New Classroom [Before]

This is the view beside the road that leads to my new school. Yes. That is a field of sunflowers! I am so excited to begin and end my day with such a beautiful drive.

Now, let's look at the room as it was the day I signed my contract. The first thing that stands out to me is the yellow accent wall. Yellow is also painted on the air conditioning ducts. The second thing I notice are the big, wonderful windows! The final BIGGIE that won't leave me alone is just how much work I'm going to have to put into going through materials. Please don't view that as a complaint. The BEST way to figure out what we have to use as we learn is for me to go through it, all!

The school set-up is unlike any I've seen before. The rooms are set-up as "pods." This means, they connect... kind of. There are two doors in my classroom. One door goes into a hallway that leads to three other rooms and has restrooms. The other door leads to a small hallway that links with another classroom and also has a door to the outside. If this sounds confusing, it is. There is no way for me to possibly begin to explain how the building is structured, because I think it'll be until November before I understand it all myself!

Door to the pod hallway (bathrooms and three other classrooms are acessed through this door).

Door to the small hall (door leading outside and connection to the other first grade classroom). There are some hooks on the wall and storage cabinets up high for me to store a few things.

Wall between the two doors. The shelf on the far left has some math materials and word games. Based on the things in and around the desk, I think it belongs to the associate teacher.

 Next topic, the "focus wall." Can you tell that the Smartboard is located at an appropriate level for students to reach? Yay! This wall is both exciting and intimidating. I do not want to clutter it with stuff, but I want to make it function for daily procedures and instruction.

 

Central wall - notice the accent color?

This was the teacher's corner (from what I can tell). The teacher desk, a filing cabinet, and bookshelf with random things led me to this conclusion. Notice the little rolling table? That is for me to link my laptop with the Smartboard!

Wall on the far side of the classroom. Notice all of the built-in cabinets?!

Corner (I see lots of possibilities with those white shelves.)

Windows and computers. I haven't checked, but I think the location of the computers is predetermined based on cord-connection boxes in the wall. We will see.

Meet Lucky! She is a sweet Golden Retriever that comes to school with her owner every day. She just hangs out with the kids! I love it!

I am so excited about being able to start over with a blank slate! There is SO much to do, but I know it will all be worth it come August!

What ideas do you have for me? Where do you think I should begin? I'd LOVE some feedback!

Bookshelf Revamp

I was inspired by several pins on Pintrest last month and actually followed-through on one of the ideas in less than two days! (Let's be honest, completing projects alone is an accomplishment but in two days? Yes.) My parents let me have these old bookshelves when I was in college and needed them to store books for my future classroom. When I finally got all of my books into my room I found that I still needed more storage space for all of the books in the room, so I took the shelves to school. If I could identify one area in the room that was most popular, it'd be the Author's Library (thank you hand-me-down shelves). I loved the placement of the shelves in front of my desk because it hid my piles.

Bookshelves in their classroom element (Author's Library).

Blah Bookshelves (Can you tell the back board needed help?)

Boring, brown bookshelf

So! Back to my summer project. When I moved the shelves out of my classroom I noticed how much wear and tear they'd gotten over the years. The bottom of one side is warped from wet mop water and the back boards had seen better days. I took my inspiration idea literally and painted the shelves with some white paint I had in the garage. Then I searched high and low for cute fabric or some other kind of inspiration. Well, I found it in the form of a rectangular vinyl tablecloth from the Dollar General store right up the street from my house!

Here is a tutorial of the steps I followed and photos!

Gluing the tablecloth to the back board.

Before you do anything: remove the backboard from the shelf.

Step 1: Paint the bookshelf! I did not use a primer and it took three coats. (The paint I used was just sitting in the garage. I realized later it was leftover from a house painting project. It is a high-gloss white paint for molding and trim... I like using high gloss paint for school projects because I can wipe down the surface easily.)

Step 2: Cut the vinyl tablecloth into two equal pieces. The tablecloth was the perfect size. Look at all of the excess material I had around the sides!

Step 3: Fold over and hot glue the edges, one side at a time. I had a washcloth nearby to help me press down on the vinyl (so that it wouldn't burn my fingers). Try to keep the vinyl tight as you move from one side to the next so that it won't sag or droop when it's attached to the bookshelf.

Step 4: Lay the bookshelf face down on the floor. (I recommend doing this on carpet, so that you don't scratch your pretty new paint job as you hammer.) Place the backboard on the bookshelf. Carefully line-up the backboard so that it is even on the back of the shelf (not hanging off to one side). Nail down the backboard.

Step 5: Stand up the bookshelf so that you can OOoo and Ahh at your accomplishment!

Total cost: $4.00 + tax
I am SO excited to include these beautiful bookshelves in my new classroom!

( Did I mention that the book basket labels I use in my classroom match perfectly?! )

Classroom Photos (Older)

My classroom when I first began teaching first grade was VERY different from the room that I moved out of last month. I was REALLY into trying to create a calm, simplistic room for my students to play, work, and grow in. Throughout my Master's degree program I was ObSsEsSeD with trying to implement a Reggio Emilia / Montessori feel into the regular public school structure. Over the course of the year I found that my idealistic philosophy and the school's traditional expectations didn't exactly mesh to my advantage, so I became more "traditional." Fitting the more traditional mold meant several things, including switching from tables to desks and putting more "stuff" on the walls. However, when I look back at these photos I cannot help but think, "Wow! What an inviting room!" I'm hoping to try to blend both types of rooms in my new classroom. I want to ensure at least one space in the new room has the same calm, simplicity as this.

The reading area (foreground) and my desk / storage cabinets (behind).

I did a LOT of art-integrated lessons, so the kidney table being on tile was perfect. I love the light wicker baskets on the shelf in the corner.

Original whole-group meeting area.

Original small group conferencing table.

Original whole-group meeting area (from another angle).

Oil-pastel dogwood tree on the door. (It was really sad taking that down after four years.)

A shot of the room from behind my desk. I ended up using one of the kidney tables as seating.

Whole-group meeting area after I moved it to the other side of the room. I later downsized this even more to accommodate how many students I had (more students = more tables, chairs, and general stuff).

Whole group meeting area from a different angle.

Looking back, there is so much more WHITE in this room compared to when I moved out! I also had very little furniture in the beginning. The room had been an ISS room, so I was working with a blank slate (teacher desk and chair). Over the next few years I brought in furniture from home (bookshelves mostly) and collected discarded tables from other teachers (for centers around the room and non-traditional seating option). In one photo you can see I was SO intent on being simple that I didn't even put fabric on the bulletin board!

Want to know something amazing?! I was able to have fake flowers/plants in this room for 3 1/2 years before the Fire Marshall told me to remove them. That's amazing! Yes, yes, they DO collect dust, but wiping them every few months resolves that. Plus, I believe it makes things feel softer in the space. I'm really excited to be able to place the hydrangeas around my room again!

Classroom Tour [Reflections Edition]

Today I'm going to do a virtual walk-through of how I set up the classroom I just moved out of. Let me begin by stating that I do not believe I set the room up "perfectly." One of my worst habits is organizing the spaces I love the most and avoiding the spaces I wish would go away... I'm not alone in this, am I?

Whole-group carpet area. At the beginning of the year (when this picture was taken) I only have two book baskets out. Over the course of the first few weeks I bring reading baskets out by topic as we've discussed procedures and expectations for using and returning books. I highly recommend this if you have room to store your books other than your shelves. In this case, I did, but I know it's not typical to have as much hidden storage as this room had.

Calendar wall in 2009

Calendar wall in 2011 - Can you tell I took out as much of the non-essentials as possible? Even just looking at the older picture bothers me... too much red I think.

Small white shelves were used to define the space as well as store individual math manipulative-containers (one of the best investments I've ever made!)

Bulletin board behind the small group table (2011 - used for rotational literacy centers and CAFE menu)

The Author Library! Each book box was labeled with the author's name and a picture of a character they are known for! (My students and I mutually loved this space.)

A picture of our word wall. My desk is conveniently hidden by the shelves of the Author Library, just the way I like it! (My desk was usually not photo-worthy.)

Another reading area tucked in the corner beside the Author Library. This spot had shelves on one side (shown) and two huge windows on the other. It is a wonderful spot to read rain or shine.

This shelf was originally a cubby unit I found in the "I don't want" pile at school. I turn it sideways, removed the hooks, and waa-laa! a functional shelf! Oh, and it was originally yellow, which didn't match my color scheme, so I slapped some "Spa Blue" on there to match the large shelves on the other side of the room.

 Okay, so I'm not super sure of formatting a blog, so I'll just start typing my thoughts.
When I look back at my room my eye goes to clutter. I purposely did not upload a few because of this problem. As I prepare to set up my new classroom I hope to intentionally prevent clutter opportunities. We will see. Looking at these pictures also helps me realize I  prefer spaces where the colors are similar and clean-lined.