Classroom 2013-2014!

I really though (and I mean REALLY thought) that setting up my classroom would be easier the second time around. Move a table here, put a bookcase there, bulletin borders up, school supplies away? Right?

WRONG! It took my forever to get my room just right. I think I spent four full work days slaving away - pushing furniture around, putting books away, stapling (and restapling) bulletin boards. However, I do love the layout a lot more than last year so that's a win right?

Anyways, here are some pictures!!

View from the front door - the listening center is off to the left and the whole group area is off to the right.

My classroom library. Right behind the library are the student computers - to avoid curious eyes from watching other students on the computers.

My small group area. I like being by the windows =)

Whole group area and Activboard (which is now working! Yay!)

School started on Wednesday and I love my kiddos already! I have a really great group of darlings, although I had forgotten how kindergarten-ish they still are! I'm used to my well-trained first grade-almost second graders and now I have to start all over again. But they really are sweet and pretty cute! And one of them is even from Milwaukee! I got pretty excited when I saw that on her paperwork! I currently have 26 kids on my roster but one hasn't shown. Even with a first grade position cut, I still started off with the same amount of little first grade friends as last year.

Here's to a happy and successful year!

Classroom Pictures!

So I have been working in my classroom for three days now. I meant to diligently take pictures after each day so I could really see my progress and how much I've done. Of course, I forgot to every day. So no measuring my work and seeing how much I got done. However, today I was determined to remember aka I set an alarm on my phone to remind me. So here it is! My very first classroom!!

This is the view from the door. To the right is my carpet area, the left is my rainbow table and straight ahead are the kids' table spots!

Please ignore all the junk on my rainbow table, but here is my small group area where I'll do guided reading and math groups. And I really like my student work clothesline. At my school, we have four required bulletin boards, and guess how many are in my room? So I had to be creative about where to display kids' work, but I really like it. There is another one on the other side of the closet that says Work so together, the two say Student Work. 

Turning around 180 degrees, here is my carpet area. Despite the fact that I have a Smartboard, I decided to have a traditional carpet area since I have never worked with a Smartboard before. So until I get used to it, I don't really want to focus my lessons on it when I don't even know what I'm doing! But here is also my classroom library too! Sidenote, the big whiteboard on the wall just fell off today. It's good thing Evan was there to help me since I don't know what I would have done if it had fell and it was just me in the room. Or worse, if it was me and the kids...I'll have to get to maintenance to fix it tomorrow!

Close up of my library. I made the labels myself - nothing fancy - and I am sorting the books by genre so the kids can find them easily. I thought about making it an authentic library and doing authors' names, but that seems way too difficult, even for me, since I like things to be categorized in ways that make sense. For me, I almost always know what book I want based on the title or what the cover looks like or what the story is about, but never ever by the author. Therefore, I sorted by genre. 

This is my wishing tree. When parents come in for Meet the Teacher night, they can take a sticky from the tree. Each sticky lists an item that I'd love to have for the classroom. Most of them are snacks for the kids, but I also have pencils and ziplocs on there as well. Plus, when school starts, I can just change the words and keep the tree - I was thinking the classic Chicka Chika Boom Boom tree :)

Back of the room. My lovely yet empty word wall is just waiting to be filled and more kids' tables plus a heap of books that need to be organized, put away, and/or returned to the book room as I found out that I have about 50 books that should have been turned in at the end of the year but weren't! And as for my teeny, tiny windows, I found a Welcome Back window cling that I got at Target last year - before I knew my classroom would have practically no windows. However, it fit perfectly up there!

Lastly, my class rules. I thought about making them with the kids, but I also wanted to have rules all set and ready to go. I actually first saw rules like these on Sandra's blog, Sweet Times in First. I adapted them just a tiny bit to better fit what I expect my kiddos to do and how to act.

I still have some things to do of course so it's still a work in progress. But I still have Thursday and Friday to work in it! Tomorrow, we have actual training and then next week is when the hardcore stuff begins. Oh yeah, and the first day of school is next week too - is this real life??

First Peek and I'm Linking Up!

Hello everyone!

So today was a big day for me in my teaching career: I had my very first day of new teacher training AND I got my keys, laptop, and student roster AND I got to see my classroom for the very first time! So exciting!!

Now I was a little apprehensive about this new teacher training business. When I was doing my student teaching, any small bit of professional development caused my head to ache and I would get very antsy and uneasy. However, today's training was so wonderful and applicable and engaging! I was shocked! We had three sessions: one about professional learning communities, one about poverty, and one on classroom community. I think that all of these topics will be so important as I begin my teaching journey and I am very glad to have been given so much information! I also got to meet the other new teachers at my school as well as the team leader for first grade and the principal and assistant principal (both of them are so nice!).

And my classroom! I am so pumped about it! It's a huge room with a walk-in closet and two huge large cabinets for storage. I definitely won't be short on storage! There is also a Smartboard and four computers that students can use. Of course I have no idea how I want to arrange it or where to even start actually. I plan on blog stalking to get some ideas about it. And I got to see my roster list although I'm trying to resist labeling everything as kids move around so who knows if that is my actual class list. But currently, I have 23 adorable firsties :)

View from the door - lots of space!!!

View from the back corner!

All the chairs and tables! And Evan poking around :P

Anddddd, I'm linking up! Amy over at Step into 2nd Grade is having a super fun linky about us! So...

1. I have been rocking pink neon toenails for over a year now. I just keep repainting them the same color since it's so bright and summery. I always get compliments on it and I adore it.

2. I love animals and for the longest time, I wanted to be a veterinarian. But then I discovered that math and science weren't really my thing so that was the end of that. I something wonder how my life would be if I hadn't given up so easily on it, but I am beyond happy with being a teacher.

3. Along those same lines, my perfect job does not exist. I would be a professional animal petter and go around petting and snuggling animals all day long.

4. I don't have any hidden talents. And I hate the question "What's your hidden talent?" because I have none.

5. I love to cook and bake. It's soothing for me. But I hate cleaning up and will often let dishes "soak" in the sink for days on end.

6. I am super cheap and not afraid to admit it. I hate spending money and avoid it at all costs unless it's a gift for someone else. But I usually try to get things on sale or use coupons. Or better, for free!

7. I am from Wisconsin, but I hate the Packers, the Brewers, beer, and cheese..well actually most dairy. The sports teams are because everyone treats them like they are so special. When the Packers played a perfect season except for the one game that actually mattered, everyone was devastated. I was celebrating. Beer, I just hate the taste and smell. And cheese is a texture thing. The worst is semi-melted cheese (like pizza cheese). If I get too much in my mouth, I start dry heaving. However, I love cheese fondue and string cheese. So kinda weird. I'm also not a fan of milk...unless it's chocolate. Yogurt I occasionally like. Ice cream is the only dairy food I always enjoy eating, and let's be honest, it shouldn't even be considered dairy.

8. I love to grocery shop. There's just something about being surrounded by food and planning meals. Although I always hate the bill at the end :(

9. When I was little, I really wanted to take horseback riding lessons. But there wasn't a stable near my house (darn you city living!) so I pretended my bike was a horse. And during my senior year of college, my dreams came true and I took riding lessons for one semester. But being on a college girl's budget, they were too expensive to continue taking. 

10. I have snoozed with a baby kangaroo. When I was in Australia, I volunteered at a kangaroo rescue facility that took in orphaned joeys. At night, since it gets so chilly, we had to take the joeys to bed with us to keep them warm. Pretty much one of the coolest things ever.