I am addicted to teaching blogs and spend A LOT of time searching out and using all of the great resources others post and share. Like many others, I am re-doing many of my materials to align with the new Common Core. I hope that if you are here, you are finding something useful!
One of my favorite inspirations from the blogs and Pinterest are photos of other's rooms. Here are some of mine from last year!
I like to have each student's name on the door for the start of the year. I used the Ellison to cut out their first letter from fun-foam and I wrote the rest of their letters with a marker. I also made a
Wordle with all of their names as well! I put the colored one on my door and make it in black and grey too. I copied the black and grey one onto brightly colored cardstock an put it into the back pocket of their BEAR binder.
Last year I made this birthday chart with cupcakes for each month and their names listed. I will be redoing this one for sure! I really like the ones with the children's photos from
here on pinterest.
I am so glad that our great PTG helped purchase Smartboards for our classrooms. I think this is the most valuable new tool in my classroom! I use it for calendar, morning meeting, digital books, centers, whole and small groups. While it has replaced many posters and pocket charts I find that I am still, as always, short on display and storage space. To make the most of every small area I found these small colored bags (left over from birthday party treat bags) and hung them with 3M hooks. I used iron ons that I printed on my computer to label them.
I don't remember where I got this idea from (if it was you let me know!) but I LOVE it and it works wonderfully. I have pinkish-purple carpet throughout my classroom. In my meeting area I like to have the kids spread out so they all have space but somewhat orderly so it is easy to pass out supplies and such. I bought these cut out pockets from our local teacher supply store and wrote each child's name on them, then laminated them with 10mm laminating so they would last all year. I put a 1 inch piece of Velcro (the stiff side) on the back. I put them out on the floor in the order I want for the day -rows, circle, groups, etc. They are easy for me to move if two kids need separated! When I introduce the pockets I tell them 1-only grown ups are allowed to move the pockets 2-if I hear your pocket it gets put away and you have to sit at your desk 3-if I see your pocket (when you are supposed to be sitting) then it gets put away and you have to go back to your desk. At the beginning of the year they often need reminded about sitting on them correctly but after the first month the kids totally get it! I like the multi-colored pockets so that I can dismiss them by their pocket color too!
My Chicka-Chicka tree made with a carpet tube and Wal-Mart fleece (total cost $9.50) was a bit tricky to get just right but it has been up for two years now and still looks great! In all honesty this is my second tree. The first one was all out of paper and the kids destroyed it before the school year was done. I spent some time thinking about how to make this more durable so it is covered in brown outdoor polyester ribbon and the leaves are fabric instead of paper which did not hole up to the humidity and drooped so my kiddos could jump up and touch the leaves.
This is my book area at the start of the year. I have always had the cotton pillow stuffing clouds because I like the cozy feeling of things hanging from the ceiling. The bunting is made with fabric scraps and Stitch Witchery (I hate to sew.) The bench was a new addition this year so that the kids could have a fun place for "Read to Someone" but I may have to move it so they don't stand on it to see out the window. The playground is out there...such temptation!
If you made it this far...Thanks for reading! If you have a Kdg. Blog leave me a comment, I'd love to see yours!
Marie
