My Classroom Decor & Organization

I feel like a first year teacher all over again, setting up my new classroom, changing my theme, and actually being able to buy cute things for organization and what-not! I love it, but I'm also really tired of cutting lamination, and straight lines. It's paying off though, and I'm almost done! I worked all week in my classroom and we did some professional development and planning on the side. It's so exciting to be getting this all up, so I figured I better share my excitement with you! 

This is the bulletin behind my desk, it's got my birthday calendar and my class jobs. You can buy my classroom job posters HERE. I also will display those wonderful little drawings and letters that students give to me on this board. 

I'm not Mrs. Perry yet, but I will be in just a little over a week! (so crazy!)

Here are the boards in the back of my room. I've got my word wall, my Wonders focus wall, my AVID weekly planner, and my computer that's supposed to be mine but will be used for students to write and do Wonders online on. Up top you can also see my classroom rules and expectations which you can buy on teacherspayteachers.com HERE. 

This is the front of my room with my brand new SMART board, my class schedule, and my CHAMPS posters which you can buy on teacherspayteachers.com HERE. 

Here's a view of my book nook, and the back of my book shelf will serve as a bulletin board for my Daily 5 posters once they're made! 

Here's my super cute calendar wall behind my desk. 

And the crates I bought to hold students books and binders so that they have a place to store them since I won't be using desks. They've got their pencil bucket, and all of their new Wonders curriculum laid out already :)

Here's a picture of my book nook and the part of my classroom library that is already leveled. The magazine files on top of the book shelf will be student's book boxes, where they can keep 3-4 books or magazines that they are currently reading.

Here is what it looks like behind my desk. I've got my own cubbies for curriculum, more magazine files to hold student work that I will hold on to until conferences, and my handy to-do list that you can download on teachers pay teacher for FREE here!

Here's all my fancy new curriculum, and the dollar tree bins that I finally found a use for! They hold my leveled readers perfectly, which was a huge source of excitement in my life this week. Ya feel me? Probably not... I get it, I'm weird.

Here's my daily schedule, you'll notice I only have science and no social studies... and that is because the lovely Mrs. Decker and I will be teaming up, and I will teach both of our classes science, and she will teach them both social studies! It's going to work so great, and we're both thrilled about it which is awesome.

And yes, there's a week until the wedding and I'm still only talking about my classroom. That's just the way it's going to be. The wedding is going to happen, and it won't be as pretty as my classroom is, but it's going to be pretty awesome anyway.

By the way, teacher friends: Don't get married in August.

Classroom Update

Here's a quick photo update of my classroom. I got everything painted, and a few things put on the walls to lighten the load in August (our first week back is the week before the wedding).

My desk area, and my chalkboard contact paper I put up on my ugly yellow bulletin board. 

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The contents of my classroom library :)

and I'm done until August!

We're Back, For Good!

When I left Florence in the summer of 2009, I never thought I would return here for my "dream job", but it turns out I didn't know everything when I was 18.

This month has been a whirlwind of returning to Florence, planning our wedding, and getting that dream job I just mentioned.

I interviewed for a 5th grade position at Mapleton on Friday the 13th, after a full moon, but good thing I'm not too superstitious. It worked out in my favor, you could say... because now I'm a 5th grade teacher at Mapleton. My superintendent and principal was my 6th grade teacher, I will be teaching on a 4 day school week (Fridays off, except the occasional professional development day), they are introducing a brand new curriculum in language arts this year, that I happened to have already taught with last school year, and I have 12 students. No, that is not a typo... 12 students. When I left Pilot I had 15, and I thought it was the greatest thing on earth and that I would never have better numbers than that, but I am just incredibly fortunate I guess.

I've already got the keys to my classroom, and even though it started off a nasty puke yellow, I'm stoked because when I mentioned doing some painting I was told to ask for forgiveness later, rather than asking for permission. My walls are now grey and white, and all mine! I will be getting a brand new SMART board also (many of you know how happy that makes me)

Here are some pictures of my classroom before I did anything to it! I will post some pictures of the painting I've done once I get the second coat on.

Check out that awesome view! 

I know, I'm super teachery and weirdly obsessed, especially since it's not even August yet... I have no decent excuses, other than the fact that I might be avoiding wedding planning and diverting my energy to my classroom instead. The wedding planning is going fine though, I'm just sick of talking about it and obsessing over it (is it just me, or when someone is planning a wedding, that seems to be all people want to talk about?)

It's going fine, but wedding planning is sort of dumb. Everything is over priced, and there is far too much glitter and sparkle on anything remotely related to weddings. (p.s. my wedding dress doesn't have a single sparkle on it). 

Max is going to write an essay about how he doesn't want to GET married, he just wants to BE married. I feel the same way, but I think he can express it better than I can, and it's less weird for people to hear it from him because he's a boy.