Classroom Tour Part 1

I spent a while in my classroom today and finished some small areas.  I still have a bunch of things to do but I'm REALLY trying to not just hide those random piles this year...I know you have those piles too!  I usually just hide them away and then get mad at myself when I find them a month into school.  

Of course, I don't sort through the piles when I find them...I just walk away.  Anyone else do this?

This year will be different!

(I hope)

Anyways, here are the few spots that I've set up so far!

Let's start outside the room where I have 2 bulletin boards

 (Sorry I couldn't stand back far enough to get both in one shot)  I love love LOVE the burlap and orange chevron together.  The little fish and mermaids are from this Schoolgirl Styles collection.  The banner I made.

I put my rules on flags and hung it above the smartboard.  Under the rules I have my homework chart.  Last year, I didn't do homework. This year, I am sending home a small packet each week.  Every night, students have the option to do 3 tasks: Read for 20 minutes, Respond to Reading, and do a math activity from their math bags (more on this later).  They get one star for each task they complete.  I will color the stars that everyone earns during our morning meeting.  If the class meets the weekly goal, they get free time Friday!  This post inspired my homework system.

Under the smartboard I put my math wall.  I only have a few minutes to get through calendar but I wanted to have my class read the date together each day "Today is (day of the week) (Month) (date) (year)".  I put those things on the banner...just to switch it up.  The other cards are days we've been in school, different ways to show a number, comparing 2 numbers, money, rules, more/less, and a fact family.  I have another set of cards that I will rotate in and out throughout the year.  Each day, we will do the date and days we've been in school and 1 or 2 cards.  I put them by the floor because that's where the class will be sitting so it's in their line of sight.  I may decide to project the cards on the smartboard later but for now, I like the idea of them seeing all of them at once.  If you are interested, you can grab them here.

This is my filing cabinet area.  I put the prize box, lollipop tree, and cd player on top.  I know it's not much but it is a completed area :) 

As I finish my areas in my room, I will continue to give you a tour through my room!

I LOVE looking at other people's rooms, don't you?

I'm linking up with Courtney from Swimming into Second!