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Classroom Tour!

I am so excited! On Wednesday, I finished my classroom (except for a few odds and ends), and I finished my last course ever to reach MA+45! I feel like a huge weight is off my shoulders. I have the first two weeks of school planned, an inviting classroom for my students to come back to, and my personal education work finished! I also volunteered to be interviewed for our local newspaper on Friday about setting up the classroom. I'm can't wait to share how it goes!

First-- I went to Target looking for a tablecloth, and came up with nothing...so I bought this shower curtain for $9 in hopes that it would work!


And it did! This shower curtain is more than big enough to cover a large table, and it's easy to clean :)



Today I'm going to give you the FULL and comprehensive tour of my classroom. Get ready...

Here's the view outside the door. I have my informational frame, and a whiteboard to put reminders.


Hanging in the door window is my adorable owl from World Market, and my NaNoWriMo vinyl sticker.


Here is my "Where is Mrs. White's Class Today?" sign and hanging strips (available on TpT), along with a Wordle door sign I created.


Welcome! Here's the view of the front of the room!


Starting on the left. Here is my classroom library, filled with books!


On top of the bookcases I put books I would highly recommend from different genres.

Easel for small groups, and my bulletin board! I have to finish adding lettering above the book, but I'm so happy with how it turned out, and it's 3-D. It also makes a cool fluttering sound like book pages when the air is on, which I like :) Above them I put quotes from famous people that I used to use for a bulletin board.

My bookcases for series, and an amazing painting that a former student did of the Hanging Tree from The Hunger Games. On the wall, a signed poster from Chris Baty from NaNoWriMo.


Another view of the series bookcase, and my bookcase of Harry Potter and Percy Jackson! Also my Classroom Library Checkout Binder on top.



Next to the bulletin board are the cool Hunger Games posters I found at Chicago Comic Con last weekend. I like the artsy one, and the bottom one is a mock propaganda poster about Tesserae! On the right, the golden recommendation shelf and another chair.



 On the side of the bookcase are some fun signs, and three awesome signs from Runde's Room. These were available for free last year, but I can't find them again this year. :(


Moving clockwise, here are all my NaNoWriMo posters, stools for shared inquiry, and my teacher stool!

The boards again, I've shown these a million times, but didn't want to leave them out of the tour! :)

IKEA storage bin, Trofast system.


Bell Schedule, Classroom rules, Vinyl "Today is..."


Garage door and main door side of the room. I am starting off the year with students in rows of four. I don't necessarily have a reason, other than we use the projector a lot, and I don't want students to be uncomfortable twisting and turning to take notes. I also just don't like the idea of students being in spaced out desks.



Missing work area, and reference area with Word Within the Word books, dictionaries, and thesaurus (thesauri??). I also put up the Henry Ford Failure quote I found on Pinterest, and Keep Clam and Proofread


At Comic-Con, I found this awesome vendor in Artist's Alley called The Zombie Office. I couldn't resist picking a few of these up, since my students seem to be obsessed with anything zombie. 

This one is my favorite :)


I finally hung all of our certificates from our MTI shows!


The great thing about this is that as we do new shows, I can just shift them down and keep adding. I picked up the frames at IKEA for $3.99 each. I need to go pick up more in these colors in case they run out or change the colors!


Back left of the room, with shelving for student turn-in, and my agenda boards.


Here's the wall for turn-in and storage again.

I saw this quote on my friend Tiffany's planner, and I had to make a little poster to put in my room. 


Agenda board again...

The BAZINGA board and Word of the Day. Thanks to 4mulafun for the inspiration! With the word of the day extra credit, it will go towards their effort grade at the end of the quarter, since I don't grade homework. To explain a bit better, my online gradebook has two categories, Assessment and Notes. My assessment category counts for 100% of the grade, and the Notes category counts for 0% of the grade. You might be asking, "What kind of sense does that make?" Well...after going to NUMEROUS conferences and workshops about effective grading, I completely believe that academic grades should only account for mastery of the material, rather than the ability to turn in a homework assignment in on time. Also, homework should be for practice, not for grading. It would be like determining the winner of the Stanley Cup based on a practice. I usually just grade homework for completion anyway, and then we go over the answers together or in groups. Why have the category? Well, I still feel students should be held accountable, so it gets entered into the gradebook, and then at the end of the quarter will be used to determine an effort grade. Our district issues an effort grade on the scale of 1 to 5. The great thing about putting this in the gradebook is that it is tangible and available to help explain to parents why an effort grade is what it is. Instead of the effort grade being ambiguous, there is data to support the grade. Grading explanation now over, lol. :)

I also picked up the Bazinga board at...you guessed it... Comic-Con!


8th grade agenda board


Finally, the beautiful view outside my room the last wall of the tour :) 



Here's my desk area, it looks so cozy! :)


Close up of the desk. Can you tell I love blue?


I coached Poms for three seasons, and I have now retired (for now) :) I also have pictures from home over here, and out of the way. I'm bringing in my prints from printstagr.am . They did some awesome stickers and 3X3 prints, and they arrived in three or four days!


Close up of the desk area. I love Pop! figurines, and have Sheldon, Gandalf, my solar owl (from Pier 1), and Superman. I also have my Superman key that was signed by Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) at Comic-Con this weekend. I was so star struck, and I acted like a total fool. Note: I also did this at Disney World when I was 5. My parents had to push me towards Pluto, and I was still really embarassed. I have no idea what's wrong with me, lol!

Collection of Owl mugs from students! :)

My signed books shelf. I'm super proud of these!

Can't live without my Keurig! My parents got me a brand new jumbo Keurig for home, so I was able to bring my mini cup maker to school. This is awesome, since I'm farther away from the teacher's lounge now! Also, I have spent the past few years decorating my file cabinet with other nerdy artifacts. 

Here's the shower curtain tablecloth in action. Under the table are classroom bins on rollers that I can use when I collect ISN's. 

I've had that Marilyn poster since college, and I have had it in my room every year. It has nothing to do with school, but I love it. 

Bin to hold my classroom subscription to Scope!

Area for Scholastic Reading Club order forms.

My Vistaprint cards in case a student needs a new one!



PHEW! And that's it! I hope you enjoyed my classroom tour, if you're still reading this, thanks for sticking around so long! 

One last reminder to join the giveaway, I'll announce a winner Saturday morning!

Comments

  1. Oh my word, I am so impressed...and more than a little envious...I still have disorganized stuff everywhere! It's beautiful! It's going to be a great year! Apologies for the excessive use of exclamation points...apparently it's that kind of morning :)

    Jenn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! I tend to go a little overboard, but I couldn't resist being in a new room and all :) Thanks for commenting!

      Delete
  2. Love the look. So practical, interesting and inviting.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wow-I've not done much in my room yet, so you're inspiring me! I still have a week...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Wow! Your room is awesome!!!! I took a couple of great ideas that I can bring into my 7th grade room :)

    Lauren
    Life In Middle School

    ReplyDelete
  5. So, I'm reading this in February, three years later...and while I LOVE the organization and thoughtfulness of your whole room, I just GASPED, loudly, when I saw your "Card Carrying Bibliophile" cards. What a terrific idea!

    ReplyDelete

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Thanks for stopping by! JW

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