Classroom Tour

Well after being at school for 3 weeks and already having to change rooms once we are finally getting ready to begin school tomorrow!

Initially, I had to share a classroom with another class due to construction difficulties. Thankfully, that was all resolved last week and now we have our own room again. However that left us only a few days to do our classroom. I'm really happy with how it turned out, but I know that I'll be adding A LOT as the year progresses. There are a couple of blank spaces that I need to fill with student work as well as new creations like anchor charts etc. But until then, here's a glimpse at what lies inside the walls of our classroom. ENJOY!

View of the room from the doorway. Here you see my newly designed table (awaiting a framed quote...this week, fingers crossed!) and "today's password sign.  Throughout the room, I've made items in my green and white polka dot pattern. If anyone is interested let me know. I am planning on adding them to my TPT store. 

Our cubbies are divided in half. Here is the first half. The area above the cabinets is awaiting materials/storage for Breakfast Baskets when not in use. I found the alphabet on TPT the other day and I love it! It's all math vocab!!! I just want to label it with a sign on the blank cabinet towards the left. You also see our SuperKids poster. So excited for this curriculum. We added a rug and some pillows This will give our students a nice nook when they read for the American Reading 100 Book Challenge. 

This is the second half of the cubbies and the rest of the alphabet. You also see our caddies up top and other bins. I like to store them here when not in use because they are just pretty and look better than storage boxes up there. 

This is a shot of the room from around the doorway. You can see our layout with the tables. 

Guided reading area/small group area. Materials are behind in bins for small group work. The cubbies will be great for our belongings, especially winter coats!

Our objectives will be posted here as well as our daily class goal. I'm sorry I forgot where is got this amazing poster, but I am beyond excited to use it! If I got it from you...THANK YOU!

View of the library/morning meeting area. Love the crate seating (bottom of the picture). We found two that were left from another teacher. We used them to define the space. 

Students data binders, "Boo Boo Lotion" bin and "Spotlight on writing" waiting for a great piece to illuminate!

Sample breakfast basket waiting for the students to arrive!

View of the classroom library which includes American Reading Company books, SuperKids Library, AND personal books for free reading...sorry its blurry. I really like the ledge it makes to display books on top. This will change with each month. 

The desk area. Includes American Reading Log, Reading stamina sheet (again...if I  got this from you...THANKS!), and teacher toolbox. The curtain hides wires that are hanging off desk as well as our listening center. It's great camouflage. The material is green with white polka dots...it looks olive green here though for some reason :/

Behavior clip chart, classroom rules, and "Sample Student." Below is a dry erase board. The cards will be where we display Spelling and vocab words each week. I'd like t add more to this wall, but it's tough to get things to stick to this cinder block. 

Part of the calendar. In the next few weeks, I'm going to spruce this up and make it polka dot, but with the moving I haven't had time. Still great because it exposes the kids to a lot of concepts early on that they normally wouldn't learn to mid year. 

In the "spotlight" (classroom helper of the day) and sillybration for the day. Above is the birthday area. Again, I made these cards myself. If you'd like them to go on TPT just let me know!

Overview of the calendar area.

exit question by the door

bathroom/hall passes. 

That's it. I hope you found this helpful and can use some of these ideas in your room. Any thoughts? I'd love to here them!!

Bin Makeover Reveal!!!

School starts Monday and I have been working my tail off trying to get our classroom ready to go. I have most of my bins completed after their spray paint makeover and I'm really excited about them. I've already gotten a ton of compliments!

In case you have forgotten what they looked like here is the link to the before post:   Bins Before

Here they are already ready to be loaded up in the classroom:

caddies with polka dot ribbon

miscellaneous bins for manipulatives

book, magazine, etc bins

bins in classroom library (still need to add labels for genres, etc)

What do you think? I really love them!!!

Besides my bins, I created a new behavior clip chart for my class. The sign at the top says "Is your behavior spot on today?"

If you like this chart, you can get it from my TPT store HERE!!!

It includes behavior logs for the entire year, so make sure you check it out!

Classroom bins

After teaching for 9 years, I have quite the collection of bins in all shapes, sizes, and unfortunately colors. It kinda gets annoying when I look at all the colors and gets on my nerves. This year my coteacher and I are doing a new theme so I decided to conquer my bins and make them all look uniform.

I went to Joann's fabric and got some Spray paint that works on plastic and started spraying. Here's a look at te bins before and the current state as they dry. I'll post an after when I'm all done. I'm lovin them so far!

The Sky is Falling!!!

I pulled into the parking lot of school this morning and this is what I saw:

Then when I walked upstairs to my classroom this is what I saw in the hallway:

Apparently this summer they are repairing the leaky roof and have already started. It's super loud and dusty. Plus, we are only allowed in the room for a few hours a day now. So, looks like I'm bringing some stuff home.

Speaking of, here's a project I have lined up for the summer. My first year teaching I purchased these organizers for my construction paper. They look kinda plain like this:

It's a really great way to keep everything neat and organized. However, I have been inspired by Pinterest to take it up a notch with labels and some creative scrapbooking to look something more like this:

I'll be sure to show you how it turns out!! Now, I'm going to attempt to run into my room and pack stuff because I think the construction crew is at lunch!!! Have a great day!

Product review and easy activity

I was packing & cleaning around the classroom today and I spotted one of my favorite things I just had to share with all my blogging friends. I'd like to start by saying, I am not endorsing this product, it's just something I really like and think you will like too if you organize like me!

I purchased it last fall from Really Good Stuff. It's called the Store More® Wire Works Desktop Secretary and retails for $29.99. For years, I've used plastic organizers and stacking shelves, but nothing has been as good as this. I found that this is very sturdy and is much easier for me to use. Plus I find that it works really well on the side of my u-shaped table.

The file folders were purchased separately (and of course color coordinated with our room). However, regular pocket folders and binders also fit in each section. Underneath, I have my reading and math observation logs to write anecdotal notes as the students are working. I store them here because it's on my u-shaped table. You can also fit a binder or other materials there.

On the side are 3 cups for pencils, pens, and markers. I also keep some scissors in case I need some in small groups. These cups can be placed on either side of the unit.

I absolutely love this as it really helps me stay organized. I recommend it to anyone who is obsessed with organizing their classroom as me.

The second thing I want to share with you is a product I found while wondering the aisles of Target one day. I was trying to get items off a friend's baby registry and stumbled upon these cute little bath toys.I had a little "Ahh!" moment in the middle of Target and I'm pretty sure I might have said something out loud which caused people to stare.

These blocks cost under $5 per set. I divided them up and placed them in plastic containers. The students use them during Literacy Centers sometimes to create sentences. This activity is fun for students who are struggling or soaring in the classroom. They just love picking up the little foam blocks.

         

I hope you are able to try both of these ideas. As I said, I don't get paid to endorse either one of these products. I just like them a lot!

sitting at my desk

7 more days and boy am I ready for vacation! I already made some cute little gifts for my co-teacher and the girls I was mentoring this year. I'll post them next week after I give them their gifts in case they are snooping around my blog (cough cough Dalyn!).

It's just about time to start packing up my classroom. Probably my least favorite thing to do since I have so much STUFF. I was sitting at my desk and noticed my organizer. I made it from a tool box I bought at Lowe's.

Don't you love it? The colors go perfectly with the classroom. I definitely want to add more colors like this to our room next year. It's very peaceful. Plus, I added some bees and flowers which help incorporate out bee theme without being too cartoonish.

If you want to make one like this here is what you need:

• Lowe's organizer (for nails and hardware)
• cardstock/scrap paper (mine was adhesive so I didn't need glue)
• hot glue gun*
• clear labels
• 3D stickers

Once you have your supplies, it's super easy.

1. Cut strip of cardstock to size of each drawer.
2. Stick cardstock to drawers.
3. Print labels.
4. Add stickers.
5. Fill with all your fun stuff!

Told ya it was easy! Good luck making one for your classroom. If you do, send me a pic!

Oh, one more thing. The other day I posted some pictures of our backyard before we started to cut down trees and stuff. Well, I came home yesterday to this:

The bf took out all the hedges with a chainsaw! I have to say, the yard looks SOOO much bigger now. Plus it will a lot easier to paint the house. We are debating whether to add river rocks or mulch to the area once we dig up the roots. If you have any suggestions, let me know!

Hope you all have a great day!

Summer Bucket List Linky Party

9 days until summer vacation starts! WooHoo!!! I'm linking up with a bunch of other teachers to create my bucket list for this summer. Thanks to pinterest and my fave blog friends, I have alot to do!

This summer I want to make:

"Guide to My Life" organization binder

Complete and total organization binder

Cool painted bottles

For my classroom I want to copy:

writing center organization

PVC Pipe Pocket Chart

I want to visit:

Horseshoe Bay Bermuda

and make my yearly pilgrimage.....

Most importantly, I want to add a bunch of units to my TPT store!

TPT

Summer Bucket List Linky Party

 

Let's Get Organized!

First off, I'm sorry it's been so long since I've been able to post on here. Things have gotten a little hectic in my life. We started to refurbish the house I grew up in. Take a look at the living room before and after pics:

                                                                         Before

                                                                           After

I think it came out pretty awesome considering the whole room cost under $6,000 which includes the hardwood floors for the entire house and adding the lighting!


 Now that it's over, I can finally post again...YAY! I know many people are almost done with school, but we still have a bunch of days left. Since we still have some time we decided to start getting the classroom organized.
    I always find it important to clean and organize before I pack my things for the summer. This makes unpacking them that much easier. It is especially helpful if you are going to be in a different classroom next year like me. I go through this every year and have never been able to find a good solution. However, I think I've finally found it!

    I went to Dollar tree yesterday (LOVE IT!) and picked up a bunch of square containers, kinda like tupperware. They are from the "Sure Fresh" line. These containers are large enough to hold almost all of my supplies and materials. I also picked up some small ones for little things like cotton balls, beads, and googly eyes.

Take a look at my cabinets now:

Don't you just love it?! I haven't finished yet because I ran out of containers and I want to add labels, but I just couldn't contain myself (see what I did there...hahaha!). Today I'm heading to another Dollar Tree to pick up some more since I cleaned out the one in my town. I'll post more pictures when I'm all done.

Good luck and happy organizing!