Despite saying I wasn’t going to, I went into my school today (on our day off) to do even more work in my room. I’m the type of person who really has to have every item on my to-do list checked off in order to feel content with leaving my room, knowing that the next time I go back, the students will be there. While I didn’t want to, I’m glad I did go in as I was able to get my work done. It took six hours, but it’s done.
Inspired by this picture: 
Click on the picture to take you to the originator's blog.
So, I have some finished pictures (well, sort of finished- my cell phone was going to die so I snapped some pictures earlier in the day, not right before leaving).
This first one is actually an old picture that I hadn’t posted earlier:
These are “cool down” jars that I created after being inspired by a Pinterest picture I found. The original picture came from the Here We Are Together Blog. Thanks for the awesome idea! I put my jar in a container with this little frog stress reliever toy. When/if one of my students is overly excited or angry, I plan on grabbing the container, and having the student follow me to a quiet corner/table. I will allow them to squeeze the stress frog while they watch all of the glitter settle within the jar. This will give them a little bit of time to calm down and cool down!
So, the other night, a couple of my wonderful colleagues and I were in the hallway, working and talking, when one of our custodians came down the hall with a cart of items heading for the garbage. One of them was a shelf, while another was a rolled up carpet. Suddenly, we changed from teachers to American Pickers. Long story short, my friend now has a new shelf and I have a “new “ carpet. It is in great shape! I put it in my classroom library area. Have a look…..
My writing area is still a work in progress but I am okay starting school with it the way it is right now. On the first day of school I plan on taking a picture of each student while they hold up a mini whiteboard with their name written on it. I’m then going to laminate the pictures, hole punch them, and put them in the colored holders in the writing area (one for boys, one for girls). I still have to create number/number word cards to hang on one of the hooks too.
This is my shelf, which is near my classroom door. When I left today, most of the contents were off of the shelf- it looked neater than in this picture!! Anyway, you can see my new frog birthday cakes that run along the top of the bulletin board. Below the birthday cakes there is a jobs bulletin board, my focus wall, my Common Core Standards posters, and my Handwriting Hall of Fame. There is also a closer picture of the Common Core Standards posters. I purchased and downloaded them on Teachers Pay Teachers. I laminated the pages and standards and attached Velcro to each. I plan on posting the standards that we are addressing each day/week.
Since changing from desks to tables this year, I used my bookshelf as book cubbies for the children. Above the cubbies I put the carousel bookshelves that I got from a colleague. I’ve decided that I am going to put my differentiated literacy lily pad centers in them. I plan on laminating manila envelopes and putting the center activities in each. I used clear contact paper to cover lily pad cut outs, which I numbered and attached to each little basket. On the front of the lily pads, I attached some Velcro. I then created little flies, which I also attached Velcro to. If the activity is more of a below level activity, I will put one fly on the lily pad, if it is on-level, I will put two flies, if it is advanced, I will put three. We will see how it works. I may need to change things.
This is a shot of my Morning Meeting area. In the picture you can see my finished supply bins, my calendar, and my shelving unit for the students’ Morning Meeting binders. I’ve provided my morning meeting sheet for you to see/use below.
This is the other end of my Morning Meeting area. You can see my Morning Meeting board and my art center.
This is a shot of the room from my coatroom. I love all of the space that I have now that I have switched from desks to tables.
I decided to decorate my desk a little. I still think it is a little bare. I think I am going to add a couple of pictures of my animals.
This too is a Pinterest inspired creation. I created these cute frog clips and “Velcro-ed” them to the wall near the door. When students send notes about early dismissal, I always have to send them (the notes) to the office. I then have to write myself a reminder note. I figured that this would be a great place to clip them. I plan on keeping all of my reminder notes as well! Document, document, document!! I think I am going to create a flip chart with empty envelopes, with a month written on each. I’m just going to put each note in the appropriate envelope.
In this picture you can also see the, “See You Later Alligator” poem that I printed (after- again- seeing it on Pinterest). I thought it would be a good community building activity to take turns saying each line at the end of each day.
Click the picture to take you to the original blog and a printable version!!
Lastly, this is my new schedule bulletin board. I feel like this is one of the things that I change every year. I never love each year’s bulletin board enough to repeat the next year. I do however, like the clocks as the students can match the time up with our classroom clock. I guess we will have to wait and see if this one lasts to live another year, next year.
The only picture that I am missing is the picture of my finished math tubs. They too are differentiated like my literacy lily pads. There are two bins with 3 flies, two bins with two flies, and two bins with 1 fly. I will post that picture soon!
Next week will be busy but I will try to post about our first few days!! I’m so excited!
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