Teacher Week~The Classroom

Hi, Friends! It’s Teacher Week at Blog Hoppin’.  By no means is my classroom ready or for that matter anywhere near being finished. (Is it really ever?)….but these are the bones, our start…the foundation….

WELCOME and come on in……


I love the combination of green and blue for my classroom. Each year, I tend to use a “landscape” backdrop by incorporating the sun and sky somehow. I guess after having spent a number of years in a classroom without a window it made me want to bring a little of the outside in….I don’t know. It gives me a warm, fuzzy feeling. I just like it! I’ve never really had an over the top theme, but prefer to create a backdrop for student work…



I’ve changed campuses this year and now have a “sunshine” wall. I’m in no way a fan of the color yellow. In fact, I almost never wear it because I think it makes me look I’m getting ready to hurl, BUT I absolutely LOVE this accent wall! In person, it’s more of a goldenrod..it’s darker, not too bright…just right. I LOVE it!!! The only thing I would change about it is moving it to the front of the room. You never leave decorating to men (unless it’s Nate Berkus), lol! I’m sure they just chose a wall to get ‘er done without even thinking of which wall it really should’ve been…This is the view of the room from my small group table. From where I’ll sit, I can look out and see the entire room.

Oh, and the second set of curtains for the shelf have been ordered and shipped on Saturday. Target’s been stock of them has been out for the last two weeks!



Details, details, details….are falling into place. Last year, I used the colorful numbers from A Cupcake for the Teacher. This year, I used them as inspiration for these little cuties to continue the chevron craze taking over my room. Didn’t I JUST say that I don’t do themes, lol? Anyway…..click HERE to grab them and labels for your filing cabinet, if you think they’d fit in your classroom too! In order for them to fit on the clip chart, I printed two slides to one page to shrink them.


Our classroom library is shaping up. Bins are in place….ready for labels and books. Deja put all of the student book boxes together. After arranging the different boxes into a pattern, (Yes, I’m that anal.) I used labels from my chevron classroom set to add student numbers. The numbers will help with classroom organization and to practice number order. Students will have to place their book box back onto the shelf in number order each day. 

The blue strips of painter’s tape on the floor are to designate “read to self” spots for Daily 5. It gives the kiddos a little help in spacing themselves out to build stamina.


Our helper chart is ready for student names. I prefer not to type them because our population has the potential to change frequently.  Writing station is ready for labels and activities…students will have a choice ‘I CAN’ statements/activities in the white bin, vocabulary and/or sight words on the pocket chart and poetry journals in the large blue bins. In the buckets, will be choices of pens, pencils, crayons and erasers. One of those chairs will also disappear because I prefer for my kiddos to work in sets of 2. Two’s company….3’s a problem!

Schedule cards are in place….but in need of updating. The blue bin just below it will be our ‘borrow box’. In it will be basic supplies that students might need throughout the course of the day they can borrow and return like crayons…scissors, glue and glue sticks. I do not allow my students to keep bottled glue at their desks. That will be housed in the borrow box and pulled out, as needed. Supplies that are found on the floor also get tossed into the borrow box too.



There’s no alphabet hanging in my classroom yet, because well….it’s still sitting on my dining room table, lol! Today, I discovered how to print all the way to the edge of the page and got so excited that I began creating and never got back up to school to hang it! It’ll be hung just above the whiteboard at the front of the room. I shared this picture earlier today on Instagram…if you’re not already, follow me there to keep up with quick pic posts. If you’ve followed here for a while…you know that I LOVE pictures and snap them constantly. I learn something new every day and LOVE to share!

If you have an HP printer…this may be one of your print options. As you prepare to print, go to your printer properties, click the features tab and select borderless…it will enlarge the image to print all the way to the edge of the page…no pesky white border to trim!



Hope you enjoyed checking out how my room is shaping up! I’m off to peek into some classrooms too! See ya tomorrow!

 

The Rainbow Room

 

Hi, Friends!

I did it! I finally finished it! Well….I believe I have.  It’s done for now, lol! I’ve completed the labels that we will be using  to set up for the school year.  We still have about 4 weeks before we have to go back, BUT you know my mind is already on setting up the classroom.

Last year, one of the things that my students enjoyed the most was a quick transition game we played called, “What’s the Password?”. As we entered the room throughout the day, they were required to read a word printed on the mini poster outside of our classroom door. The words were pulled from our sight word list for the week.

After lunch, it was done limbo style with my arm extended across the doorway.  They didn’t know it…..but playing this little game was also an incentive to hurry out of the bathroom, so we could move on with our day! Ha!

This is what our little mini poster will look like this year!  As I put this little set together, I tried to think of the basics we would need to start the year and worked from the doorway into the room….

{Stick with me, there’s something in it for you!}

 

….and voila! Word wall, cubby tags, table tags, calendar, book bin labels….oh my! Room 113 is ready to go! Do you think my students will pick up on the fact that I like pink?  It’s so funny, how quickly they get to know you. Luckily, its not just for girls anymore! I love the colors of this digital pack of paper.  It’s the rainbow, but with a calm color combo so that its not too overwhelming.  If you’ve never visited DreamLike Magic…stop by some time and check out what Alicia has to offer.  I love her work!

I missed Manic Monday this week, but didn’t want to leave you without a freebie, so I’ve prepped a part of our little classroom set to share with you! 

I saw this behavior clip chart on Pinterest.  You can check out a great Q&A post about it {here}.  It was created by Stephanie at 3rd Grade Thoughts.  I really appreciated the insight she shared about using the clip chart with Whole Brain Teaching in her classroom. 

I have not been trained on Whole Brain Teaching, but was in search of a positive way to address classroom behavior.  There are those days where the rainbow is a little harder to see than others!

This chart will allow for the opportunity of redemption and flexibility.  We all make mistakes.  What’s important is that we learn from them.  Each student will start the day on “ready to learn” and “clip up or down”, as warranted. Those that rise to the occasion, will go home with a simple sticker in their daily folder.  Those that don’t, will not.  Simple.

This is what the chart we will be using will look like…..AND you can use it too! Click {here} to grab it and enjoy!  Thanks for sticking around allllll the way to the end! Be sure to check back often. It’s crunch time, so there will be many more back to school freebies to come!

Have a terrific Tuesday!