CLASSROOM TOUR 2013 EDITION

I must say, it took six years, but this year I LOVE MY ROOM!!! It makes me happy every time I walk into it. Here it is, I am going to try to link everything that I have found on Pinterest, I am sorry if I miss something. Visit my Teaching 3rd Grade board to find all my inspiration! Here we go!

View from my doorway to the back of the room - 24 students this year.

View from the door to the front of the room 

BUILD posters, library bucket, STAR binder shelf (empty now), pencils and Homework board. 

SmartBoard and Whiteboard - That I painted!

BUILD drawers and math drawers

Carpet area... possible gathering place?

LOVE this and how it turned out! Thanks for the inspiration! 

Objectives and previous class pictures

Organized computer area. I have great backgrounds too from here.

My Wonderful Library and tags from here. 

My teacher area with my teacher toolbox! I got rid of my desk this year in exchange for a much smaller table... I would rather have a kidney table, but there are none of those up for grabs! And yes, that is a Diet Coke!

Jobs and Writing process

Cubbies that I painted this summer.

Vocabulary, calendar, cart and school wide stick chart.

White board and pink chalkboard that I painted this summer! I love my bookshelves and pink boxes from Ms. H!

Reading leveled readers storage.

Mailboxes, extra textbooks, reminder board and wreath. 

Seriously - I LOVE THIS! (source) There is a TON of printables on there and all VERY cute!!

There is way more that I have in my room and I didn't have time to take pictures of my hallway or door. I had parents who were an hour early! My goal is to blog more this year - I get so many great ideas from blogs, maybe I can give someone a great idea? Happy Back to School! 

Lots and lots of books.....

Today my goal was my classroom library..... that is a big, big challenge, let me tell you! I have a TON of books thanks to my parents, my brother and half price books. Here was the mess:

 Scary right? (Ignore the Lying Game in the background... I have to pass the endless time somehow!) For the past two years I have organized my books by Lexile level. This year, I changed it up a bit. I decided that I wanted to organize by genre. I have read research that kids will be more happy to pick books to read by what they are interested in, so I organized my books by genre instead! Here is the result:

This will be the neatest it will be all year! I am going to give each kid a marker to leave in the box that they get their book out of... maybe it will stay a little neat? 

Updated To-Do list...

So here it is... the TO DO LIST:

paint all shelves and cubbies black

sew curtains

hang curtains

recover teacher chair

get rid of teacher desk

organize filing cabinets

organize library

buy & build more shelves

reconnect computers

organize computer area

organize teacher area

hang posters

paint PINK chalk board (oh yes! I'm excited!)

paint/hang new white board (I can't decide)

organize books

set student tables & drawers

I still have a lot to do!!! I am really looking forward to my room being all together!

SO... this happened today....

I am super excited to see if this works out!!! 

The white board paint was $20 at Home Depot and the Pink Chalkboard Paint was $14 also Home Depot... 

Updated To-Do list...

So here it is... the TO DO LIST:

paint all shelves and cubbies black

sew curtains

hang curtains

recover teacher chair

get rid of teacher desk

organize filing cabinets

organize library

buy & build more shelves

reconnect computers

organize computer area

organize teacher area

hang posters

paint PINK chalk board (oh yes! I'm excited!)

paint/hang new white board (I can't decide)

organize books

set student tables & drawers

School is closed next week because they are waxing the hallways.... that means it is just me and the sewing machine! I'm making curtains for my massive windows, a curtain to hide under the computers and a slip cover for my chairs. Who know what other Pinterest Projects will pop up next week as well! Last year I made my Pencil wreath. 

And so it begins....

It is amazing how Pinterest can fuel so much excitement for a classroom! I have been busy on there lately and cannot wait to get back into my room and transform it! I recently bought 5 yards of polka dot fabric to create curtains for my large windows and have acquired a new filing cabinet at school. Now all I have to do is get to it....
Here is what I walked into today:

(What are the second grade books doing in my room?? - they apparently got lost....)

This was WAY stressful! I didn't know where to begin! I just kind of stood there for a few minutes trying to remember what my room had looked like before this jumbled mess, but I am extremely grateful to Mr. Terry and Ms. Kathy for deep cleaning my room... just look how the floor sparkles! 

So here it is... the TO DO LIST:

paint all shelves and cubbies black

sew curtains

hang curtains

recover teacher chair

get rid of teacher desk

organize filing cabinets

organize library

buy & build more shelves

reconnect computers

organize computer area

organize teacher area

hang posters

paint PINK chalk board (oh yes! I'm excited!)

paint/hang new white board (I can't decide)

organize books

set student tables & drawers

I think that may be it....

OH YEAH... I'll need to plan too! :) I'm creating a planning/ teacher notebook for myself from all the great ideas I have been getting on Pinterest.... stay tuned, here's hoping August 14th doesn't come too fast..... 

Classroom 2012-2013

Let me tell you how much of a bad amazing influence Pinterest has been. I loved crafting new items for my classroom this year, and all the ideas made me think, "why didn't I think of that???" I'm starting my 4th year teaching, but I know I am going to keep changing every year, and every day!

I am really excited about starting the new school year in my new school. We had our open house last night, and despite the rain, we had a good turn out. I think that I met almost all of my new class.

Although my classroom is ready for the new school year, I know it is not going to stay the same! I should really take pictures at the end of the year to show how much it changes throughout the year.

First are the pictures before... this is what I walked into....

 From the door, to the back of the classroom...

 Notice the McDonald's Diet Coke... Can't do it without it!

 YAY Smartboard!

 Really useless bookcases?

Here are a few pictures to tour through my room. Let's play how much is from Pinterest! :)

 Overview from the door... almost finished!

 Another overview.... again, almost finished.

 Paper sorter

 Teacher area, objectives, and of course representing my team!

 Back of teacher area.

 Smartboard, door and bookcases fixed!

 Next to door

 Library area, calendar math, vocabulary and behavior

 Accountable talk posters, writing steps poster

 Back of the room, $17 cart, cubbies and mailboxes

 Windows

 Front corner

 Cubbies

 Calendar math & reading counts poster

 Agenda poster & birthday display

 Front again

Desk area

I hope you enjoy my room and get some ideas for your own room! Here's to a great school year!