My Classroom 2012-2013

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Better late than never, right? Ha! I spent the better part of last summer planning out the decor plan for my classroom. I spent more money than I care to admit at Hobby Lobby, and after all was said and done, took pictures of about 20% of the cutesy things in my room! I had every intention of posting this when I started this blog last summer, but life got in the way and I never got around to it. Now seems like the perfect opportunity to reflect on what I liked and didn't like about how I set up my classroom last year since I am moving campuses and will be able to start from scratch. Oh, how I love a clean slate!

First up, my bulletin board:

I am proud of this for several reasons. I had to hunt down this fabric in several locations because I couldn't find enough for one continuous piece! Also, for the first year, I stayed away from typical teacher border and bought tulle to frame my bulletin board! I was more difficult to get up, but it stayed. all. year! (In middle school, we don't change them multiple times.) Love the Audrey Hepburn quote as well...one of my favorites for sure! 

You can also see that I numbered my desks! I did that for several reasons, but one in particular was so that I could use these Order of Operations Seating Cards the first week of school! 

Next up, is something I don't really have a name for :)

At the top of the picture, I have my expectations. I like to keep my class rules short so that they look attainable!

In the middle, I have my 4 passes hanging. I got the rack from hobby lobby in the unfinished wood section and painted it pink (we have a theme going in my room!) and then made the passes by mod podging scrapbook paper to unfinished wood door hangers (again from Hob Lob). I used scrapbook papers that I already had lying around and letters that already had an adhesive backing. I am all for multipurpose. I put my name and room number on the back so that if they were lost, they could find their way home.

Sitting on the table I have 3 different trays for the 3 different classes I taught last year. In these trays I would place handouts (if there were any) for that day's lesson. Since we had 50 minutes per class, I didn't want to waste time passing things out. Students picked up on this procedure quickly and would pick up handouts from the trays before the bell rang. I instituted this in my room 2 years ago and will never go back to passing papers out again! The only exception are tests and quizzes.

 Close up of the passes

Over to the left of that "Command Station," I have file folders for make-up work. They are separated by class period, and I usually would have a student write the names of absent students on any handouts that were picked up that day. This put the absent student in charge of getting missed work and I didn't have to remember who was absent out of 160 kids!

Right above these folders is this beauty:

I have now blogged about this twice, and it is posted for free in my Teachers pay Teachers Store until July 15, 2013! Grab it while you can!

This idea was floating around the blogosphere and on Pinterest and I, too, had to have it! I used a $4 cookie sheet from Walmart, some 50% off ribbon from Hob Lob and some adhesive backed magnets! 

Each student was assigned a number and would move the magnet to the appropriate box when he/she left the room. This way, in case of an emergency, I could glance and see who was missing and where they were!

Having 3 preps, I knew it was going to be a challenge to stay organized! I needed to separate my chalkboard so that students would know exactly what they were doing in class, what assignments they had for homework, and anything upcoming that they needed to know such as quizzes, dates, projects, extra credit, etc. This was extremely useful!

Here's how I did it:

I made the letters from adhesive backed vinyl that was easily removable with a razor blade. They stayed put ALL year! I used my cricut to cut the letters. Hot pink, duh! Then, I got two colors/patterns of contrasting ribbon from Hobby Lobby. I used way more than I originally intended! If you do this, measure first! I didn't account for the two bordering columns on the far left and far right and had to make another trip. Also, wait for it to be 50% off...every other week!

Phew! glad I got this out before I start to think about next year's class! I guess I should get on that...I go back to work in 5 weeks :)