This Year's Classroom Tour

Well, here it is...the last day of the year.  I have been sitting with beginning classroom reveal pics on my phone for about five months.  This school year has been crazy busy.  (But really, aren't they all?)
Before school starts back from winter break.  I wanted to show you this year's classroom design and layout.

We'll start with view for the door as soon as you walk in.   My classroom is pretty small and there is not much wall space (curse you accordion curtain wall).  I have to be smart how I use every square inch of my class.
We have desks and chairs.  However, throughout the day students have the flexibility to work away from their desks.  They often choose to work in the floor with clip boards and cushions.

Also, as you enter my room I have some bookcases that serve as a big part of my storage.  My sweet mom (bless her heart) sewed all of these curtains to hide the supplies on the shelves.  (I found the fabric at Hobby Lobby and I bought the chalkboard from Pottery Barn Kids.)

 By the way, if you are interested in making custom pennant banners for your own classroom, click here.

My teacher desk was a new addition this year.  I was completely inspired by School Girl Style's design for a colorful classroom.  (You can click here to check out Melanie's post.)  My favorite part of the post was the teacher desk.
I scouted out this desk at a local antique shop.  I painted it white and added the tassel bunting.  I loved how it turned out.
Since the bunting is made out of tissue, I was afraid that it wound not be durable enough for my classroom.  But, I'm happy to say that half way through the year, it is still perfectly intact.

For some extra storage, I grabbed this metal cart at Target.  I used various sized jars to house some supplies.  I made a file out of this cute tote (that I also found at Target).

To make the tote into a file.  I added file rails, which can be found at any business supply store.  I also added some hanging files.  Since it's so easy to access, I keep my copies for the week in this file tote.

About eight months ago, I got an interactive whiteboard in my classroom.  So, our magnetic whiteboard is (sort of) serving a new purpose.  I still use it to write on.  But, I also use about a third of it to display our calendar (click here to learn how I made a custom calendar) and some anchor charts.

I made these magnetic clips to hold the anchor charts.  I bought these clips at Target's dollar spot.  I hot glued some magnet strips on the back.  It was a super easy project.

Another new addition to this year's class set up is a word wall.  I haven't had a word wall in several years.  I decided to give it another try.  But, unlike my old word wall, I wanted one customized to my classroom colors.

I made this simple watercolor word wall and coordinated it with my library labels.  

The classroom library was another newish addition this year.  Of course I've always had a class library.  However, this summer, I decided to reorganize my library and level it.
(To read more about my classroom library redo, just click here.)

If you would like a free set of my leveled library labels, click here.

I do a lot of instructing at our gathering area.  I have a easel on wheels (not pictured) that I use for teaching lessons at our gathering area.  I find, students listen better when they are physically closer to their teacher.
Some other tools in my gathering area are my Apple TV and my interactive whiteboard.

I found my polka dot rug and pompom pillow at Pottery Barn Teen.  The slipper chair and red cabinet are from Target.

Also, in my gathering area are two small magnetic whiteboards I use to display class jobs and our agenda for the day.

The final stop on my class tour is the main storage hub in my classroom.  I have these three huge wheeled cabinets.  Judging from their original color, they are probably from the mid-70's.  I painted them and arranged them to make a faux closet for extra storage.
I keep all sorts of things in (on and behind) these cabinets, including all of my monthly math and literacy centers.
I used the same clips that I magnetized for the whiteboard and hot glued them to the cabinets to display student work.  Like I said before, I am very limited on wall space.  Adding the clips turned these cabinets into great place to show off students' work.

Teachers and students spend so much time at school.  It's really important to create a space that is functional and organized.  The biggest tip I can give you as you think about your classroom design is, don't be afraid to get rid of things.  Often times, less is more.

There you have it, my classroom reveal.  Better late than never. ;)
Have a happy New Year!

Classroom Library Made Simple (Including FREE Library Labels and a Leveling Guide)

The primary classroom library...don't you just love seeing how other teachers organize and display books for their students?  It's so inspiring to see all the colorful totes and organized labels that make up these libraries.
This summer I did a major redo of my library.  It was not because of it's aesthetics or it's lack of organization.  It was because of it's function with my emerging readers.
Over the past few years my library has basically been grouped by topics or by author.  I use The Daily 5 with by students.  In The Daily 5, the authors really emphasize the importance of students picking "Good Fit Books."  Books that students are interested in and (here's the important part) can read.
I have found that the can read part is super tricky for young learners.  I have spent countless lessons and conferences talking about (and modeling) how to pick a Good Fit Book.  Most of my students have no problem picking a book that they are interested in.  However, picking a book that is on their reading level has been almost impossible for most of my students.
I really thought I was failing at teaching kids how to pick Good Fit Books, until I read The Reading Strategies Book:  Your Everything Guide to Developing Skilled Readers by Jennifer Serravallo.  This book breaks reading strategies down by reading level.  (It's fabulous!)
As I went through the text, I came upon the lesson about how to teach students to pick appropriate books.  Serravallo recommends teaching level J (and above) students how to pick appropriate books based on interest and readability.  A bell went off in my head.  No wonder!  No wonder I was not seeing students pick books they could read.  Most of my students are reading on a level B or C when they come to me out of Kindergarten.  Picking Good Fit Books will not be in (most of) their skill sets for a while.
With all of that being said, I knew leaving my library grouped by topic and author was not the set up that would work best for most of my students.  I knew they needed the supported of a leveled library to help them pick books they can actually read.

Having decided to scaffold my library so that my students would pick their Good Fit books from a more limited range, I took every book off the shelf and started sorting.
To sort my books by level, I used a Reading Levels Guide (like the one pictured below) and ARBookFind.com.  ARBookFind.com has thousands of titles that you can search.  It will tell you the grade equivalency for many of your classroom books.
To label my books with a Fountas and Pinnell guided reading levels, I had to cross reference the Reading Levels Guide.

As I went, I grouped the books by grade level.  I wrote the grade levels on a piece of paper to go with each book stack.  I also put a post-it on each book to with it's specific grade level.

After all the books were grouped.  I put leveled stickers on the back.  If there was already a sticker from my previous library system, I just put a new sticker on top on the old.

After I labeled all my class library books with the level stickers.  I began putting together my library totes.  I ordered them from Really Good Stuff for Teachers.  I chose clear totes, just in case I decide to redecorate.  I figure clear will go with anything.

I made library tote labels, laminated them, and them hot glued them to each tote.

Once all the labels were on the totes.  I filled them with the books.

I'm happy with how my new library turned out.  Yes, it was time consuming, but totally worth it.  After some beginning of the year assessments, my students know exactly what totes to pick from and exactly where to return the books when they are finished.

On a related note, the boxes on top of the shelf are individual book boxes for each student.  I ordered them from The Container Store.  I hot glued each student's name on a box.  (I also taped that same name label on the shelf.  This year my little sweeties wouldn't stop rearranging the boxes so that their box was beside their friend's box.  So the name place holder on the shelf solved that silly issue.)

Students shop for books from the class library once a week.  They can also bring a book from home.  Having individual book boxes is a great way to keep students from constantly browsing the class library instead of reading.

If you are interested in using the Reading Levels Guide or the leveled library labels, click on the picture below.  They are both included in my Free Classroom Libray Labels packet.

How you organize your library is totally up to you.  But it is a very important part of your classroom. Students should be able to understand how your library runs and take good care of it.  It should not be a messy pile of books on a shelf or (worse yet) a set of neatly shelved books that students do not get to touch.

The library is the heart of the classroom.  Your students will greatly benefit from a well organized and well stocked classroom library full of books that they can and want to read.

Thanks for stopping by.

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