These are the before pictures...
We have to put EVERYTHING away before summer vacation... So, it's always a little depressing walking in to set up for the fall... but on the plus side, it gives you a blank slate to start with.
AND THE AFTER PICTURES...
This is out in the hall before you walk in.
This is to the left of the above picture. It says "The Bright Spots in Mrs. Cousins' Homeroom". Thank you for the border for both of these, Lisa!
Sign on my door.
One more view outside the room.
This is right when you walk in on the left. The lunch menu is going to go on the blue. This is where they sign up for lunch and milk. The jumbo popsicle sticks with the names on them and their milk cards are laid out on the table before they come into the classroom in the morning. They quickly look for their color stick and put it in hot or cold lunch and if they have a milk card they put it in white or chocolate. Whoever doesn't sign up for lunch isn't there that day and their stick goes into the "absent" container.
This is where their bus notes will go. Usually there are one or two a day, sometimes more. This magnetic board was in the dollar section at Target. It had a pink ribbon, which I replaced with polka dot ribbon, added letter stickers that say "Bus Notes" and some magnets I had. I was pleased with how it came out. This will be much better than taping them to the door frame!
These are the rules we have that are the same throughout all three classrooms. Because they switch classes, they need consistent rules throughout. I am going to add ribbon like I started to on the tops of every other rule. The bottom of the door is a pocket chart for the days we've been in school with place value blocks, word form, expanded form, and standard form. On the left, there is a thermometer type graph that shows the number of days they've been in school. One of the kids will be in charge of these each day...
This is my calendar on the right when you walk in. On the dots below the calendar, are the five days of the week with their specials and the times of those on them. There is polka dot ribbon going across and the dots are hanging from thin ribbon. Love it!
My Homework board and the date. I pretty much use the Smart Board for everything else! Love my date idea... no more writing it everyday! :-)
You can't see it very well, but the headers for my Cafe board are also polka dot. I printed them for free from Teachers Pay Teachers. I love how it turned out!! I modified the format they had in the book because my board had to be higher. The students names are going to go at the bottom instead of at the top under the headings. The CAFE letters at the top and also the border are from The Creative Teaching Press! The paper is scrapbook paper I bought at Walmart and I laminated it. :-)
On the right are a few rugs and round placemats I bought for Read to Self.
These are the classroom supplies. There are clipboards, red pens, blue pens, highlighters, rulers, glue and glue sticks, colored pencils, scissors, markers, thin markers, and crayons. To the right is the math cart and you can see the duct tape book boxes a little bit by the window.
This is where students will pass in papers. There are three bins: Reading & Spelling, Math, and Homeroom. Highlighters are on the right for them to highlight their name before they pass it in to make sure their name is on it. I have 36 kids throughout the day, so tracking down no name papers is tough.
This is the back chalkboard and bulletin boards that I covered with fabric with magnet strips on the back. I love how it came out.
This is for the sharp and dull pencils, I still need to make labels. In the blue container, there are cap erasers. I am SOOO excited about my new pencil sharpener!
This is the behavior chart I made last year. I got the idea from Pinterest. I have cut magnet strips with their names on them.
This is the mirror I made that says "What a Smart Kid" and the dropbox for lunch money/notes/etc., and bandaids down below. The bathroom passes are hanging there as well. They put them on their desks when they go to the bathroom.
On top of the metal cabinet is a tote with all of my holiday things in it.
These curtains are one of my favorite parts of the room. They are bandanas from Hobby Lobby. We don't have one near us so I ordered them online. I folded them over and hand-stitched them while watching TV one night. They were already sown on all of the sides, so it was super easy to sew straight across to have a spot for the curtain rod. I used 4 per window. They are a foot long. I love them!!
These are pictures of my library area. I bought new bins and made labels with name tags from The Creative Teaching Press.
The side of that bookshelf was really ugly so I laminated scrapbook paper and with the help of my friend Angela, and the idea from Lisa, put Library down the side. Also, this is a good view of my new black rug that I got for free thanks to Groupon and RugsUSA. :-)
These are circles that I wrote their names on so they know where their hook is. I put them in alphabetical order by first name so if they get dismissed while not in the room, I can find their hook quickly.
I love the sign on my desk as well.
There are still some finishing touches... and also some things that I still want to make and add, but so far, so good. I'm happy, that's for sure! AND there is plenty of room out back for all of the learning we will be doing this year! It will fill up quickly once the kiddos come!
