Decorating the Classroom - Day 5&6

 This week I was busy finishing the classroom.  I can't believe it took me so long.  Perhaps it is because of the no stapling rule.  I hope all of the bulletin boards stay up all year! :)  The new idea is to use 3M mounting squares or tape. 

The glue gun was my friend for this bulletin board.  I cut pieces from one of the boarders and glued them to clothespins to hang student work.  Then I used mounting squares to put each red page on the brown paper.  Thank goodness for my son, Logan.  He helped me put the whole thing on the wall.

This is the left side of the classroom. 



Here is the front.  I made a spot for WOW words.  I am going to hang up interesting words that we find as we read books.  This will tie in great with the CAFE strategies.

I framed my subway art and put it by my desk.  I just love it.  By the way, this is probably the cleanest my desk will ever be!

Here is my Daily 5 chart.  I will put the students names on cards and they will be able to choose 3 choices a day.  More info on that later.  I will also post all of the anchor charts we create in the brown space above the chart.  I am also going to get another shelf to put book boxes on. This is where they will get their books.



Decorating the Classroom - Day 3

I have shelves! 2 to be exact.  I spent 1 hour of my day putting those shelves together.  They look good.  Now I need a tall one next to my desk for all of my books.  I need to go back to Big Lots.  These were on sale for only $15 each!   Pretty cheap!  I put this one in my reading area.  I got the book boxes from Target. I still need 12 more but they seem to be out. :(  



This is where I put the other shelf.  It is holding all my Math manipulatives.

 I also got the word wall put together.  This took a while with all the measuring and forgetting letters and needing to redo it 5 times. LOL.

For the letters, I printed them on red card stock, laminated them and used a 3 inch scalloped circle punch from my scrapbooking stuff.  I know you can't really see it in this picture.  Took pictures with my phone today.

Decorating the Classroom - Day 1

Wow! It is already time to start decorating my classroom! I finally got to see what my new room looks like. Let's get started! 

This is what I see when I walk through the door. A big, white wall. UGGG! It won't be white for long!

To the right are the student computers.

On the left is a big, long, bulletin board.

Well, first thing first.  I have to pick a color scheme. 

Tip #1: Pick a pattern or theme and stick to it!  Use 2 or 3 colors from the pattern or theme to keep the room looking put together.  It also makes your room look more organized!

So, this is the color scheme that I chose this year, Dots on Turqoise.  It is from Creative Teaching Press. 

 I love the colors!

Next step is to find out what is required to be posted on the walls and what I want to put on the walls.

Tip #2: Make a list of what you need and want to post on the wall. Then you can decide how much wall space is needed for each and decide where the best place would be.

My list so far:

1. Word Wall (required)

2. Target the Question (required)

3. Class Helpers

4. Class Rules

5. Calendar

6. Daily 5 choices

7. Daily 5 Cafe Menu

8. Daily 5 Anchor Charts

9.  ?? still thinking