Explore the Chronicles

Friday, August 17, 2012

Welcome to 5th Grade 2012!

The countdown continues until the official first day of school! Yesterday, I had the pleasure of meeting several of my new students. They were so excited to come in and drop off their new school supplies. I had to convince a few to wait until the first day to completely unpack! 

When thinking about organizing my classroom over the summer, I knew I wanted to adjust the look and feel of my library. Last year, the books were all over the back wall and it was kind of a hot mess. I wanted to focus on one corner of the room and make it the hot spot of the classroom. I talked a little more in depth about my library here


I swapped out my desks for fancy TABLES! The tables open up the room tremendously. 





I'm very excited about all of my back to school bulletin boards this year. 


My first bulletin board illustrates different types of maps - a nice combination of science and social 
studies. 



Of course, I had to include Spiderman. YOU are destined for Greatness in 5th Grade!


The calendar area has our daily schedule, date, Captain's name, and a helpful reminder for me. :)


Do you notice that big blank wall? I'm reserving it for our soon to be made anchor charts. Right now, I have our procedures hanging proudly to practice. 


My cabinets are filled to the brim with extra school supplies, dictionaries, construction paper, and some junk. This is the area of the classroom where students turn in their homework AND tally points for our seat cushions


Similar to last year, I left a large open space in front of the SmartBoard for group time. I am a big fan of rallying the troops to the front of the room and then breaking out to our tables. 


 Here's another little hub of the classroom. Students can drop off notes to me in the blue basket, grab band aids and nurses passes, find lunch envelopes and whatnot in the white basket. 

I have rain gutters to hold brand-spankin' new books I bought for the classroom. Many of them were recommendations from the awesome literacy conference I attended. 


I stuck magnets behind scrabble tiles and let the kids spell different things throughout the year. I just noticed the nice little message left from May! I'll keep that one up for awhile! 


 This is real life: my desk is ALWAYS a mess. I can't even pretend to disguise it. 


This is by far one of the BEST ideas a friend gave me. Stick all of the extra copies in an "Extra Copies Basket". Then, if students need an extra - they know exactly where to look. 


In addition to the heaping piles of papers for students to pick up, I left everyone a little treat!  


My door is full of delightful little apples with names from my homeroom kiddos! 

Have you posted a tour of your classroom? Leave me a comment and let me know so I can check it out.

Enjoy your weekend! 

27 comments:

  1. Hey girl! Looks really good! I love the rain gutters. Is that picture on the front of your desk you as a 5th grader? What a cute idea!

    Lindsay
    My Life as a Third Grade Teacher

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    1. It's actually me as a 2nd grader! The perm was TOTALLY in style, right!?

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  2. Your room looks great! I had to giggle when I read your comment about your desk. Mine is known as "Mrs. Mullin's Black Hole!" One of my students made me a sign last year warning everyone to not put anything in Mrs. Mullin's Black Hole. It will never again be found! Have a great year!

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    1. Haha! That's great. I'm glad that others struggle with their desks. One afternoon I was cleaning mine off and a student said, "Wow! I didn't know it was brown."

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  3. WOW!! Your classroom is amazing. I bet your students are incredibly motivated to learn in there. I'm your newest follower. I will be visiting often. I am eager to learn from a fellow 5th grade teacher. Have a great school year!!! (P.S. I will be going in to work on my classroom- you have inspired me :) )

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    1. Welcome! Thanks for following:) I love being able to communicate with other teachers through the bloggy world. Good luck with your classroom. Post lots of pictures!!

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  4. I like the rain gutters idea! How did you attach them to the wall?

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    1. Thanks! The custodial staff in my building took care of it for me. It's a great place to store and display things!

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  5. Your room looks amazing! I love how you were able to have tables instead of desks. One question- where will your students keep their text books? Also, where did you get that adorable stripe rug in front of your interactive white board?

    The REAL Teachers of Orange County

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    1. Thank you!! I'm very excited about my tables. I snagged that rug at Wal-Mart last year during back to school season. I am pretty sure its meant for a dorm!

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  6. Looks good lady!! :)
    I posted about my room- check it out. :)
    I did the extra copy basket last year. I hope you do better at keeping it cleaned up than I did. I am trying a new system this year... if it works I will share. :)
    Happy first day!!!

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    1. Yes - please share! Mine is always a mess. Thanks!!

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  7. Love your classroom! Two questions...
    Did you make the apples for your door, or did you buy them?
    Did you make the "smart cookie" tag? Love them both!

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    1. Hi Becky! I bought the apples for my door at a teacher store. I actually made the Smart Cookie printable.. it's in my TpT store!! http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/One-Smart-Cookie-Motivational-Printable

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  8. Jordon, oh my gosh...where to begin. 1) Love the new blog design. It's very crisp and clean. Plus, what a super cute picture of you up top. 2) Your room looks fantastic. It's so open and inviting. 3) I'm totally jealous of your smartboard! They are so great and take up so much less space than a whiteboard. 4) The rain gutters are awesome! A good friend of my mine did that a couple of years ago and I think it looks so cool. It is such a great way to display books. 5) I'm absolutely in love with your scrabble tile magnets. I want to make those immediately. What fun! Okay...that is all. :)

    Amanda
    The Teaching Thief

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  9. I love your room! It looks great! I'm new to 5th grade this year and in the process of working on my classroom right now, so I love seeing other 5th grade rooms.

    I have a question about the name tags on your board. Do you have different name tags for your students when they switch classes?

    Thanks!

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    1. Yes! I have two classes. Students in my homeroom have a traditional name plate, then when my second science class comes in.. their name is on a ticket on the back of the chair. All of them are magnetic so I can swap them around easily.

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  10. I so love your room. Thankful to see the desk in REAL life.........mine is the same way. I also love the spider man and the scrabble magnet idea......loved it all. Thanks for sharing!
    Donna
    Working5to9math.blogspot.com

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  11. I LOVE your room, especially the rain gutter book shelves!! So cool. And pretty much everything else is super awesome too. ;) I have an extras bin too, and I agree--best thing ever.

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  12. Great job!! I've always loved the rain gutter shelves... I'm still working on my room and getting great inspiration from pinterest and blogs today!

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  13. What a cute classroom. Good luck this year!

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  14. Where did you get your Lady Liberty poster?? Love the Lady!!!
    Your room Rocks!!
    Mary

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  15. Love your classroom - all that space! will definitely be visiting your blog often!
    My desk is always a mess too. Best quote from my last year's kiddies... I was looking for my diary which I thought was in my handbag but wasn't. She pipes up "It's probably on your desk - with every thing else!" I'm determined to make more of an effort this year but hey, who am I kidding? It will only take a couple of days before it's back to the usual! =)

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  16. I am looking at this a year later, and I must say I am impressed! I cannot wait to see how you set up this year. :) - Victoria

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  17. I love your classroom decorations. What did you use to keep your gutter on the wall?

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