I wanted to create a space where I could display student goals, spelling words, vocabulary, and other important Units of Study information. Thus, the Focus Wall was born.
This year my grade level is implementing Units of Study. What is that you ask? Why, Units of Study are ELA standards integrated with social studies and science and aligned with Common Core State Standards. Oh, yes...get excited! I wanted to create a space where I could display student goals, spelling words, vocabulary, and other important Units of Study information. Thus, the Focus Wall was born. I can easily change out the papers from unit to unit. The spelling words are already typed out for the year (the yellow is the regular list and the green is the advanced list). I feel so much better knowing that my students will be able to get to all of our important units of study information all at once. Plus, it's awesome having our spelling words completely finished for the year!
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Whew! It's finally finished! I think that this classroom is my favorite yet! I decided to stick with my black and white polka dot theme, with accents of blue, lime, and purple this year! Let's begin the tour shall we? This is the outside of my classroom. I downloaded the "welcome" pennant for free from TpT, and I love how it blocks a little of my window. The sign on the door says, "Leaders Enter Here," but the "L" is hard to see from far away. I still think it looks cute though! Once you enter, this is what you see immediately to your left. The black wire shelves will hold various supplies and our "Husky Security" sashes (more on those in a future post). The other shelf holds student school supplies like dry erase markers, calculators, and post-its. On the top of the shelf I have my classroom mailboxes (I love using hanging file folders-it makes it so easy to move the mailboxes to my desk to fill with student work and handouts) and tissues, lunch count slips, pencils, etc. Above the student shelf is our Class Mission Statement. I have some cute little posters I downloaded on the sides that have to do with leadership, along with a copy of the letter I wrote to my students on the first day. I like the idea of keeping this letter up all year as a promise to my students, so it makes sense to display it beside the mission statement. To your right, you see the student turn in trays. Read this post to learn more about how I handle absent and missing work using the pink basket and binder on the top of the shelves. Behind the turn in trays you will find our "iHelp" classroom job chart, along with descriptions of each of our classroom jobs. This year, every student in my class will have a job, so I made a much bigger display this year to accommodate all of the jobs we will have! On the wall beside the door (behind the turn in trays), you will find our cabinets, cubbies, and coat hooks. The big two door cabinet has a front display of classroom data and our PBIS expectations. I love having the 3M hooks so that our missing work and homework club clipboards can easily move on and off the door. Inside the cabinet I have a hanging file for extra copies and work that students can complete when they are finished. I also have my aprons hanging there too. The rest of the contents are all things that students can access, while the top two shelves hold mostly bulletin board decorations. On the other cabinets I posted a modified version of Ron Clark's Essential 55. I picked the top 20 rules that I want my students to follow, and laminated them on lime card stock. Moving around to the back corner of the classroom, you will find our 7 Habits board next to our computer desk. We are lucky to have 2 laptops, 1 chromebook, 2 iPads, and 2 iPods that students can use. I will post more about how I handle who gets what and when in a future post. :) I love having the lamp on this wall too-it really adds some nice color. On the back wall you can see our "Be the Leader" felt letters (a score from JoAnn's for only $1 each) above our focus wall. The left side of the board is our focus board for our Units of Study for Common Core. This board is really going to help my students understand our objectives. In the middle I have some free posters I downloaded from TpT, where I can have my students rank their level of understanding. I LOVE these! On the right is where I will post anchor charts. I plan on taking pictures of my anchor charts this year and copying them for my students to use as reference in their notebooks, so this display can be changed more easily. On the left of the focus wall I have my "Woot" board, where students will sign their names when they earn a, "Woot" on a test or quiz. Moving to the left is our classroom library and my small group table. I found that I used the circle table more than my horseshoe table last year, so I got rid of the horseshoe table. I covered the edges of the shelves with duct tape to help them stand out. My nonfiction books are in the center shelf, and I don't group those into baskets. I also have my easel back here as well for mini-lessons and interventions. Under my easel is where I store laminated anchor charts that I use frequently. I use colored post-it labels to indicate what the anchor chart is so I can easily grab the one I need. (Purple = science, pink = math, blue = ELA, orange = Leadership). The small black bookshelf is where I store my guided reading materials (books, assessments, etc.). I also put my "Kiss your brains" on this shelf too! This two door cabinet displays our student and class goals. The pocket chart will hold each of my students' goals and the white papers list out of class dojo class rewards and individual rewards. I plan on using the "NOISE" letters as well this year, since it worked really well last year. Now we are at my desk! The black table by the window holds my reward drawers (I keep certificates, stickers, and prizes in there), along with my "Caught Ya" jar and Brag Tag drawers. My bookshelf stores my binders, teacher guides, and other read-a-louds. Above that is my new "Love Notes" bulletin board for pictures and things that make me happy. The black plastic container to the right of the shelf is where I keep my student files. Here's a view of the front of my desk! Next to my desk is my Brag Tag bulletin board, which you already saw in this post. View of my desk from the door. To the left of the brag tag board is my objective whiteboard. This is also where my students look to write down their assignments for their assignment notebook. I love the grumpy cat meme to the right. To the left of the objective whiteboard is my SmartBoard. Then, moving along to the left is my "Info" board, where my students make their lunch choice, look at the calendar, etc. Read more about my lunch count here. Now that we've finished our tour, here are some views of the ENTIRE classroom from different angles! Thanks for stopping by! :)
Well, I started working in my classroom this week. I forgot how big of a mess I left my classroom back in May...but that's what shoveling stuff into cabinets gets you! On Monday I worked on putting stuff away and "de-cluttering" some of my larger cabinets. I still have a huge to-do list, but luckily some of my high school students will help me check off those to-do's next week! I did start hanging some makeshift bulletin boards on Tuesday. I knew I wanted a 7 Habits bulletin board as well as a new spot for my Woot Wall (read more about my Woot Wall here and here). I wanted the boards to match my theme of black and white, with accents of purple/teal/green too. Here is what I came up with! I love the "Be the Leader" letters above my board. They are felt letters from JoAnn's...and they are $1 each! I like the balance these boards create, and I made them using posterboard hot glued to the wall. Pretty easy! However, my FAVORITE part is the letters above the boards! I used butcher paper to create free scrunch borders around letters that I just printed off Microsoft Word! To make the border, simply cut strips of butcher paper and crumble them up into a ball (just like you were going to throw it in the trash). Then, "uncrumble" the strip and glue or staple the top end of the strip where you want it. Keep scrunching the paper and gluing or stapling to help it stay bunched. This was SO EASY and FREE! I love how it gives this cinder block wall some texture. It really makes the letters pop! I plan on using this technique on my letters in my outside hallway bulletin board too! I think it will make my board stand out! Have you been working in your classroom yet?
See what I did there? I can't help myself. As I shared with you earlier this week, I added a new tree to my classroom's guided reading area last week over one of my chilly snow days. To say I'm in love with this tree is an understatement. I love the impact it has on the room. You immediately are drawn to it from the moment you enter the classroom! Right now, the tree has popular book jackets hanging as its "leaves." I will add more leaves as the weather warms up. I also plan on adding a leaf at the end of each day when my students choose our two leaders for the following day (more on that in a future post). Naturally, Harry Potter is at the front. :) To make the tree, I just crunched up brown butcher paper for the truck and the leaves. To hang the branches, I attached a paperclip to the end of each branch and stuffed it under the ceiling tiles like I do when I hang anything from my ceiling.
I can't wait to see what the tree looks like as we add leaves throughout the rest of the year! I'm smitten! What have you done to "spruce" up your classroom lately? We've had some crazy weather here in Missouri this January! Last week we had our fifth and sixth snow day. (Well, the sixth snow day was technically a cold weather day due to -15 wind chills). Needless to say, on the sixth snow day I got cabin fever and decided to trudge up to my classroom for some rearranging and decorating! I wanted to incorporate more of "The Leader in Me" decor and had a great idea for a tree for my reading area! Here is my small group table. I got the felt letters from JoAnns for just a dollar each! They are so awesome! My new guided reading area! I will post more about my new tree in a later post! :) My anchor chart wall, dish chairs, and student supply shelf. View from the back of the classroom. This picture was taken from the tree looking to the left. Here's a view of my door from the back wall by the anchor chart wall. The view from the tree looking towards the door. And finally, a view of my desk area! Has anyone else had crazy weather and/or cabin fever lately? I'm glad I was at least able to channel my energy into making my classroom prettier! :)
Sorry for the lack of updates last week. My life has certainly become far more crazy since school has started. I'm finally starting to get into a routine, but unfortunately last week blogging didn't quite fit into my schedule! Needless to say, Labor Day weekend was exactly what the doctor...er, teacher...ordered! Friday we had a work day and I decided that my room needed some rearranging. Isn't it so funny how once your students arrive, you quickly find yourself re-doing classroom management plans and your room layout? After meeting with my guided reading groups last week I realized that my guided reading table needed its own special place. See where I moved it? I like it so much better moved over by my classroom library. I found that my classroom library was just a little too massive on that wall, and now my small group kids have a little more privacy. :) I also moved my black table to my window, for my computer. Kids were trying to perch up against it during reading time, and since the table has a curtain with goodies hidden underneath it, many of my precious hidden treasures were tumbling down during reading. Oh no! And...yes...I realized my "S" was upside down after taking this picture. It was a busy week...what can I say? :)
Today is my first day of school! Ahhh!! (Insert squeals of excitement and sounds of nervous-shaking here). I am so excited to share my classroom tour with all of you....finally! I will share more about how I set up my Open House later this week. So...without further ado...my 2013-2014 classroom! This is my PBIS bulletin board. My schools is a PBIS school, so we have the same posters and expectations in every classroom! This is my favorite bulletin board in the room! Students can post their favorite book recommendations using blue post-it notes on this board.
So there you have it! I will explain more details about my classroom and my organization later, but I couldn't wait to share pictures! Here's to a great school year!
Slowly but surely, my classroom is coming along. There is still a TON left to accomplish, but I thought I'd show you the progress I have made so far! It's taken forever to organize everything...and I'm still not done! These pictures don't show my cabinets, where I plan on posting student birthdays, etc. I might even move my WOOT Wall from behind the computers to the cabinets and make it a "Wall of Fame." Who knows? :)
What do you all think so far? I need feedback! |
About MeTeacher of leaders. Life-long learner. Space geek. Lover of all things color-coordinated, organized, and cutesy. Categories
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September 2015
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