Posts with the label Classroom Must Haves
Showing posts with label Classroom Must Haves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Classroom Must Haves. Show all posts
July 29, 2024
Classroom Setup '24
Welcome to my classroom!
This upcoming year I am inheriting a brand new classroom at a new campus, in a new city, and a new (somewhat) grade level. There have been a lot of transitions this last month, but ones that are exciting. After our move from Texas this summer back to San Diego, California, I was excited to be able to get into my classroom early and begin unpacking and setting up.
We all know that inservice week brings time in classrooms, but most of that week is prep, planning, and meetings. So, to have this extra time to build my classroom is a gift.
Arranging Furniture
First things first: gotta sort through what the previous teacher left behind - or in my case the long-term sub - and begin arranging the learning spaces.
This is often the most overwhelming compared to entering into an empty room. However, I am grateful that certain pieces of furniture have been left behind. After some time, I was able to sort of organize the big pieces of furniture into spaces I imagine will get the most use. I did peek into my teammate's classroom just to get an idea of how she uses her space - which was helpful.
The main areas I want to focus on are:
- meeting area near TV (which is where I plan to have us spend the most time together)
- teacher desk with access to small group table
- student desk arrangement (18 students)
- classroom library
- writing materials area
I am in need of a few more student desks (so, nevermind the random desk and chairs in the middle). I will have a total of 18 students this year, which is so manageable! But, when arranging the classroom the big thing to keep in mind is how much space these 2nd graders need and how they'll use the classroom throughout the day.
I want to keep table groups to 3, so that means 6 students at each table group. We'll see how that works out once students arrive. A lot of this year will be a test-run of a lot of things! Thankfully, the room arrangement can always be adjusted once the school year starts and I get a feel for how we need to change and adapt things!
Small Groups
Here is my planned small group table where I will meet with students throughout the day. I wanted this space to be easily accessed from my desk area and give me the best view to monitor my class. I will also have a homeroom teacher that comes in and assists with students (how amazing is that?!) and this will also be a great space for her to use when working with the kiddos.
In this space I plan to use the bookshelf behind the table for my small group reading and math materials. I love the plant that was left behind, so I have that right there, too. To the right of my small group table I plan to have writing materials and a kind of writing area. That's the goal, at least.
Future Sound Wall
Coming into this classroom I quickly noticed this massive word wall. This wall is the only real wall space I have in my room (mostly due to the large windows I get!) and it will become my sound wall. I do plan to incorporate words from this list onto the sound wall, but it will be generated by the class as we unlock sounds and introduce words.
I loved getting to use my sound wall at my previous campus in kindergarten and I can't wait to incorporate one in 2nd grade. My plan is to condense the sound wall into just a few panels, so I can utilize the rest of the wall space to other things. My new campus uses the UFLI curriculum, which has a lot of the same components to what I've been trained in previously.
Here's my new wall!
I used butcher paper and picked up these cute "Everyone is Welcome" border from Lakeshore Learning. My sound wall is from Natalie Lynn and can be found here.
As far as these amazing counter tops over the cubbies, I plan to have various bins for student work and materials. But, for now I'll keep them bare and utilize them as we unlock certain learning spaces when students come.
Classroom Library
I am so grateful that my new campus provides so many amazing book choices for our classroom library. However, with how I want to arrange my room I need more shelving to house those books. At first, I made this space a little small only because I'd want my students to be able to read wherever makes them comfortable. Then, I quickly realized just how many books I have to organize....and not to mention, 2nd graders are bigger than kinders...so there's that.
I am planning to expand my library space and add more shelves thanks to Facebook Marketplace. I want to make this reading space a welcoming environment and open for students to be comfortable while reading.
I added this wall space for anchor charts and continued organizing the library itself. There were a lot of amazing chapter books and series hiding in one of my closets! I set out to get them organized and I'm happy so far with how the classroom library has come together.
- "Cool Kids Read Books" poster
- Amazing Work Coming Soon printable (FREEBIE!)
- Fake Plants
- Everyone Is Welcome border for walls & black book bins
We'll, for now that's what I've been able to do in my classroom over the summer. I look forward to August where we'll be heading back officially and things will really start to come together. I can't wait to get my class list, prep with my team, and get a feel for how the first week of school will feel.
Being new has me with the school-year-scaries...but it's a good feeling. I always say that if you no longer get the butterflies before a new year maybe it's time to transition out of the classroom. But, this year feels really good. I'm feeling confident and I know I have a great team to support me. There's a lot of new things heading my way this year being at a new school...but I can't wait to get started!
A final note...
Feel free to follow along this journey with me here, but also on my Instagram and Facebook. I know a lot of this online/social space has become filled with teacher influencers...and I am definitely not one of those. I love the "old school" way of documenting and sharing my adventures in the classroom in a way that's authentic and helpful to other educators...at least, that's my hope.
So, I hope you'll stick around and I would love to connect with you here or on the socials.
Happy teaching!
June 20, 2023
Boho Minimalist Schedule Cards
It's summer which naturally it means I'm also doing the very thing I shouldn't....and that's thinking ahead to next year.
It's hard for me to sit still and not use this time to think about how I'd like to setup my classroom, add or change things up, or create some new resources. My time is so valuable - don't get me wrong, our family has PLENTY planned for July - but it's even more valuable during the school year when I don't have much of it to dedicate to these things. So, I personally enjoy using this slower-paced time in my life to reflect and gear up for the year ahead.
So, as I'm looking around teacher Instagrams I'm noticing this boho naturals trend and I have to say that I'm not mad at it. I love that classrooms are beginning to get away from a lot of those distracting and overwhelming classroom decor and somewhat getting student-centered again. However, I do find a lot that is more style than substance...at least for me and what I would like to do for my kinders. Thus, I set out to create my own resources and here I am sharing what all I've been up to.
Student-Centered
This is by-far the most important thing I keep in mind when setting up my classroom. My son, who has ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder), has taught me a lot over the years about overstimulation and how that may affect different kids. Overstimulation can trigger all sorts of behaviors in students and therefore I try to keep the sensory levels pretty minimal when it comes to how I decorate and organize my classroom. Calm students = focused, engaged, and happy learners!
Daily Schedule Cards
As you can see my schedule cards this year are going to be black and white with little pops of color. The clipart I've intentionally kept black and white as to pop a little bit but not be overwhelming to the eye. The other important thing I keep an eye out is the use of fonts in products. So many times do I see something I'd love to download from TpT, but the font is completely wrong for my students here in kindergarten. Often they're a funky script or even the all caps fonts can be challenging to read...so cute for us adults scrolling social media, but not very student-friendly. Especially students who are just learning to read and write.
In my own products I always keep to simple fonts that reinforce the types of letter formation that I am teaching my students and what I expect for them to reproduce for me in their own writing. It also makes it easy-to-read and the B&W clipart is simple and doesn't overwhelm the eyes. Who knew so much thought goes into something as simple as this!
March 30, 2016
Getting Organized for BTS
Swaddle Blanket: HowjoyfulShop via Etsy
also featured at Scoutmob
Onesie: Baby Gap
I hope everyone had a very happy Easter and hopefully many of you are on a much needed Spring Break. I’ve been enjoying the stay-at-home life with my Greyson, who will be 3 weeks old tomorrow! I can’t believe how time flies - definitely enjoying every moment because in a blink he’ll be off to kindergarten before I know it!
Onto the goodies...
Every year I find myself wanting to spring clean not only my own home, but my TpT store as well. So, if you haven’t noticed already I’ve been doing a bit of sprucing up of my favorite products all in preparation for BTS, which is just a few months from now. Also, I wanted to get these newly updated products ready for download before TpT hosts their annual Back To School Sale (which is highly anticipated every year)!
Today I have for you a peek into my most recent update, which is of my daily schedule cards. Every classroom needs to display their daily schedule and these cards are colorful, vibrant, and use lovely clip art from Melonheadz Illustrating! This upcoming year I want to streamline everything and am going with a more simple, but colorful approach.
After some research and feedback, I’ve created schedule cards that should accommodate most classrooms, but if there is a card that isn’t included in your download I’d be happy to make one for you. Just email me with what you’d need and I’ll be happy to get it to you!
This download includes the following schedule cards:
+ arrival
+ morning work+ morning meeting
+ calendar time
+ reading workshop
+ reading centers
+ ar reading
+ ar quiz time
+ free reading
+ daily 5 centers
+ science
+ social studies
+ writing workshop
+ outdoor recess
+ indoor recess
+ lunch
+ snack time
+ math
+ math fact quiz
+ school assembly
+ special
+ special guest
+ p.e.
+ music
+ art
+ guidance
+ health
+ field trip
+ word study
+ poetry
+ computer lab
+ library
+ class buddies
+ testing
+ class testing
+ class assessments
** Testing Poster for hanging outside your classroom door!
+ 2 hour delay
+ late start
+ mystery reader
+ read aloud
+ handwriting
+ spanish
+ spelling pretest
+ spelling test
+ pack up & dismiss
+ clean up
+ dismissal
+ carpool
+ early dismissal
+ star student share
Have a wonderful Wednesday!!
June 22, 2015
Monday Made It: Back to School Organization
I know...it’s summer and I’m sure the last thing any teacher wants to do is begin thinking about the upcoming year. However, the saying is true: the early bird gets the worm. Getting organized is always a goal for me as I enter each new school year. Thinking of new ways to manage reading groups, organizing homework, my grading book, and all of those forms at the beginning of the year is just the tip of the organizing iceberg.
Today I am linking up with Tara over at Fourth Grade Frolics and sharing a few resources that have helped me stay on top of all of those pesky, but necessary, beginning of the year organizational tasks!
Back To School Parent Packet
I have updated this download to include forms that are not only perfect for second grade, but are all geared towards any grade level! Having changed grade levels a bit it occurred to me that this resource should be beneficial no mater what grade I may teach, so with that experience I made sure to include a little something for everyone.
I tend to give out quite a bit of information at Back To School Night because I am able to be right there to explain to the parents exactly the important info I need for my class as well as those important documents the school gives us to hand out. This updated packet has welcome letters, student information forms, permission slips for various activities, and extensive parent volunteer forms.I have also included optional parent surveys so I can get the skinny on the little details about my new kiddos that way on the first day of school I have an idea about each one of my little people. Then, I also have included a student survey that I love giving as morning work on the first day of school for the kids to fill out about themselves. Parents can give us teachers good insight into their child, but anytime I can get feedback from the students themselves it has proven to be well worth it! Plus my kids love to share about themselves so it’s a win, win!
I simply printed all of my materials and in order to keep it looking professional and neat, I decided to create Welcome Parent folders in which I put all of my classroom forms AND forms from the school in one convenient place. This way if families or students don’t attend back to school night, all of their important information is in one place and it made it easy for the parents who did attend to hold all the important stuff we send home.
Classroom Library Labels V2!
Labeling the classroom library is one of my most hated tasks ever when heading back into the classroom. My first year teaching I remember getting into the classroom and having NO CLUE as to how to even begin organizing the books that were left to me. I know that depending on your grade level there are different ways to label and group them, but that was the only thing I knew going in.
Then I thought, oh Pinterest will help me...wrong! I was so overwhelmed by the billions of different ways people label and organize their books even though they were all useful. So, I just decided to go with what worked for me and the reading material I had to work with. In doing so I have only just added to the billionth-and-one way to label your classroom library with these fun classroom library labels.
These labels have been updated to include even more genres, topics, and authors to compete any library in any grade. I am also happy to announce that this download also includes labels for organizing by Lexile, DRA, F&P, and AR! Seeing as teachers use various ways to organize their libraries I was happy to introduce these to the bunch! See all the different labels included here.
How have you tackled labeling your library in the classroom? What tips make it easy for fellow teachers heading back to the classroom?
VistaPrint for the classroom!
VistaPrint is my BFF during the summer because I am able to create resources that add a specific touch to my room and class each year. Here are a few of my favorite things to make that help keep my classroom organized.#1 Return Labels: I used return labels to create ‘This Book Belongs To’ stickers for the backs of my classroom library books or read alouds. This helps me differentiate between books I’ve purchased and those provided by the school or school library throughout the year. It’s funny to see this photo with my maiden name on it!
#2 Car Magnet: Saw this original idea from Pinterest (couldn't find original owner so if you recognize it please message me!) and thought it was genius to use magnets for all kinds of things. For me, I am using it as a No Name poster for all those pesky papers with no owner. It helped make the kids accountable by putting no name work where they could see it. I had them check the board before leaving each day to make sure they wrote their names.
Another tip I use to reduce no name papers is getting my kids in the habit of highlighting their names before turning in their work. I keep a bowl of highlighters right near the turn-in bin and it’s amazing to see that little step helped cut down the number of no-named work being turn in.
#3 Business Cards/ Loyalty Cards:
This fantastic idea of birthday reward cards came from Emily over at I Love My Classroom and using loyalty cards to incentivize doing homework/tests/behavior, etc. came from Tiffany at The Learning Effect. These cards were so wonderful to add to my classroom because the kids got so excited when they filled up their reward cards. It was also a great incentive for students to try their best on the two areas I’ve found difficulty with and that was with our Word Study words and behavior.
This fantastic idea of birthday reward cards came from Emily over at I Love My Classroom and using loyalty cards to incentivize doing homework/tests/behavior, etc. came from Tiffany at The Learning Effect. These cards were so wonderful to add to my classroom because the kids got so excited when they filled up their reward cards. It was also a great incentive for students to try their best on the two areas I’ve found difficulty with and that was with our Word Study words and behavior.
What do you like best about VistaPrint in the classroom?
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