's Needed sign:
The "non fiction" portion of our classroom library:
Another close up of the wall:
The paper center with the "no name papers" clip idea from pinterest and student mailboxes. I also used a quote from Nemo: "Welcome, explorers! So much to see, so much to learn. Let's go!":
The Calendar and the picture book portion of our library:
A close up of the board with our table points and daily plan:
A close up of the Class Jobs and Attendance board:
I decided to use a command hook on the underside of the white board tray to hang the bucket with the magnets for the attendance board. It works really well!
My writing process chart:
My desk area. I pushed my big chunky teacher desk against the wall and the school had an extra trapezoid table available so I grabbed it. I can't believe how much it opened up my classroom just to push my desk against the white board. Now, students can easily pull their chairs up for small group time. I can also use the space for grading in the afternoons. Saving space by having a multi-purpose!
I started working on this hall pass board today. All it needs is a heading. I used a pizza pan, ribbon, clothespins, and magnets. I loved the idea to use clothespins as hall passes so students just clipped it onto their shirts as they left. The magnets are for easy placement back on the board.
The "Drop Off" bucket held on by command strips (velcro ones):
That's my classroom as of right now! A few little things to add next week, but it is pretty much ready for students now. I'm excited about the new year!
