This is the second year I have been in this classroom, and it had nostalgia for me because although I have moved classrooms many times over the years, THIS room was my very first classroom EVER! I really wish I had taken pictures back then! I may have some somewhere... I will have to dig!
This is the view from the door of my room, looking into my room. I often have the desks in pods of four, as it allows for easy groups, elbow partners, face partners, and more space in the room. They stack the chairs at the end of the day, and pick them up again in the morning. I have a piano in my room, which is my own, and play it.... occasionally.
Still standing at the door, this is the front of the room. My wonderful new Crate Seats are here for kids to sit on, as well as my SMARTboard and whiteboard. The corner cupboard is art supplies, because it is next to the sink. I LOVE having a sink in my room (I didn't when I was in the portables) so the littles can wash their hands before snack and lunch without causing a ruckus in the bathrooms.
This is the calendar and schedule area. The four classroom helpers are there too, and they are the ones who do calendar in the morning. I got the place value chart for counting the days from Amber over at School is a Happy Place. I love them! I used different buckets that she did, but it works. So far, it seems to be helping my kiddos remember how to use place value, so when we get to that in Math, they will be better off!
This is the back wall in my room. I got that large IKEA storage unit second hand last year and it was the best thing I have every purchased for my classroom! Storage is at a premium in our school, as all teachers' stuff (and we all know it can really pile up!) has to be stored IN our classrooms, or taken home. I am NOT willing to haul things home, so I needed to be creative with storage! All my Crate Seats are filled with materials from other grades that I have taught that I want to keep but don't need right now. The storage unit here has a bin (or two) for each science unit so all our centre materials are together and easy to access. This is also where I store seasonal decorations: a couple bins for Christmas stuff, one for Valentine's Day/ St. Patrick's Day, one for Halloween, etc. The bottom couple shelves and bins are for extra student materials, novel study sets, guided reading sets, Home Reading pouches, headphones and all my bulletin board letters and decorations. Whew! There is a LOT in there!
To the right of the shelving unit is my (quite pitiful) listening centre. Right now, it consists of just that old player, and to be honest, it hasn't been used even once. Need to work on that...
To the left, is where I store one of the school's two netbook carts. We share two of them for the whole school, and I volunteered to store one. My main reason for offering is that I want them to be taken care of. I check them all each day, make sure they are charged and working. Secondly, it means that if no one else has them signed out, my littles have constant access to them. I taught them how to use them within the first couple weeks of school, and it really opens up opportunities for learning throughout the day! Love that!
This is my desk area. I know a lot of teachers and schools are doing away with the idea of a teacher desk/space, but I honestly can't imagine not having one! I have quick and easy access to all my resources (on bookshelves behind my chair, you can kind of see the edge of one in the pic), a place to have things ready to grab for teaching, and a place to tack up important info I don't want to lose. The round table is where I meet students for reading or writing conferences one-on-one. It is also where my teaching partner and I often meet to discuss our plans. I can also pull it out quickly for a standing space for kids to work. Lastly, although it's technically not supposed to be there, I have a mini-fridge for my lunch and snacks (shhhhh...). Since this is my second home, a girl needs to eat!
This is where all the Math materials are stored. The colourful drawers contain the Math Stations for the month which I also got from Amber over at School is a Happy Place. Thanks Amber! The labels for my Math stations as well as the tags for the guided Math groups I got from (need to look up). On the white board above is where I post our outcomes for Science and Social. The Science ones I got from Tessa Janzen at her TPT store, and the Social ones I made myself. On the bulletin board I have my CAFE menu for Daily 5, which I will admit, I haven't really started yet. I just finished my first run of reading diagnostics, so now we will start reading strategies. The VOICES display uses the 6+1 Writing Traits program, but we are changing writing programs this year, so that will come down soon. Both the CAFE and VOICES cut-outs came from (need to look up).
Last, but certainly not least, our classroom library! Last year I was lucky to be a prototype for levelling the library with Fountas & Pinnell reading levels. Top shelf is for books that don't really fit the levelling system, so they are grouped by theme. The bins I bought from Really Good Stuff, but as a Canadian, they ended up being really expensive! Some haven't really held up to kids' grabbing hands either. But they look pretty! I was thinking about making the bins neater before I took the picture, but I decided against it. This is what it looks like most days. It is a bit messy, but it is useable and kid-friendly.
These are the kids' book bins. They keep their library or levelled books in them, so they can just "grab n' go" when it is time for reading! I think I need to remove a shelf so they fit better with the taller books. When I have time... lol. These bins I purchased at Education Station. They are sturdy, colourful and I love them!
Well, there is my classroom! Colourful, simple and a great place to learn!
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