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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Teacher Week: Classroom Tours!

Wow! Day Four already?! Today is the much-anticipated Classroom Tours {or at least I'm pretty pumped about it!}. The placement of this day was strategic, as I knew my room had to be ready by Thursday for Open House. I hope that you post your classroom pics too - whether it's ready to go or not! I have learned so much by touring other teacher's classrooms - online and in person. This should be fun :)

I had to move rooms this year since I am teaching 1st grade and now reside in the former art room (art will be on wheels this coming year). My room is huge. However, it's wonderful and daunting all at the same time. Wonderful because I have an incredible amount of space to work with and daunting because, well, I have an incredible amount of space to work with! Trying to figure out the best arrangement has taken me a month, and I was rearranging and moving furniture in and out until about 9:30pm tonight. To see the before pics, see this post.

Okay, so this is the view when you walk in the door. I finally have desks. As of only yesterday. And they are all the bad ones (i.e. unbalanced legs, different heights, peeling desktops, etc.), but beggars can't be choosers! We added three new teaching positions for this coming year, so 90 desks are MIA right now, lost on a freight truck somewhere.

This view is standing at my desk. We are a green school, so our ceilings are angled to accommodate as much natural light as possible. You can't see the windows at the top of the angle.

This is standing in the corner opposite of my desk.

Here is my front whiteboard and bulletin boards. I think you can click on the pic to expand it if you want to see up close. Should be fairly self-explanatory, and I'm sure if you're a primary educator you have a similar looking set-up somewhere in your room. {Sidenote: I hate Calendar Math! I know it's a necessary component of early education, but the monotony of doing it every day bores me to tears. This year, my students will complete a calendar binder for morning work that we will discuss later in the morning during a student-directed/taught activity.}

This is the wall opposite of the door. Though it appears I painted directly on the wall, I did not - I painted it on a roll of IKEA paper and then hung it up with Velcro dots. The bulletin board divided into 4 blocks is where I will post "I Can" statements (learner goals). Most of the posters you see glue-gunned on the walls are just for fillers for the beginning of the year. Anchor charts will eventually go in their place.
Here is where a fraction of my books are camping out while I await cubbies (2-3 weeks away still!). I will eventually put them in the cabinets above the cubbies and house more organizational-type stuff on these bookcases.


Below are two different shots of our whole-group meeting area. I wish I could put a colorful carpet down here, but I cannot due to lice, bedbugs, and potential vomit. {Let's just say I had a small carpet in my room last year that a student threw-up all over during reading centers. I had to get rid of it and the stack of Dr. Seuss books he was reading...}

This is my current Word Wall wall, and the future location of my cubbies!

Here is my sink! A bonus from moving into the art room as only the kindergarten and preschool classrooms have them in room! Initially they wanted to remove the sink, counters, and drawers and put my cubbies here but they thought better of it (thankfully!) and I get all this extra storage and A SINK! Yay! This bare wall is the future location of my Word Wall bulletin board. I know it looks messy right now, but the counter is full of student supplies (folders, books, planners, etc.) that will disappear after the first day of school.

And, lastly, the bane of my existence: the tech corner. Besides the fact that I HATE exposed wires, this corner just looks blank and lonely. My mom and I just rearranged this particular area tonight, so there's still work to be done here. I'd like to hang a dry-erase board above my desk and hang up my ceiling tile art too, but it is not a priority right now!

So that's all I've got! I can't wait to see your rooms! I haven't had the time to get around to everyone's posts due to time constraints, but I've been visiting several a day. You all are so inspiring! But what should I expect? You're teachers :)

Please link up using the Linky below! (Also, I've never used Linkies before - is anyone having trouble loading my site? Please let me know if you are!)

26 comments:

Jamie said...

Your room is huge! How nice :) You have it decorated so cute and your banners turned out great!

AbbyS. said...

I have been waiting for this day for weeks!! I can't wait to see all the classrooms. I LOVE your First grade is FAB banner. Good Work dear! I love the banners from your how-to on the windows, they look great too. Of course I love the calandar wall too.It looks like you got your desks in and things are coming together. Your kiddos are a lucky bunch. Enjoy the year!!

Katie @ Miss Klohn's Classroom said...

It looks wonderful! I know that I would love to be in your class...it is so much fun!

The Taffs said...

I love the room! So colorful and inviting! You've got a great, big room - how nice with the little ones!

Anonymous said...

This series is making me want to be a teacher so bad! Thanks for doing such an important job! Lucky kids!

Sneaker Teacher said...

Your classroom looks great! What a big space!!! Love it!

KT
www.sneakerteacher.blogspot.com

Janae said...

I love how big your room is! It’s so colorful and inviting! If I could get into my classroom, I’d love to participate. We don’t start until September 1st!

I use this Util-A-Mat from Sam’s Club and I love it! It’s waterproof, and cleans easily with soap and water. It’s also great because the squares are big enough that I assign each child a square and tell them to keep their whole body in the square. It helps solve a lot of problems of “he’s touching me!”. I wonder if this would work in your room?

http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=107930&navAction=

Erica said...

1. I secretly hate calendar time too! I'm relieved I don't have to do it this year (moving from Kindergarten to Title 1). Glad to hear I'm not alone!

2. Love how bright and airy your room looks.

3. Love the colorful totes on the kids' tables.

4. Also love your flag banner...adorable!

Ginger Snaps said...

I am jealous of all your space!

Anonymous said...

ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY..
......FABULOUS ABBY!!!

I WISH MY GRANDDAUGHTERS WERE IN YOUR CLASSROOM AND HAD YOU FOR A TEACHER!!!

I HOPE THE PARENTS REALIZE THE EXTRA CARE AND INTEREST YOU HAVE IN THEIR CHILDREN!!!

HAVE A FABULOUS YEAR!!!!
GOOD LUCK!!
SHARON

Brittany said...

Oh my gosh! I love your BIG room!!! Mine is probably less than half that size!

Mrs. B said...

I teach Kinder and on those mornings where I'm not quite awake yet, I find myself daydreaming during calendar time. Luckily, if I goof up, the kids think it's hilarious. "Mrs. B! You can't trick us!!" hahaha.

Ms. Emmy N said...

Oh my gosh! Your room is too cute!! I love it! And so big!! Thank goodness you got desks! Yikes... hope the others all make it by the start of school! Good luck with your open house tonight, I remember loving 'meet the teacher' night when I was in grade school :)

California Wife said...

Your room looks fantastic! I'm so jealous of all of the space that you have!!!

Mozer said...

Wow, I can't believe how much space you have! When I taught we were always crammed in tightly. Everything looks so nice!

Sarah said...

You have a fantastic room! I envy the space you have to work with :). I just stumbled upon your blog from a different blog ("first grader at last") and I'm glad I did!!

Kerbi said...

I love your room! It's so big and you did a great job of decorating it! Mine isn't ready for pictures yet

Minnesota Rocks! said...

Your classroom looks amazing! I can tell you put a lot of time in it over the summer, getting ready for this school year!

I love how cheerful your colors are!

You did an amazing job!

Stacey said...

Abby, I'm having so much fun tonight looking at everybody's classrooms. :) Just found your blog today! My room is just about in order for the year to come. Woo hoo!

HayleyP said...

Abby, I love your classroom and that you gave helpful websites for elementary education teachers. I'm in college right now for elementary education, so I love that I found your blog!!

The only thing that worries me is when I read about " potential vomit " when you first started out as a teacher did you get sick a lot? That is all I am worried about.

CarrieV said...

Wow, your room really is massive! It all looks great. Have a super year:)

Gina said...

Your room is enormous!!! I was supposed to have my room ready for Open House night last night and it so was not. Luckily I have wonderful teacher aides who came through for me and decorated my room today. My room is about 1/10 the size of yours, though!

Confessions of a Northern Belle said...

Omg your room is SO big and clean and beautiful! I am super jealous. I am teaching in a Title I school and our resources are low so #1 my classroom is smaller and #2 I don't have cool things like whiteboards and easels. Did you buy those yourself or did they come with your room?

Anonymous said...

Your room looks great and is so big! I love your first graders are fab poster.
Hope you have a great year!!

The Ossege Family said...

Guess I must be a lousy teacher; because I applied for everything and didn't get one interview for any of those 3 new positions :(

School Day Love said...

I love your classroom pictures! I finally finished my room and posted on my blog. Your linky list is closed, but I thought I would share anyways- http://justeverydaylove.blogspot.com/2010/09/classroom-reveal.html