Mini Classroom Tour

Wowza! It has been quite a week. If you're wondering why I've been on a bit of a hiatus it's because back to school has officially happened. My life has become a whole new ballgame juggling school and my two little ones. I've been meaning to post some pictures of my classroom so that you can see how it has all taken shape this year. I personally love seeing inside other teachers' classrooms so I thought you might enjoy it. Unfortunately, the day I started taking pictures I was distracted with something and never went back to doing it. So, I will call this my mini tour and keep you in suspense for what the rest looks like until a later date. Hopefully, the anticipation won't get the better of you. : )

 

 

Let's begin with one of my favorite spaces in the room. This is our library. My students love to cuddle up on the couch with a good book. They have access to all of the books on the shelf and there are big books to the right of the couch. To the left of the shelf is our poetry station.

 

 

Here is a closeup of the bookshelf. On top I have created a Giving Tree for when parents come in and ask if they can donate something. I used real branches and put them in a vase filled with sand. I then hung pieces of cardstock on the branches of things that we could use, such as, binoculars, sketchbooks, playground balls, oil pastels, etc. I am also displaying an issue of OJELA (Ohio Journal of English Language Arts). I had an article published in this magazine a couple of years ago. I had never thought about displaying it in my room until I saw a colleague who had proudly framed an article she wrote. I thought it was a great idea and an awesome thing to show our students. Thank you for the inspiration, Asha!

 

This rolling bookshelf houses all of my seasonal books. So, right now, it is holding books that I like to read at the beginning of the year.

In front of my window, I have set up our discovery station. This is where the students observe and wonder about the world around them. We are so lucky to have a beautiful tree right outside the window. My plan this year is to have the students record observations of how the tree changes throughout the seasons. Although you can't see it, across from the table I have my nonfiction bookshelf to help inspire wonder and research.




 

This is the math station. This is where we keep all of our math manipulatives stored in plastic containers. I also have two baskets of math books. If you haven't noticed, yet. I like to store my books throughout the room, rather than, in one spot.

 

 

 

Here is the writing station. Again, with a basket of books to inspire writing. Also "living" here are the students' writing folders. If you're wondering why some of my stations look a little sparse, it is because I wait to put things out until we have explored and learned about them as a class. Eventually the writing station will hold different paper choices, a stapler, a date stamp, and various station activities.

Our word study station is located next to the chalkboard so students can easily use the magnetic letters. There will be several other activities in the drawers, too. On top, are our ABC books.

In the corner, we have a theater that the students will use for dramatic play. The drawers have puppets and stuffed animals. Right now, we have a Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom tree so that the students can retell the story.

 

Finally, if you have made it through this entire post (and your not even a teacher), here is a little comic relief for you. At orientation, I gave out smarties to my students and my dear neighbor, Ashley, gave out dum dums! Hmmmm, I hope for her sake it's not a sign of things to come. Haha! Have a wonderful weekend! Hopefully, I will be back again sooner than later.