Hey y’all! Time for a little “Where it Goes Down Wednesday” action. We’re on day 3 here and let me tell ya…it’s getting easier every dang day! I must have been EXHAUSTED last night because I sure did PASS.OUT in my little bit’s bed as we were saying prayers. Mr. Spouse left me there and I got a really great 3 hour nap before getting up around midnight to head to my own bed 🙂
If you’ve been following my little ol’ blog for a while, you’ll notice that my classroom hasn’t changed much since last year. I redid a few bulletin boards, moved some furniture around, added a kidney table {last year was my first year without one!} and a few more storage containers. Welcome to room 135…
I rolled out the red carpet on the first day! I have a little Hollywood theme in my room, so the kids were ecstatic to have such a fun little welcome 🙂 To the left of my door are my “Sorry We Missed You”, “Peanut Free”, & “What’s the Password?” signs. Do you notice the backwards ‘N’ on my door?!?!?! Inside joke 😉
I got the inspiration for the “What’s the Password?” sign from Growing Kinders. I used her download and I LOVE it!!!
My desk is hidden behind my bench & tree and my math wall is to the right. Student mailboxes are right alongside that wall, too!
Here’s my desk. A hot, hot mess. That’s why it stays hidden 🙂 I keep all my seasonal decorations in the trunk below my computer. I love having my filing cabinet next to my desk so I can clip up any important reminders/passwords/notes/etc. in my direct line of sight!! The jolly ranchers on the desk are another MUST.
Here are my cubbies, Award Winning Words {word wall}, and BRAVO! {student work} wall.
Another look at my cubbies. Each hook is labeled with my kids’ names & numbers. The green & blue baskets above are all numbered and contain books. The books in each basket have a sticker that coordinates with the basket. Helps keep me organized! The baskets to the left & right are their book/browsing boxes & math toolkits. Right above the cubbies is my wall of fame! That’ll soon be filled with tons of stars, handprints, and autographs!
Here’s my whole group/family time area. The shelf on the left with the green & blue baskets is my classroom library where kids can shop for books when we start the Daily 5. The shelf on the right is my math supply shelf. Math tubs are in a different area.
The shelves separate our family area from the computers. We have 5 in the room and the kids each have their own set of headphones…that was part of our supply list this year!! The computers are in a little nook separated by my bookshelf {for D.E.A.R time} and a little supply makeshift shelving unit. HA!! So rigged. I found these pink hanging organizers at Target in the dollar spot {can’t you tell??!}, propped ‘em up with my houndstooth trunk {that holds all my tissue boxes}, and filled them with supplies for each table {markers, pencils, erasers}. These still need to be labeled by table!
Here’s another look at my math wall. The clothesline on top will be filled with the kids’ socks for counting by 2’s. The math tub shelf is to the right of that.
On the backside of my math shelf is my word work shelf. Found this little baby at a resale shop for $9, brought her home, & spray painted her pink 🙂 Next to the word work shelf is my sink area. I keep all my personal supplies in the cabinets and the pencil sharpener sits in the sink area.
Here’s the little desk in the sink area. Such a RANDOM spot for it and NO…it doesn’t belong there. It needs to find a home in a different spot. My Celebrity of the Week gets to sit in this desk to do all his/her work! I found this desk for a whopping $15 then brought it home and painted it myself about 5 years ago. The kids love it!
Next to the sink is my Work on Writing area. I was totally inspired by this post on Mrs. Phippen’s blog!!! LOVED this idea!!!! Hers is much cuter, but you get the idea!
Graphics courtesy of Scrappin’ Doodles.
The baskets & drawers by the wall will house paper, notebooks, dry erase boards….tons of different writing materials!!
Here’s my little Celebrity of the Week corner! I added a few new stars this year…Justin Bieber, the Sprouse twins, Taylor Swift, and Miranda Cosgrove.
Here’s my little desk next to the door. I keep my Thursday folder basket underneath the table and on top is a basket for papers/notes that need to be sent to the office! I keep personal pics and cards from kids on my little bulletin board, and my schedule cards are a great visual, too! I found those fun little clock tags over at Mrs. Lemons’ blog.
To the right of my little desk is my white board/SmartBoard.
The little space to the left of my SmartBoard will become a “Focus Wall”. Right now, it’s holding my BRAVO BOARD! This is my little table system. If a table can earn 15 points by Friday {each Friday}, they get to learn with their shoes off! My word…they LOVE it!
Right below my Bravo Board are my bucket fillers. We haven’t started this yet, so I still need to add the bucket notes to my little pockets.
Here’s my teacher table.
Instead of chairs, I’m wanting to get those darling colored ottoman/stools to sit at the table. Cozy and comfy…and much more convenient!!! Right behind my teacher table is a little cabinet where I store my guided readers and word work materials {for teacher table/guided reading activities}. The baskets on either side of the cabinet hold my tiny supplies…bandaids, scissors, compliment coupons, pens, etc. And of course, I don’t go anywhere without my Mixed Bag Designs carryall!!! LOVE that thing!! Just ignore the Hawaiian Punch and Sprite on the floor…we made Jitter Juice the other day and I haven’t taken it home!! Thanks, Abby!!
Right underneath that little computer are drawers that currently hold a bunch of junk! They’ll soon hold leveled readers and guided reading materials 🙂
Here’s another little reading bench I painted my 2nd year teaching. My kids love sitting here!! This is also the bench I was sitting on when Mr. Spouse proposed to me 🙂
OH…and here are my clip chart & job chart!! I was super inspired by my sweet friend, Abby, to start a clip chart system in my room this year. I had a little clip type system last year, but I didn’t like it very much and this one is SO much easier! My clip chart is hanging next to my desk so it’s not a focal point of the room. The class jobs are hanging on the math shelf. The kids are LOVING the clip chart and we’ll start our class jobs next week!!
Alright…I think that concludes the tour 🙂 If you wanna see some amazing classrooms, hop on over to Blog Hoppin’ and check ‘em out…and while you’re there, link up to your classroom pics, too!!
Simplify Your Teaching
Join our community for tips, tricks, and resources to help you simplify your teaching!
Wow Wow Wow Your room is just beautiful. I wish my space looked a fun and colorful as yours. Thanks so much for sharing.
Claire
http://www.firstgradesmarties.com
Oh I just loved seeing your classroom!! I love the colors you've used and all of your signs! That bench is so great, no wonder the kids love sitting there. Thank you for sharing your little home away from home, I know I will be admiring your pictures again soon!
Kristen
I love your Peanut Free sign. Did you make it?
Your room is wonderful. I love you painted everything. I wish I could fly you here and have you fancy up a few things for me. Your room is as precious and you! Have a great rest of the week.
I absolutely ADORE your classroom! ADORE! Seriously! You must have spent soooo much time! Bravo!!!
Cutie-patootie!!! I love the green & pink! It makes me want to go out & buy paint!! Amazing classroom!Where did you find the "Chunk Challenge" cards?
Christie 🙂
First Grade Fever
I'm new to your blog and I love it already! It looks like your classroom walls are all mostly covered with paper. What's your trick to getting the paper to stay on the walls. I think it looks so colorful and I'd consider doing it in my classroom too!
I love, love your room and can't wait to make a Bravo Board…I use table points and have always used a white board but will definitely make it cute…also I made those flower tissue balls for my baby's birthday and will definitely be adding them to my class! I never thought to use those! GREAT ideas!! 🙂
I love all your painted chairs and the bench! It makes your classroom so homey, beautiful, and bright! You really know how to decorate a class and I admire it!
Rambling About Reading
AHHHH! Your classroom is fantastic!!! I'm in love 🙂
Life of a Kinder Teacher
Cara, Your classroom is adorable, colorful, inviting…just amazing!
Primary Practice
I wish this classroom was next door to mine 😉
Though I'm pretty sure very little teaching would get done if all I had to do was walk next door to talk to you! Ha!!!
Looks great, girl! Your firsties are lucky, lucky, lucky!
Thanks for the shout out! I might have screamed a little when I saw my name on your blog haha! Seriously love the bench! I'm always looking for things like that! Your room looks amazing!
Um, your room is HUGE!!!! And stinkin' adorable. Can I be in your class?
WOW! I'm amazed. It looks fabulous!!!
❀Barbara❀
Grade ONEderful
Your room looks WONDERFUL!!! I have my kinders bring in their sock too! We sort our socks for a little while and then we hang them on a clothesline and count by two..yeah!
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!!! It makes my room look like a sterile hospital room (and I thought it was cute until now). I would love some information about your math toolkits you have for each student. What do you have in them?
Your room is ADORABLE!! How did you make the buckets? I'm wanting to add buckets to my room and am looking for ideas. Yours are the cutest I've seen yet!
I remember seeing that No Peanuts sign on a teacher's blog but can not remember which one. Can you help me out? I have a child this year in my class that has the allergy and also my daughter has it and I would like to give her future teachers the sign. Thank you!!!
SERIOUSLY!! Can I come learn in here? It looks wonderful. Hope you have a GREAT year.
Your room looks awesome! I think you need to travel on over here and help me make mine over! 🙂
http://firstgradejabber.blogspot.com
Hi there! I am new to your blog but I just spent the last hour reading over everything. I love the writer's eye bulletin board you made. Would you be willing to share your documents? Or do you have it for sale?
Thanks!
Do you hot glue the clothespins on to your bravo board for student work? The ones with the zebra print paper on them?
Room is marvelous too btw!
Your kids are so lucky to have such an amazing work space to learn. Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas.
@Christie…those cutie sound cards are {free} on Deanna Jump's blog!
@Cassidy…all the paper is stapled!!!
@Ann Marie…the math kits are supplied by the district…part of the HSP math adoption. It's got base ten units, tens rods, counters, snap cubes, hundreds chart, clock, etc!!
@Melissa..the buckets are from the Dollar Tree!! In the baby shower section. They come 8 to a pack!! CHEAP…LOVE IT!
@The Beck's…I made the peanut sign. You can find the download in one of my recent posts…just scroll down 🙂
@jess…I'm posting all of the documents {free} tomorrow!!
@Carpenter Family…the clothespins are just clipped on to the top of the paper. When I hung the paper, I just made sure I had the clothespin on it so that I'd leave enough room between the paper and the wall 🙂
@everyone else…THANK YOU for the sweet comments 🙂 Y'all are too dang much!!
XOXO ~ Cara 🙂
Your classroom is SOOO stinkin cute!!! I ADORE all of the bright colors and the zebra print! I would SOOO love to be able to do cute stuff like that to my room, but we can't paint or even hang anything on the wall (we can only hang things from the bulletin board strips in our rooms) 🙁 … ANYWAY your room is PRECIOUS!!!
LOVE your room! I especially love the pink, green, and zebra print. This year I found a great purple leopard print rug and that spiraled into a new theme with lots of pink, purple, neon blue, lime green, and animal prints. I have so many new ideas from looking at your room! I'm not sure how the boys will feel about it, but they're not going to have a choice! 🙂 Where did you find the zebra print with colored leopard alternating border? I put up my backgrounds but I am not having any luck with borders!
LOVE your classroom, especially that vintage desk. Did you paint that free hand or use a pattern??
@Miss P…google "Teacher's Tools". That's my FAVORITE teacher store here in town and I'm almost positive they have an online shop, too!! THey'll have the border you're talking about!!
@ A Day in the Life…I painted that desk free hand 🙂 Before kids of course…I don't have that kinda time anymore!! HA!!
You have a fabulous classroom! Jealous! I love all of your storage space! Did you cover all of your walls? It's hard to tell if those are bulletin boards or if you just covered everything with paper!
I adore your cubbies!
Great work!
Jenn
Back Hall Collaborators
Wow! So much room. I love your colors and organization of your areas. I could only wish for such a spacious classroom! Love it!
I love how colorful your classroom is. I like your Bravo Board idea and might try to tweak it for my classroom. I've been trying to figure out how to reward the tables for good behavior and your board seems like the way to go. Thanks for sharing.
<a href="http://kindersontheblock.blogspot.com</a>
I'm not an elementary teacher but I'm a parent and I want to applaude you for making such a fantastic space for learning. The most important thing to me, as a mom, is that my children like their teacher and their class. I don't know if there is any scientific proof but I'd be willing to bet that an unhappy child does not learn as much as a child who is comfortable and feels safe in their surroundings. Your picture should be on your Bravo board. 🙂
Hi Cara,
I love love love your blog and your classroom is amazing. I have truly been inspired and was in my classroom setting up all week. I can't wait for the kids to come back after Labor Day. Yes, I said it AFTER Labor Day….
I am not sure why but I can't save the original of your "Do you have a writer's eye?" document. I can save it in Google Docs, but can't figure out how to save it so I can send it to Staples to be color copied and laminated. Do you know how to do it or can you email me the attachment?
(armano10@aol.com) Thanks for ALL that you do. You are such an inspiration!!!
Allyson
I love the whole room, but one thing that stood out to me was your pocket chart daily schedule. An empty one was handed down to me by a mentor teacher (this is my first year!!), but I was wondering if you made your activity inserts (snack, recess, math, etc) or are they store-bought. If you made them, would you be willing to share?! I wish I was good enough to whip up some cute ones myself!
I love reading The First Grade Parade!
cmhowland(at)gmail(dot)com
Chelsea
-first year as a 2nd grade teacher…or any grade for that matter!
As a first year teacher, I just read through your blog and stare in amazement. I love your classroom!
I found your blog this summer and love your room! I just joined the bloggy world, come visit!
http://gofourthandinspire.blogspot.com/
I have been seeing your schedule cards everywhere. Can I download them or buy them? I want to find them! Thanks!
Rambling About Reading
Hi!
Could I find out what font you used for the schedule cards, or do you have a rest time option for the cards? If so, will you please send me a copy?
aprilleanne@hotmail.com
I love your room, so creative!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE your blog! Your classroom, your charts, your ideas…. everything… SOOOO beautiful and fun.
Traci @ Dragonflies in First
LOVE YOUR ROOM!!! 🙂 I even want to be in it!
Thanks for sharing your fabulous ideas.
Frances
http://www.g2reading.blogspot.com
Love love love your classroom and blog!!! Visit everyday for new ideas! I was just looking for a place to get buckets. Thanks for the tip!!!
Gracie
http://Www.livinglargeinfirst.blogspot.com
What are your walls covered with? I assume they aren't painted. Your room is adorable! I'm working towards my degree in Elementary Education and this blog just inspires me so much! Thanks a million for sharing!
I super <3 your room!!!! I have a green wall and a pink wall in my room that I painted this summer!!! I love them but I want to expand the *theme* a little bit and you gave me wonderful ideas!!!! Again, I love your room!!
I am obsessed with your room!!! Your classroom is my dream room, I LOVE LOVE it!!! I am a teacher in the making and your classroom ideas make me sooooooo excited!!! I noticed your Texas flag and I am from Texas also! I would love to come see your room one day and have a real life tour! Haha partially kidding! Once again LOVE!!!
Your classroom is totally adorable! I'm a preschool teacher in school to become a kindergarten teacher. I was daydreaming about my future classroom today at nap time. I googled "green and blue kindergarten classroom" and found your blog. I love how you incorporated the pink & animal print…everything goes together so perfectly! <3
I am in love with your "Writer's Eye" bulletin board!!! It's so adorable. May I ask what font you used for the text? It's very cute and I'd love to use it in my classroom.
I just found your blog and am IN LOVE with your classroom!!! It is absolutely adorable and I love how it is colorful from top to bottom!!! It has given me so many more great ideas for my room! Thanks so much for sharing!! Glad to be following your blog now!
Molly
Lessons with Laughter
I love your classroom!! It looks like you really utilize every ounce of space in your room! Do you cover the walls with colored paper or did you paint?? I also REALLY love the word chunks. Can you go into more depth on how you go about using the word chunks, and possibly post a picture of all of the cards you have for the tricks to reading those tricky chinks in words?!
Lauren
You've got a beautiful classroom. I love your organization and great use of space with where you put your classroom jobs.
I love your classroom! How do you get everything to stick to the walls? My room is such a BLAH cream colored cement block walls and I can't get ANYTHING to stick! Everything falls down! Help!
Your room looks awesome!!!!!….love the hanging tissue balls…how did you make them? My classroom is hot pink and black with a rock and roll theme. I need those!
Your room is adorable!! I was wondering if I could pin some of your pics?
Thanks,
Miss J
❤Smiles, Crayons, and Endless Stories
I am so impressed at your ability to use EVERY area in your classroom, big or small! I will be using these photos as inspiration when I set up my room next Fall. Thank you!!
Your classroom is so neat-o! Thanks for giving me a shout out for the writer's eye board. I appreciate it and your blog. Have a fun and relaxing summer.
I really love your classroom and the colors! My room has green and blue accents and I was wondering where you purchase all of your storage baskets. Anywhere I look (lakeshore, really good stuff, etc) doesn't have those specific colors. Thanks!
Scbolt24@comcast.net
I loved seeing your classroom. It is giving me some inspiration on how to make my classroom more visually appealing.
Hi Cara! love the classroom. I was wondering where on Mrs. Jump's class is the sound poster? I couldn't find it on her site. Thx.
I have one of those old school desks just sitting in my storage shed. Since I teach middle schoolers who are WAY too big for it, I just left it in there. NOW I know what to do! I'll paint that puppy up for my 4 year old who is starting PreK in August! =)THANKS!
Do you know the brand of the letters on the celebrity bulletin board? I love them and would love to have some in my classroom.
Thank you for sharing your classroom with the rest of the world. I love what you've done with it and it is a great source of inspiration.
You've totally inspired me to do this to my room! It's no where near as cute as yours but I'm trying to find the class jobs, did you make them or buy them somewhere?
Thanks!
Your classroom is amazing!! I will be a first year teacher this year and I hope my classroom looks half as good as yours. I was wondering how you get the bulletin board paper to stick so well to your walls in the classroom.
Thanks,
Gabbie
Looks Awesome! I was just wondering about the little posters that seem to have digraphs/dipthongs/other phonics patterns on them. I love how you used them as a "border" on your white board! I would love to do something like that. did you make those or get them from somewhere else?
thanks!
Beth
bfilapek@yahoo.com
Did you make or buy your clip chart system? It's terrific!
Thanks!
Do you think this theme would work well for 4th grade, too? I'm a first year teacher & I find this theme just ADORABLE! 🙂 Thanks for sharing.
I love your blog! I am nominating you for the Versatile Blogger Award! Head over to my page to grab it!
http://www.newmansthirdgrade.blogspot.com
Your pictures of your classroom have truly inspired me! I was just curious if you have gotten your schedule cards on TPT yet. I was unable to download them from scripd and they would be perfect for my classroom. Thank so much!!
I will definitely Pin it, One of the best i saw. Kids will learn a lot from this very nice environment. funbrain
Cara, were did you get the little oscar statue on the top of your behavior clip chart? I have looked in scrappin doodles, but I can't seem to find it! Thanks
Hi Cara, I know this blog post is really old but I am a brand new teacher going into my first year teaching kindergarten. I absolutely love your classroom! I was wondering if it would be possible for you to send me your behavior chart and job chart if you still have it. I would really appreciate it! Christyjean58@yahoo.com
Thank you!!
How do you economically attach all that butcher paper to your walls? I really want to do that!
Hi Cara! You have done such an
Amazing job in your classroom! I was wondering if you can tell me where you got your 'Kindergarten' letters at the top of the cabinets? They are adorable!
Thank you!!
Your room is amazing! I'm interested in your clip board and how you used it. Also, what did each card say.
Thanks!