My Classroom

Moving Classrooms:  August 2019
I am teaching first grade at Carver Elementary!  Over the summer I had to move classrooms and while I was sad to lose my window view, I am loving my new space!!

I love Pete the Cat and had so much fun making my "Cute as a Button" door to welcome my new students!!

I believe it is important to have a calming corner in the classroom for ALL students to access.  

My moving word wall is one of my favorite parts of my classroom!  Students can come up and grab the ring with the word they need and return to their seat.  In the event the word is not on the word wall, we can add a new card.

This will be my primary "teaching space" for whole group instruction.  I am excited to use the SitSpots to help students make good choices about keeping their hands and feet in their space.

This is my writing table.  Students will be encouraged to stop by here during Work on Writing or when they finish their work.

This is my primary spot for small group instruction.  Students will be able to use the colorful dry erase spots on the table to practice phonics and math skills.

I love this wall - Everyone is Welcome - in sign language and diverse colors!  I also am so excited about the flags and greetings of hello in so many languages!  Below the boards are students' book boxes for read-to-self time.

This is our Whole Brain Teaching, Super Improver Wall - check out the blog soon to see a post about how we use this to improve in our classroom!!

New School!  September 2017

I am teaching at a BRAND NEW school in our district - Carver Elementary!  I have had so much fun decorating my classroom and getting it ready for my new group of students!  I love all of our new furniture and how flexible it is for the classroom environment!

Changing It Up!  November 2014

Yesterday was a professional development and classroom work day.  I took advantage of the time and re-arranged some things in my room!  Take a peek and check the blog for some updates as to "WHY" I did this!

 


Sneak Peek, My Classroom:  August 2014

Today, my awesome friend, Treasa, helped me in my classroom ALL day!!  I'm talking 9:00am - 3:40pm!  We packed a lunch and hunkered down to get my room finished!  Back to School for teachers is in a little less than 2 weeks and students in 3 weeks to the day!  So, I wanted to make sure I could spend as much time with my kiddos as possible - relaxing, playing and building memories in the next 2 weeks!  I decided that today was my last day to work in my classroom until "workshop week" in a little over 1 week!

Treasa spent most {who am I kidding - almost ALL} of her time leveling the books in my library!  Look how fantastic it looks now!  We used the Scholastic Book Wizard App on my iPhone to level them with Guided Reading Levels (aka A to Z).  

I just love how my library turned out!  the bookshelves on the left and right of my library are leveled A to Z.  The pink/blue/green buckets on shelves straight ahead are sorted by interest:  Winnie the Pooh, Dogs, Cars, etc.  I plan to fill the remaining buckets with additional interests.  The Turquoise Large Utility Tote from 31 Gifts at the entrance to my library is going to be filled with fun "friends" to read with!  So far I have "Little Critter & Sister" as well as the puppy from Fancy Nancy!  I have additional stuffed animals from Dr. Seuss books I plan to add upon my return to the classroom!  I hope the kids enjoy the library, as I've certainly enjoyed getting it all set up for them!

Here is a peek at the front of my classroom and a couple of the tables!  Mid-way through last year I chose to switch from chairs to the exercise balls in my classroom and I have to say I'm very happy with the change.  I noticed the most improvement in student attention with students that struggle to sit still.  It took a bit of adjusting for me at the beginning {it's almost as though I was the only one still on a ship at sea!} but it's all been worth while!  Students can subtly bounce and expend some energy while being attentive at the same time!  My rule is:  Bum on the Ball and Feet on the Floor!

I chose to use a "Moving Word Wall" this year and I think I'm in love!  It takes up significantly less space than a traditional word wall and I believe it will be "less threatening" to use!  Some research shows that a traditional word wall can be overwhelming to some students as they're looking for a particular word.  With the Moving Word Wall, a child can be looking for the word "From" and walk over to the "F" ring, take it back to their desk, look through the words, sounding them out until they find "From."  At that point they can return the ring of "F" words to the Moving Word Wall and complete their work.

In the large green space above the Word Wall, I plan to make this my Math Focus Wall.  I am reading Guided Math by Laney Sammons right now.  This year I plan to implement Math Rotations for the entirety of my 50 minute Math Block.  As of right now, this time is looking to be split into (4) 12 minute rotations between:  (1) Mini Lesson - Small Group with Me, (2) Seat Work, (3) Math Facts, (4) Center related to daily lesson.  I will blog more on this as the school year progresses!

I'm not 100% sure what I'm going to use the blue space to the left of the TV for at this point!  I'm sure it will come to me soon...but if you have any ideas, please leave them in the comments!!

As I've mentioned in previous posts, I ditched the desk and I couldn't be happier!  You can barely see it, but at the top of my file cabinet is my Teacher Tool Box!  I opted to use a kidney bean table as my "desk" space but also as where I work with small groups of students throughout every day!  I was very lucky and have counter-top space directly behind my table that can house my computer and lesson plans!

Stay tuned!  I hope to post some more previews of additional spaces in my classroom as I get them finished - like my CAFE wall {I'm using my cupboards to post these this year!} and Writing Center!