Sunday, July 14, 2013

Welcome to My Classroom

So, I've spent the better part of the past two weeks working in my classroom trying my darndest to get it to look like something.  I never realized how much stuff I had or how much I had to organize until I began working n my room.  I began with a huge mess of......STUFF.  Slowly but surely, though, I have managed to turn it into something else.  

This was once the student computer corner.  However, now it looks more like this...

And This...

Did you know that you can visit this site and they will send you those nice "Values, pass them on" posters FOR FREE.  You cannot choose the ones you want, but still....
I also moved the bookshelf from the front of the room  to the back to look like this....
These are all my fiction books.  While at Woodland, we had our Title I books that were mostly non-fiction.  Therefore, I invested my Scholastic points in fiction books.  I also inherited most of those bottom three shelves (sets of 3+ books) from my former principal who bequeathed them to me by unknowingly scaring me into thinking I would not have a job the following year.  Needless to say, my non-fiction shelf is looking kind of bare.
The only actual non-fiction books are on the third and fourth shelves.  Skimpy, huh?  I know where my points will be going this year.  My students also have access to staplers, three hole punches, and tape on each of the bookshelves so that they stay away from mine.  I've had so many staplers ruined because I just let them use them.  On a side note, do you notice that picture frame on the very top shelf?  It is a homemade certificate from a student I had during my student teaching tenure.  

My bulletin boards have also changed.  My big one started like this:

I'm not a fan of the orange or the border.  So, it now looks VERY similar to what it has been EVERY one of the 4 years I have been teaching. 

That is the same pink fabric and border I have had every year, seriously.  Here are the sections close up.

Here are our classroom buckets.  On the shelf to the left, the student can fill out drops or "thank you for filling my bucket" notes.  Once approved, they get to put a drop (pom-pom) in the student's bucket.  

The center is our "Class Data" section.

This is where we will post class information beginning with open house night attendance.  We will post class MAP scores, spelling test scores, writing performance, etc.  This way we can track class growth and revel in our glory.  

Then there's the right side that I'm not entirely sure about.

I'm thinking I may post our "Learning with the End in Mind" poster to keep students focused on where we are heading.  I will probably post important words here, too, since I will not have a word wall this year.  I just never really use it like I should.  So, why keep putting it up?

My poor teacher area once looked like this.

Okay, so it is not the best picture, but you get the point.  I could not stand having my desk turned that way and all the computer wires showing.  It just aggravated me to no end.  

Now, my desk is against the wall where you cannot see it since my desk is an absolute mess right now.  I have yet to sort through the massive amount of pens, markers, Post-It notes, and who knows what else.  I thought I'd change things up a bit and place knick knack things on my shelves at school like I would at home.  Since I don't seem to have enough to fill the shelves anyway since I purged, it works well.  

The last spot is the front of the room, which started like this.

 Now it is sans bookshelf and has student mailboxes and "time out" desks.  

There you see the only actual content I hang up in my room, writing posters.  Since we have to take down any content before testing, I choose to hang anchor charts as we go and remove them periodically.  They end up hanging in weird spots, but I never really care.  I like the idea I found on Pinterest of taking pictures of them and putting them in a binder for student access whenever they need it.  I had done away with my student mailboxes last year and just used hanging file folders because they take up less room.  However, I hate to ask to get rid of something like this during my first year at a new school.  

And, that is all folks!

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