Classroom Setup: Day 3

Today was a long day, but I was determined to be done with classroom setup in 3 days.  Drum roll please... AND IT'S DONE!!!  I did my best to take pictures of the room in the same order.  These are pictures of the final product.




This is the bulletin board that I created on the wall on the left side of our math nook.  We will be calling our rules "habits", because they are what we need to be in the habit of doing.  I will be using 7 Habits of Happy Kids as the framework of our classroom rules: Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, Put First Things First, Think Win-Win, Seek First to Understand- Then to be Understood, Synergize, and last but not least Sharpen the Saw.  There will also be pictures of the children doing each of the "habits" so there is a visual for the lower-level readers.




On this bulletin board will be pictures of the children learning and playing together.  This helps the classroom to feel a little more homey.  I did it on the bulletin board next to the rug, because that is where we meet as a family to learn and conclude our learning.




This bulletin board is directly behind my small group table.  I will use it to post the learning objectives for each group that I meet with. 




I put my word wall on my white board.  The sight words are written on index cards, and magnet tape was applied to the back.  This way the students can remove words they want to manipulate, and return them to the designated spot.




Cannot say it enough... #GOTTOHAVEAPLACEFORLUNCHMONEY... long enough hash tag for you? I am putting all classwork and homework for the day in the mailbox.  This will eliminate time wasted by passing out papers during the day... they will have everything they need for the day in their folders when they arrive in the morning! 

In the morning the students will come in and put their book bag on a hook.  They will bring their lunch money, and put it in the basket.  They will fill their folder with everything in their file, and take it to their seats. 




This turned out EXACTLY how I wanted it!  This will be where work is displayed in the classroom AND it doubles as a cozy reading nook.  All books on the black bookcases are fiction, and will be divided with the students into categories that make sense to them.  Special "thank-you" to my colleagues husband who assembled my bookcases.  When I attempted to do it on my own it went a little like this:
Step 1: Pull everything out of the box.
Step 2: Look at the directions quizzically.
Step 3: Return everything to the box, and pretend you never opened it!




How many assignments do we complete in a day?  How many students do you have in your class?  That's how many times you here, "I'M DONE, I'M DONE!".  I used this last year as well.  Students do not come to the teacher to tell them "I'm Done!"  They turn their assignment in to the "I"m done!" basket, and return to their seat to complete the next assignment. SUPER EFFECTIVE!




Something NEW I am going to try this year!  Each strategy we learn will be added to the box.  If the students come to a word they don't know while reading independently, they can go to the box to look at strategies we have learned and try to use one.  This will prevent them interrupting while I am doing small group lessons.




This is the informational text portion of my library!  I do not LOVE it, but it will do for now.




These are the name tags used on the tables.  Each table has a different color associated with the team name: pink team, blue team, yellow team, black team, green team.  Easier for the students to remember than numbers.

My classroom is finally a place that I am excited about living for the next year!  Now it is time to move into the new house!  Has anyone ever said, "there are not enough hours in the day"?

 

 

 



Classroom Setup: Day 2

Today was VERY productive!!  Tomorrow will consist of assembling the bookcases, finishing organizing the books, putting titles on the bulletin boards, thinking of the best place to put science and social studies anchor charts, and some last minute tweaking to make it first-day ready! 

  The black wall will be used for the students to hang work they are proud of!  I am still figuring out what exactly to do with the area just to the right of the door.

 

Do not mind ALL the baskets... I decided to begin unpacking them before leaving this afternoon.



The front wall will be used for all literacy anchor charts as well as the word wall that the students will be able to access. 

This is going to be my math nook.  All anchor charts pertaining to our current learning (in math) will be posted on this wall.



 

Classroom Setup: Day 1

Let me begin this post by saying that school starts for teachers on August 12th.  As we all know, that first week is full of meetings and planning.  Only small classroom things need to remain on the to-do list at that point.  My husband and I close on our first home at the end of next week.  YIKES!  This leaves me with 3 more days to complete my classroom.  However, I am determined to do it in 2.  That's right... 3 days total to finish my classroom.  I wanted to post pictures of the process, because too often it seems that you see these amazing classrooms, but have no idea where to begin.  OR you begin to panic when you get started and your room looks like a hurricane came straight through the middle of it!  I chose to begin with organizing this year, because that was the part I wanted to do differently.

Am I the only one who arrives in my classroom on Day 1 rejuvenated, and with so much excitement, and then I spot it...

THE PILE of furniture, boxes, and miscellaneous items.  At this point... all of that rejuvenated excitement is replaced by "Oh my lawd, how will I ever get all of this done?!" 

When I find this pile, my first order of business is to sort out the classroom library books, and get them out of the way.  I know that the books are the very last thing that I need to put out.  Partially, because at the bottom of this pile... are my new bookcases waiting to be assembled.

This is at the end of Day 1.  Along the wall are the cabinets that are waiting to be assembled.

End of Day 1

End of Day 1

End of Day 1

Most of what I did today was organization, and finding places for things!  The next step... beautification, assembling bookcases, and organizing books!!! :)  Anticipating 2 more working days. 

Behavior Plan & Classroom Library Checkout Procedures

I LOVE when my students ask me to borrow a book for the evening!  It makes me realize I have passed my enthusiasm for reading onto the hearts of my students!  However,  I have a tough time keeping track of who has what, and making sure that it returns to our library.  I will post this on the side of our bookshelf for students to write their names and the title of their book.  They will only be able to do check books out of the classroom library during morning work or at the conclusion of their small group time.  They will then have to ask for my signature stating that the book was checked out and again when it is returned.  This is solely for taking books home.  The books they read during the school day can be pulled out and returned at will. 

Why am I changing my behavior system?  I had a difficult time last year managing the school wide rewards (giving tokens), adding flies to the jar (class reward), and moving students up/down the behavior chart.  I would move students up, and forget to give tokens which meant less school-wide rewards for the students.  The tokens can be cashed in for the quarterly PBIS celebrations or to pay for little treasures at the school store.  This year I plan to tie them all together to ease my brain and to benefit the children. 

 

How am I going to implement the system?  I have some cardboard treasure boxes that I finally have a use for!  Each student will decorate their "piggy bank" at the beginning of the school year.  The goal is for the students to earn money by working hard and following the PBIS matrix (posted on the left side of the calendar).  They will add or take away money based on their choices.  If they earn a token (school-wide system) from another teacher, they will cash it in for a nickel to add to their bank.  If another teacher catches one of my students not making wise choices, they will remove money from their bank. 

 

How will I notify the parents of their child's behavior?  The child will be responsible for counting his/her coins at the conclusion of every school day, and recording it in the appropriate day of the calendar.  I and the parent will initial this amount everyday to show that all parties are aware of the choices the child is making at school.

 

How will they be able to attend the school store/celebrations?  The celebration is worth 20 tokens, and if each token is worth a nickel... the students will be able to attend the celebration as long as they have at least $2 in their bank account by the conclusion of the quarter.  Additional money may be used to purchase items at the school store.

 

This will be a great way for the students to have additional practice with counting coins (major challenge in 1st), and identifying the current day on the calendar.  Lifelong skills!!  I am on a roll... more to come!

 

End-of-the-Year Preparation

It is with sad and happy tears in my eyes that I prepare for this group to move on to 2nd grade.  They have blessed me in so many ways with laughter, hugs, excitment, and teamwork. 

 They have learned to cooperate with each other in almost all situations.  They have learned to solve their own problems peacefully, because it is "not going to be peaceful if Miss Thomas/Mrs. Lewis does it!".  They have learned how to treat others.  We read "You are Special" by Max Lucado, and they have learned to try and not let the hurtful things people say stick to them. They traveled through the journey with me of getting engaged and married, and they showed so much excitment for both events!  I feel as though each of the 22 children in my class are my own, and I hate to see them go!

However, they are so ready for second grade, and I am going to try to keep posting things I am using to prepare for the end of the year.  Here is a poem that I wrote to them.  I am going to attach it to a collage of each of them holding a sign with a letter that makes up the statement Oh, The Places We'll Go!!! Ambitious, but I am hoping I will have the time to complete it!