First Week of School

Well, the name tags are made, the mailboxes are labeled, and the piles of items to cut and laminate are slowly dwindling down. 

I survived the first week of school! After moving classrooms this year, I never thought the day would come that I'd actually get to lay in my bed and relax. I kept my classroom pretty similar to last year (work smarter, not harder, right?), but I'll post some pictures of the subtle changes I made this year.

Moving in -- early stages...

...and after about five 12-hour days, it's finally getting somewhere! 

Job & Absent Student Board

Front of the room! 

Math Posters! 

Common Core Bulletin Board!

Reading Corner!

Welcome Board...took about 1/8 of the time as my last year one.  

Birthday Pillow! When it's their birthday, they get to sit on it for the day! 

In Class/Not In Class Board

Other than the fact that I'll probably despise chevron by the end of the year, I'm pretty happy with the room overall! Look forward to my next post about classroom management and my positive reinforcement plan Wonder (R.J. Palacio) themed! 

Classroom Decor

Ah the time has come.

Bust out the Cricut cartridges, dust off your stapler, and set aside some time to plant yourself in front of Pinterest in an attempt to make your classroom even cuter than the year before. At least that's what's on my agenda this week.

The past two years I've taken pictures of my classroom, so that when I go back in the following year, I know exactly how to set it up, and what exactly I need to tweak. So right about now is my time to take a look at what I used last year. Here are some pictures of my classroom last year!

My reading nook! Notice the book bins don't have labels yet. To establish a sense of community in my class, I have my students organize and label the bookshelves. 

Dumbledore quotes are the best! 

I LOVE painting! I took some classics and some popular children's books and painted them on canvases. This is one way I promote reading in my classroom!

My Left Brain, Right Brain canvas is possibly my favorite craft! It has a little bit of everything -- acrylic paint, water color, melted crayon, etc. It's also a great visual for students.

The front of my room!

Birthday Wall! 

Literary Devices Poster -- once I remember where I got them (from Teachers Pay Teachers), I'll give credit! 

Front of my room

There are white pieces of paper because that's where the student work goes, and there were no students there yet! 

Students keep their extra materials in those bins above their cubbies. 

I can't find the picture of the totally finished bulletin board, but this is the iHelp board where I post the weekly student jobs!

My Welcome Board! .....that stayed up all year! Oops! 

I bought some fabulous chevron fabric for my bulletin boards this year, and I'm working on some new book cover canvases! Once my classroom is all ready, I'll post some pictures up here, so stay tuned!

My First Post!

As summer is sadly coming to a close, so is my endless list of excuses for not completing my summer to-do list.

• Add more to my Teachers Pay Teachers page
• Read as many fourth grade children's novels as possible
• Make more Words Their Way sorts
• Read more on the Common Core Standards
• Craft for my classroom
• Create a teacher blog

Well I can finally at least check one of these off my list! This will absolutely be a work in progress, but here goes nothing!