Classroom Setup

I've finally gotten things settled enough to take some pictures of my classroom. It's a good thing because school starts MONDAY! I still have a few organizing things and paperwork to do so I will probably be back at the school tomorrow to try to keep my head above water. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy!

This is my desk area.

This area is the computer area. It is also where I can hang the million anchor charts I make throughout the year. The bees on the computer are for the students to take down their number when they have completed FastMath. On the left of the computers is where the students get their read to someone materials for the Daily 4.

This is the fluency section of my classroom on the left. It includes timers, books on CD, fluency games, and books on tape. The right side holds all of my math games and materials.

These are more math manipulatives and materials.

 This is my closet area where the students put their bookbags and turn in their classwork and homework. Did you notice the O missing from homework? I obviously didn't realize it had fallen down when I took the picture. =/

These are where the students get to give their peers "Bucket Fillers". It's an activity that goes with a book I read at the beginning of the year to give compliments to each other. They LOVE it! Who doesn't love a compliment?

This is the job chart. Can you tell my classroom is a smorgasbord? I love to many things to make it only one theme. I do have an abundance of owls and peace signs this year though. =) Oh..and excuse the top of the broom.

This is my reading nook and Boggle/ Vocabulary board. I am SO excited to use Boggle this year. I'm hoping my students love it. On the left of the bulletin board there will be the weekly vocabulary words with the cover of the book we read.

Math board, homework board, and Daily Data board. Students answer questions about themselves with Daily Data and we graph it and show the data in various ways throughout the week based on the question. (Ex. I like Science, I like Math. If the student likes both, their number goes in the middle. If the student doesn't like either, they stay on the outside.)

This is the Daily 4 board I use for rotations. Most let the students choose, but I have certain things I need the students to work on and it helps with not having a student choose the listening/fluency center every time. That Hercules movie is still sitting there when my future stepdaughter came with me to my room this summer.

This is the word work center. You can get a glimpse of the morning starter. It was all setup for meet the teacher day when I took this picture.

This is part of word work. I got those cute chalk circles from a Groupon deal. I LOVE Groupon!

This is my Add It Up section of my room. It is Boggle with math! I also have letters to change it to Multiply it Up & Take it Away. Students work on adding as many numbers as they can.

This is my Hoot of the Week board. As you can tell, I'm the first Hoot of the Week to give the students an idea on what they will be doing when it is their turn.

Don't you just love Pinterest? That's where I found this idea. I am using bookshelves with my grouped desks this year to help with organization. One teacher last year used this setup last year & she loved it. Those boxes with numbers are the students supply boxes. All of their markers, crayons, etc. go in there. The shelves will hold their math student activity books and reading binders.

And that's it! I need to get a picture of the whole room looking in, my door decorated and the outside of my classroom where students hang up work. This will have to do for now! =) I'm SUPER excited about this year!

Slacker!

Wow! I was a TOTAL slacker on my blog last year! I really hope I can do a better job this school year, but when there are so many things to get done, I have to pick and choose. I just don't know how many other bloggers do it! I've had a crazy & time consuming summer to say the least. I moved into my own place! I absolutely love my house, but geez Louise, it has been a lot of work! We're finally settled somewhat, and I can do some other things that I've been wanting to do. I guess I can just pick up from here & start with what I've been up to this past week or so. I got back into my classroom about 2 weeks ago and have spent a few days in there. It's still not student ready by any means, but it has made some progress from the huge mess I made it into. Every year I say I'm not going to redo my room again, but then...I get on things like PINTEREST (teacher's heaven) & find way too many ideas. My classroom has always been a smorgasbord (or however you say that). I'm always too indecisive to stick with one theme. This year, I'm starting to move to a major theme. I still have different things in there because I just love everything! This year my major theme is OWLS! I have fallen in love with all the cute owl things. Last year, I had a few owl things in my room, but not as many as this year. I can't wait to show you my final room when I get done with it. I can't believe I only have one more week from tomorrow that school starts back. We had an even longer summer this year because of a legislation passing that school cannot start before Aug. 20 (for students). It still always seems to fly by as does the school year too though. Here are a few pictures of what has been going on this past week or so!

I made a few bucket seats from Pinterest for the classroom. I also had to make one for my too cute future stepdaughter, Isabella! She loves hers so I'm hoping my students love them too!

This is a cute and organized sign I also saw on the fabulous Pinterest! I'm planning on using student numbers that are attached to magnet strips. The students will put up their magnet in the mornings as a means to take attendance and move their number throughout the day as necessary. Can you see the cute owls on the ribbon?



Bull and I went on a 6 day trip to the BEACH! It was FABULOUS to say the least! This picture was before dinner at Bubba Gump's Shrimp Company in Destin, FL. We had so much fun with his cousins and then with my family. I didn't want to leave!

These two stinkers as my adorable nephews. We got to stay with them in Destin! This was on the dolphin cruise we took! It was fun! The kiddos didn't get to see the dolphins as much as I would've wanted them too because their fins would just come out of the water, but it was still fun. We all sure missed Miss Bello Boo! She got to go to the beach earlier this month with Bull's parents though.

We also celebrated Nana's (Bull's mom) birthday! We all went out for Mexican to celebrate. These beauties are Isabella, Sophie, and Ella. Sophie and Ella are my future nieces. Aren't they PRECIOUS? That little one cracks me up big time!

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep you more up to date than I have being. You all know we have what we PLAN on doing and what we ACTUALLY get done. Pinky Promise, I'm going to TRY! =)