Happy New (School) Year!

View from the back of the room.

It's back to school for many this week and I want to wish everyone a great start! As for me, well we're going into our fourth week of school since we are early starters here in the South. I wanted to take the time to share the learning spaces in my classroom. Thanks to my lovely and very talented teammate, I now have a classroom set up that works! After being in three different classrooms over the past four years, I can finally say I feel settled. I have struggled with finding the perfect set up with the space available to me. And now, I feel there is a certain flow to my classroom that is conducive to center work, collaboration, and flexibility. So here's a quick tour:

Supply Headquarters

At the front of the class you will find my supply headquarters. Here I have reference books, school supplies, and pencil sharpeners attached to a small bookshelf. At the top are two bathroom caddies that students can take for restroom breaks if needed. Above the shelf will be our Student Spotlight bulletin board. This board will be dedicated to a student who exemplifies strong work ethics and positive attitudes throughout the year. It will be changed throughout the term to celebrate our students and their achievements. We also provide guidelines to students who are selected. To read these, click here.

Front Board 

Adjacent to our Supply Headquarters is our front board. I was delighted to find a newly installed interactive whiteboard this fall. We use this part of the room to view the daily news either on CNN Student News or Channel One. Also, I post our schedule on a small red chart next to our board and use the left side for notes or directions, while the right side can be for reminders and notes. Students hang their backpacks and lunch bags underneath the board for organization. Because I had these hangers put up, that left me without a ledge to put markers and erasers. I use these magnetic bags to keep all markers and erasers and keep them low so that students may use them when needed.

Classroom Library

Past my desk is our classroom library. I have organized this section into reading levels, where each shelf houses a certain range of levels. I have placed novel sets on the bottom shelves and in baskets. All picture books are above the shelves in wooden crates. The bulletin board will highlight book review posters that students can share once they complete a book of their choice. I am missing a rug and will write a few grants to make this space cozier for students. This area of my room has been a work in progress, however I am pleased with it so far.

Storage Corner

Past the classroom library and towards the back corner of the classroom is my storage corner. I have inherited some file cabinets where I keep my resource materials. My goal is to purge two more cabinets if not all to add space to my classroom. In the meantime, I use the top of the file cabinets as a storing area for any maker projects. Each grade or class will have an assigned bin where they can store their projects. Underneath is a poster box that contains all laminated maps to use for Mystery Location Calls and poster boards for any projects.

Tech Time Cart

To the right of my Storage Corner is our Tech Time Cart. This houses all our macbooks and headphones. I have put up some technology related posters above the cart and plan on adding some Mac Shortcut Posters. I have posted logins to student programs such as Accelerated Reader, Compass, Edmodo, and Scholastic's Book Flix. Students will also keep their logins and passwords in their folders. This year each student will be assigned a computer, which they will be responsible for putting back in the correct slot and charging. Also, I am excited to use Google Drive to set up digital portfolios and for submitting work.

A new addition to our classroom is our Non-Fiction Library! I was thrilled to have inherited this bookcase another teacher graciously donated. For the past couple of years, my teammate had all the nonfiction books in her room and decided to bring them over to my side. I created a nook near our classroom opening (we are in one large classroom with an opening to pass through). The top shelf has all parent and teacher resources for gifted children while the remaining shelves have books organized by categories such as World Cultures, Geography, Animals/habitats, The Human Body, and much more. These will come in handy once students start their Passion Projects and independent research projects.






Past the opening to our classrooms, is my closet door. Here I have placed a pocket chart to keep all student handouts such as reading logs or thinking maps. This will keep my desk area clutter free and accessible for all students. The pocket chart has labels that I can add to assist students in locating the appropriate resource they need.

The final section of my room are my counters and cabinets. The cabinets underneath contain a supplies that we don't use on a regular basis such as rulers, bulletin board borders, and craft materials. Each cabinet door is labeled to assist in locating materials needed. The counters hold our Literature Circle baskets, where students can keep their independent reading books, reading logs, and Literature Circle jobs. In the center I have placed a paper tray with construction paper and poster paper followed by cubbies with classroom folders. Our classroom folders will organize any weekly logs, handouts, resources, and projects we complete on a weekly basis. On the wall, above the folders is a red pocket chart with our Performance Standards Scale, which are based on the DAP Levels. Students work and behavior are evaluated using this scale.

Panoramic View from the door. 

From this view you can see that there are four rectangular blue tables located in the center and two round tables along the perimeter in case students want some more space to work. We normally hold our morning meetings and any whole class instruction or events (such as technology tutorials or Google Hangouts) at the blue tables. I also have an additional office chair near my desk where I like to have "appointments," or one-on-one conferences with my students.

This concludes my classroom tour. I hope you enjoyed it and of course I am open to modifications throughout the year from my best critics and problem solvers- my students.