My Classroom

Every year in late July, I start to get the itch.  I just can't wait to get back into my classroom and get things looking the way that makes my heart happy.  But I have to be patient so the hard-working custodians can work their magic on the carpet and tile.  It's a bit like waiting for Christmas morning.  Somehow, I always forget that when I get there, my room looks like this...

Sigh...bring on the muscles.  As hard as it is, this is really one of my favorite times of the year.  I love to reimagine my room each year in ways that are not only pleasing to the eye but also functional for kids.  My goal, first and foremost, is to create optimal learning spaces for kids.  So here's how things turned out after some heavy duty lifting (or dragging and sliding).

Here's my desk and and new word wall.  This picture will be a good reminder of what a clean desk looks like.  It rarely looks like this once the year begins.  :-) 

My new calendar bulletin board.  I am building some calendar math activities back into my day in order to more thoroughly review some basic math skills.  

Here are 2 views of my whole classroom. It seems so bare at this time of the year without work from the kids or any of our anchor charts.  That will change in time because I am not a fan of bare walls!

This is part of my classroom library.  This great shelf came from Borders when it went out of business several years ago.  It holds so many books and is seriously "kid sturdy."  Translation--it's REALLY heavy!

Both sides of my easel as you walk into the door.  The lunch menu is on one side and buckets for lunch choices is on the other.  I also keep some extra classroom supplies stored here for easy access.

My school is a Lighthouse School for The Leader in Me.  This mirror hangs near the front of my room and lists all 7 habits.  I also have more detailed 7 habits posters hanging at the front of the room.

Here are my 7 habits posters. You can purchase them at my TPT store by clicking here.

These clocks are the brain child of my 13 year old daughter.  We have the time in our community as well as times in places far, far away including India, Brazil, and Iraq.  It's especially interesting to note that India is 10 1/2 hours ahead.

 And here is the door to my classroom.  I'm especially proud of this one.  I love how colorful it is, but more importantly, I love its message.  I was so inspired by some posts I had seen about spreading kindness like confetti.  I just decided I wanted to spread a few other things too.

And finally, here is the board where I display all of our current learning targets.  I like to be available for the kids at all times.  They are also a good reminder to keep me headed in the right direction.