But, Everything is Blank!

After almost 11 hours working in my room today, I still cannot say that I am done! But...I made a TON of progress!! Let's see...all I have left to do is label EVERYTHING, make objective signs, make my daily schedule cards, get all of my binders ready, work on take-home packs, get apps on my iPads... Is that it? Oh...nope! Also need that tiny little thing called LESSON PLANS!! I know I will get it all done. I always do! I just don't think there is a lot of sleep in my future the next two weeks!!

Anyway...I am really happy with how my room is coming together. I took some pics from each corner of my room to try and give you the overall feel. Now, keep in mind, this is still a work in progress!

I also took some closer pics of my displays. You will notice that they are all blank! There IS a reason for this! And, it's not that I am not finished yet! My displays are all done...well, at least until my kiddos show up! Every tiny little thing that goes on my walls is kid-generated in some form or fashion. If they don't have a hand in making it, I don't put it up! Why do I do this? Well, there are several reasons. First, they will be a lot more inclined to actually use the displays if it is their work! They are invested in it, they have ownership in it, and they actually like to refer to it because it is their own work. Store-bought posters or even cutesy teacher-made posters look great, but I want my walls to be used by my kiddos more that I want them to be cutesy! Second, their work is absolutely precious, and I actually like it better than store-bought or teacher-made stuff! Third, I don't want them to feel like it is MY classroom. I want them to feel like it is OUR classroom. It is just as much theirs as it is mine. If I have every inch of the room decorated before they ever hit the door, it is 100% mine, and that's not what I want it to be. Now that I've said all that, here they are!

This is my ABC line. Ideally, it would be in one straight line, but I just don't have the space to do that unless I put it all the way at the top of the wall. And, that is WAY too high for prekinders to be able to see. Here is a closer shot of it.

I use the same key words for each letter that we have on our ABC anchor chart. I have the letter and word on each sign, and my 4's will supply the illustrations for each letter over the first few weeks of school.

I know the words are really hard to see, but this will be my number line. There is a background paper for each number from 1-10. My 4's will be supplying the pictures for these as well. Once they are done, I will be adding the numerals and number words to each sign. Here is a closer pic of the words.

These will be my shapes posters. My 3's will be the illustrators for these! Once their part is done, I will be adding the shape words to each one.

And, finally, these will be my color posters. My 3's will be doing the work on these, too. I will add the color words once the artwork is done!


I can't wait to show you the finished products once school has started and we get them done! They always turn out super cute!

Classroom DIY

So...I've been working like crazy in my room again! In fact, tonight when I was leaving school at about 7:00 (I know, I know!!) the alarm keypad was messed up, and I couldn't arm the alarm. I tried to call my principal, but he didn't answer. I texted him and waited...and waited...and waited. He finally answered me, and told me what to do, so I actually got to leave!

I am on a mission this year to spend as little $$$ as possible on my classroom. So, in an attempt to work with what I have, I did a couple makeovers to two of my shelving units. One was easy! One wasn't that difficult, but took me a couple days. Here is what I did:

This is the back of my ABC shelf. Before, it was nasty dirty! You could tell there had been two different signs of some kind attached to it with rubber cement, and the residue would NOT come off. There were also lots of pencil and marker marks on it. It just looked old and tired. I really wasn't going to do anything about it until I found 4 bottled of red acrylic paint in one of my cabinets! So, I started painting! It only took 4 coats to cover everything!! But, the result is well worth it! It doesn't look so nasty anymore, and it added a nice splash of color to my room!

This is the one that wasn't really that difficult, but took some time. This is the back of my play kitchen. I wanted it to be my board for our beginning circle time, but I couldn't attach anything to (at least not easily) as it was. So...my DIY creativity (with some input form my mom) went to work! I got some foam board from Dollar Tree (4 pieces at $1 each). I used spray adhesive to cover the entire surface with the foam board. It was kind of like putting a puzzle together! I had to cut several pieces to fill in the entire space. Once I was done with the foam board, I let the adhesive dry overnight. Then, I used the spray adhesive again to attach cork to the foam. The cork was $14.99 per roll at Hobby Lobby, but I used a 40% off coupon to make it only $9! Now I have a bulletin board on the back of my kitchen! I'm still going to cover it like you would any bulletin board. I mean, who just wants a huge thing of cork board showing?? Not me!! So, the real "after" pics will be coming in a later post once I get my board set up!


Now for my favorite project of the day! I made my center signs that will hang from the ceiling over each center. I was at Michael's yesterday, and they had scrapbook paper on sale 6/$1. Plus, they give teachers a 15% discount! So, I really got my hoard of cute paper for only 14 cents each! That means I made all 8 of these signs for only $2.97!!!!

I am pretty darn happy with how they turned out! I can't wait to get them laminated and hung!!

So...all three of these projects were brought to you for only $16!!! Can you believe it?? And, what a difference that $16 has made! I am super excited about how my room is coming together! But...I'm not gonna lie...I'm ready to be posting about what I'm doing IN my classroom, not what I'm doing TO my classroom! 19 days and counting!!!

Setting Up the Room Part 2

Well...another 8 hours in my new classroom today, and I am still not done organizing and putting everything away! But...I am MUCH closer! I got to go through a ton of stuff, put away a ton of stuff, and throw away a ton of stuff! Part of the problem with my room is that I am the 4th teacher in 4 years to be in there. Four years ago, a teacher retired after MANY years teaching pre-k in that room. Then, we had a teacher who was there for one year, but became our instructional facilitator after that. Last year, we had a first-year teacher, who happens to be a dear friend of mine. I love her to pieces, put I told her today that her bags of random crap are making me crazy! Haha Today I had to go through several of them. When one baggie has teddy bear counters, pattern blocks, two-sided counters, Unifix cubes, AND attribute blocks...that is NOT ok!! I think it's safe to say I'm a little OCD when it comes to my classroom, and I just can't put things away without them being sorted and organized like they are supposed to be. So, this process may be taking me a bit longer than it takes the average person, but I know it will be worth it in the long run!

I did take some more pictures of my room. And, this time I actually remembered to take pictures of my WHOLE room, so you'll get to see the group area, too! It looks much better to me. So, even if it doesn't look any different to you, PLEASE don't tell me that! I've been working my but off in there and I can definitely tell a difference!

This is my technology center. Obviously, in the middle I have my student computers. On the left, I have my Leap Pads and iPads. On the right I have the listening part of the center with my audiobooks.

This is what will be part of my reading center. I brought in two whit bookshelves to help border this center. The red tub to the left of the bookshelves holds all of my puppets, and directly behind that is a flannel board for retelling. The wooden case to the right of the puppets will hold big books and song/poetry cards.

This will be my ABC center (minus the junk on the table, of course). I have a large, magnetic white board that I am still looking to mount as a part of this center, but I haven't quite figured out where to put it yet.

This will be my writing center (again, minus the crap on the table, of course). The stuffed animals will not be there permanently. They will become a part of the reading center, some way, somehow. But, the shelf and the table are there to stay!

This will be my block center. (Except, the stuff on top of the shelf will not stay there). The doll house to the left of the block shelf is a part of this center, and the back of the shelf to the right will serve a purpose as well. It is made of pegboard. So, I plan on using it to hang word rings related to building and construction, as well as books that are related.

This will be my art center. The tubs and shelf to the right of the easel will hold a variety of art supplies that they can use to make their amazing creations! The counter will serve as their workspace unless they are painting at the easel. There is also a smaller easel on the counter that they can use. The sand/water table is actually part of the math and science center, which is just to the right of the edge of this pucture.

This will be my dramatic play center. We will start out the year with the kitchen set, but it will undergo many changes as we go through the year!

And finally, this is the back of my group area. I know, I know, it's not very exciting right now. But...it will be! The book shelf will hold our thematic books, and I have a plan for the wall that I will show you later! On the left you can just barely see my teacher area. And, that's the way I like it! I actually got rid of the teacher desk that was in there. Now, I just have a small table with my computer, a small filing cabinet, and a small shelf area behind my table. 

This is the view of the front of my group area. On the right, you can see the back of the play kitchen. I'm going to turn this into a display...details coming soon! On the right side of the picture you can see my pocket chart, big book cabinet, chair, and easel. Under the easel I have a small shelf that holds everything I need when I'm doing whole-group lessons.

And...just because I want you to have a true appreciation for how much stuff was crammed into my room...

This is a snapshot of my trash from today! Can you believe it?? And, I had this much last week and in May! But, when you have two filing cabinets full of copies of worksheets that have copyright dates of 1986 (I am NOT exaggerating!!), it is necessary to fill the trash cans!!

So...even though I am not finished, I am definitely getting closer! I'm really hoping to be done in the next couple days with putting everything away. Then, I can start covering boards and getting displays ready. Although...I have a different approach to that as well, and I will be sharing that later when I get to it in my room. So, stay tuned!

Setting Up the Room, Part 1

So, I finally got into my new classroom this week and started working on getting it set up. This has not been what I would call easy at all. In fact, the first thing that comes to mind when I think about it is AAAAAHHHHH!!!!!! But...I'm slowly but surely getting a handle on it...I think...

To start with, there was summer school in my room this summer, and I wasn't the one teaching it. So, when last year was over, I had to make sure that everything was boxed up or locked in cabinets. There have been way too many cases of materials vanishing during summer school in previous years, and I made sure that did NOT happen in my room! So, the very first thing I did was pull everything out of the storage closet (aka the bathroom).

All the boxes went in the front corner...

...all the furniture in the back corner...

...and all the storage containers under the window. And, no...my kids did not spend their summer in the storage closet! But, I have had to drag them with me every day this week since both Daddy and big sister have been out of town! (Oh, and don't you just LOVE the beautiful curtains over the window?)

Now that I had everything pulled out, my progress stalled. But, it stalled for a good reason! I spent the next two hours just looking around the room. I sat in different parts of it, walked around, and just basically tried to visualize what I wanted the room to look like and how I wanted it to feel. I am VERY deliberate and calculated with everything I do in my room, so I really had to spend time just getting a feel for the room and mapping it out in my head.

Once I had a general picture in my head, I went to work! I wanted to start by getting all the furniture where it was going to go. This was still a little bit of trial and error, but actually went pretty smoothly. Well...except for the group area. I am a little extremely OCD about my classroom. Everything has to balance and fit together symmetrically or it drives me NUTS! And, symmetry is not easy to come by when your group rug is shaped like 1/4 of a circle. But, after about an hour of trying different rug arrangements, I finally got one I was happy with! (And, somehow, I didn't even get a picture of it! Sheesh!) Arranging everything else was easy peasy! And...at least, so far...I really like the way the room is taking shape!

The front corner will be home to the writing center and ABC center.

The back corner will be home to the art center, math and science center, and dramatic play center (which you can't really see). The block center will live right in front of the dramatic play center,

The other front corner will be home to the technology center (computers, iPads, Leap Pads, and listening), and reading center. The group area will also double as part of the reading center. I'll make sure I get pictures of the entire room next time!

OK...so I'm not even close to being done. But, I am headed back to work some more this morning. I am on a mission to have everything set up BEFORE we actually report back! So, I guess you could say I have already reported back! I'm pretty much going to be there everyday, but it will be SO worth it when I can have a calm and organized start to my year! Once my room starts actually looking like a classroom rather than a storage shed, I'll post more pictures so you can see what it's really going to look like! Maybe by this weekend???? I guess one can hope!