Back to School We Go!

This past week was my students first official week with me and my second week back at work.  I have never taken pictures of my classroom setup, but thought it was a good idea to document what it looks like from year to year.  This year I had many changes and am liking them so far.  My theme for the year is owls and they are so cute and colorful.  I also bought a fantastic rug for my circle area on E-bay and am loving the added color and I feel like it grounds the room.  Since these pictures have been taken I have added some of the kids art work so the walls are not so bare.  I also brought my mom's rocker from home since I didn't really have a use for it with Audrey being bigger.  I love it at school because my mom loved her job (she was an educational assistant at the school I now work at).  I think this is where that chair was meant to be and it sure is getting good use!  These first couple of pictures is of my circle area.  You can see the alphabet rug and there is enough letters for each child.  In this area we do all of our calendar math, jobs, and story time.  There is a really cute owl tree house next to the door that I am using as our job chart.  We also have an alphabet chart, calendar, 100 chart, and a review chart. You can also see next to the door where my students have cubbies for there unfinished work and slots for their journals.

 My desk is on the other side of the chair and the book shelf.  I keep all the books that we are going to read for a given unit on this shelf.

 This is a view from above the cubbies.  This is where we keep our 3 Bees of good behavior and our snack chart, newsletter, and bus information.

 This is a view from the door.  We have five tables with 4 kids sitting at each table. Each table has a different colored caddy for easy reference. Back by the window we have a math area, a listening center, and another shelf that has phonics and literacy games.

 Here's a look at the Smart Board and where our word wall will be.  You can kind of see the colorful owls hanging up high.  There is a number line and when we tested our kids before the school year we marked how high each could count.  Once they can get to 100 they will sit in the owl nest right above our math shelf.

 Here's a better look at the math buckets, colored bins (more for free play), the listening center, phonics shelf, and a shelf for puzzles and games.  There is plenty of space for the kids to pull out a bucket and problem solve, build, and play with shapes.

 This is a look at our birthday chart and where the students hang their backpacks. We have an add on to our classroom that is used for literacy centers.

 This shelf is used for any take home items like their binders and work that they have completed.  It's a nice organized area for unpacking and packing up.  The purple bins are used for jackets and sweaters when it starts getting cold out.

 This is our pocket chart and library area.  The pocket chart will be used during literacy centers for building sentences.

 This is the Cooking Cafe.  At times we will let them free play, but it will also be used during literacy centers for word building and review.

 There are 2 file cabinets used for sight word sentence building and our computers where we use our literacy games.

 This is my reading table and a look at all my teacher books and teacher work zone which is a no no place for the kids.

During literacy centers I take half of the class and my assistant takes half of the class and the next day we switch groups.  In total we have 8 groups, making 2 to 3 for each group.  The kids are also with different students at each station so they have a chance to work with everyone. I didn't get a chance to take a picture of my bulletin board out in the hallway, but it also has the owls with each students name and a place to hang their work.  Above it reads "Look Whoo's in Our Class!" We made the 2 oo's in whoo's as eyes, which is so cute. So far this school year is going great.  We are getting used to one another and learning about good manners and behaviors.  Right now we have a total of 20 kids, 14 boys and 6 girls.