Setting Up My Classroom, part 5: Ta Da!

Well, after 2 weeks of work, I think my class is more or less set up. Of course there will be things I add throughout the year, such as anchor charts (charts that help the kids remember what we are learning). But so far, everyone who has seen my classroom says it looks great, including my principal! I got to meet some of my 2nd graders and their families yesterday afternoon, and they all seemed to like it, too. Here are some pictures of the results:

Classroom library has been organized. Nurse Kathy helped sort the books by genre, and I labeled them so that the kids will know where to put them back. This also helped me see which genres I need more of. Books related to the curriculum of the moment will be placed on the rotating book rack on the far left. Right now, I have displayed books related to "back to school." My principal told me that as part of a grant we will be receiving, some money will be allotted to build teachers' classroom libraries, which is great for newer teachers like me who haven't had much of a chance to build a huge library yet. Until then, I will be supplementing my classroom library with books I check out from our school library.

I have my number line posted now, and my word wall is ready to go. This year, I am making my word wall more interactive by using magnetic strips on my chalk board. I am going to attach a piece of magnetic tape to each word that we put on the word wall so that the kids can take them down and put them back up more easily. I got this idea from Debbie Diller's Spaces and Places. The first words that will go on the word wall will be the students' names.

Since the students will sit at tables this year and not have their own space to store supplies in desks, I purchased four of these 5-drawer storage systems at Target. Each drawer is labeled with a different subject. Students will store their folders, notebooks, and workbooks in the drawers based on subject, and I will have team captains at each table who will be in charge of getting out and putting away the supplies as needed. I chose to designate the largest drawer for reading, since students will need a lot of space to store their books for independent reading. I got this idea from a professional development session I attended over the summer.

To store supplies such as markers, crayons, scissors, glue, and pencils, I purchased four of these caddies from Target (you can find them in the aisle with the cleaning supplies such as mops). I already had some plastic cups that I am using to hold the pencils and scissors to keep them more organized. The sharp pencils will be kept in the black cups, and the pencils that need to be sharpened will be kept in the blue cup.

Finally, I just wanted to answer a question from earlier on about where I am storing the "unsightly" things like paper towels, etc. now that I am not storing them in my large cabinets. I am using some big plastic storage containers to hold these items, and then storing containers under tables such as the computer table and the teacher desk. They stay out of the way and out of sight there, leaving more cabinet space for items I need to have on shelves, but don't want the kids to use, such as teacher resource books and teacher manuals.

So with the classroom pretty much finished now, that gives me the rest of the weekend to finish getting my lesson plans for the first week put together, as well as my beginning of school newsletter to parents. I have meetings all day on Monday, and the first day of school is on Tuesday. I am really looking forward to this year!!!