Meet the Teacher...(Classroom Semi-Reveal)

Being a teacher is the GREATEST job ever!  I am so thankful for an occupation that gives me joy, where I feel that I can touch the world in my own way.

Today was Meet the Teacher at my campus.  Unfortunately, today was also the day I turned my alarm clock off and kept sleeping... which meant arriving 15 minutes late!  Nothing like waking up in a panic on the WRONG day. :)  Thankfully, my coworkers were very sweet to me and gave me some time to calm down before hitting the ground running.

It has been a long day of scrambling around, stapling, cutting out, laminating, copying, printing, designing... then hiding, packing away until after Meet the Teacher (my cabinets are EMBARASSING, but tomorrow's another day!)

All 20 of my students came to Meet the Teacher, and I am so excited to watch them grow as readers and writers this year.  They really do change SO much from beginning to end.

Here are some photos of what parents saw when arriving in my room today...

 Reading Strategy Wall/Reader's Workshop assignments - I plan to have this wall changing out throughout the year to accomodate our learning.

 Our Reading corner...please excuse the HIDEOUS yellow bookshelf.  It will be painted NEXT summer - unfortunately, I ran out of time this summer!

 Students' supply cubbies/student work station, my desk and shelves for textbooks

 News of the day board - calendar, schedule, homework club, job chart.  Our "one stop shop" for important information.

 CAFE reading strategy posters, Reading workshop station organizer

 File boxes, inspiration posters, shelving for book nook.

 Desk arrangement - I changed the layout of my room COMPLETELY this year.  I wanted the "front" of my room to be in a different place, and I feel that it makes my room feel SO much bigger!

 Reading Strategy/Comprehension Level Rainbow, Daily News, supply buckets.

Word Collector/Embarassingly messy cabinets. :)

This group of kids is one I'm looking forward to.  After meeting them and their parents, I cannot wait for Monday!  Hoping for a successful, useful work day tomorrow in preparation for our first weeks back!

Aching feet and Tired Brain,

Mrs. C

Back to School, Back to School...

Back to school??  What?

... is it really ALREADY August?  Summer was wonderful and some great times were had... but it will be so nice to get back into a routine!

So many exciting things happening this week as I get my ROOM ready!  I love classroom prep and organizing.  It is my favorite thing to do after a nice, long, restful summer.

This year, I'm going with a neutral, calming color pallet.  I went with powder blue, black, and white.  I mostly mixed black and white prints with a powder blue background.  I think it looks great, and I'm REALLY happy with how it's progressing!  Here are some projects I've been working on -

Inspiration wall/turn-in baskets

Book Recommendations/Anchor Charts

Word Wall

Inspiration posters

Curtains/WRITE letters

I still have a lot planned - I'm looking to create a storage system for my students' writing supplies.  I also would like to figure out a good configuration for student desks.  I got rid of a LOT of furniture at the end of last year to have more space for my students to move around.  I am hoping that this will lead to better space for book clubs and group projects.

I will post more in the coming days as my projects come together.

Hot glue, markers, and printed paper,

Mrs. C.