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Before the classroom can be picture perfect and ready for the students, so much work has to go into setting up the classroom. Here are a few things from my classroom that I wanted to share.
1st you have to put the room together after summer cleaning and everything is shoved to one side of the room.
I have all of my books in these bins separated my genre or author. I also have color-coded all of the books to show their level.
Best tip a teacher ever shared with me for setting up a classroom is to make a list on the board so that you mark off as you go...even the little things.
This wall needed to be painted badly and had wires sticking out, so I made it stapled fabric to wall and created a year-round bulletin board. Since I had to use a staple gun to put the bulletin board up, I chose to put up a Growth Mindset board so that when at the front of the room, I could just point and positive approaches for the students to try instead of giving up. What the students didn't know was the eye-sore that was behind there.
I have used milk crates and bins to create shelves and storage for years. This is simply 2 milk crates held together with zip ties. Then I attached a letter basket to the top with zip ties. The letter bin holds lined paper, a box of tissues, and a storage bin. In the bin, there are post-it notes, a box of markers and glue sticks. These supplies are located at each group. This eliminates excessive roaming and offers supplies when students need them quickly.
On the first day of school, as we get the students organized with their materials, I have a basket of everything they should have plus a few extras for students who are missing materials. This gives me the ability to model and label all the materials that we will be using throughout the year.
I believe that the classroom belongs to students but its nice that I have a little corner with my supplies. I have a cute mouse for my computer that is wireless, which helps when I roam around the room but still want to control what is displayed on the board. I also have all of my pens neatly organized for quick access. Lastly, I put up a small bulletin board for personal photos or drawings from the students.
I use to get headaches while teaching and realized that it was the lighting. I happen to have had a couple of poof balls in a corner and noticed kids like to read in that corner more that anywhere else. So I moved the poof balls, added poof balls to coordinate with the color of the storage bins and reduced the harshness of the lights. I love 2 for 1 ideas.
I believe in a positive classroom and believe all students should be heard. Some students are shy or don't want to share aloud. I had seen ideas like this on Pinterest and decided to try them myself. The students responded so well that a couple of students took over the messages that the students responded to each time.
I created a classroom Instagram for parents and students to follow so I decided to created a classroom Instagram bulletin board. The plan to change out the pictures throughout the year. This is the board that everyone sees as soon as they walk into the classroom.
