Where is Everyone?

Last night was our "meet-the-teacher family orientation."  After having the same class for two years, it was great to see many of my students at their second grade tables.  I'm going to miss that group!

I had spent the last few days adding some finishing touches to my classroom and preparing a PowerPoint presentation for my new class.  I was so excited to meet them!  We started off greeting all of the families in the cafeteria and then bringing up our individual classes for a tour of the room and introduction to the grade.  I don't know if the turn out was more shocking or disappointing.  I have 24 students on my roster... only ONE parent showed up, and he didn't bring his child.  My last class had great parent participation, which is rare in the city.  Fortunately, the one parent I met last night is an active member of the PTA executive board, and as president of the School Leadership Team I know him well.  It will be great having his child in my class.

Below is a picture of one of the favors I prepared for the parents.  I also had lollipops for the students (none of which were given out).

A favor for parents who attended my Meet-the-Teacher event

As promised, here are some photos of my 2012-2013 classroom.  I had a vision of blue and green with pink accents.  It turned out to look like a lot of pink!  It's hard to believe I used the least of that roll of paper.

Note:  Our first two days after Labor Day are teacher planning days, and we will have from 12pm until the end of the day to finish setting up our rooms.  I will be using that time to put away the extra clutter that hasn't found a space yet.  You'll see some of that in these photos.

My classroom library, meeting area, and Smartboard.

The calendar wall will also have a birthday board and class jobs.  The class job chart is being laminated and the birthday board can't go up until I have student photos.

Close up view of my renovated cabinets.

Remember these ugly chunks of metal from yesterday's post?  You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find contact paper in this area.  After looking through several stores, we finally found some at Staples.  It only came in three primary colors, none of which matched the colors of my room.  After my dad and godmother completed the task with this shade of green, we took a trip to Ikea.  What do you think I found there?  The small filing cabinet isn't done, but already it's a huge improvement!

Literacy Wall

This side of the room includes my leveled library.  We use Fountas and Pinnell reading levels.  Every book in my library has a small label on the top left hand corner of the cover that matches the label on the bin it belongs in.  This helps keep my library organized all year.  Above the leveled library is my word wall, and to the far right is my writing center.  The extra bins you see in the middle hold student lunches, my listening center, and my printer.

Close up of the word wall

I found these word wall letters on another blog, and I LOVE them.  They look like they were made to go with my polka-dot border.  I do wish, however, that I would have enlarged them slightly before cutting out all of those circles.  I was so jealous of all of you Cricut and Cameo owners as I sat there cutting!   Unfortunately, the blogger who provided this freebie did not include a credits page in the PDF file, so I can't remember where it came from.  Please comment if you would like me to add a link to your blog here!

We're Mooo-ving Up Reading Levels!

Click, Clack, MOO!  When I finish my running records, I will post student names or photos here.  As students grow as readers, I will need to remove levels A and B to make room for levels M and N.  Last year one of my students was reading above a level N!  It's still crazy to me how many reading levels students jump in first grade.  Posting reading levels is a tricky thing.  I know at this age students need a visual reminder of their current reading level when changing their books, but it can also be embarrassing for students who get stuck at a low reading level.  What are your thoughts on this?

Lockers and Guided Reading Table

If I could change one thing about my room, it would be these salmon-colored lockers.  They're loud, they compartments are too small for backpacks, and they're ugly!  In the back corner I have my teacher area and guided reading table.  I decided a year ago to get rid of my teacher desk, as it was a trap for junk and took up too much room.  Behind my guided reading table you will find a small student desk with items such as my pens, stapler, and tape.  The wall above that has the class schedule and a very small bulletin board for some personal photos and pictures my students draw me.

You are the reason I am here

I had to do a little photo-shopping to fit this long board into one shot.  This narrow bulletin board is what you see above the lockers.  The message was inspired by http://theinspiredclassroom.blogspot.com/.

Math Center and back wall

These banners hang throughout my room.

Writing Log

 My dad had this miniature log from some yard work he was doing and put it to great use!  Not only is this an adorable display for writing tools, it will be a great visual when I teach the -og family- my students never know what a log is!

To conclude my "after" shots of the classroom, I have to share an "after" shot of my helpers.

All worn out from the classroom setup

The poor things were only in town for two days, and I had them hard at work the entire time!

I hope you enjoyed a tour of my room!  I will update the photos as the week progresses.  I welcome any feedback to make the room more effective.