Teacher Week: Classroom Digs...my classroom tour!

Hey there! I am glad you are here! 

I have to tell you, I am lovin' this link up for Teacher Week '13! I am very nervous excited to share some photos of my classroom with you. Just a couple warnings to get started:

1) It is messy...I have a VERY bad habit of making organized piles EVERYWHERE!  

2) I do not yet know how to make pretty photos to put on my blog posts so they are pretty plain, but I hope you enjoy my little slice of heaven. 

Here we go!....

Here a couple shots from the hallway outside my classroom door! 

Here is some hallway art that is hanging outside of my classroom. I found the camera activity  from The Bubbly Blonde on TPT! Gotta support my Nebraska Teachers! She has activities for other grade levels as well, be sure to stop by and pick up your First week of school activities! 

I found this noun activity on Teachers Pay Teachers. The kiddos loved using their highlighters to find the nouns and we even got a  little crafty!

Here is my Zebra Lock Smock. I found it on Etsy for $8! I absolutely love it and it makes locking my door a breeze! Click here to visit The Price of Teaching on Etsy and grab your very own Lock smock! 

This poster is on the backside of my classroom door. We use this to tell visitors and students that have stepped out of the classroom where we are! I made this last year for 4th grade and would love to make a more first grade friendly version, but for now this will do. 

Here is the view of my desk area as you come into my room. Please excuse the organized piles everywhere! 

 
 Here is my awesome reading table. It has a marker board overlay so my kiddos can build words and actually write on my table! 




 Now, here we have one of the newest additions to my classroom. "My helper" was gracious enough to buy it for me for my birthday this past summer! I love my ball chair! It is comfy, easy on the backside and  a lot of fun to bounce on when no one is looking. If you have never thought about having a unique chair like this, you should definitely think about it. I believe they can be found on Amazon. 

This is the view of my classroom from the front of my room. It is an older building and I love that. I put my kiddos in a brand new seating arrangement today and I feel like it really opens up the room. Yes, I do have an "island" in the middle of my room. This "island" kiddo is still working on being able to stay focused on their own work so this was the best place for them to be successful. 

Now moving off to the right, straight in front of my desk area we have....

My small work table with my animal print pillows. This is where my little one's work in small math groups, write during writing workshop, build words and much more! I love this little area. There is something that I love about being able to sit on the floor with my kiddos and work on a new game or introduce a new word building skill.

  

The colorful buckets along my window are actually spray painted. The idea of these turn- in buckets came from The Clutter-Free Classroom and they are fantastic. However, I should probably take part in more of the activities to eliminate all of my paper piles...phew! 

Moving to the back wall, behind the long bookshelf...

This is our Meeting Corner. I use this area for Calendar Math, Writing Mini-lessons, I-chart creating for Daily 5, classroom library and book box storage. This little corner is so cozy and is the best area to get lots of natural sunlight into our room. 

Here are my brightly colored book boxes. I found these baskets at Dollar Tree and they have held up very well! Each one of my students is assigned a number at the beginning of the year. This is how I assign book boxes and classroom jobs.  

Moving across the back wall of my classroom

we have my reading nook, word wall and Authors chair. My firsties love using the pillows and bean bags to cozy up with a good book and build stamina for Daily 5.  To the right >>>> we have my lovely authors chair. When a Student takes a piece of writing through the writing process they have an opportunity to read their story from the authors chair! This chair was hand painted to match some of the borders on my bulletin boards. Isn't it amazing!

 Here is my beautiful Word Wall from Erica Bohrer! The colors are so fun, but I am still in the process of cutting out ALL of the words to stick up on my wall (only 5 pages left!). It is definitely worth all of the cutting, plus I can add my own words! 

Next to my Word Wall, we have.......

...my writing area! This week we are in the process of launching Work on Writing. This area will be used for my small groups to brainstorm great writing ideas, use fun materials and become brilliant writers! 

< Here we have a Writing Poster a past teacher made and left for me to use! How cute! 

Here is my nifty ZEBRA basket that houses all of my fun Writing Tools! I think I may need to go back through my elementary pencil boxes and put all of my gel pens in this goodie basket! 

To the lockers! 

Well, above the lockers, I guess. This past summer I did some research on Whole Brain Teaching. I fell in love with the method and this year I am attempting to use it for the very first time. So far, it has been a great success. I also have my letter day posters posted along the wall to keep me organized and moving through my day. 

Just below my whole brain posters I have my Students 'Good News" notes posted with their punch cards. I will be going into more detail in an upcoming post that will discuss classroom management. These notes were found on Pinterest. I apologize I have not yet figured out 1) How to link you to my Pinterest Boards and 2) Who created these notes. Please, if you know who is the creator of these notes please post a comment so I can add a link to this post. 

Well folks, I don't want to give too much away or I won't have any other fun pictures to share of my classroom! Be sure to check back in tomorrow to find out how I organize my classroom for instruction! I promise I do more than just create piles of paper all over my classroom! In the meantime, enjoy the quote that my students see as they leave my classroom everyday! 

Thanks for stoppin' by!