Classroom Tour 2017 - Video Tour!!

Happy Saturday everyone!   My summer is thisclose to being officially over - kids come back to school Monday!! 
I wanted to hop over here really quick and share a video tour I did of my classroom yesterday afternoon.  This was an IG Live - so I did answer some questions along the way.  If you have any other questions for me - feel free to comment below!


Have a great weekend y'all!  Stay cool - its SUPER SUPER SUPER HOT here in NC!

Morning Work - make NO MORE copies!!

Oh, how good it feels to be back to blogging.  I realized a couple weeks ago that I hadn't blogged since mid-May because of all of the end-of-year craziness.  Now I'm about to back in the even crazier beginning of year craziness - AHHH!!
As you are beginning to think about the coming school year and how you want to structure your day, one of the best ways to start your kiddos' day is by setting up some structure and routine for them from the moment they walk in the door.
When my kiddo's come in the door they have a few tasks: 1. Unpack their backpack 2.  Put snack in snack basket and check to see if they need to heat-up their lunch 3.  Check the counter for any papers to put in their COLLEGE notebook 4.  Put COLLEGE notebook on bookshelf 5.  Put everything in their cubby 6.  Morning Work!
Each morning, my students' morning work is projected on my whiteboard for them.  They complete each day's tasks in a marble composition notebook.  We have a few of these notebooks on our supply list - so one of them is used for morning work.

Throughout the post, you may find Amazon Affiliate links, which means Amazon tosses a few nickels my way if you purchase something through that link, at no extra cost to you, that help keep my corner of cyber-space running!

I pre-write the date and how many days we have been in school using my Mimio Pen - just screen capture and write right over top of the PDF.  Don't have a Mimio or Smartboard type program and pen - just use an Expo marker!
Students will then write the sentences in Box #1 at the top of their page.  For Boxes #2-#5 - I just have students write their answers.  They do not have to write the directions for each box as well.
Teacher Reality - I do not go behind my kiddos and check their work.  We check the morning work quickly each morning - takes no more than 5 minutes most days and less as the year goes on - and they check their own work with marker/crayon.  So, as long as they understand where their answers are, I don't stress myself about how they have it organized.
Now, I will say at the beginning of the year, I do use a large wipe-on/off poster that looks like notebook paper to show my students how to set up their morning work.  I usually try to do this for the first week or so.  I tape it to the side of my whiteboard, so they have a visual of how to set it up in their notebook.  
The last box is a fun fact of the day (for 2nd grade).  I do not make my students write these in their notebooks.  Some do because they enjoy keeping up with them - but it is not required - but that is totally up to you if you want to require it or not.
The skills included in the morning work spiral about every 10 days - so about every two weeks your kids will be practicing the same skill.  As the year progresses, the skills gradually get more difficult - more so with math than language arts/grammar.    Some tasks are open-ended so students have the ability to be creative in their responses.
I have used this morning work in my classroom for 2 years and love it!  My kids know what they have to do each morning when they come in and that consistency and expectation is there and makes for smoother mornings.
Now, I will tell you - the first couple weeks of this morning work - just like with learning any new routine - may be a little difficult for your students.  I try to make sure that I don't have many tasks to do during our morning work time so that I am available to help students.  When students don't know what an answer is or how to tackle the problem - I tell them to do their best and give it a try.  Then, when we are going over our morning work, I take more time on those problems to help students understand the process and the answer.  Then, when we get to that topic - let's say arrays in math - my students have been practicing arrays all year and it makes a little easier for them because they've heard that word and know a little something about it.
This summer, I took on the HUGE task of making morning work for BOTH 1st and 3rd grades!!  The set-up is the same as the 2nd grade set.  The only major difference - besides the content and difficulty of content - is that instead of a Fun Fact of the Day, each day there is a Joke of the Day.  The jokes are the same for both 1st and 3rd grade.  Hopefully if you have teachers in your school that are using both grade levels of morning work, students will forget the jokes between 1st and 3rd grade!
Click on each image below to check out the skill set included, test drive the first 5 days, and get a preview of tasks for the entire year (in the downloadable preview).

Timing - my students can begin entering our school building at 7:45 AM and the tardy bell rings at 8:15 AM.  We stop about 8:20 AM to say the pledge, check morning work, and do our morning routine before beginning instruction.  Most of my students are able to complete their morning work - some with time left over!  Those stragglers that come in right at 8:15 do struggle to get morning work done most days.  Because this is a review of skills, I do not stress myself if they are not finished.  They do pay attention when we are going over morning work and try to get the answers written down - so they are processing the information - which is what I want!
When my kiddos finish their morning work, they have a few options of things to do: 1. Finish incomplete work 2.  Read 3.  Morning Choice - mini lego boxes, practice math facts, etc.
For my mini lego boxes, I use 5x7 photo boxes with these mini lego sets.  They are able to grab these boxes and use their imagination and fine motor skills to build whatever their imagination can come up with!  

     

What kinds of things are you planning for the new school year?!?!
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I "Fixer Upper(ed)" by Classroom!! Classroom Reveal 2016

Whew!  Summer has come to an end and I'm going to have 22 sweet kiddos showing up Monday morning ready for an "incredi-BALL" year in 2nd grade!

Mini Mason Jars

Shiplap Paper

Get ready for picture overload!  I'll try to give a good tour around my classroom and include links to products used!  Here are some large views first.

Looking into the classroom from the door.

Looking towards the windows - they look so much bigger with my drapes instead of a valance!

This is my highest level table for my flexible seating classroom.  I have wooden stools from At Home, green stools from JoAnn's (a couple years ago), and an 18" Hokki Stool.

The morning work packets laying out for the first day come from SunnyDays in 2nd Grade

Standing on my stage looking to the back of the classroom.

Adirondack Chairs from Bed Bath & Beyond

Pillows from At Home

Lack Table from Ikea

Rug - Target

Now, let's take a closer look around my classroom!

I still have lots of things on my wish list from Open House, so those leftover got moved to the door - maybe they'll get picked up!

Uniform Check Poster

My cabinets are the perfect place for my Math Focus Wall.

Math Vocabulary cards by Jillian Starr

Math Facts with the Robertson Family

Birthday Display - I just LOVE these mason jars filled with cupcakes!  So stinkin' cute!

This was too cute not to share!  I made a soap dispenser using a mason jar and a pump from a Bath & Body Works foamy pump.  Love my foamy soap and now it has a sturdy base with the mason jar.

Snacks & Water Bottle Baskets

Labels

Flexible Seating Choice Board

I found these metal hanging sign at Michaels and added a little vinyl to make a perfect board for my kids to put their personalized magnet up for their Home Base for the day.

When I went to Flexible Seating, I had to do something about the little arguing going on about who was sitting where and "aww man, that's where I wanted to sit".  So I came up with a system where my kids choose a "Home Base" each morning when they come in.  Then when we are on the carpet for a lesson or returning to our classroom from recess, they know where they are supposed to go sit - at least the table.  There was still a little arguing about somebody sitting in a particular seat someone else wanted, but it was no where near as bad and it kept kids accountable and honest!

This is the back corner of my classroom.  Closet and bathroom doors.  The clothespins are perfect for easily hanging student work.  Pictures above doors are from Hobby Lobby.

This year I added clothespins to this mini board above my classroom library as well.

Gotta take a picture the first day to put in our frame!

I brought out Reading Buddies last year and my kids loved to grab some of their favorite book characters to read with.

Classroom Library

Shelves were from Target (years ago).  You can find similar shelves still at Target as well as Walmart and Big Lots.  The fabric bins are from Big Lots.

Rug - Target

Blue Stool  - Ikea

Library Labels

Library Labels

I group my books by topic in my classroom library.   I used white yard sale stickers to number all of my books.  That way when a kiddo gets a book out of the library, they know where to put it back when they are done with it.

Flexible Seating Student "Stuff" Storage.

White Trofast Frames & Bins are from Ikea

This is where my kiddos keep their word folders and their bag of books.  Their work folders go in the green bins and they are grouped by their classroom numbers into groups of 5 or 6.  Their bags of books to read go in the large buckets at the bottom.  They are in groups of 11 for storing their books.

 Turn-In Station!

The Sterilite 3 Drawer organizers on the top shelf is where students turn in their work during the school day.  The second shelf houses their COLLEGE binder and then spelling homework notebooks and library books go on the bottom shelf.

The third Trofast Frame & Bins houses Morning Work Journals, journals for Rooted in Reading, and our Zearn math journals.

Loving my large clock from Walmart and my Heidi Swapp Lightbox.  It's ready for the 1st Day with my 1st Day slides!

My corner of the room.  

Expo Whiteboard - no longer available on Amazon

Now, the front of my room!  Yes, I have a stage!!  I was so excited to get to visit the Ron Clark Academy last year and I needed a stage just like Hope King.  My wonderful dad helped me build it...well, more like I helped by painting it and putting the floor tiles on it!

Having a Rooted in Reading board was one of my favorite changes to my room last year.  It was an easy place to house anchor charts and posters each week that went with our book and the activities.

Metal Baskets from Bulleye's Playground at Target (Dollar Spot - $5)

Math Manipulative Labels

Sterilite Editable Drawer Labels

The colorful plastic lap desks are from Hobby Lobby.  These are perfect for working and my kids also use them for eating lunch.  Since we each lunch in our classroom, the kids that choose the carpet area as their home base for the day, use these to eat lunch on the carpet.

Our daily schedule is ready for Monday!

Classroom Rules

Schedule Cards, Rules, Number Line

Class Jobs & Dojo Store bulletin board is above my Trofast bench from Ikea.  These drawers are perfect for storing supplies.  My kids don't go in these drawers, unless they are getting a sticker (with permission) and the cushion makes this a favorite place to sit, or lay, to work.

Excuse my earbud pouches laying out everywhere.  I had parents/kiddos sort supplies at Open House and hope to do that Monday morning as well when the kids come in, so I left these out for the kids to find their pouch and put their earbuds inside.

I try to change our my options in my Dojo Store each nine weeks.  To start the year, I make sure to include a lot of lower priced items because they just can't wait to spend their money.  Then I take those items out later and make them save their money for something that I know they really want, but can't wait to save their money for it.

I use my Clothesline Classroom Helpers job display last year, but I'm loving it even more with my circle labels attached to the clothespins!  Each child gets a Melonheadz kiddo and I use that on most of their labels and things throughout the classroom.

Student mailboxes for work are housed above the bookshelf that I use to house my Rooted in Reading Books.  I use ice buckets from Walmart for each month. 

Student cubbies

Reading Bulletin board with comprehension posters from A Year of Many Firsts

I'll leave you with a pre-paint job picture from last year's classroom reveal and then what my room looks like this year!  What a different some paint makes!

July 2015

June 2016 - ack!  Look at how bad those walls look!!

Early-July 2016

 

July 22, 2016 - ready for kiddos come Monday!

I'm "Fixer Upper"in my classroom!!

Hey friends!
Happy 4th!  It's been a while since I blogged - but gosh, June was busy!  2 short vacations, lots of TPTing, and I PAINTED MY CLASSROOM!!  Yes, you heard me right, I painted my classroom!  My wonderful mother helped me a lot and we finished up last week and I am so happy with it! 
I am blessed with a wonderful administrator who allowed us to paint our rooms this summer as they were looking...B.A.D!  I have been in my classroom 5 years and it hadn't been painted, and it look bad when I moved in!  No wonder I had so much stuff on the walls - I was trying to cover up all the bad spots!
So, here is what my room looked like when I left on June 9th...

All those white spots - that's spackle that had dried - but that shows you how BAD the walls were - and this is just two walls in my room!  We came back 2 more days and prepped the walls before we got started painting, and we had to do a LOT more spackling.  I told my mom with all those white spots - my walls looked like they had dalmatian spots!

So, before I got to really painting and transforming my room, I got all excited about changing my classroom to a "Fixer Upper" theme!  I LOVE Fixer Upper and will watch the re-runs over and over again and never get tired of all of Chip's antics!

Well - that meant I had to redo just about everything in my room because I had done lots of bright colors before and I really needed (and wanted) to tone it down.  My mom would come help me at school some and would always say, "Wow! There is so much to look at it in here and it is so bright and colorful."  Well that got me to thinking - Do I have too much stuff in here?  Is it too bright?  Am I over-stimulating my kiddos?  Is that why they are always bouncing off the walls?!?! 

Plus, Joanna's designs are a little more "toned down" on the bright colors, but are still beautiful...and you know she loves her some shiplap!  So, I made a classroom decor set that is all about

shiplap,

burlap,

and some chalkboard too!

A lot of these labels and pieces included were things I used in my classroom already and had had some requests for, so when I decided on a new theme, I decided to put it all together for others to use too!

I finished this set up and got it uploaded to TPT just before it was time to walk out the door to come back home to NC from Virginia and I couldn't wait to get home and start printing all my new goodies!

New library book box labels, Sterilite Drawer labels, and Snack Basket/Microwave Labels - ready to laminate!

New math manipulative labels and storage!  I got the green snap boxes at Dollar Tree (3 for $1) and put them in my new Metal Locker Baskets from Target Dollar Spot ($5).  I also got blue and red snap boxes for dice and foam counters - it's all gotta match you know - plus, that helps with putting things back in the right place!

And a new number line with numbers -5 to 120!

And now, I'm sure you want a sneak peek of what my new paint job looks like...

Well, this is after we finished my new green accent wall - goodbye burgundy!!

It scared me at first with how bright it was - it didn't look like the sample!  But, it did dry darker and I'm loving it now.

Then we had to finish the rest of the room, and we finished that up last week.  I was able to get back in there and put all my furniture back and I'm dying to get back in my room to hang up posters and stuff and just get it done!  Teachers return to work on July 18th and the kiddos come back on the 25th, so we'll start before too long!

Here's a sneak peek and an extra picture I haven't shared on Instagram yet!

LOVE my new curtains!  So glad I decided to get something different - makes my room feel SO MUCH taller!

Wanna do a little shiplap, burlap, and chalkboard too in your room?

Grab my new decor set - on sale through tonight along with the rest of my store!

Have a great 4th!  Happy Birthday America!
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