Teacher Week: Classroom Digs

So just last week, I linked up with the super sweet Ashley from Flying High in First for her Classroom Tour linky!  In case you're new or just didn't make it on over to check out my classroom here it is again for teacher week!! 

The picture above is the view from the door!  

 Here is a little better look at the back wall.  As you can see most of my bulletin board spaces are bare... I don't like to have too much up at the begging of school other than my word wall, character traits, and pocket charts.  WHY?!?! Well, it's simple.  We make so many anchor charts as we come back to school that I will NEED to have room to hang up!!

As you walk in to the right is the front of my room.  Still a little bare... I have yet to add my pledge posters & National Anthem!  Yes, we say both the US & Texas Pledge every morning in addition to the National Anthem.  I also plan to put a pocket chart on the right side of the Texas flag to store my daily objectives!

If you're up front, this is your view of the back!  The back wall will occupy my math anchor charts on the right (grey) side & pocket charts with important vocabulary on the left. I also have my three classroom computers, mailboxes, and math manipulatives shelf on the back wall!

And... the last wall..... The TV is where our morning announcements, put on by
the 5th graders on our campus, play.  I also have my calendar & birthday board below the clock.  In years past, my desk horse shoe table has been in the left corner of this photo.  This year, I needed a change of scenery!

Now for some close(r) ups! 

This is my new "teacher" area!  I'm so in love with it...mostly because I'm right next to the window!!! All those cubbies, shoved full of junk teaching materials & the book shelf will soon be covered with a teal curtain.  Now I just need to get the sewing machine out!!

Immediately when you walk in the door, you will pass this area.  The drawers on the left house some of our materials (rulers, index cards, stickers, etc.), but the bottom three drawers will also be where students will store their extra supplies!  I put a name on a gallon sized bag for each kid & then the put it in the drawer with their name!  Makes searching for supplies, super easy when they run out!  The multi color pocket organizer is where the attendance & lunch count supplies lives.  Perfectly placed because the blue pocket chart will be how my students make their lunch choice this year!! Now I just need to add vinyl numbers to each of the slots!  & Obviously their mailboxes are right above!  This will allow me to keep a better eye on when my kids have emptied out their mailboxes or not!

Here is one of my favorite places.  Mostly because this is when we (all the kids & I) are gathered up having discussions, learning, & sharing!

Behind my easel is my teacher book shelf...  All of my books that I want to read aloud to the kids BEFORE they get a chance to read them!  They are then placed in a special box for the kids to read!  Some of the boxes are labeled according to their subject (life cycles, famous Americans, holidays, etc) for easier findings!  This shelf too will be covered with a curtain!

These are the pictures from the classroom library!  I am still in the process of getting all of the book reorganized & the boxes re-labeled!

These are the shelves from the outside of the library, facing our meeting area!  The greenish shelf will be where all of the literacy centers will be.  The top shelf is soley for writing.  At the bottom I have some multi colored containers, these are how I manage & organize my centers that are differentiated.  The green & red are the same center, but differentiated.  The black and pink are the same as well, just differentiated.
The white shelf with the red boxes is full of community supplies (markers, crayons, & highlighters).

This shelf, on the back wall, is where all of our math manipulatives and math centers are stored!  I like to keep all the math in one place to make it easy for everyone!


& I hope you're not bored....... But before I'm done... I want to share some of the little things that make me love the setup this year so much!

First, my centers pocket chart!  I got this gem right towards the end of the school year and put it to use immediately!  It's a magnetic pocket chart!!  This has by far been the easiest way for me to manage my centers.  I rotate out my centers about every 2 weeks (sometimes a week and half, depends on what I have in the centers).  I do a mix of Daily 5 and other centers that I make.  Why?!?  Well I will save that post for another day, SOON I promise! 

My new table signs!  I'm in L-O-V-E! I bought the cheap 99 cent double sided frames from Ikea.  I used fishing line to hang them upside down (I had to tape the bottoms so the pictures wouldn't fall out), and added a little bow... & Voila!

Each table will have a community box this year too.  In this box will be their personal glue bottles, scissors (that have been flagged as classroom scissors), and the red cup for when students need their pencils sharpened!  It will be one students job to get pencils sharpened each day!

I promise, only one more after this! ;)  & These two are not actually new this year!  These little rings are placed on the side of each of my computers.  It gives students the options of what they can do on the computer rings, along with how to access the sites (complete with passwords).

The trays on the right are how students turn in their work.  I give them a specified tray (1-3 or A-C) to turn in assignments so that they are all turned into the same place!  The labels need a makeover, but this will be my fourth year to use this system & I love it!!  The paper sorter on the left is for pre-cut sheets of construction paper... you can tell it needs to be refilled!

Since I did this original post  I've hammered out *in my head* what my bulletin board outside the room is going to look like... EKKK I can't wait to try it & see if it ends up looking as good on the board as it does in my head!! :) I plan on tackling that, tomorrow! :)