After a very productive (but always too-short) work week, I'm excited that school is officially back in session. Since this is the cleanest my room will look until next August, so I thought I'd capture some images of my room for the 2015-2016 school year.
In the photo above, you'll see that I'm starting off the year with some more traditional seating arrangements. I'm hoping that later on this fall, I will be able to eliminate half of the desks in favor of a more flexible seating arrangement. I've written a Donors Choose grant requesting some benches with storage, additional shelving, and bins to allow our classroom library to expand. I'd also like to go garage-sale hunting for some tables, stools, and some other seating options. If I'm able to get these items, I'd like half of my room to leave the "traditional" desks behind and have some flexibility with where they sit. The goal is to increase student engagement and focus. I know that when I work at home, I've never preferred to sit at desks. I always work on couches, the floor, or other spaces. I'd like my classroom to reflect this as an option for the students as well. In order to make this work, I plan on eliminating a teacher desk altogether since I rarely use it anyway. Instead I will put my office supplies in crates and store them neatly on shelves for easy access.
In the photo below, you'll notice that some areas of my classroom have bare walls and are lacking posters. This is intentional. I like to avoid putting up too much on the walls so that students aren't experiencing sensory overload. As we create graphs, charts, and posters to showcase our learning, I will post them for students to refer to. However, I typically rotate these through so that everything from the year is not up at once. Sometimes less is more. That being said, there are some posters that will remain up all year. These include reminders about behavior management and rules, reminders of classroom routines, and some focus boards.
My classroom library is getting a makeover for the school year. For *now*, you can see some blue book bins under the chalkboard in the back of the room as I'm working to finish the task. I've been working this past week to re-vamp the organization in my classroom library. Although it wasn't completed by the first week of school, I expect to be able to move all of the books to shelves once they are categorized.
The majority of my classroom library has been sorted by topic: historical fiction, animal books, science topics, sports, biographies, series, specific authors, etc. However, I also have a large amount of bins that simply say "chapter books" and "skinny chapter books" for more reluctant readers. These include a variety of topics in each bin. This fall, I'll be working to label the reading level of all of my books. Then, I'm planning on sorting the general "chapter books" and "skinny chapter books" by level for the students to pick a "just right" book. Bins that are sorted by theme will also have books that tell their reading level, but they will remain mixed by topic. That way, if a student wants to look at sports books, he or she can decide if they want to pick a book at their level or browse another choice.
The majority of my classroom library has been sorted by topic: historical fiction, animal books, science topics, sports, biographies, series, specific authors, etc. However, I also have a large amount of bins that simply say "chapter books" and "skinny chapter books" for more reluctant readers. These include a variety of topics in each bin. This fall, I'll be working to label the reading level of all of my books. Then, I'm planning on sorting the general "chapter books" and "skinny chapter books" by level for the students to pick a "just right" book. Bins that are sorted by theme will also have books that tell their reading level, but they will remain mixed by topic. That way, if a student wants to look at sports books, he or she can decide if they want to pick a book at their level or browse another choice.
This is the space (pictured above) that I'm hoping to update with the addition of more storage and flexible seating choices.
The photo above shows my least-favorite area of my room. While it's jam packet with amazing manipulatives, hands-on supplies, games, and incredible resources; it's also very crowded. If I'm able to get more bookshelves through Donor's Choose to add additional storage, this space will become more organized.
Once the classroom was established, I was able to jump over to our local outlet stores and take advantage of some great deals during Labor Day Weekend sales. I scored some great tops from J. Crew, a variety of clothes from Banana Republic, a purse from Coach, and some new shoes from Cole Haan. On the first-day of school, I opted for a more comfy approach than I usually do, but I appreciated being able to sit down on the floor with them first thing in the morning.
The year is officially back in session at my school, and I can't wait to see what adventures are in store.
Sincerely,
Kristy
*Comment below to share what your favorite part of your classroom is this year!*
Once the classroom was established, I was able to jump over to our local outlet stores and take advantage of some great deals during Labor Day Weekend sales. I scored some great tops from J. Crew, a variety of clothes from Banana Republic, a purse from Coach, and some new shoes from Cole Haan. On the first-day of school, I opted for a more comfy approach than I usually do, but I appreciated being able to sit down on the floor with them first thing in the morning.
The year is officially back in session at my school, and I can't wait to see what adventures are in store.
Sincerely,
Kristy
*Comment below to share what your favorite part of your classroom is this year!*