I put in a full day preparing my classroom today so I’m finally happy to share pictures.
This is the view from the back of the classroom. The gorgeous chalkboard drawing, unfortunately, is not my work. It was done by the teacher ahead of me but it’s so lovely that I just had to leave it up all summer. Just before I left school tonight I turned the shelf on the left so it rounds off the corner.
I like it this way, rather than flat up against the wall. We’ll see how I feel mid-year, though, after many astray juggling balls find their way back there. I’ve decided to make the two top shelves of that bookcase full of materials that pertain to the current block. I’ve never really been one to fill the room with lots of materials and resources for the children to peruse, but I think I’m going to give it a try this year. Right now I’ve got a few books and lots of examples of rocks up there.
I’ve put a spare desk under the front chalkboard, partly with the hope that a get another student, partly to hold handouts and other materials that I’ll use during my lessons.
In this picture you can see the students handwork bags on the left, shelf with reading materials and dictionaries and then another shelf with lots of supplies. All of these shelves sit under those two windows that look out into the hallway. Those windows are waiting for curtains that I still need to sew and hang. I decided to make white curtains to brighten both the room and the hallway a little bit. The bulletin board will hold the students’ paintings and the rack on the shelf will hold a large dictionary.
I’m afraid many of my plants didn’t fare too well over the summer, a fact that I feel horribly guilty about. The two in this photo are actually the best of the bunch. I’m hoping that a little TLC and repotting will bring them back to life.
Here is my favorite part of my room, and lucky for me, it is right next to my desk. I love having a bookshelf right behind my desk that holds all of my curriculum prep materials. That shelf is a good way for me to keep those books to myself, away from the eyes of my students. I love that my desk and the shelf is right by the window.
There are a couple of things I still need to do here, as well. First, I really want to paint my desk. I love that my desk is a bit on the small side, but I’ve always hated the faux wood, yellowish paint. I’d like to paint the whole thing a pale blue and then paint a geometric drawing on the front. We’ll see if I get around to it.
The other thing that I still need to do is create a way to post our schedule of the day. Last year I had a small chalkboard on the wall right next to the clock. I wrote the times and names of our classes and several students remarked that it helped them get better at reading a clock. I’d like to continue with something similar this year.
This photo is taken from the door that leads out to the outside deck. It probably gives the best perspective of the whole room.
I love this shelf. Last year it was somewhat underused because I kept games and puzzles on it. My students just don’t tend to use those things anymore. This year I’ve decided to fill it with supplies. They’ll keep their binders on it and other class supplies — rulers, ink cartridges, scissors, spare pencils, hole punch, glue sticks, pencil sharpeners — will go there, too.
In this picture you can see the sweet little square window in the room and the mostly dead tree that sits under it. Will this one come back to life with a good repotting? I’m not so sure.
So that’s my room for now. I forgot to take pictures of the back half, but it is full of cubbies and shelves that use the space really well. I’ll post a picture one of these days.
I feel so much better having most of this work done. Now I feel like I can really imagine teaching the curriculum in the room. I can’t wait to put up a new chalkboard drawing, create nametags and finally see my students!
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