Tomorrow is open house for me, which means it has been crunch time in getting my classroom ready to go. It shouldn’t have been that difficult, because I decided to keep the same look from last year. I still really liked the bright colors, and to be quite honest, I didn’t feel like reinventing the wheel. Even though I used the same design, it was still a lot of work to get everything ready.
This is the view from the back of my classroom. Notice that I don’t have any windows or natural light. I added the silhouettes on the clouds to bring the outdoors to my room. I got the idea from Schoolgirlstyle.com.
Here’s a close-up of the silhouettes.
On the back of my classroom door, I added small thought bubbles. I’ll have my students write their thoughts to different questions on a sticky note, and then students will place the sticky notes on their thought bubble at the end of the activity.
I have a tray of notebook paper and a caddy on the center of each table. Students will store any community supplies in the caddy and their individual supplies in their basket, which they will keep inside their desk.
I still love my big word wall. I initially used velcro to attach the words, but I found that tape worked just fine.
These are the books I’m planning to read on the first day of school. The sticks are for when I want to randomly call on students and for my Mystery Walker of the Day.
I’m going to try having a “Homework Club” for the first time this year. At the end of the month, anyone who is still in the club will receive an extra privilege.
This is my desk area. Please excuse the mess, but this is the one piece of my room that is not quite ready to go.
I use “Brownie Points” as a whole class incentive. Every time students get a compliment or do something especially well, they earn a brownie point (I stick them on the pan with magnets). When the pan is filled, I bake my class brownies.
This is an area where I’ll keep sharpened and unsharpened pencils, highlighters, and glue sticks. I bought little chalkboard labels, but I forgot to buy a pen for the labels. I’m hoping it arrives tomorrow, so I can use it before open house.
I’ve got several things I can’t wait to try out this week. I’ll share them as soon as I know they’re truly ready to go!
Hi! I cam across your c,assroom on Pinterest. I noticed you said you didn’t have windows in your c,lassroom. I have just been hired by a school and my class wouldn’t have windows either. How bad was it not having natural light. I am a person who loves a lot of natural light. Thanks!
It was all I ever knew, so it wasn’t too bad. I’m now at a school where I do have a big window, so I think it would be hard to go back!