My Classroom Debut!

With an unexpected move of schools, came an unexpected change in rooms!  With a room 3x the size of my previous room (and with 20-30 years of teacher "stuff" left to be sorted through), I was more than anxious to get started.  The Before:

And yes, all 50 of those boxes were full of books...

Four weeks later...I've got it somewhat under control.  The After (still a work in progress of course, like any teacher's room):

Welcome to the jungle!

Small Group Area

Equipped with a "Sound Wall," where we post phonics patterns we are learning.  Then we can sort & add words that fit those patterns throughout our journey to read!  This is one of the most useful tools in my classroom!  Thanks, Laura!

Zebra print word wall letters! Thanks to Teaching in Flip Flops! Click photo to go to her blog & download for free!

Jungle Print Number Cards -
these will be available for download soon!

Work Attack Posters

Jungle Print Alphabet Cards -
will be available soon for download!

Everyone needs a little encouragement (especially at the beginning of the year).  This is my ticket system - students earn tickets for displaying good behavior, always participating, being on time, and helping friends!  At the end of the week, we have a lottery!  I pull two tickets, and those children get to pick out of the prize box!  Normally, I  don't prefer to rely on extrinsic rewards.  However, I do think they are part of the process of students understanding intrinsic rewards, and learning respect toward others.  The tickets become harder and harder to earn as students become aware of the expectations, and are expected to go above and beyond them.  

The silver tins (chalkboard in the middle!) were $1 a piece at Target (in the wonderful "little grabs" section).  Ribbon was purchased at Walmart :)  

Prize Day Schedule -
these graphics will be available for download soon!

Since our SPL groups change every couple of weeks, we don't always start on Mondays.  I got tired of the students asking me when prize day was, so I created a little schedule to let them know when to expect it.  Whatever day the sun is on, that is PRIZE DAY!

Whole Group Carpet Area

Library

Reading Buddies

The kids LOVE crate seats!  My friend and fellow teacher, Lauren, showed me this awesome tutorial from Ms. Fultz's Corner, on how to make them!  Click the photo to find out!

Luckily, my handy husband had some extra plywood and foam padding around the house.  So, all we needed was some awesome fabric from Walmart and a staple gun!  The cute flower rug was also from Walmart!  

We use this area to have discussions as a whole group, and get interactive with the SmartBoard!

And just in case we have some down-time at the end of our lesson, we always have BOGGLE!  To play, the kids make as many words by connecting letters on the board.  The person who can make the most words, WINS!  Click the picture to find the downloadable boggle letters from Create, Teach, Share :)

Oh, and with the leftover fabric from the crate seats, I upholstered a plain wooden stool from Target to make a teacher stool for our carpet area.  I also plan to have it double as an Author's Chair! 

Computer Area

Although we use our SmartBoard as a whole-group learning tool for interactive lessons and games, I use individual computers for my Tier 3 students.  Our county uses Waterford Early Learning & SuccessMaker interactive computer software to supplement direct instruction for these students.

Teacher's Corner!

My desk!

If I don't have it posted in sight, I will forget! Of course, the bulletin board is PINK!  The flowered file folder box is my newest addition (Target) - It's a great way to organize papers I need copies, laminated, filed, etc.  And, I'm hoping to fill my frames with pictures of my hubby and my kids (my puppy & kitties, of course)...New additions & the first couple weeks of fun activities are yet to come!

~ Mrs. Hardin