My Classroom 2011-2012

Hi! How are yall.. I know I haven't been keeping up.. I am just swamped with school, helping Nate with his side business, trying to keep up on my studies for my masters all while teaching and running a household.Geez! Nate started school too and tennis season is in full swing which means it is hectic. I have been meaning to update on here but haven't had a chance..sorry.


Last year I went all out with the Hawaiian Theme..it was only approriate since we just got married in Hawaii and no one was doing it! But this year,  with money a little tight due to the hospital bills and other large expenses I didn't want to have to go out and buy all new classroom items. So this year I went with a Beach/Nautical  Theme.. but think not just hawaii.. any beach any where!!! I worked two weeks 12+ hour days to get ready for school. It is so tiring at the start of the year. But teaching is what I love to do..

Three weeks later here is my classroom!!! Big Reveal ;)









Here is our class libary. I put book covers in the net! One side says dive into a good book and the other side says get hooked on a good book! Totally cute with the fishing net!

Below: This wall has a large bulletin board which I change out the work of the students all thru the year. It says "Sea Us Make Waves".. it is about to be full of work About "What America Means To ME". Next to that is my writing palm tress. One has the cocunuts with the writing process- Think, Write, Revise, Proofread, & Publish. The other has parts of a story- character, setting, plot writen on bananas. On the table is the trays for turning work by subject matter and their homework folders. This has helped tremendously with staying organized.

This is looking towards the front with our reading chairs/couch and palms. I have a tiki lamp behind the couch. On the couch are ikea throw pilloes with a shark and gorilla. The kids love the couch and I wish I had it last year.

Below is the front of the classroom. Which has our Helper board. Class Rules/Homework & Schedule on the other side. Above the board is Hello in different languages.

 Here is the rules "Learn the Rules or Walk the Plank" with their homework below. The Homework poster is laminated so I can wipe and write everyday their homework. I also have a class website so the students/parents can check. I wrote HW on the white board last year but it became a hassle with taking up most of the left corner for HW. I wanted more room to write.  Beside that is our daily schedule.

Close up of our Embley Helper's Sheet. I have Exploerer of the week, administrative assistant, safety commissioners, library liaison, textbook brigrade. Each week these change!
Below is our behavior chart clip system. As well as a pic of the back of the classroom. The other side by the entrance is our news/calendar station.

Here is our WOW Words Wall. It says get hooked on Wow Words. The fish are laminated so that we can wipe and write on them all year long. If the students find an awesome word they can add it to the WOW Wall.

At first I wasn't going to put all the junk on the walls this year.. but I had some of my previous kids come and say they preferred the walls to have things on them.

Hope you enjoyed the tour. Click HERE to go see my classes website. Tomorrow I will show you my mentoring teachers classroom. I helped decorate hers also.. she was mass organizing till the last minute.