Classroom Tour

Here are some pictures of my home away from home.  I have been blessed this year with 23 little ones.  Whew...that's a lot.  That's the largest class I've ever started with.  So I've been arranging, rearranging, and rearranging some more to try to get the best traffic flow in my room.  Now that I've rocked it a week.  I gotta say, it's working pretty darn well.  Priority number one: workspace for each little one.  Priority number two:  a cozy place for my couch.  Priority number three: vocabulary walls.  :) 
Buckle your seat belts...I'll be your tour guide. 

Hanging above the doorway is my sign I had so much fun painting this summer.  You gotta love a Hobby Lobby 1/2 price sale.  I watched the ad for when they put their wooden supplies on sale and then scooped up these little letters and some cute little robots to put on the ends.  I loooove it.  Especially since this is the first year teaching with my maiden name. Sorry it's a little dark but for some reason the motion sensor lights wouldn't come on in the stinkin' hallway.  No clue why. 

 

Up next is a view of how the tables are arranged. I'm working with 5 student tables.  Notice my little guy there just trying his best to get to the pencils and scissors.  I need 5 arms. 

 

This wall is pretty hard to reach due to the cubbies.  I'm blessed with a classroom that has 2 walls full of cubbies.  Sounds awesome and it is.  But, it does cut down on bulletin board options.  So this is a board I don't really change throughout the year.  It houses our Ticket Reward Poster, Classroom Rules Poster, and Behavior Colors.  Please visit the post "Behavior" for explanations and close up pictures. 

 

This is the wall of cubbies my student's use for their back packs.  One of my little sweeties came up with the idea of putting their crayon box in at the end of the day so the custodians would have an easier time cleaning the tables!  Don't you just love those little teachers in training?

 

 

Welcome to the reading corner!  Under the word wall my little ones can curl up on the couch or the rug and pull a book for the grouped baskets.  There are little stuffed animals or "reading buddies" for them to read to sitting on the top shelf.  Books we've read in read alouds stand up on the shelf.  So far it's been a hit.  The couch also faces the white board and is a great incentive for participation.  Students who are consistently raising their hands and sharing ideas get to leave the carpet and sit on the couch for the rest of the lesson.  They love it!

 

Vocabulary Walls.  Aren't they beautiful?  And to make it even better guess who came up before school started to help me with these.  My sweet dear old dad.  He's always got my back.  There's not much on here now but soon it will be full of vocabulary words that are colored coded for each subject and examples of student work. 

 

 

Below the beautiful vocab walls are my center shelves. They are totally not the way I want them but who in the world has their centers running the first week of school? Not me...The colored buckets are literacy centers and clear buckets are math centers.  See that adorable Cars rug?  I found it for $9 at Wal-Mart. You know that chaotic clearance isle?  Well this little gem was just calling my name.  I love it! 

 

Here's my math shelf.  Don't judge me.....it's a work in progress.  Not cute but you know who is?  My sweet little nephew Carter sitting there on the floor.  Hey man! 

 

 

 

On to the front of the room.  The white board wall houses the calendar along with my rocking chair.  Here you can find the objective board and Champs board. 

The kids place magnets on the appropriate

picture for each learning activity. 

I used Cara Carroll's schedule cards from
the First Grade Parade.  I'm gonna need a
full blog entry to describe to you how much
First Grade Parade has helped me.  I LOVE
FIRST GRADE PARADE!  What an
inspiration. 

 

Underneath the white board are the animal reading strategies.  If the kids are going to space out while I'm teaching I'd rather they look at something beneficial.  I mounted them on paper plates to change things up. 

 

 

 

 

Last stop on the white board...Our daily schedule.  I bought these magnets last year when I had a student who desperately needed to know what was happening next.  We take down the subjects as we go.  Right now I have a copy of my schedule hanging until I memorize it myself!  haha

 

The table job wheel helps me use cooperative learning.  The black number wheel spins each week and the students get a new job.  I'm not a pro at using it yet.  This is my first time but I have already seen a HUGE improvement in pack up time and passing out papers is lightning fast. 

 

Helper Job Description:  Trash-throw away trash for the group.  Chair- stack chairs at the end of the day for the group.  Captain- pass out papers, get notebooks/folders from the table buckets.  Caddy- Sharpens pencils, gets glue buckets for table. 

 

What about all the other stuff you need help with?  Well for the extras like needing someone to take a note to the office, that's a job for...THE TEACHER HELPER! 

Each student has a number that I use for their cubbies, take home folders, etc.  I found this little photo album lying around my house.  I used some little polka dot name cards I got a Dollar Tree and some super hero stickers to make this.  I just wrote the number with a Sharpie.  I flip a page each day and the student that matches the number gets to be the Super Teacher Helper of the day. 

 

 

 

Also hanging on our white board is our Smarty Pants.  Inspired by the one and only Babbling Abby of The Inspired Apple.  Another one of my fav bloggers!  I used fabric paint, rhinestones, and a pair of Mateo's old jeans.  When a kiddo makes a really creative comment or shows critical thinking the whole class cheers "Smaaaaaarttttty Pants!" They get to hang their award on their chair for the day and eat the smarties in the pocket.  Abby has some precious little tickets she uses to write why they won the award.  They are super cute and great parent communication.  Thanks for the idea sister my kids LOVE it! 

 

I hope you've enjoyed this classroom tour.  I will have more pictures very soon.  Stay tuned for my desk/personal corner, behavior tricks, ticket rewards, and more.  Thanks for stopping by.  Please leave feedback or ask questions.