Teaching With Style: classroom tour

Showing posts with label classroom tour. Show all posts
Showing posts with label classroom tour. Show all posts
I love decorating, both my home and my classroom.  When it comes to classroom decor, I have used Schoolgirl Style for the past 4 years.

It started in my 2nd grade classroom on the island of Lanai in 2013 when I used the Rainbow Chalkboard collection.  I love the bright colors and it mixed perfectly with my black fabric bulletin boards, freshly painted black bookcases, and bright colored accents.

I even used some of the signs to label areas in the computer lab! 

When we moved to Maui and I got a transfer to a school in Lahaina teaching first grade, I wanted an under the sea Eric Carle theme to match my new ocean rug from Kid Carpet.  So I combined the Bugs and the Ocean collections. 

Then, I learned about our neighborhood school (I had been commuting 45 mins to an hour each way).  It's arts-integrated, a newer building with AC, and full of passionate teachers.  I needed to be a part of it! They offered me fifth grade and I happily accepted the challenge.  I went for the Flamingo Watercolor collection to create a calming, yet fun environment.  I used the same curtains from my Lahaina classroom and I brought the ocean rug up to 5th grade, too.  The kids liked laying on it to read because it is so soft.  I also kept the same library bins, although I had to get almost all new books. I added a bunch of alternative seating options, such as pillows, a pub height table with stools,  a lowered table with stools, a elastic strip chair, and a large bean bag.

Front of the room.

Notice the READ letters on the wall from my 2nd grade classroom on Lanai and the fabric bunting on the windows from my 3rd grade classroom in Oregon!

Other corner showing the library.

I loved working with upper grades and re-learning the standards myself.  I can say that I am SO much better and more confident in math than I ever have been! Thank you visual strategies! But at the end of the year when my principal needed to move an upper grade teacher to a new section of 1st grade and asked me, I jumped at the chance to be with the little ones again.  My husband wasn't so happy about helping me move classrooms, yet again, but cest la vie.

I brought back the black fabric for my bulletin boards and wanted to mesh the Rainbow Chalkboard collection with the Watercolor Flamingo form last year.  The result was actually Melanie's newest collection: Color My Classroom! It's perfect, too, because of all the art cutouts!

Notice the library bins, READ letters, curtains, and ocean rug are back. 

I love this mail sorter.  Been going strong for 7 years now.

I brought down the elastic band chair, bean bag, and free Craigslist table from 5th grade.

Writing nook and shared supplies

Adorable tent from Target and sturdy, yet comfy cushions from Luv Chicken. 

In my fifth grade room I used the background watercolor papers to create my own cursive letter alphabet to hang.  

Well, I accidentally printed two sets!! I got permission from Melanie to give away the 2nd set, since I definitely won't be needing it in 1st grade.
 

If you are interested in winning, enter the rafflecopter below! Good luck! GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED.



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My school, the entire state of Hawaii actually, has adopted the Reading Wonders basal program this year.  My school is in full swing of implementation and we've gone through a little trial and error figuring it out.

The writing component has been the hardest for me.  I feel that my kids need a lot more than what is presented in the book.  We started the year having to teach the program with fidelity, so I started making units to supplement but that aligned.


We also need to have a focus wall.  I wanted to incorporate pocket charts so I'm not putting tons of holes in my boards or holes in my posters and cards.  You can see that I started off by hand writing my spelling cards and the essential question.  I also used the sight word cards that came with my materials, but I didn't like that there wasn't picture support or a sentence for context.

 Here is my focus wall after I made things the way I wanted them.  I still hand write my essential question just because of space.  But I like that element of non-laminateness.  That's a word, right? ;)

I'm happy that I'm able to re-use some of my old materials from 2nd grade, like my schedule cards.

And my jobs chart.

I also put up my 1-4 assessment posters to help introduce our writing rubric.  The kids were able to catch on a lot faster with these visuals of what writing looks like at each level.

My writing and Word Work materials for Daily 5 are below this wall.  In the drawers, I have various Word Work materials, such as play dough sight words.

And sight word stamping sheets.

For writing, I have staples and date stamps in the bottom bucket, and word cards in the top bucket.  The kids can practice the words on whiteboards, use them to help get ideas, or use them to help spell correctly.

I'm definitely tweaking things as I go, as I learn more about my students, and as I grow more familiar with the program.  So far, though, this is what has been working for me.  I'm a little slow to get my weekly units up, but that's only because I'm a perfectionist and it takes me forever to create things! So please be patient with me :)

If you are interested in any of the units above, here is where you can find them:
Wonders Unit 1 Focus Wall
Wonders Unit 2 Focus Wall
Schedule Cards
Jobs Chart
Assessment Posters
Wonders Unit 1 Printable Bundle (also available by week if you don't want to commit to the whole bundle at once)
Caitlin's FREE Word Work and Writing Cards
Stephanie's Flash Fluency Bundle


And here's a freebie for all my Wonders peeps - Editable Newsletters! I've only created up to Unit 3 (remember, I have to create as I go) but I'll upload the new templates as soon as I make them for you.  I hope they help you stay organized and connected to your students' parents!


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I have been so busy these past few months setting up my new classroom and teaching new curriculum in first grade! I'm here today with some classroom pics for you! We had our annual Open House a few weeks ago, so I made sure to have student work posted for parents to see.

This is the front door.  I have my Carson Dellosa Eric Carle Birthday Chart up, student mailboxes right by the door, some storage above the cabinets, art supplies and cleaning products in those cabinets.  Our Cafeteria Expectations craft, a freebie from Rowdy in Room 300, is hanging up.  I put little pieces of velcro on them so the students can open the lunch boxes to see the rules.  They loved that!  I made a bunting with an All About Me pennant.  I sent it home for students to decorate and add a photograph, then I laminated them so they will last all year.  I'm not sure where the banner is from, I found it in my filing cabinet from the teacher that left.  But there are tons of them for free or for very cheap on TpT.

Here is the math wall.  I have a calendar up with a mixture of resources from Teacher Created Resources, Schoolgirl Style, and my Calendar Starter Set.  The banner says "First Grade" and is from Schoolgirl Style's Bug collection.  I'm in love! I made the "Today is" with white vinyl on my Cricut machine.  We have 3 days to solve math problems posted: draw a picture, use a model, and use objects.  We'll add to the list as we go through the year.  You can find my Math Problem Solving Strategies here.  The number posters above the bulletin boards are from First Class Teacher Resources.  They were up in my room when I moved in.  The Number Sense Posters below the board are from my good friend Corinna at Surfin Through Second.  The big sign to the right of the board I found on Zulily.  The shelves and buckets on the left house my manipulatives and math centers.  The Math About Me crafts on the bulletin board are from Linda Kamp.  

Here is my computer station and word wall area.  I sewed the covers for the computers so they stay clean when not in use.  I found the fabric in my classroom, so they were free! I shared about my word wall in my July Bright Ideas post.  The taller cabinet to the left of the computers houses all my tech stuff: headphones, chargers, etc.  The craft on the front is Name in a Ten Frame freebie from Sam Nowak.  The magazine files on top of the cabinet hold student Morning Work folders.  We use First Grade Morning Work from A Teeny Tiny Teacher. I have some more storage (not pretty, I know) above the tall cabinets.  Inside hold all my teacher books, extra games, manipulatives, basically anything I don't want students to have access to all the time.  

Here is my teaching area.  My purple book cart holds all my extra Wonders anthologies, as well as leveled readers.  The little chevron tubs (originally from Pick Your Plum) hold connecting cubes for table groups to use.  Hanging up high on the wire that goes across the room are School Is Cool crafts, a freebie from Miss Kindergarten.  My iPads and laptops are on the poster drawer cabinet.  

Here is my front board.  I have Picture Direction cards from Miss Kindergarten, my WBT scoreboard, Daily Schedule cards in the green pocket chart, and What To Do When You Are Finished large poster on the front of the big book chart.  I don't have a whiteboard easel (and I am used to teaching with one), so I just placed a whiteboard on top of the big book cart and that's working well for me.  My teacher chair is from Walmart.  I made the alphabet posters that are up above.  I hope to have those posted on TpT soon.  The Work on Writing wall has a What Do Writers Do? poster from The Teacher Wife and posters from Lyndsey Kuster's Be A Writing Expert pack.  

Here is my favorite spot - the library.  Book bins are from the Dollar Tree and Really Good Stuff.  I made the book bin labels years ago and put them in name tag holders and attach them with binder rings.  I love this method.  I made the READ letters last year.  The 3 Ways to Read a Book poster is a freebie from Lyndsey Kuster.  The WBT rules are freebies from here.  The iHelp board is my classroom jobs chart.  The large rug is from Kidcarpet.com.  

Here is the back door and the circle table that my ELL teacher pushes in for small group instruction during reading and math for my language learners.  The folders by the door hold extra homework, notes, book orders, etc. for parents.  My take-home book library is in those white drawers on the left of the picture.  In that shelf are old leveled readers that I need to sort into my take home books.  It's a work in progress.  I made covers for all my classroom pillows last year so they are all bright colors and so they can be cleaned easily.  

I stood on my kidney table to get this shot! Here, you can really see all the clutter on the desks.  That should be solved if our Donorschoose project gets funded!  I've asked for a tall shelf to house all the book boxes. Crossing my fingers! You can also see the other side of the hanging wire across the room.  We did Miss Kindergarten's Kickin' Off A Great Year and made goals for what we want to learn this year. 

Remember that birthday chart?

Well, the kind people at Carson Dellosa are letting me give one away to one of you! Just fill out the Rafflecopter below.  GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED.  

Good luck!  In the meantime, make sure to check out their entire line of Eric Carle items - there are so many cute ones! 
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Today is the day that teachers go back to school for opening week.  Next Monday - kids come! So for me, it's buckle down time.  I gotta get my room and my plans all ready for the first week in my new classroom and in my new school.  
I shared a few pics of my classroom progress on instagram.  

Here is what I saw when I walked in for the first time.  The sweet custodians moved all of my boxes in after the secretary made me leave them in the office back in June. 

Here is after the first day of furniture arranging.

Then it starts to get bad as I unpack boxes, take everything out of the cupboards, and generally make a huge mess.

Empty book bins with boxes and boxes of books waiting to be sorted.

HUGE mess on my desk.

Tech cart spewing out technology.

So.over.whelmed.  I can't handle this!!!

Now it's finally getting better.  I cleaned out the art cupboards, the teacher book cupboard, and the manipulative closet.  My boxes are all unpacked and most things have found a home.

Here is my To-Do list for the week, as I'm going to Oahu this weekend to visit my good friend Angelia from Extra Special Teaching.  We get to take our hubbies out to see Jack Johnson (my musical LOVE!)  But because we'll be gone, everything in my room has to be done THIS WEEK!
  • Finish putting away the library books
  • Finish organizing math manipulatives
  • Finish sewing computer covers and curtains
  • Arrange my desk and teaching area
  • Put away all the stuff on the tables
  • Put out name tags, practice workbooks, etc on student desks
  • Put together homework folders, portfolios, and data binders
  • Clean out the posters drawers and construction paper drawers
Luckily, I've already gotten all the shopping done that I need: Mr. Sketch Markers, stickers, prize box items, matte photo paper and ink, composition books, and extra boxes of crayons and glue bottles.  It helps that we live on a bigger island now and have options for shopping!  I've also been able to utilize Coupons.com back to school sales! Not only can you find coupons for places like Target, Staples, and Office Depot, but you can even enter the Back to School sweepstakes at Coupons.com and maybe win $2,500! 

So make sure to check out Coupons.com, and also check back here in the next week.  Not only will I have another post for the Teaching With Intention book study, but I may also show you sneak peeks into my finished classroom! I have so many fun projects planned for my room and I can't wait to show you!
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