My Classroom

I enjoy my room although it is quiet small for the 28 students I have, so defining lots of work spaces was really important. By no means do I think my room is perfect, but feel I have done a good job setting up the room in a way that allows for flow and organization. The building I work in is older and much of the furniture is hand-made. I would absolutely love to paint and have new sturdy wooden furniture like some classrooms that I admire (i.e. Reagan's over at Tunstall's Teaching Tidbits) & Carroll's over at The First Grade Parade). Here goes...

A view of my classroom from the hallway. 

To the right is our bathroom with two separate stalls. I am so thankful to have a bathroom in the class! I put colored electric tape on the floor, so that the students can form two lines: "Bathroom Line" & "Wash Hands Line". On the bathroom door, that is never closed, is my colored behavior chart. 

This is our classroom rules bulletin board. I use some aspects of whole brain teaching in my classroom. We repeat these rules every morning with gestures. The background on the bulletin board is fabric, for those of you who never though of this, it is wonderful. It lasts forever, doesn't rip and can be used from year-to-year! 

This is our meeting area, library area, read-aloud area, and listening center area. We have a smaller sized SMART board that is a perfect hight for young learners! I would love to have it mounted and a projector hanging above instead of on a cart, but I am still so in love with having one, that I can deal with the constant bumps of the cart. If you look in the corner, I have a bench. Two years ago I bought this bench at Loews, since I always wanted a couch in the library area and thought that bench was more conducive to the size of the classroom. I added outdoor jungle themed pillows for comfort! Behind the SMART board is a pocket chart with objectives hanging on a whiteboard and our class word wall. This is actually not a bulletin board, but a very old chalkboard that is no good anymore, that I tediously cover with tape and bulletin board paper. 

Here is another view of the classroom. My classroom library is arranged by theme. The Letter People on the shelf are a part of our literacy program. We love them!! I recently started to introduce the children to sight-words, behind the bench is our sight-word tree. 

To the right is our dramatic play area and behind that is out blocks and trucks area. In the center are the class cubbies. Although the cubbies in the middle of the class, make the class look smaller, it helps to section of our work and center areas. 

Here is a view of our other bulletin boards and student tables. Again these are made to look like bulletin board, but they are actually covered chalkboards.

Behind the cubbies are our nap mats. My desk is in the back left corner and our two classroom computers are in the center of our closets.

Here is a shelf that house our pull-tabs, "Trade-In Day" rewards, and literacy center manipulatives and tools. 

Here is a shelf that I painted turquoise to match the classroom. We store our math manipulatives and counters here. 

Here are some anchor charts we have discussed and displayed. In addition, the book bins at the bottom are for students when they are completed with their work at their given color table. I rotate the books often. 

Here is our art center supplies. Sorry for the mess, but there is a lot of use of these supplies. Young creative minds working! 

Our drying rack. 

My desk and our prayer table area. 

Another view of our cubbies. 

A view of our 4 work tables/ station tables (blue, orange, purple, green). 

This is how my language art stations an math stations activities for the week are organized. Each table has a matching color drawer. 

This is my mess of a closet, luckily these closets are kept closed for the most of the day. I've tried over and over again to organize them in a way that is appealing to the eye, but the shelfs are just too shallow and I just have too much stuff that we use throughout the year. We do not have a big storage closet in the class for all the teaching supplies and resources, so the students coat and backpack closet is also storage for all the games, manipulatives, art supplies, nap blankets, smocks, etc. 

Here is a view of our bins for communication folders, homework folders, and finished work.

A view of our blocks & trucks center.

A view of our dramatic play center. 

Another view of the dramatic play centers and nap mats {oh boy, I wish I had a better storage solution for all these mats}. 

Here is our writing center table. Students love creating books, lists, etc. here. They also walk around the classroom with clipboard when needed to write down words on labeled furniture and bins, our word wall, anchor charts, and sight-word tree. 

Another view of our library and Letter People. 

This is our listening center area. I still use tapes, because student have continued to enjoy them throughout the years. Here the children are listening to a story and drawing a picture of their favorite part or character. I would love advice on a better set-up/organization for this small space area. 

I Hope you enjoyed a peek into my classroom! As always, I am up for advice and organization ideas. I am inspired by so many of you and I would love to hear any input you have! What do you love, like, dislike? What would you change or rearrange?