The First Day

Ah...it's almost 8:00 and I am ready for bed.  The first day is sure tiring!  We had just two learning targets today:
1. I can follow our school and classroom rules and procedures.
2. I can get to know my classmates and teachers.

Just those two targets kept us busy all day.  There was so much to teach: how to come into our classroom in the morning, how we walk in the hallway, and how we follow our rules on the playground.  It was great to get to know this new group of students.  I had a chance to see some creativity and see the spark of curiosity in students as they talked about their hopes for the year.  Tomorrow we'll be doing more rules and procedures and hopefully by the afternoon we'll be ready to jump into some content.

Classroom Tour

Here's a tour around our classroom

Meeting Area

This is where we gather for our morning meetings, closing circle, and most whole group lessons throughout the day.  I have several rugs to make the cold tile more comfortable.  Thanks to my parents, we have the couch from when I was a child which 3 students can share each day.  It's seen better days; no longer on the legs and the pink blanket covers some rips, but it works!  We either gather here in a circle or a clump normally facing our smart board, but we have the easel there for back up situations. I will tell the students which way to sit as I call them over.  The nonfiction and picture book section of our classroom library is stored on the shelves over here.  The small table has our classroom computer for the smart board, document camera, phone, and dvd player.  The stack of bean bags and pillows fits nicely tucked into the corner.  Those are taken out only during our independent reading time. There is a basket of fidgets always available to students under the easel. Above our smart board, I have our globe hanging from an old hook to give unique perspective.

Desk Zone

These boards are directly in front of the desks. We've got the giant Student Planner page, the job board, and a place to post our learning targets.  Each child has their own book box and math ongoing practice binder.  I have them split up in different areas around the classroom so that to pick up and put away students head to different areas of the classroom.  The desks are in 3 curved auditorium style rows.  We spend most of the year in groups of 4 or 5, but I feel at the beginning of the year when you are developing and practicing rules and expectations it is important to have all students facing completely forward with their eyes on me.  Mr. Potato Head is front and center because we are using him this year as our whole class behavior incentive.  We will add a feature to him for good things we do and when he is completed (eyes, nose, mouth, arms, shoes, ears, and two accessories) we'll have a classroom celebration (something simple like 15 minutes of game time, lunch in the classroom, PJ day, etc.)

Small Group Zone

We have our small group table on the side of the classroom by some shelves and drawers where I sort the small group activities and boards were the small group rotations will be posted. I have a miniature easel to write on during small groups and free white board space behind for more things that I want to keep around longer. I specifically looked for chairs that are a different color than the regular desk ones for this small group spot so that students will always know where these belong.  Behind the table are some games used for indoor recess or special occasions and lots of closed storage to hide goodies. A little bit further down on this cupboard I have a collection of often used items.  I like to call these items that everyone is welcome to use our "Classroom Collection." If you lose your scissors, go to the classroom collection that I have acquired over the years.  There is always plenty of paper options for students to use at any point whether publishing a piece of writing or solving a math problem. I'm also very excited to get to have 6 chromebooks stored along this wall for student use as well this year!

Classroom Library
Our classroom library stretches across many walls. On the first shelf we have many boxes of books organized by author.  Another small collection of student book boxes is stored on top of this shelf.  Then we move into racks of books that are also organized by author.  The spinning rack contains books that I only have 2-5 copies per author (making them too small for an entire bin of their own on the other shelf).  The other rack has authors that have so many books that they need a huge amount of space (Ann Martin, Mary Pope Osborne, Debbie Dadey and Marcia Thornton Jones).  Additional boxes full of books related by genre are also available. I have a standing rack of featured books. Right now all of my favorite back to school books and first read alouds are out to show families during "Meet You Teacher."  I will collect all of the texts we've read together in the white bin.  This "Books We've Shared" bin is one of the classroom favorites.  Under the table we have our partner rugs stored.  Whenever we work in partners or small groups, these rugs are placed around the room on the tiled area to show the students the areas that are options to use.  Sometimes they are assigned to specific colors; sometimes they get free choice.

Line Up Area
Right by our door we have our line up and mailbox area.  Each student has a mail box.  Any item to be passed back to students is placed in these. They also store their student planners here so that they can be checked daily and are in a convenient place to write notes home to parents. Students also have red pockets.  This is where they turn in papers.  By turning in papers into their very own labelled pocket it is very quick and easy to see who hasn't turned in the assignment.  I keep a collection of post its on top of the mailbox.  I write down the names of the students who have an empty pocket and then quickly grab the assignments out of the pockets, putting the post it on top of the pile. Our word wall is also in this zone.  These words are considered part of the "Non-negotiable skills" that our third graders must have correct in every piece of writing every time, so I wanted to make sure it was visible from all areas of the classroom.  Our class will also play "Homeworkopoly" throughout the year.  Whenever students come to school with all of their homework done, they will get to roll the dice and move their marker around our game board.  There are opportunities to win prizes and challenges throughout just like in a game of Monopoly.

Teacher Zone
Here's a quick view of my desk area.  I have great shelving behind the desk that hides my collection of teacher stuff.  My desk is fairly cleared off at this point because it isn't even day 1 of school yet. It doesn't usually look this neat.  I have added a second clock to the back wall just hanging on a command hook because I needed a clock with a second hand and I need to be able to see the time from wherever I am in the room.  I purposely display my diplomas because I am a well educated professional and want my students to know this even though I may have them displayed next to items with glitter glue.  We have our one real plant and our fake ficus next to my desk.  I like prefer to have more plants, but the other two did not survive last school year.  I hope to get replacements soon.

Moving Classrooms

This is the start of my eleventh year teaching. I have taught at the same great school for all of these years, so you'd think that by now this back to school time would be easy. Just dust of the book cases, uncover the bulletin boards, and put up a few labels. It's never that easy, especially in my case. In these eleven years, I have moved classrooms FIVE different times to four different classrooms.  With each move, there is a number of things you need to consider.

1.  How will your class be moved? On several occasions the classroom was moved by summer custodial staff. Everything needed to be packed in a box.  I have so many better uses for packing tape around my classroom than on the bottom of boxes!  Other times, when things had been planned well in advance, things could be moved before the end of the previous school year. That's what happened for this move. On the last day of school, each of my fourth grade students grabbed one small stack of items like a pillow, book box, or bin. We lined up and marched down to the new classroom and piled the items up on a counter that the other teacher cleared off for us. After 3 trips like this, our classroom was looking empty with just the large items left for the professionals over the summer.  

2.  When will your room be ready to unpack? All of our rooms are deep cleaned over the summer.  Consider where your new room falls on the lineup. If possible, unpack before.  You are going to make a big mess. You'll be surprised how much dust collects at the bottom of those bins that you are unpacking.  You might as well empty that before the floor is freshly waxed.  

3. What the flow of this space like? Each of the rooms that I have been in have been slightly different even though they are in the same school. You've got to figure out the best space for the group meeting spots, where the classroom library will go, do you have room for shelves without blocking any spots making the unsafe. Where will you put the often used supplies like writing paper or math manipulatives to grab. How will each bulletin board be used?  In every plan that I make, I also underestimate the amount of space all the desks and tables take. 

4.  How much time do you have? If you have time as you are packing up, PURGE! I go by the two year rule. If I haven't used it in two years, it's gone. I switch things up as I move with my students from third to fourth grade, so I give things two years just to make sure. If you didn't have time while packing, do this purge while unpacking. You may say to yourself over and over, "Why did I move this?"  If you are short on time, closed storage is a great thing.  Just put that bin in the cupboard, close that door, and work on the must do things.  When parents come for the school Open House night, they will appreciate your hard work and not even know that there are still bins of professional development texts that haven't found a spot on your bookshelf.  

5. What do you take with?  What do you leave behind?  In our school, the rule is if the district purchased it, it stays in the classroom. You pack up your personal items.  We've all seen that typical brown box that a person in the private sector uses to pack up their personal things when they leave a job.  That's not the case for teachers.  90% of my classroom library has been purchased by me (not all at full price, most used rummage sale finds).  Every bin, border, cushion, and curtain is my own personal property.  So if you take that into consideration, I left behind a stack of dictionaries, handful of text for classroom library, some base ten blocks and math games, mini dry erase boards, and whatever posters and files I thought I wouldn't need again. I hope the next occupant got a head start rummage sale-ing this summer!

Moving classrooms is never easy, but you do get to re-invent and re-fresh your classroom every time! I'd recommend everyone try it at least 5 times!

Ready and Waiting

The classroom has been moved and unpacked.  Rugs have been unrolled and cleaned.  Bulletin boards are up. Lockers are assigned. Classroom library has been reorganized again this year. Item after item after item has been labeled. Yes, teachers have just as much labeling to do as parents who are home labeling every crayon, marker, and pencil! Desks are ready and waiting. All we need are the kids!