It’s over. I’m dragging
patooty BIG TIME, but I survived! Meet
the Teacher 2014 has come and gone and I have two great classes of kiddos to
teach this year. This time of year makes
me MIA. Things slack at home thanks to
12 hour days feverishly taking care of all the details, decorating, and
planning for the new year.
Now that I can finally take a breath, I just HAD to share pics…because…well, I need
praise, people! And, one of my absolute
favorite things is to take a peek at other teachers’ rooms. It gets my creativity flowing and gives me
ideas for making a classroom beautiful, homey, and organized….And I’m
guessing there are other teachers out
there like me.
But seriously. PRAISE,
people. Don’t forget.
It makes me SMILE!!
Now, enough talking. It’s
time to get to some picture action. It’s
time for the big reveal….. So here we go. I did not go with a traditional theme this
year. Instead, I opted for bright colors
with chevron and polka dots and burlap.
Lots of burlap. I hope you find a
few ideas to use yourself.
This is the view from the front door. The desk with the chevron is right inside the door. It's like a mini-office as I spend the mornings here greeting students as they come in to eat breakfast. This area also houses lunch count, nurses slips, transportation folder, lunch tags, and more.
Calendar, a cozy reading spot, mailboxes,and the shelf houses lunch kits and book bags.
These cabinets are full of STUFF. They are all open shelves. It's such a huge space, and I needed more wall space....SO, my awesome hubster came up with an idea to hang a wire across the top edge of the shelving. I then covered foam board, decorated it, and placed command hooks on the back. The command hooks hang on the wire. I can now access my shelves simply by lifting the board, removing the boards, or sliding them. This board area will house student work. Below, I made curtains to hang. Under that, you can see student cubbies.
Morning meeting area and focus wall.....
Yes, I am missing the N in reading. I have NO IDEA how that happened. What can I say? There were kids.ev.ery.where. today!
More cubbies....these are home to Interactive Reading Notebooks, vocabulary, phonics,and comprehension notebooks, and writing journals. Each cubby is home to an AM and a PM student.
Guided Reading table in the foreground.... teacher space in the background.
My new desk! The actual desk is an old sewing table and the my hubby built the hutch top and attached to an old dinette table. I painted/refinished it all and made curtains to hide the storage under....and VOILA! It was a TON of work, but I am in LOVE!
I just had to get a good pic of my banner....another summer project. It's made of burlap and ribbon...and some paint, of course.
This small table area is home to my ELMO.
Blends board....
And now....the library! I haven't finished putting basket labels on. That will hopefully be finished tomorrow.
Daily Five clip chart..... You can find it HERE!
Another reading spot.... the bucket holds a few pillows, beach towels, and even a few bright bath rugs. All of these will be used for students during reading time. To the far right, the drawers hold WORD WORK activities (labels are under construction).
My awesome Word Work table. It was an old coffee table. I sanded and painted it and that awesome hubby of mine covered the top in dry-erase board. The baskets store activities.
Writing Station central supply location....
Listen to Reading....
Kitchenette area....
Word Wall.... both regular and a phonics word wall across the top...
Check out our Bright Classroom Decor Bundle !
Table organization....
Ticket canisters....
Guided reading goodies....
In this last pic, you can see a part of the two awesome book basket shelves that amazing husband of mine built to house all our book baskets. Don't look too closely...they are not labeled yet! 44 book baskets take up some space, ya'll!
And, I believe that's IT! I hope you enjoyed the tour as much as I enjoyed putting it together! Almost every.single. display was created by the 3 Sassy Sisters. Feel free to shop our store!
Happy Back to School, friend!
~Robin
Mollie's Classroom Reveal
It has been a long few weeks! I finished putting everything together but I forgot my camera every day. I apologize for the delay but we all know pictures are the last thing on our minds the week of open house. :) I will apologize for the papers on my table but it is my :work" table. This is for all of you who are going, " Did you see that mess" and I know that would be about 80% of my OCD friends including myself.
Here we go!
Writing Center:
I am working on
this set which is why it is not complete in the pictures. I need to finish the
last touches before posting it on TPT. Make sure you follow us on facebook for
a chance to get it free on one of our flash freebies. I am stoked about the
facebook page that I created for this set. Check out the finished set here http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Writing-Station-1476764.
The chevron filetastic I got from Mardel's and you can find it here
The chevron filetastic I got from Mardel's and you can find it here
This is my entry table that houses the nurse passes, lunch slips, and stickers for the fluency charts above it. I always keep sanitizer and kleenex here as well.
This is our class job chart. I love to teach about responsibility. You can read more about this set here from an earlier post http://the3sassysisters.blogspot.com/search/label/Classroom%20jobs.
I went all chalk board style this year. I have been wanting to forever and was afraid of the amount of ink it would use. I found a local business that prints on colored card stock for way cheaper than it would be for me to print at home.
I am using the ticket system this year to help shape behavior and expectations. I have it set up into points. It depends on how much the treasure cost or how awesome it is. In my 5 bucket there are pencils, small erasers, stickers, and little things. In the 10 bucket there are cool erasers, bracelets, rings, glow sticks, and poppers. In the 15 bucket there are coloring tablets, notepads, gel pens, bracelets, highlighters, and things like that. In my 20 bucket (in my cabinet) there are mini stuffed animals, happy meal toys, and little toys from dollar tree. In the 30 bucket, there are bigger stuffed animals and toys that are on a higher scale. The 50 box has old toys that I find at yard sales and wash. Buzz, beanies, and anything imaginable. I did this so that the students who are always on task have a chance to get something much better than the same thing every one gets. They will be able to save their tickets for something big or spend it on small things. Each student will have 5 at the beginning of the week. Off task behavior/ breaking rules will result in paying with a ticket. If students are doing an AWESOME job or "being a good citizen" they will earn more tickets. I also placed some coupons int he buckets like shoes off in the room and eat lunch with the teacher. Those are usually their favorite and it keeps me from buying as much. LOVE
Small Group Table:
This is where all of the sparks fly. I use this table for my guided reading groups. I have Deanna Jump’s packet and I love all of these fun posters and bookmarks. I use the strategy bookmarks for a reminder at each seat on the table. It is taped down for an entire years use.
This is where are of my brilliance happens. This is my main teaching wall. I use the board, the easel, and my NOW board in this spot while the students are on the rug. I love having a rug space in my room. I feel that it is a necessity in managing a 1st grade classroom. I just don't believe they need to sit in one space all day. Research shows that a 1st grader can hold their attention for up to 10 minutes and that is if their well trained. This is one of my reasons for using two seating areas and brain breaks. The more movement in the classroom, the more they will learn. I love my seat cushion for my rocker. I found this on clearance at Target for $6.
Classroom Rules:
I plan to do lots
of whole brain in my room this year and we stuck with those rules for that
reason. This is a freebie in our TPT store and you can find it here
This is my teacher area! It is just what I have always wanted. lol EVERYTHING is housed over here that I need to prepare each week. I have my table that I use to display the daily activities. I put post it notes with the blocks of time on them. This helps in case one of my babies are sick at home and I need to call in a sub. I hide my roller bag underneath the table so that I don't have to fight with the closet. lol. I have my rolling cart filled with baskets. I get LOTS of things in my mail box or brought to my room. Last year my filetastic wasn't used properly. I wasn't sure what I needed to label it with. This year it is labeled and ready for the school year. However, I still don't always have time to mess with a huge stack of papers as soon as I walk in my room. So, I will place them in the buckets and deal with it after the students go home. I also have two baskets for things that need to be copied and one for things that need to be turned back into the office.
Computer Center
Word Work Area:
This is always one
of my student’s favorite spots during daily 5. They love having the variety of
materials to build words. It also houses the magnetic center which is the front
of my desk. This was a great way to use one space for more than one purpose. I
threw a bean bag in there for a fun seat.
Magnetic area
Library:
I asked my
students at open house what they liked the best and they all pointed to the
library. It was a hit. Especially the puppet center and all of its friends. A
few of them even read while their parents filled out data sheets. I love these
kiddos already. My hubby had a few tasks this summer. The book shelf that
houses my books in their leveled bins he built for me. I paint and he builds!
We make quite the team.
Buddy Reading and Listening Center:
This is an area
for the students to listen to books on tape or C.D. and a small buddy reading
spot with these awesome bean bags. This was a Ross find and I love that store.
You never know what you might find. I am a true kid at heart and I love
treasure hunts.
Book Shelf:
This was one of my
yard sale finds! Yes, I found this massive shelf, begging for some love at a
yard sale. I painted it and knew it would fit both of my class’s book baskets
nicely. I use one side for each class. The top has a ledge and it is perfect
for holding all of my interactive journal baskets.
New Tables:
I have to admit
that this was an AWESOME addition to my room. It does pay off to help others
and work even when the “work days” are all done. I stayed the week after we
released for the summer to help a few friends with moving to their new rooms.
Our school consolidated and our school added the awesome 3rd grade
team. I jumped for joy when they told us there were tables that no one wanted. Woohooo!
Robin, Mrs. Pool, and I moved four tables for each of our rooms all by
ourselves. It was pretty hilarious watching us try to haul these things with
all of the furniture in the halls.
Word Wall:
I contemplated moving
my word wall all year. It didn’t work out on the magnetic board like I wanted
it to. So, I moved it up high and I know adding the words will be a fun chore!
I plan to add the new words every Friday evening. See, I already have a plan. Did I mention that I'm in love with my pennant banners this year?
I found this rug at Lowe's! It was the perfect addition to my room.
Sink area:
This area is used
for pencils. I sharpen the pencils about once a week. I have a job for each of
my students and one is to sharpen pencils. However, they only have one window
they can get this job done during the day. I don’t allow freedom of sharpening
pencils in my room. It’s a huge disruption and we love to learn about
responsibilities. They all start the day with two sharpened pencils and turn
them in for sharpening at the end of their day.
And, I believe that's IT! I did realize that I forgot to take a picture of the students cubbies and my beautiful curtains. I will make sure to do that this week and add it to this post. I hope you enjoyed the tour as much as I enjoyed putting it together! Almost every.single. display was created by the 3 Sassy Sisters. Feel free to shop our store!
Happy Back to School, friend!
~Mollie
