Classroom Tour 2011-2012

Here is a tour of my classroom last year. 

 I have had a sports theme over the last few years. 

 I love the sports theme because of the teamwork and sportsmanship skills you can incorporate into it. 

I love having an organized classroom.

 Everything needs to have a home.  

It kept me sane.  

Student book bins are a must in my opinion.  I bought the book bins at Ikea. Students in my class each have a number.  The number is on their name tag on their desk, put on their papers, etc.  I number the book bins that way I don't have to relabel them year after year.  I had library folders, reading folders, library books and clipboards in the bins.  

One thing that made it easy at the end of each day was the bins for turning the work in.  Depending on how many assignments were turned in each day, I would just paperclip everything together before I packed up my bag to go home.  The students never questioned where they needed to put their finished work.  This is one of my classroom musts.  

I utilized every inch of my classroom.  If I could hang a sign or poster, I did.  

These Thick and Thin questions were from Beth Newingham. 

One thing I have spend a lot of money on over the years was my classroom library.  I always wanted my students to have a variety of books to chose from in the classroom, available to them everyday.  I tried to keep it as organized as possible using the labels found from Beth Newingham. 

One thing that drove me crazy as a teacher was when students asked every day what to do after I had told them hundreds of times.  This happened the most in the morning.  So, I was elated when I found these what to do when you come in and leave posters.  Whenever students would ask, I would just point to the poster.  Eventually, it clicked (for most).  Underneath was the library sign up along with AR sign up which was part of the morning routine.  I also posted a question of the day for when students were finished with everything else in the morning.  Sometimes I chose the questions and others I let the students.  

The reading area. 

Love the sports themed posters I found.  I can't remember where they were from. 

The students always knew what was next with the schedule being posted each day.  It was also helpful to keep me on track for the day. 

Sample of question of the day. 

 

Meet the Teacher

Becoming a teacher has always been a lifelong dream since I was a little girl. From playing school with my friends when I was seven to my first job in high school as an assistant at a Preschool, I remained focused on this goal. That dream came true for me seven years ago. I graduated from the University of South Florida in 2006 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education. I was fortunate enough to get a job at the school where I completed my final internship, in third grade. I continued my education throughout my first year teaching and graduated with my Master’s Degree in Reading Education in 2007 from the University of South Florida. I continued teaching third grade until this past year. 

Currently, I am taking a little break from teaching.  My little girl was born this past August and  I decided to take a year off to be a full time mommy.   When my baby was born, I wasn't sure if I would ever go back. But as time as gone by, I have realized I miss teaching. It's a big part of who I am.  I miss the kids and the everyday joys as they grow and learn. I am hoping that I will be find someone to work with part time next year in order to have the best of both worlds.

It's been a goal of mine for many years to share the things I've done in the classroom on the web.  I started a website a little while back but found that it was too expensive to maintain. I'm very familiar with the blog world and recently decided this was the best way for me to go.  I'll be using Teachers Pay Teachers to share a lot of my creations.  Many will be free, some will have a small fee.  I'm excited about this little blog and being able to get back into a teacher mindset every once in a while.  

Here's a little about me...

• Hobbies: Sewing/ Embroidery Cooking and Baking Spending time with family and friends Shopping, Shopping, Shopping Blogging Exercising/ Running

  Interesting Facts: I've been skydiving I figure skated for 8 years I am a list maker and like to stay organized I love to play sports, especially FOOTBALL! I threw the first pitch out at a Tampa Bay Rays game.