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Showing posts with label desk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label desk. Show all posts

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Classroom Tour

Alrighty... I know the year is almost over, but I figured it's better late than never. First off, I have a very oddly shaped room. I have lots of windows (which is great, but...), two sets of white boards, and built in cabinets, etc. that I can use which is great. I realized while writing this post that there aren't any pictures of my kiddos desks, but I'll take some next week.

This is part of my writing wall. I have laminated construction paper stapled to the wall with each kid's picture on a star on the corner. I put two paper clips on the top of each sheet of paper to hold their projects. Each time we have a new published piece of writing, I replace their work. It's quick and easy to switch out, and I fold their papers in half and file them away for the end of the year. At the end of the year, I will bind all of their writing together to make a book and put their star pictures on the front. These are from our Valentine's Day writing activity where I had a variety of different hearts and they could create anything they wanted with them. They're so cute, right?

The other part of our Writing Wall. Check out those monitors... Old School!

Here is one set of our Daily 5 book bins and binder storage. With 29 kids, it's been great having their book bins spread out around the classroom so that when they go to get them, we have fewer traffic jams.

Clipboard storage is a corner with push-pins. Plus our camouflaged butterflies from our "Butterfly Hunt."


This is one set of white boards. It is used strictly for a district-mandated daily test prep strategy called Board Math. You can also see a glimpse of the rest of my math wall and my small group table.

These are my reading group binders. I have so many levels of readers in my class that my groups meet every other day. I use this organizer to keep everything close to our meeting spot.

Here is the view of my back wall. There's a lot goin' on!

This is our classroom storage supply area. It's pretty simple, and I used my Cricut to cut out letters for the boxes.

Workbook and textbook storage in my built-ins. We don't use them much, so I like to keep them out of my kiddos hands. You can also see a small glimpse of my (dreadfully sad) library. I have wonderful books, but my organization is embarrassing. Year two will be much better, I promise.

Another grouping of book bins and binder storage above the textbook storage.

Our word wall. You can download the letters I made here.

This is our Welcome Wall. I have our attendance chart, behavior chart, and class jobs all printed on vinyl (basically, giant stickers). I don't have a lot of kid-accessible wall space, so using the board this way worked out perfectly. Here's how we use it:

Attendance and question of the day. Names are all on magnets and super easy to use. Any leftover names are my kiddos that are absent. No calling names and we get to learn a little about one another.

Behavior chart. Stars are also on magnets and kid-friendly.

I love these schedule cards from Mrs. Carroll over at The First Grade Parade. I have them on magnets so that they're easy to move around and times are easy to change. 

Class Jobs: numbers are on laminated construction paper and on magnets.

Our focus wall with labels from One Extra Degree. Those circle magnets are all from IKEA and they are AWESOME! I also use Mighty Minis from The Container Store that are wonderful and take up very little space.

My front wall. TaDa! It's a little busy, but it seems to work. And behind those boards and in the cabinets is all glorious storage! 

My favorite item on the entire board is that orange on the middle board. It is a Bloom's Taxonomy Helpful Verbs poster. I LOVE IT. It is really helpful when I write my objectives and need a quick Bloom's refresher. 

If you're wondering what my desk is like, you can head over here and check it out. Believe it or not, it stays like this! I am so proud of that fact.

Hope you enjoyed my little tour!





Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Check Out My Desk!

I love Clutter-Free Classroom! I love reading about all of the storage, organization and management ideas and I am slowly, but surely, attempting to revamp my classroom.  I am lucky that I am a newbie and I don't have a ton of stuff, but it is really easy to allow things to pile up (especially on my desk).  I started my recent organization kick with the realization that my desk drawer was not necessarily as organized as I thought it was.  You can read about my obsession with office supplies here. Well, I have been busy for the last few days, and while I forgot to take a picture of the before, here is the after:


TADA!
Just ignore those charts living under my desk... they're next on the list!


Don't mind the folder on the left, that's my sub binder and folder for tomorrow. I'm attending a meeting for the county Curriculum Leadership Council (sounds important, huh?). We are unpacking the Common Core State Standards and looking at grade level progressions.  I actually really enjoy these meetings.  More on that tomorrow!


I even cleaned off my one-on-one workspace.  Aren't you impressed?

I must say that my motivation was two-fold.  It definitely helped that I have a sub coming in tomorrow and I want to make sure that they are as comfortable and things go as smoothly as possible.

Happy Wednesday!

~dani~




Tuesday, January 24, 2012

My Name is Dani & I Am An Office-Supply-A-Holic

So I was doing some reading over at Clutter-Free Classroom about keeping a clean desk and I am waaaaay off!!  Here is the top drawer of my desk.
Yes, there are trays and rubberbands of similar writing instruments, and the ones that are in current rotation are all in one place (in the small tray on the right). But I have come to the realization that I have a problem.  I. AM. ADDICTED.  I love office supplies.  And today I realized that I have been hoarding pens and pencils like a crazy person.  So much so that my drawer looks like that. But I thought I was organized...

My major missteps (according to Clutter-Free Classroom) are as follows:

  • Stop using Post-It Notes.  Instead keep one notebook designated for reminders and to do lists.  (See that collection of them?  Right by the gum? Yeah, there are a bunch! And you should see the top of my desk!)
  • Schedule times to clean your desk.  Make this a routine. (I'm pretty good at this, but I could do a lot better. I'm thinking when my kids clean up. What a concept?)
  • Stick to one pen (!!!!!!). Pick a brand and color that you like and use it exclusively. Only keep 2-3 on hand at a time. (HOLY COW! Can you imagine how much space I could have in that drawer up there?)
I am totally revamping my desk tomorrow.  My next dilemma... what am I going to do with all of that extra space?

~dani~