Classroom Reveal 2015-2016

Hello everyone!  I am finally here to reveal my classroom!  Let me first say that seeing all of the beautiful classrooms on Pinterest and blogs makes me feel inadequate!  I take pride in my classroom, but I have never been one to spend a bazillion hours "getting it ready."  My mom is a retired teacher and she comes down to help me set up every year.  She's done it all 12 years!  Such a fun tradition!  She's also an excellent helper!  I typically spend 1 full day and a partial second day getting my room ready and the rest of the time is spent organizing and planning my instruction for the upcoming year.  This year I was reaaaally crunched for time because I was in Vegas until right before school began!  I have always had mostly primary colors in my classroom.  This is year 12 and I am still not tired of them!  Red and yellow are my favorite colors IRL so I guess that has something to do with it!  A few years ago, I decided to tie in a circus theme so there are small details of that included.  I took 9 million pictures so bear with me!  They are also not in any sort of order.  A lot of things are hyper-linked so look for them to snag some freebies and see old posts.

First up is my parts of speech pocket chart.  I got the cards from my friend Lori at Teaching with Love and Laughter.  I love having it up because the kids reference it constantly!  They use the cards in their writing and also when we are studying parts of speech.

This little corner happened to be free this year so I stuck some of my monthly file boxes in it!  I am a TpT hoarder and all of those boxes are JAM-PACKED!  I made these boxes a couple years ago and they have made my life so much easier!  Planning during a holiday/special day is super easy.  To get the labels I have on the front of the boxes, click HERE.

This tall bookshelf houses my teacher read-alouds.  These are my personal copies, many of which I have duplicates for in the student library area.  I don't let my kids touch these books, unless someone specifically asks after I read the book aloud.  I have been collecting my teacher read-alouds since I first started college!  I love the way I have them set up.  I used to use tubs but as you can see, the tubs were way too full so I had to get rid of them.  Now I have my books organized by the following:  general read-alouds, Phonics, Writing, Social Studies, Science, and then all of the holidays are in order starting with back to school on the bottom two shelves.  I love me some books!  In the white tub, I keep all of the things I pass out during Meet the Teacher Night, as well as extra name tags and anything else a new student would need.  If I get a newbie, I can pull out my tub and quickly get everything he/she needs.  On top of the shelf is my treasure chest and candy box.

This red cart is where I store many of the extra supplies that the students bring in.  I unwrap ALL of them {super annoying} to get them to fit inside.  I got the cart at IKEA.  I keep it next to my desk and the students do not have free access to it.  I typically pull the supply if they lose theirs, but on occasion I will let them go get their own {towards the end of the year}.  The reason for this is because they will take advantage and before I know it, they'll have 9 glue sticks in their desk!

This tall cabinet is a catch all.  I have a lot of things inside it that I don't use very often.  The right side is a coat rack and a mirror, which is nice for fixing your hair or putting on your lipstick, which no one teacher has time for.  Ever.  On the front, I have 4 Target Dollar Spot pocket charts.  In them are our reference cards for days, months, color words, and number words.  The kids use them constantly during writing!  All but the color words are included in my Classroom Labels and Resources Sets.

This is a bookshelf that I painted a few years ago.  It fits perfectly right by my door and board.  I try to keep the top open for things I have to take to the office.  The first shelf houses my students' birthday bags and birthday board.  The middle shelf has band-aids and Vaseline and Popsicle sticks for chapped lips and calendar pieces.  The bottom shelf is my lost crayon area.  I got the labels from Creekside Teacher Tales.

This is my door.  Pretty much self-explained!  I got the tickets from Trend.

Here is a view of all of my storage!  It is great having so much of it!  It does take up almost all of my wall space, which is a bummer, but it is what it is!  I try to keep most of my areas blank and add things as we need them/use them throughout the year.    

Here are my student computers.  3 lonely computers!  We are a Title I school with limited technology.  I got the red stools at IKEA this year.  They came that way; I did not paint them.

Here's a close-up shot of my library.  I sort my books by theme.  I have found over the years that sorting by guided reading level does not foster a love of reading.  Kids were sad they couldn't read books "beyond" their levels.  I tried levels my 2nd year of teaching and will never go back.  Each book in my student library contains a sticker label inside of it that matches the bucket it came from. This makes keeping our library organized a breeze!  To get my library labels {available in a few different color combos, click HERE.}.

Here is a picture of our meeting area.  There is a huge USA rug but you can't see it in the photo.  The table is where I will keep our Writing Workshop supplies.  I don't jump into a lot of curriculum right away, so I won't start my formal workshop instruction for another 2 weeks.  The poetry board is where I keep our poem of the week.  The little pocket chart with the awning is where our word chunks will go.

Here's a view from the door.  I really like how I have my desks arranged this year.  My room seems so much bigger!  For the past 11 years, I always had 4-5 groups.  This year, I went with 3 and it's working out well so far!  I was a bit nervous about having 8 kids in a table group but I think starting the year with it vs. going from smaller groups to larger ones is key.  I have been setting the expectation from the start.  The kids don't do much in their groups; these are not their center groups, so having a large group for seat work isn't a big deal to me.

Here are the student mailboxes.  I believe this system is from Really Good Stuff.  I used binder clips to number the boxes.  I keep a student list of numbers on the side of the box for student reference. The mailbox number is also the cubby number for each child.

 Here is a close up of a desk with a data binder all ready to go!

This is my back counter.  I keep the colored baskets for copies that have been made.  I have them separated by: morning work, math, homework, literacy, and Science/SS.  In the colored bins, I keep larger/more bulky materials, like read alouds for the month and craft pieces for the week.

This is an area below my sink.  It is a good place to hide things, so I got a tension rod a few years ago and made a curtain with "No-Sew" glue.

Another view of the counter/baskets.

This is my guided reading cart.  This was new from The Container Store this year.  I keep a lot of my "go-to" guided reading resources as well as supplies for group in it.

 Another close-up of my library.

On the left side of my student library are our literacy center tubs.  Depending on class size, I will make 4-5 groups.  The students visit one center per day.  They grab their tub and choose a spot to sit as a group.  To see more about literacy centers, click HERE.

The library again...it's my favorite part of my classroom!  Can you tell I am a die-hard children's lit lover?!  Never enough books!  I made the little sno-cone garland last year and I absolutely love it!

Here is the clown I made a few years ago.  I think he is cute but if you hate clowns, I am sure you will say he's CREEPY!!!  He is nothing more than a decoration.

A view of my guided reading table.

 Here is the back left corner of my room.  My desk and computer are there.

This is the front of my desk, where I keep "The Homework Club."  It's a super fun way to track who has returned their homework.  To read more about that, click HERE.

Here is a picture of my word wall!  I put all 100 words up at the start of the year.  I have a few color options in my store {and they are editable} if you'd like to check them out.  These are the Fry's First 100 sight words.  To see more about how I use the wall, click HERE.

This is the Listening Center.  This is one of my literacy centers all year.  I have a HUGE collection of books on tape/cd {remember how much I said I love children's books?}.  I have enough for an entire year of listening center!  EEK!!!  To see more about how I use the listening center, click HERE.

These are my tubs where I keep most of my instructional materials.  These tubs house NON-HOLIDAY teaching materials, sorted by skill.  The top shelf is Math skills/centers and the bottom is Phonics skills/centers and Reading skills/centers.

A lot of people have asked how I organize my Guided Reading materials from my Guided Reading Bundle, and here is the answer!  I sort by skill, not level.  I pull what I need quickly during planning.

I think it's safe to say I have enough materials to teach an army.  *Tip: Go through your materials each year and weed out things you don't use to make room for ones you do!  Yes, I do go through every tub, every year.  It's a big job but it makes finding what I need so much easier during the school year.  It also shows me what areas I am lacking materials for.

That's it!  I hope you have enjoyed my post!  Please leave questions or comments below!  I am going to try to do a Periscope reveal again this week, but no Wi-Fi means Poor Connection...

Have a great weekend!!
xo
Megan