A Little Catch Up & A Classroom Tour

I had GREAT intentions of linking up with Blog Hoppin’ last week for Teacher Week, but shame on me…I did no such thing!  I think it goes without saying that the beginning of the school year is always a little crazy, but in addition to getting things ready for a new year & attending lots of trainings, I was also planning a wedding shower for my sister.  Have I told y’all she’s getting married?!?!?  In two weeks?!??!  Ohmiword.  To say last week was INsane would be the understatement of the year.  I had to unpack the rest of the boxes {an entire room full!!!!} and then get busy decorating.  The good news is that the main living areas of the house are decorated.  The bad news is that I’m officially broke :)  It always takes a party to motivate me to decorate!  Praise the Lord that’s over!!  But look at my sweet sister…isn’t she a little cutie?!

We also became the proud family of a new dog?!?!  This sweet little pup…who was dumped in our neighborhood…showed up on our doorstep during the shower and would NOT leave!  When I was opening the door for the last houseguest to leave, she ran right in, headed straight for the couch, jumped up, and fell asleep.  Mercy.  I was NOT expecting that!  We couldn’t very well send her back out in the rain, so we just planned on keeping her overnight.  One night and 3 days later, she’s still here and sleeping in the boys’ bed every.single.night.  We are IN LOVE.  Mr. Spouse started calling her “Matilda” which turned into me calling her “Matilda Jane”.  My itty bitty couldn’t say that, so he started calling her “Nutella”, so that’s what stuck!  Nutella it is!!!  We sure didn’t want a dog, but we’re SO happy God brought her to us!  She’s the perfect addition to our little family!!!!  I swear it’s like she found US!  Such a little blessing!

Our first day of school was yesterday and I loved every little minute.  Yes, Kindergarten is exhausting, but I LOVE my little sweeties.  They are PRECIOUS.  I know it’s only been 3 years since I’ve taught Kindergarten, but I seriously forgot how stinkin’ cute they are!  I have a whole new appreciation for their little personalities since my 5-year-old is the same age.  I can already tell this is going to be a great year!

Moving on…

Speaking of my little love, here he is on his first day of Pre-K!!!!  Yes…we decided to give him the gift of time and he’s spending this year getting used to a structured environment and learning to love school.  And he does.  BIG time.  When he came to my classroom afterschool yesterday, he said, “Mom.  Pre-K is TOTALLY.AWESOME.  I love it.”  And his precious teacher told me he asked her to come home with him.  Success.  I couldn’t be happier!!!!

Okay, okay…now it’s time for a tour.  Y’all saw the before.  It was a blank canvas for sure.  I could’ve gone a million different directions, but I decided to keep it light and airy…bright and colorful.  I didn’t want to clutter the walls with lots of “stuff” because I’m really looking forward to adding as we learn {anchor charts, etc.}  I gotta say…I think I’m in LOVE!!!!!  So far, the arrangement seems to working pretty well!!

 

Table numbers!  Betcha never thought you’d EVER see a frog anywhere in my room, huh?!?!  Well…I’m at an all Kindergarten campus this year and each of the pods in the building houses different “animals”.  I’m a YELLOW FROG!!!!  HA!!!  As long as there are no REAL frogs in my direct line of sight, then it’s all good!!    

Don’t pay too much attention to my sad little desk space back there!  I’m working on a chevron inspired bulletin/note board I haven’t quite had the time to finish just yet! 

Here are my classroom rules from my Saved by the Bell packet.  The Reading posters are from A Year of Many Firsts and I LOVE them.  They’re free, too!  I bought this really cute little frog from Hobby Lobby and each time we’re working on a different comprehension strategy, I’m going to place the frog next to that particular poster.  This little space is right next to my carpet so I’m going to utilize this area during our reader’s workshop/shared reading.  Eeeek!! 

 

Here’s my little morning meeting/good news/calendar/shared reading/readers workshop area.  It’s the perfect size!

Here’s a closer look.  I made the penant banner with my Cameo {LOVE!} as well as the “number line” heading on top.  The calendar pieces are from Kathleen Pedersen’s Calendar packet {perfect for Kindergarten!  I love that the skills change as the kids progress through the year!}  The number posters are from my Number Posters with a Chevron Flair packet.  I still need to add a digital date space for the kids.

I LOVE a visual/print rich classroom…especially in Kindergarten!  Plus, I really want my kids to be responsible for keeping the classroom organized.  I went a little label crazy this year!

My reading strategies sit to the left of my calendar area, right behind my teacher table.  I needed these as a focal point so that my kids can have quick & easy access to them during guided reading.  I added some new strategies to my collection…random things I’ve been saying through the years that really seem to work.  I’m going to upload these as a free download in the next couple of days.  I just need to find my EHD cord, first!!!

Here’s my teacher table area.  So cozy!  More importantly, it’s filled with lots of visuals to help my sweeties.  As the year progresses…and as we add new skills to our schema…I’ll be adding things to the pink focus board next to my teacher table.   

Here’s my little dramatic play/home living/art/block area.  Plus…my Bravo!/Good Work wall {that isn’t quite finished!!!}  I made the circles/words with my Cameo.  Seriously people…teacher’s BEST friend!!!!

 

On the wall opposite my calendar, we have my library, writing center, word wall, literacy shelf, and home living.  I love all the open space on the walls…soon to be filled up with anchor charts and kid work!

My community supply shelf and more manipulatives.  This is my 5-year-old’s favorite shelf in the room!  HA!

My reading nook/library!  The kids LOVE this space!!!  I’m keeping the pink space wide open for reading anchor charts and space to hang our class made big books!

This was one of my favorite projects!!  SUPER easy.  4 pieces of wood {Hobby Lobby}, 4 sheets of scrapbook paper {Hobby Lobby}, 4 wooden letters {Hobby Lobby}, acrylic paint, mod podge, and hot glue…with a little ribbon in the mix :)  Love the way they turned out!

Here’s our writing station.  The pocket chart will be used for various writing tasks in addition to their every day writing menu.  When we start writer’s workshop next week, we’ll be adding our writing anchor charts to that space as well. 

Here’s my little workspace…smack dab in the middle{ish} of the room!  This little desk houses my laptop, projector, and document camera.  PLUS, it gives me a little more room for storing things underneath :)

Speaking of storing things, I have less storage space in this room than I did in my previous school.  I was worried at first, but I got creative and shockingly I was able to fit everything {all 32 boxes!!!!!} worth of stuff in the room!!!  My favorite storage solution is my Sterilite tubs lined with chevron scrapbook paper and labels.  Swoon.

Speaking of labels, this is how I like to organize my Kindergarten library…by month(s)!  I also have book tubs labeled by genre, but my most frequently used books are in boxes organized by month.

My alphabet is from my Manuscript Alphabet with a Chevron Flair packet.  I saved a little white space on the board for my projector and I’m taking down the pledges.  I want to use the left side of the white board for objectives and station assignments, so this area will look a little different next week.