Teacher Week: Classroom Tour

Hey friends! Wanna check out my classroom? Head over to Blog Hoppin' today and take my Classroom Tour.

Be sure to link up with us so we can see your space and check back tomorrow for SANITY SAVERS! Let's face it - we could all use a little savin'. Happy Wednesday!

Teacher week: Where

Hey friends. I am bound and determined to do a post everyday this week for Teacher Week! Fingers crossed that I make it happen. ha Today is all about WHERE you teach and of course, I'm linking up with my sweet friends at Blog Hoppin'.

So here is my classroom. You can read about my drastic transformation and painting it {here}. I would NOT recommend doing that yourself. If I would have had the funds, I would have hired it done. Lord.have.mercy! It was a ton of work. I wanted my classroom to be crisp, clean, and warm. Obviously, during the school year....I spend more time at school than I do at home so it is important for me to feel comfortable there as well as my students. Well...what are you waiting for? C'mon in...

When setting up your classroom, I would recommend checking out Spaces and Places by Debbie Diller. She suggests that you should draw out a diagram of your classroom first and use sticky notes as furniture. Move the sticky notes around on paper before actually moving the furniture. Your back and janitor will appreciate. 

This is my view from the back corner. I have one green accent wall and love it!

This is my view from the front of my room. I have 2 closets in the back and my teacher area/desk is to the right. My classroom rug was funded through Donor's Choose and has been a total blessing!!

This is my Writing Center. My students beg to visit this station! The Writer's Eye posters are from the fabulous Cara Carroll.

One of my big projects, when redoing my room, was painting all of my shelves. I wanted everything to be uniformed throughout. So I painted all of my shelves and closet doors black and kept the bulletin board paper/border the same! :) I just think it makes things "flow."

My library center is my favorite! To me - - it's just dying for a student to come sit a while and read a book. It's inviting, cozy, and fun!

I spent all last summer organizing my books and labeling them.  It has made my classroom library so much more functional and helped to keep my books in order! Although it took a ton of time, I am beyond thankful I made it a personal goal. 

Well - - I hope you enjoyed the tour! Be sure to link up and stop back by tomorrow for the WHY. See ya then. 

Classroom Digs

Hey ya'll! I'm back with my Classroom digs! I've only taken a few snapshots. My room is still a work in progress (although we are back in full force). I'm waiting on my new rug and chair pockets to arrive. When they do, I'll do the FULL reveal - so stay tuned! Anyways...here is just a sneak peek. I've done a lot of things differently this year....painted, rearranged, changed my bulletin boards, etc. Here is what my classroom looked like last year. 

As you can see....my rug/whole group area was in the far corner of my room (under the large palm leaves). Here is what that corner looks like now...

It houses my classroom library! I added a large tree around my palm leaves for added detail. Students can sit on the bean bags and "explore" books! ;-) ha Yup, I'm corny! All my books are labeled with Reagan Tunstall's book tub labels and stickers (I no longer think the sells this unit). I spent most of the summer working on this and am thrilled with the outcome. 

Students are doing so well with putting books back where they belong. If you'd rather not do this method, check out an easier alternative {here}.

Here is my word wall that my most precious Dad helped me make. I used suggestions from Debbie Diller and April Larremore and was thrilled with the final results. Debbie says:

1) Make a border or a grid for the letters and words to go in. This is based on brain research she is reading about and how the brain sees in borders.

2) Make the vowels one color and the consonants another color.

3) Add a picture for the beginning sound of the letter. This applies to lower grades.

4) Make the words on the word wall in black and white. The words are easier to see this way and it is a  common color for words in print. I decided to put a border around the individual words based on the brain seeing in borders idea.

One thing I wanted to add this year was a defined writing space. While I've always had a writing board, students have never had a space they could go to in order to write (aside from their desks). I am so thrilled with the way this turned out! Of course the sweet little Writer's Eye posters came from Cara Carrol. :)

Here is my calendar/whole group area! I'm awaiting the arrival of my new classroom rug, furnished by Donor's Choose!

Here are just a few other random snap shots! Please check back soon for pictures of the end result. I cannot wait to share it with you! Don't forget to link up with Blog Hoppin' and visit again tomorrow for another Teacher Week '13 post! 

Happy Tuesday.