Welcome to Room 23

Late summer rolls around and all I can think about is getting into my classroom and setting up my space. I am the type that enjoys finding new ideas for a classroom environment. Whether it is via Pintrest or checking out other teacher blogs, I get countless ideas and plans in my head and want to start asap.   When the day finally arrives where I  get  word that my classroom has been cleaned...I jump for joy. Finally, I can start setting up for the upcoming year. Forget about the curriculum for the moment, I need to get my space set up.  Granted after a few hours in and I'm in bulletin board land or on a mission rearranging furniture I wonder why I was so excited in the first place.

Last year I started a new job. Same grade, but a different building and classroom. It's safe to say that after I saw my new rectangular space I just started setting things up.  That is setting them up how I did the years before, in an entirely different space.  However as last year progressed I noticed my room wasn't functioning quite the way I wanted it to, but I didn't have any solutions yet. I took the summer to think about and re-evaluate my classroom situation. Let's just say from desks, to tables, to book cases if it wasn't fixed to the ground it got moved. Welcome to Room 23!!

The front of the classroom, classroom library, writing center and guided reading area. Here is a free download for the reading strategy posters I use. 

Grand Central Station, as I call it. The back of the room contains the students assignments, learning targets, essential questions, lunch menu, daily schedule and many more things that are the hub of each day. One of the many ideas I am trying this year are Pick-Me Up's. I am sure many of you have heard about filling a bucket. This is my version of it. I chose the name Pick-Me Ups because for fifth graders I thought it may be a bit more age appropriate and a great transition into Middle School. Plus I put extra focus on being awesome classmates and cheering each other up if need be. Over the course of the first week I am planning many activities around the importance of picking each other up. Stay tuned for those. For the difficult space above the white board, I found these expectation posters on Molly Maloy's Blog Lessons With Laughter. I plan on introducing an expectation a day for the first ten days.

My "teacher" area. Organization is key if I want to function on a daily basis. I found a mock up classroom rules poster on Pintrest, made by Stephanie Harpole over at The Creative Classroom. I sent her a quick email and received my proof in a few days. Then, I had it printed at Walgreens and picked it up an hour later.  I also love anchor charts and find them extremely useful. Last year, my students couldn't figure out why I would make one ahead of time or even spend time compiling one in class with them. Whether it was the mass quantities of them or the hassle of figuring out what to do with them, it's safe to say they weren't huge fans. However, when the time came that they needed a little guidance or help they began to understand the importance of these amazing charts. This year I decided to find a dedicated area for them. 

Literary Genre Bulletin Board set (Lakeshore Learning), Free Text Evidence Posters made by Leslie Ann (Teachers Pay Teachers- Follow her awesome blog Life in Fifth Grade...absolutely amazing teacher blog) and my state standard curriculum math vocabulary and test specs posters. They give me helpful reminders of the most important concepts in each unit and I know I need to focus extra attention on these. 

Last, but not least, a view from the front.

Here is a link to a great blog regarding 21st century classroom design reflections. In this post he reflects on designing a space to support pedagogy.  There are many helpful pictures and explanations. Plus he helps us understand his questions and ideas on supporting student learning and collaboration.