Take A Peek Into My Classroom

During the summer, I am obsessed with looking into other people's classrooms through blogs, Pinterest, or visits to learn about new methods of organizing, decorating, and surviving. I am in my classroom more than I am at my house, so I always want to make sure that it is cozy, exciting, and conducive ($4 teacher word) to my student's learning and my teaching.

At the beginning of each year, I cut a poster board into several odd shaped puzzle pieces (after I write "Our Amazing Class")and give them to the students. I have them decorate the piece however they like, but I ask that it is colorful and their name is clearly written on it. This is their first piece of homework. The next day, they work together to try to put the pieces together and figure out the message. They always have fun with this and I display it on my "Love Wall" throughout the year. Around the poster are some of my favorite drawings, cards, and notes that I have received from my student's from previous years.

 My school is an IB (International Baccalaureate) school and these are the IB Learner Profiles and Attitudes that each teacher must display in their classrooms.

Above is a picture of my teacher areas in my classroom. One specific area is in the back and it is around my small group table (desk). Behind the table holds my teacher consumable books, leveled readers, file cabinet, refrigerator, genres from Beth Newingham, and other small supplies. In the front of the room is one more area that I call "home" because I spend most of my day "playing" on the computer, Promethean Board, or the Ladibug projector. Here is also where my printer and teacher textbooks hide out of sight :)

This is a hodgepodge of items around my classroom:

1. Upper right- This is a blackboard that I use to post classroom news such as birthdays, AR achievements, and our weekly class newsletter. (Heart is covering my students names)

2. Upper left- This is the students' materials station. They frequently visit this station to stock up, replace, or grab extra materials such as colored pencils, paper, post-its, erasers etc. The pencil sharper also finds its home on top of the shelf.

3. Lower left- I post our weekly classroom jobs on the wall next to our front door (My class has a front and back door). I have learned throughout the years that it is easier to have a job for every child that way you don't have to remember or keep up with who had a job and who didn't.

4. Lower right- This is a sign that I found on littlemindsatwork.blogspot.com that is displayed on our window entering our front door. I have extensively implemented Chris Biffle's Whole Brain Teaching techniques this year and I can honestly say that every teacher should at least research more about them, but that's a whole other post for another day. Anyways, I am one of the very few teachers at my school that use these techniques to fidelity and my principal did not seem very familiar with the strategies also. Therefore, I thought it would be important to have a sign displayed as a kind of "warning" so that people understood that my classroom is not an ordinary classroom.

Here are our seven computers that are used every day checking out student library books from the classroom library and taking AR quizzes.

 Here is our Behavior Closet. In my classroom, behavior is monitored through a "card" system. Students flip their cards to the next color to signify that they are not following directions. If they end the day on green or yellow, they receive a sticker on their behavior chart (bottom right). If they end the day on orange or blue, they receive an X. Four or more X's in a month results in NO FUN FRIDAY! Just imagine the crying fest that occurs when students realize they have 4 X's. Now multiply by three.  

The last picture is my beloved library. I have been buying, trading, collecting, and hoarding books since I was a sophomore in college. I desperately need to buy new bins, but I also need to find another bookshelf to fit the new bins (hence, the problem). Anyways, my books are separated on the shelve. One shelf is for genres, picture books, and leveled readers. The other shelf is for series, favorite authors, and reference materials. My class parents have been working hard on helping me place labels on the back of my books with AR information so some book bins look empty, but that is because a kind parent was labeling books when I took this photo.

Due to my slight obsession over my books  OCD, my students are not allowed to keep their "reading for pleasure" books inside their desks that come from the school or classroom library. Instead they keep them in their assigned book bins on our book bin bookshelf. This has saved me much heartache and the books are not being torn apart. P.S. A student has a job of making sure the book bins are faced the same way, in order, and books are neatly organized in the bins.... obviously the child was slacking on the job this day hehe!

I hope you enjoyed the pictures and explanations of my classroom. More information to come about my classroom management systems and my Whole Brain Teaching journey!