#imstillonvaction

Yep...I'm touring the east coast this summer! Visiting family members, friends, and teacher friends. It's been an amazing few weeks and we will be home soon.

I felt as though I had been ignoring you all and though some of you have already gone back to school, some of you may still be in need of some classroom inspiration. Of course as I was visiting my teacher friends I kept asking them if I could take pictures of their rooms, and they happily agreed.

So here are a few ideas that you may find helpful! Enjoy! (get ready for picture overload)

This first group is from my dear friend, I posted her classroom last year...when I moved from GA she acquired most of my red and black decor. This is her second year in this classroom and I love some of the additions and changes she has made.

Her new reading nook!

Love this reading bulletin board.

Her desk area with the hanging "lanterns" is really cute and organized.

Similar area for her rolling cart with document camera and student computers.

This is new this year. She co-teaches, and kids rotate throughout the day. She is teaching ELA block. When the students are at their "cubbies" outside the classrooms she will pull the tab out of the items needed for the class, for that day. This is something she made herself! Great idea!

This year she decided to go with tables instead of desks, mostly due to room, and the fact that the students don't need desk storage due to the cubbies outside the classrooms.

Another nook in her room where she keeps supplies and writes her targets.

This room is another dear friend that I left in GA. She is a literacy coach. I love the color scheme and bulletin board ideas.

The parking lot is where teachers can add notes or sticky notes about concerns, questions, or ideas they have during and after staff development. She uses them to help guide her next meetings!

 Another teacher friend from GA. She taught SpEd last year and is back in a regular classroom this year. I love her color scheme of red, grey, burlap, and chalkboard!

She is going to use the frames to write center activities for the day that will be stationed at those tables.

Homework club, you bring your homework you stay on the board, you don't do it you take your number off. At the end of the month those still on the board will earn a prize/treat/reward.

Very cute meeting area. The grey pages are laminated and glued to the table for the students to use expo markers on during small group meetings.

Love the colors and design of this board!

Cute little reading nook.

Another cute board!

Whole class meeting area.

Lunch count and sharp/dull buckets for pencil sharpening.

Outside display. Welcome to 5th Grade.

Another version of my work collection station (using pocket folders instead of file folders). They will only put completed work in these folders, whereas mine would put all work in their folders and place it under completed or not completed.

I hope you enjoyed and maybe got a few ideas/inspiration! I'll be back soon with a few new posts about how I introduce making notes and tracks in your reading...even for the littles! 

An Oregon Classroom Reveal!

It's only a few days late, but my room is as ready as it's going to be! It took a TON of work to move it cross country, repurchase and remake so much stuff! But I'm loving the way it is all coming together.

Enjoy...and get ready for picture overload, and I was armed with my good camera this time!

The BIG, overall picture:

My classroom library/reading nook (with a view)

I saw this idea on Pinterest...sort of, and made it my own. Each student has two sticks (one yellow and one blue). My kids are allowed to only have two books out of my classroom library at a time. So when they take a book they put the stick in it's place. This lets me quickly see who is reading, and what they are reading (my library is set up by genre, author, and series). I don't have labels yet, the ones I used before are too big.
Original PIN idea here. Bucket made by me :)

My group tins made it with me, but of course they had a small make over, new ribbon to match the new color theme!

My new homework boards, again loved using them in previous years...just had to change the color theme.

An overall view of the front of my room. My overhead projector cart had a makeover and now holds my laptop and speakers (no speakers in the ceiling here). The big white arm is my document camera, I'm adjusting to the largeness of it! I am also transitioning from Mimio interactive board system to SMART. The huge white cart with wheels is my class set of iPods, yep each kiddo gets an iPod for the year.

Updated my candy holding mason jars, and added a new procedure to my room, mystery walker (read about it here).

I am still going to be using Mentor Sentences in my room, so here is my new "board".

At this school we have to post Learning Targets (what the students will learn during and by the end of the lesson). I'm adjusting my thinking away from Essential Questions. The blue pages are laminated so I can wipe them off at the end of each day.

The teacher nook! I actually have my lesson plans done for next week (it helps that it's a short week).

My storage!

Labels I made for my cabinets (a place for everything and everything in it's place)

My new work completion/collection station. Again another Pinterest find! (can you tell I spent a lot of time on Pinterest this summer???) You can find the link here! The clothes pins are spray painted to match the subject sign. I used Sharpie to write the numbers on them. The "turn in buckets" I found at the $1 spot at Target!

My job "boards" (again cookie sheets). I didn't want to spray paint these because one of my colors is grey. I got the job names from, you guessed it Pinterest! I made the actual job cards and name "plates". As you can see from the close up the color name plates (nameless right now due to making sure I see/meet my students first) they fit right under the job title and description, and I put magnets on the back.  

My math center central. This is set up very similar to my old one. My board is a little bigger and I shrunk my Witzzle Pro board. Sorry didn't get a close up of those. I am also doing a number of the week. These two items will be part of one of the centers. To post what tub contains which lessons/games etc. I simply bought the clear picture frames that have a built in stand, put color paper in the frame, and hot glued a bow on it!

A Did You Know board. I'm going to put an interesting fact on it a week, and HOPE to write the fact then tape a QR code on the board that they can scan and it will link them to websites and such that would give them more info on the fact (this will be one of my reading center items). 

My reading center central..again very similar to last year's set up.

Writing center central...this is a little blah right now, but will be better soon!!!

My "famous" Walmart shelving! I'm loving the fabric backing on all my shelves this year. This is not exactly how they will look this year, but just for now. I'm waiting on my book boxes to get in, which will take up room. This year on the bottom right I have a little file/magazine tub. I have put a file folder in if, one for each kid in the group. This is where they will store worksheets they are still working on, instead of shoving them in their desks.

The front two groups are set up with four across the back and two facing each other. I am now at 24 students, for some reason the 5th grade this year has lost students this summer...my number kept dropping. There is just two of us teaching 5th this year!

My two back row groups had to be made a little different, to save room. My room is a little "squaty". I have no real back wall to use, and have groups come off of, and the furniture (storage) isn't movable so my arrangements are limited (this was set up number three I attempted this week!).

So there you have it...my NEW Oregon classroom! I can't wait to meet my kiddos on Tuesday for Registration/Orientation.