Classroom Tour 2021-2022 (and a flood!)

Hi, friends!  It has been a while!  We began school on September 7th and I have been SO exhausted every evening and weekend.  Blogging has taken a seat on the backburner!  I have finally mustered up the energy to post today!  Today's post is my classroom reveal for the 2021-2022 school year.  I'll try to link anything shown.  As always, if you have specific questions on what you see, you can leave a comment below or email me at meganwheeler44@yahoo.com  

Let me first start by saying it takes a village!  I am so lucky to have the help and support of my mom and Mr. Wheeler!  I am fighting some pretty nasty back and hip injuries and it was great to have a lot of help this year!  My mom comes each fall to help me set up my room.  It's been an annual tradition (minus last year, of course...boo) for my entire career.  She is so helpful and we make a lot of memories together during this time!  

Here is my water bottle stand.  PRAISE for this!  Last year, my kids kept their water bottles on their desks and they constantly fell off, broke, and spilled.  It was insanity.  I only had 10 kids in each of my 2 classes last year.  I knew that with 23 students at once this year, I had to come up with a new plan.  I grabbed this stand from Amazon and zip-tied it to a desk up front.  It works so well!  The kids are allowed to get up and get water as needed.  Check the stand out here (affiliate link).

 

I got these light blockers about 10 years ago, when I began having major migraine headaches.  I love the cozy feel they give my classroom.  Each spring, I take them down and wash them.  I put them in the washer and let them air dry.  Mr. Wheeler is very tall, so he comes in handy when it's time to put them back up in the fall!  Don't worry, the wrinkles shake out after the covers have been up for a few days.  Grab the light blockers here (affiliate link).

This year, students have to be spaced 3 feet apart.  I must say, I actually like (gasp) the old school front-facing desk setup.  I did this last year, as well.  Students are much more focused and there is less talking during instruction.  I provide lots of opportunities for partner/group work, so sitting like this is no big deal.  Some things in education will always work well!

Here is my trick word wall.  I use Fundations Phonics.  You can grab the word cards I have on my word wall by clicking the product cover below. 

Here's my front board.  This is where a lot of classroom management pieces are located.  I use the Voice Levels Posters & lights throughout the entire day.  I change the Early Finisher Board once or twice each day.  The Greeting Poster also gets changed daily, as does the Helper Cutout.  I've linked most everything shown below. 

Links:

number magnets

voice level lights

voice level posters

early finisher board

greeting board

helper of the day cutouts

arrival/dismissal posters

Here's our classroom mailbox system.  I got the mailbox from Really Good Stuff a long time ago.  I use binder clips with numbers to label the mailboxes.  I assign each child a number and keep a list on the side of the mailboxes.  Mailboxes and cubbies are the only things I use numbers for.  To me, it's worth it not to re-label them each fall.

This is my SEL/PBIS area.  As you can see, we use PATHS for SEL.  We also use PAX as part of our PBIS program.  Whew!  That was a lot of acronyms.  Hahaha!  Behind the black heart, I have a photo of each student in my class.  The school buses on the dry erase board are for The Homework Club.  

  

We use Wit and Wisdom as part of our Literacy curriculum.  I have a board set up for it as well as the corresponding word wall next to it.  

Here is a little Math area.  We use Illustrative Mathematics for our Math curriculum.  This is our first year, so I am not exactly sure what I need to have up yet...we are figuring it out as we go.  One thing that's for certain, is that my kids always use a 120 chart for reference!  The one I have is from Differentiated Kindergarten.  The Teen Number Posters you see can be found by clicking here.  The Math Strategy Posters can be found by clicking here.

Here is my calendar board right inside my classroom door.  I got the calendar pocket chart from Amazon a few years ago.  I've linked it here for you (affiliate link).  The specials board can be found here in my TpT shop.

These are my glorious cabinets!!!  I am lucky to have all of this storage.  I have been teaching first grade for 18 years, so I have lots of stuff.  The cabinets are full.  The clear bins you see in the cubbies are activities sorted by skill (Math and Literacy).  These are non-holiday activities, flashcards, etc...The labels can be found by clicking the product cover below.

Here is Mr. Wheeler and I when he stopped by to help me before school started.  He is the best!

Hopefully you enjoyed the tour...now onto the FLOOD.  Background Info: I had just finished Open House and gone home for the Labor Day weekend.  Families brought their school supplies and I had them all sorted in bins under my whiteboard.  I planned on dealing with them the first week of school.  The kids were to come Wednesday for their first day.  

After leaving school the Friday before kids arrived, I got a call that the girls bathroom, which is right next to my room, had flooded.  Water was pouring down the hallway and into the 1st grade classrooms.  I was told I could just leave it and it would "probably be fine," but my classroom is my pride and joy and I was sure I wouldn't be able to relax over the holiday weekend knowing my room had water in it.  SOOOO, Mr. Wheeler and I went up to school at 5:30 pm on Friday and got to work.  He filled a yellow mop bucket twice.  I had to move everything off the floor.  My pristine room was ripped apart so things could dry.  It's a good thing I was exhausted from Open House, or I would have cried.  We worked for 2 hours.  Thank goodness we went up there.  Nothing was ruined, but a lot of things were wet!  A LOT would have been ruined had we not gone up there.  Let's just say I'll remember this incident forever!

Have a great week!
xo

Megan 

2019-2020 Classroom Reveal!

Hello, friends!  Today's post is my 2019-2020 classroom reveal!  I'll try to comment on each photo that I share and link any resources that are shown.  I didn't really change anything major in my room this year, but I always find some small things to switch up!  Enjoy!

This first photo is the board and bookshelf near my easel/rug area.  It's where 90% of my instruction takes place.  On my board I have some of our school-wide behavior reminders (we use PAX and PBIS).  I also have my hand signal cards (these aren't in my store, but if you want them, leave a comment on this post and I can see about adding them).  They are from Harry Wong's book, The First Days of School.  I was gifted that book by my district when I first started teaching 16 years ago.  Great read for any new teacher!  I also have some Morning Meeting reminder posters that I got from Teaching Differently on TpT.  This year I added The Great Whiteboard Marker Challenge.  I found it from Teaching in the Rain on TpT.  We do Fundations Phonics and the kids use a dry erase marker every day.  Last year it got out of control with kids losing their markers, so this year, I found a solution!  Whoever keeps their marker until the end of the quarter gets to eat lunch with me in the classroom! 

Here's a picture of my front board.  You see my "Helper of the Day" cards.  You also see my "Today We Have" board and my "Early Finisher Board."  I also have my "Voice Level Cards" with the touch lights next to them.  I use voice levels in my classroom all day long and it really helps kids understand appropriate voice levels for school.  In the magnetic basket below, I keep number grids.  The kids come and get them as needed.  In the other magnetic basket, I keep my "Visual Reminder Cards" that I got from Ashley Hughes on TpT years ago.  They still work amazingly!  My pencil system is very simple: Kids are allowed ONE pencil at their desk.  *They have a little pencil tray on top.  When it is dull, broken, or lost (and they have checked everywhere), they can do the pencil hand signal.  I ok it and they go trade it out for a sharp pencil.  At the end of the day I sharpen the "dull" pencils.  There are usually only a few in there each day.  I found the "sharp" and "dull" labels as a freebie on TpT. 

Here is my calendar.  I don't "do calendar;" I simply post it for kids to see.  I can't remember where the calendar is from.  The "Days of the Week" poster is from Creative Teaching Press.  I keep a visual menu under it that the special education department makes for us.  The border is also from CTP. 

Below the board is my "Listening Center."  Each week, one of my 5 centers is the listening center!  The kids love listening to books on cd/tape. 

This is the bookshelf that houses all of my books for small group time.  We use decodable readers called "Geodes."  The birthday board is above the bookshelf, but as you can see, the cards weren't up when I took this picture.  I purchased the cards from First Grade Blue Skies on TpT.  On the wall (the rainbow poster) is my "Editable Specials Schedule."  I never forget which specials I have with that little reminder by the door! 

Here is my "Centers" chart.  You can grab the cards HERE.  My kids visit one center per day.  It's so simple to manage!  I don't pull groups during this time; I float around and engage with the kids.  I also monitor behavior.  The centers that my kids do are amazing!  They are developmentally appropriate and help them practice the skills I've taught during our Fundations Phonics lessons.  Click HERE to see the centers I use! 

This is my cart that holds my easel supplies, games for our PBIS program, and my laminator.  I think I got the cart at Michael's a few years ago.  I got the labels from Rachel Lamb on TpT. 

This is my tall bookshelf.  It houses all of my personal read-aloud books.  I have them sorted by holiday and also subject.  To see some of my favorite books, you can check out my Amazon store HERE.  I don't have them all listed (obviously), but I have been trying to list them as the seasons roll around.

This is my front board.  The magnetic displays shelves are from Lakeshore Learning.  I just got them over the summer and I love them!  They are perfect for holding the books we are reading.

This is my counter top area.  I pull holiday books from my tall bookshelf and place them here until we've read them.  I place them back on the tall shelf once I've read them.  This helps me keep track of the ones we have read.

Here's a view of my classroom.  I tried to minimize the distractions this year.  However, my whole day is taught by way of box curriculum (sad face) (Fundations, Wit and Wisdom, PATHS, and GO Math), so I do need to have those visuals up for students.

Here is my back table area.  I will meet with small groups here starting in late October.  I also have my counter top area, where I keep all my teaching materials/copies/etc.  Yes, I have a sink.  It's glorious! 

Here is my trick word wall.  We use Fundations for Phonics.  I made my own word cards because I feel as though the kids should see all the words up, all year.  You can grab my first grade, trick word wall by clicking HERE.

These are the trays I keep on my counter top that house  all of my copies/teaching supplies for the week.  I sort them once I get my copies made.  I don't sort by day, because I like the flexibility of pulling various things as I see fit.  Instead, I sort by subject.

These are my monthly file boxes that house all of the fun, creative, seasonal things I USED TO HAVE TIME FOR (sad face).  I do use some of them, still, but not as much as I used to.  Remember all those box curriculum's I mentioned above?  The file boxes are from Office Depot.  The monthly signs are from TpT and I can't seem to find who I got them from.  I think they were free, though.

Here is the students/classroom library.  You can grab the labels HERE.  I sort by theme.  The bins are from Lakeshore Learning.  You can read about how I manage the library by clicking HERE to read a quick blog post about it.

Here is the student computer area...I don't use these much; sometimes for centers, but that is hard because I only have two.  I mostly use them for free time/inside recess.  I figure the kids get enough technology at home; they don't need to be on computers at school!

The #thisisus board is my favorite addition to the room this year!  I had that giant cork board from Costco that I bought a few years ago and I hadn't found a good use for it.  What I am doing this year, is printing pictures of the kids and filling the board with them.  Once the board is full, I'll take them down and put new ones up.  At the end of the year, I'll let the kids take the photos home!

These are the kids' holiday books that I only put out during that time of year.  I place them at the front of the room as an early finisher option.  I don't have them take up room in my classroom library.  No one is really interested in reading a Christmas book in August, right? 

This is my mailbox system that I got from Really Good Stuff.  I put binder clips on it with student numbers.  I only use student numbers for their mailboxes and their cubbies. 

Here is my desk.  On the front are buses for "The Homework Club."  You can read about that by clicking HERE to see an old blog post.

I made this little organizer for my desk with labels from The First Grade Parade on TpT.  I believe I got the box from Amazon.  I only needed to have a few drawers and I like the size of this.

Here is my wonderful mother, helping me set up my classroom in August.  In case you are new here, my mom and I have set up my room together every year, for all 16 years of my career!  She is a tremendous help and I love her so much!

I just give her a task and she gets it done in a snap!

I'm surprised we are still standing after setting up the room in a day this year!  Hahaha! 

Have a great year, friends!
xo
Megan