I can't believe that tomorrow is the first day of autumn! (I just love that word... autumn. It sounds so cozy and delicious! :-) ) September has been incredibly busy. I know that it typically is for most teachers, but I have just remembered how busy it can be. But, I have found time on this beautiful, cloudless, warm Saturday to make applesauce (to help celebrate the coming of autumn) and to post pictures of my new classroom!
I am so thankful for the bigger classroom! With 21 students this year, it would have been very uncomfortable in last year's classroom. I am also excited to think that I probably won't have to set up another classroom next year. After setting up three different classrooms in the past three years I can definitely feel my creative juices running low on classroom decor. Not to mention the time spent... and money spent! It's kind of like redecorating your house each year! Okay, maybe not that extensive. ;-)
Enjoy the pictures!
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| It feels so official! I have such a nice name card to go next to my door! |
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My class was too big to fit on one board so they had to get another half-board for me. Another day I'll have to post a picture of the artwork that the students completed on the first day for this board. It was pretty cool.
(Tricia D... I had to piece two pieces of fabric on the bigger board... and I had no one to help me match the swirls! Can't you move here to help me with things like this???) |
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| Word of the day and verse of the year posted prominently on the door. :) |
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| Looking in the door... |
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| I like to keep a picture of my family close at hand. I've been missing them so much lately! |
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| I found this adorable carpet at IKEA for $20. It's perfect for the room! |
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| I've been wanting to make little stools for my room ever since college. I was originally going to make them entirely from scratch, but then I found these black footstools at Target and just recovered the tops. They are pretty much the focal point of the classroom and are so very adorable! |
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| Looking left as you walk in the door. Those two cabinets are all the storage I have except for bookshelves. It's like a giant puzzle to get all my supplies organized and put away neatly. |
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| I opted to forgo the detailed job board this year. I decided to just have three helpers each day and they can help me with anything and everything from passing out papers to carrying the basket for lunchboxes. So far it has worked out well and really simplified life for me. :) |
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My aide's desk. (Steph Z., do you recognize the little filing box in the corner? :)
The green soap pump is hand sanitizer. No big, clunky hand sanitizer bottles in this black, white and green classroom! |
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| My class list posted by the door. |
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| I didn't get the mailboxes I needed this year, so this will have to work as a filing system for this year. Not my favorite, (too much stuff!) but it will get us through the year. |
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| Looking to the front of the room from the door. |
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| Lots of bulletin boards at the front of the room this year. |
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| And standing at the front of the room... |
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Looking from the front to the right...
(such a pretty, green view from my window. I'm on the second story so I don't see the cars in the parking lot. I just see the green, green, green of trees. Isn't God kind to give me this beautiful greenery to look at all day? And they are mostly evergreens so they'll be green all year!) |
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Looking from the front to the left...
Those bookshelves in the corner are my teaching bookshelves. One of the big projects this summer was consolidating all of the teaching resources from binders and folders and files into one spot, throwing away duplicates, and organizing it into a neat binder that is easy to look through. Even so, there is still a lot of material there and a lot to glean from when lesson planning. I also keep children's books on Egypt, and math and science textbooks and workbooks back there. |
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| From the front left corner to the back right corner of the room. I'm standing in the classroom library while taking this picture. |
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| And here is the library! It's organized, but not labeled. |
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| These are my easier books. Picture books in the center and then starting from the left top the levels get progressively more difficult. |
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| These are my series books and also my advanced books. I manage the library myself, so students have to read a little of the book aloud to me before checking it out of the library. I still haven't found an efficient way to monitor the books the students are checking out, so it is pretty intense for me. Ideas fellow teachers?? |
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| The same basic idea that I've used the past two years. This year I have library cards hanging from the clothesline and each student has their own card. I write down what book they are reading and they have to finish it before checking out a different book. At the end of the year they will have a list of all the books they read in class during second grade. :) |
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| This was another big find for me this summer! I found it at Goodwill for $40! I'm using it to house my listening station so that it serves some purpose... that helped me justify buying it. ;-) |
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| We study a couple Little House books, so this vintage desk is especially fun for my classroom. :) |
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| The library return basket. Students may put books they are finished with into this basket and I reshelve them so that I can make sure they are being put on the appropriate shelf for the level of the book. Cute basket, eh? |
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Please say hello to (working left to right) Sam, KangaBunny, Mr. Jingles, Mr. Owl, and Brownie.
These stuffed animal friends get read to a lot by the students... one of my ideas to help promote reading aloud. Hopefully these little reading buddies will help increase 2nd grade fluency! |
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It gets kind of dark in the library corner on overcast days, so this lamp casts a soft and pleasant glow.
This ADORABLE little flower decoration was one of my summer crafty things that I was able to do. Thank you to my sister, Evie, and cousins for including me on this project! If fits perfectly into my classroom! |
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| Our math calendar board. Lots of skills and reinforcement here! |
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| Our science board! We'll be doing several science experiments as a class and through them, we'll learn how to put together a science experiment display board for the science fair in the spring. The kids are so excited about science! |
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My technology for the year. The document projector HAS been super nice. It has been really nice to put books under it and read aloud and have students either follow along on the screen or just enjoy the pictures as I read. I'm still really enjoying the fact that I don't have to integrate a ton of technology into my lessons, but can let the lessons happen as they will and enjoy watching students use physical things to learn.
I sewed the skirt for the cart. Underneath are hidden all sorts of things. I had to hem up the skirt a little bit and iron it quite a bit before the first day of school. No wrinkles for me! |
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| I found a new globe for this year! My one from last year was falling apart. And I recovered my clipboards... they are super adorable! I'll have to take a picture of them and post it. |
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| My literature bookshelf. I love the second grade literature curriculum! |
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| Some old readers to decorate my literature shelf. :) |
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| My box top jar. :) |
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| Rules in the middle, things to do if you finish early on the outside. :) |
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| My little sharp and dull bins. :) |
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| The two girls on the left are in my class this year. They came in to say hello and see how the classroom was coming before school started. :) They are sweethearts! |
I hope you enjoyed the tour! Please feel free to come and visit anytime!
