Classroom Set Up

I did it! I survived my first ever teacher in-service week. This week I spent time in meetings every day, got my classroom set up, and had Orientation (Meet the Teacher Night for some). I've been putting in some 12 hour days, but I really can't complain. I'm doing what I love. I did, however, promise myself to spend some time with my family this weekend and to get some packing done at the townhouse.

The children I met at the Orientation were great! I can't wait to start teaching them. I gave out homework that is due the first week of school, and many were excited to get home and start working on their "Getting to Know You" bags. Mine had a social studies twist, though, and some paperwork to fill out, but the students were still looking forward to it. I think this is a good sign!

School starts on Monday. Being a part time teacher, I don't start teaching until after noon. I plan to be there, though, when the first of the students start coming in. I want to help children find where they need to be and be a smiling face to welcome them to school. I would want that for my girls on the first day of school. I won't be going in that early every day, but it won't hurt for a day or two. Plus I'm just as anxious to get started as everyone else is. I would just drive myself crazy being at home.

To all of you teachers... Have a great first day of school!

My camera definitely doesn't like the lighting in the hallway. This is my classroom door. I've got social studies terms under the welcome sign. I did add my name above the flower.

Time line across the top of the wall that continues on the opposite wall. The left side is maps and the vocabulary bulletin board for 5th graders. The right side is the same type of material but different content for 6th graders.

My desk area. I brought a desk from home because I didn't care for the table they provided for me. I also wanted some comforts of familiarity. My classroom doesn't have storage in it, so I like this little corner "office" area. Bonus: I have a window!

This is the back wall, closest to the door. I brought my huge clock from home, which will be directly in front of me while I'm teaching. The book case is home of the class set of text books. I love that our school sends one home and keeps one in the classroom. No excuses that a student forgot to bring the textbook home!

I like traditional rows for my classroom layout. I tried it this way, but there wasn't a whole lot of room to move. I like to move around while I'm teaching, so I ditched this idea. I'll come back to this configuration if I have to, but I'm guessing we'll be okay after meeting the students.

I ended up with three long rows of desks with pairs facing each other. The idea is not that they will all be a group but that there will be two students who work together. If I need larger groups it will be easy to put that together as well. We'll start with this and see how it works. The desks I received are quite large, so my room suddenly isn't as big as I thought it was.

As of Thursday night I didn't have a white board, but they were supposed to be installed Friday while we were at CPR training. I'll see it this weekend when I go in for some finishing touches. We were each getting 16 foot white boards, so I'm really excited to see the end result of my classroom. This year is the first time it's being used, so I have very fresh paint and carpet. I love the colors they picked!