Classroom Tour 2014

I have been so busy these past few months setting up my new classroom and teaching new curriculum in first grade! I'm here today with some classroom pics for you! We had our annual Open House a few weeks ago, so I made sure to have student work posted for parents to see.

This is the front door.  I have my Carson Dellosa Eric Carle Birthday Chart up, student mailboxes right by the door, some storage above the cabinets, art supplies and cleaning products in those cabinets.  Our Cafeteria Expectations craft, a freebie from Rowdy in Room 300, is hanging up.  I put little pieces of velcro on them so the students can open the lunch boxes to see the rules.  They loved that!  I made a bunting with an All About Me pennant.  I sent it home for students to decorate and add a photograph, then I laminated them so they will last all year.  I'm not sure where the banner is from, I found it in my filing cabinet from the teacher that left.  But there are tons of them for free or for very cheap on TpT.

Here is the math wall.  I have a calendar up with a mixture of resources from Teacher Created Resources, Schoolgirl Style, and my Calendar Starter Set.  The banner says "First Grade" and is from Schoolgirl Style's Bug collection.  I'm in love! I made the "Today is" with white vinyl on my Cricut machine.  We have 3 days to solve math problems posted: draw a picture, use a model, and use objects.  We'll add to the list as we go through the year.  You can find my Math Problem Solving Strategies here.  The number posters above the bulletin boards are from First Class Teacher Resources.  They were up in my room when I moved in.  The Number Sense Posters below the board are from my good friend Corinna at Surfin Through Second.  The big sign to the right of the board I found on Zulily.  The shelves and buckets on the left house my manipulatives and math centers.  The Math About Me crafts on the bulletin board are from Linda Kamp.  

Here is my computer station and word wall area.  I sewed the covers for the computers so they stay clean when not in use.  I found the fabric in my classroom, so they were free! I shared about my word wall in my July Bright Ideas post.  The taller cabinet to the left of the computers houses all my tech stuff: headphones, chargers, etc.  The craft on the front is Name in a Ten Frame freebie from Sam Nowak.  The magazine files on top of the cabinet hold student Morning Work folders.  We use First Grade Morning Work from A Teeny Tiny Teacher. I have some more storage (not pretty, I know) above the tall cabinets.  Inside hold all my teacher books, extra games, manipulatives, basically anything I don't want students to have access to all the time.  

Here is my teaching area.  My purple book cart holds all my extra Wonders anthologies, as well as leveled readers.  The little chevron tubs (originally from Pick Your Plum) hold connecting cubes for table groups to use.  Hanging up high on the wire that goes across the room are School Is Cool crafts, a freebie from Miss Kindergarten.  My iPads and laptops are on the poster drawer cabinet.  

Here is my front board.  I have Picture Direction cards from Miss Kindergarten, my WBT scoreboard, Daily Schedule cards in the green pocket chart, and What To Do When You Are Finished large poster on the front of the big book chart.  I don't have a whiteboard easel (and I am used to teaching with one), so I just placed a whiteboard on top of the big book cart and that's working well for me.  My teacher chair is from Walmart.  I made the alphabet posters that are up above.  I hope to have those posted on TpT soon.  The Work on Writing wall has a What Do Writers Do? poster from The Teacher Wife and posters from Lyndsey Kuster's Be A Writing Expert pack.  

Here is my favorite spot - the library.  Book bins are from the Dollar Tree and Really Good Stuff.  I made the book bin labels years ago and put them in name tag holders and attach them with binder rings.  I love this method.  I made the READ letters last year.  The 3 Ways to Read a Book poster is a freebie from Lyndsey Kuster.  The WBT rules are freebies from here.  The iHelp board is my classroom jobs chart.  The large rug is from Kidcarpet.com.  

Here is the back door and the circle table that my ELL teacher pushes in for small group instruction during reading and math for my language learners.  The folders by the door hold extra homework, notes, book orders, etc. for parents.  My take-home book library is in those white drawers on the left of the picture.  In that shelf are old leveled readers that I need to sort into my take home books.  It's a work in progress.  I made covers for all my classroom pillows last year so they are all bright colors and so they can be cleaned easily.  

I stood on my kidney table to get this shot! Here, you can really see all the clutter on the desks.  That should be solved if our Donorschoose project gets funded!  I've asked for a tall shelf to house all the book boxes. Crossing my fingers! You can also see the other side of the hanging wire across the room.  We did Miss Kindergarten's Kickin' Off A Great Year and made goals for what we want to learn this year. 

Remember that birthday chart?

Well, the kind people at Carson Dellosa are letting me give one away to one of you! Just fill out the Rafflecopter below.  GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED.  

Good luck!  In the meantime, make sure to check out their entire line of Eric Carle items - there are so many cute ones!