Beach Sand: classroom decor

Showing posts with label classroom decor. Show all posts

Well...things are finally settling down in my classroom. We are into our daily routine and curriculum is well under way. I was able to put together some photos of my classroom and the beautiful decor courtesy of Schoolgirl Style! I am just loving the calm colors and warm feel it gives the room. Let me walk you through room 851...

Bin and paint can labels make everything look coordinated.

(The stand holding the iPads is a teal chevron file stand from Office Depot. It is perfect for my 3 little iPads!)

I wanted to keep the Focus Wall and CAFE board neat and simple! (I've added standards since taking the picture.) Coniglio's Captains are my weekly helpers. I pick 3 students that help with everything. No more job board. The kids are really liking this and it's neat to watch how the three divide up tasks like line leader, door holder, lights, homework checker, etc. (Thanks to my BFF Denise over at Sunny Days for the idea.)

Room arrangement before...

After...

This is the view from the door. There is lots of natural light from the 4 big windows.

This is another view from the door. The room is not very big at all but it works for my 18 third graders. I changed to tables at the end of last year and so far so good!
(Spray painted rocker adds a pop of color.)

Teacher desk view! I haven't been able to give up my desk...I know lots of teachers have, but I like my personal space and my "things". The white metal pencil holders are from Office Depot and the teal bins are from Target. I'm much more color coordinated than I was last year!

Personal items.

Family photos are a MUST for me! The students like to see that we are "real" people. I do share my photos when I'm introducing myself to the class.

(Saw the Sharpie cookie jar idea on Pinterest. Had to do it!)

I think my most favorite new addition is my framed rules! I bought the collage frame at Walmart ($10) and created the rules using clipart from Educlips and Melonheadz. My goal was to create a cute simple display for the rules that wouldn't take up too much space. I only have 4 bulletin boards and I like to use those for student work.

Hope you enjoyed your tour of room 851!

Now on to a fun little giveaway from Mailbox Magazine. I was contacted this summer to take part in their #BeTheDifference movement. Of course, I did not hesitate to say YES!! I received this cute box filled with some goodies and ideas to start the year.

During our Drop-In Day, I had each student take a selfie with an iPad. I used those photos (and mine, too) to tape on to the beach ball. I started by picking a student closest to my right thumb on the ball and asking a question. I tossed the ball, they answered, and then did the same to the next student. They had fun coming up with questions and finding out about each other. Activities like these allow students to find out what they have in common with their classmates.

We can use this ball all year for a variety of quick assessments like math facts. I think they will love that!

Creating a classroom environment that makes your students feel warm and safe, promotes a sense of security and calm and invites learning. Your classroom space should be free of clutter and distractions. Don't let your room get too busy.

Being prepared for the day, keeping your classroom well-organized, and designing a room that is welcoming can #BeTheDifference in academics and behavior.

How can you #BeTheDifference this year? Go to Mailbox on Facebook and share your own photo and story. You will be entered into their amazing giveaway, too!!

You can also enter here for a chance to win a Gold Membership to Mailbox Magazine! (Watch this video to learn more about it.) I will be picking TEN (yes 10) winners at the end of the day on Saturday, August 30th. All you have to do is enter! No jumping through hoops for this one! Just enter! Good luck and #BeTheDifference!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

Oh my goodness!! I have a little over week left of summer vacation. How is this possible?? I feel like it was yesterday that I was making my summer TO DO list...now here it is the end and I feel like I have only accomplished a few things on my list. Ugh! Does this happen to you, too?

For this week's Wordless Wednesday with Sugar and Spice, I want to share one thing I DID accomplish on my list.

I have decided to give my classroom a makeover this year. I usually change things up often, but it seems like the last few years I have had the same set up and I'm bored with it. We spend so much time in our classrooms, I think it should be a space I love to be in.

The work of Schoolgirl Style was the inspiration for my change. I purchased this set and I LOVE the color scheme! She has other AMAZING sets, but this one just caught my eye!

To give new life to some of the things I already have I decided to use give them a coat of paint. Spray paint is an inexpensive way to give your classroom a makeover. I brought home my rocking chair at the end of the school year and decided I would give it a pop of color with a coat of lime green paint. I cleaned it up. Sanded it a little bit and sprayed away. It was so easy and quick to do...about an hour of work! For the finishing touch, I'm going to add a blue seat cushion...when I find it!

Instead of spending a ton of money on new baskets for my classroom library, I decided to give my few odd colored baskets a little spray paint makeover, too. Most of the baskets I already have are blue, so I think those will be fine with the color scheme. There were just a few out-of-place colors. I brought home this brown basket to use as my tester. I gave it a quick spray with the dark grey. I chose grey because I didn't want too many shades of blue on the shelf. I think this color will be a nice addition. I didn't do anything to prepare the basket. I just sprayed. The paint bonded well, but I'll let you know how it holds up during the year.
Have you ever painted plastic? Anything I should know before I spray the rest of them?

(I purchased the baskets at Target a couple years ago. I love them, but they don't seem to carry this exact style anymore. I'll make do with the ones I have.)

What is your theme or color scheme in your classroom? Have you done a recent makeover? Feel free to share your ideas in the comments! Thanks for stopping by!

Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

I'm linking up with Michelle at Fabulous in First for her linky...

I love that this is about being random...fits me to a tee! I try so hard to stay on task, but I'm the queen of multitasking. (My husband is the complete opposite...drives me nuts! LOL!) I have a list a mile long of things I want to accomplish this summer. When I sit down to do something on the list I get so distracted. It just feels like my creative juices aren't flowing enough. Hopefully, they'll start soon! Does that happen to you?

If you have visited me before then you will have noticed my blog updo! If this is your first time here, WELCOME!! I am in LOVE LOVE LOVE with this update. (Check out the mermaid tail post icon!! I think that is my favorite part!) Erika at Honey Bunch Blog Design was super patient with me. We must have emailed each other a thousand times. She was able to do just what I wanted...it was like she read my mind! I was looking to keep the feel of the blog the same, yet add some new elements. She did just that. Thanks, Erika!!

In the midst of the update, I added some new pages. One new page is the Linkys I {heart} tab. (I decided it should be L-i-n-k-y-s instead of -ies...does that seem right to you?) If you host a regular weekly/monthly linky party, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE link up. There are so many parties out there that seeing them on one page might help other bloggers, as well as myself, keep track and get organized with posts and maybe find some new ones to join.

I can't wait to get started on my classroom makeover this fall. I purchased this set from Schoolgirl Style. She creates the prettiest color combinations! I've been on the lookout for new classroom decor that matches this color scheme. I've read that you can spray paint plastic so I might venture into painting some of my crates and book baskets rather than purchasing new ones. Have you ever tried that?? If so, did it work well? I will be spray painting my white rocking chair very soon. I'll post pictures along the way. (this is on my TO DO list)

Have you seen this AWESOME giveaway over at Melonheadz?? The June Mystery box has THE BEST prizes!! You must head over and check it out! I am all entered and waiting to win!

That is my randomness for today. Enjoy your Sunday and the rest of the week!

Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

Hi all!

I'm linking up with The Teaching Tribune for

This week's 50% off products are two that are useful all year long!

ABC Order Seasonal Printables are just what your students need to practice those important alphabetizing skills. Last year I found that this skill was very weak for my kids. It wasn't until the late in the year that I feel they finally "got it"! I used the printables in this set for morning work and word work time and occasionally homework.

I think you will find these Door Hangers for the Classroom come in very handy for letting others know where you are when you're class is away from the room. My door holders were in charge of putting out the hanger to tell where we could be found. There are plenty in this set to choose from and if you don't find exactly what you need I'll create up to 5 just for you!

Check out these products today and download the previews for a closer look. These will be marked down until Wednesday evening! Happy shopping!

Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

It's Monday and we are back at school after a wonderful winter break. I'm sending warm thoughts to those of you in the freezing north, I hope you are staying warm. I feel guilty saying it, but I JUST turned my AC off and opened the windows. It was 82 here today, but the temperature is going to dip into the 40s tonight. There is a beautiful cool breeze now. (Personally, I think we should have a cold day tomorrow. LOL!) The cold doesn't last long here. We'll be back into the 70s by Wednesday. Happy! Happy! I don't like temps below 70. I certainly can not imagine -30! I'm sending warm thoughts from Florida.

Today I'm linking up with Tara at 4th Grade Frolics for Monday Made It.

I wanted to share these cute little paper baskets that I created. You could use these for gift boxes for students or parents. I like to use them at the holidays for sweet treats like M&Ms. At our winter party they held candy that we used as game pieces for bingo. Students could write on the inside of them, too. My students enjoyed making them and they are super easy to put together.

Print. Color. Depending on what you are doing with them you could laminate them.

Cut and fold in on the lines. Students can tape or glue the tabs to the inside. That's it!

VOILA! Done! Easy peasy!

The set includes 18 boxes which cover the four seasons and major holidays. I've included back to school, fall, Halloween, Thanksgiving, winter, Christmas, Hanukkah, spring, Easter, MLK Day, Presidents Day, Valentine's Day, beach theme, patriotic, New Year, Chinese New Years, and St. Patrick's Day. Download the preview for a freebie HERE at my TpT store.

Stop on by and see my friend Maria at Everyone deServes to Learn for a fantastic giveaway.

Thanks for stopping by and stay warm!!

Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

My first week of school is OVER! Made it through getting to know my kids. Beginning of the year assessments. AND OPEN HOUSE! Yes! We did have it already...the third day of school. I'm actually happy it's over and done. I have to say my 18 little kiddies are quite cute. I have a couple I have to work with on calling out and following basic procedures, but it won't take long...I hope!

I'm so happy to be linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for the fabulous...

I created some classroom decor for my classroom. (I wrote another post about it here.) I decided to display it in a pocket chart. I'm not sure I'm happy with this way yet. It's different from the way I've displayed the agenda in the past. I'm am moving to an integrated unit approach this year. I did this years ago, but it has been difficult to teach this way due to ability grouping for reading and math the past few years. We've had to switch classes and that just doesn't lend itself to integrating the curriculum. On my agenda board you can see that I have a clock next to Literacy Block. We will start this block at 8:15. I didn't put clocks on the other subjects because they are all included in this block. My plan is to bring in more science and social studies into the reading block and hopefully create a seamless day. I don't want a chopped up schedule! I also plan on including more writing mini lessons into this time. I use the Daily 5 approach which I think is going to work great this year with integration. I have a straight 2.5 hour block of time to work with, so I'm very excited. I'm moving math to the afternoon from 1-2. I love my schedule. Just hopes it works out as well in real life as it does on paper!

Click HERE to see this set on TpT.

Another part of my beach theme decor products includes this behavior clip chart and reading goal clip chart. We use Accelerated Reader as a goal setting tool. I like the kids to see how they are doing by tracking their goals at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%. I use AR, but I do not focus on their books being only AR books! A mom at Open House asked, "How many AR books do they have to read?" I told her I don't call books "AR books". There are no AR books, they are just books! I want kids to read because they love it, not because it's for AR points! The students help me set their goals and I check in often with them on how they are doing. I think the goal setting aspect just helps them to stay on track.

Click HERE and HERE to see these two sets.

ANOTHER part of my beachy decor is this Classroom Helpers set. This board is near my desk, so I also keep some teacher stuff on it as you can see. The kids decorated surfboards and I use those inside the pockets. It really came out cute.

Click HERE to see this set.

I had these on the kids desk on Monday morning, the first day. They were so appreciative and really loved their little treat.

This is my favorite new addition to my room. It's an Exit Slip chart! I created this 4 ft x 3 ft vinyl banner on Vistaprint and I just love it! It came out so cute!! I ordered one for my sister and my teammate, too. I plan on having the kids use Post-its to write comments, questions, wonderings, new learning, etc. They will stick the Post-it on their number which will be an easy way to see who has completed one and who has not. I'm not sure if I will give them a sentence starter or stem to complete or let them choose what they want to write each day. I would love to hear how you might use something like this in your room. Do you require a slip everyday or just a few times per week? I think the kids will be ready to try this out next week. I attached it to the door with heavy duty Velcro.

So that is a quick glimpse into my room. I have more pictures from the week and much more to share. My teammate and I have come up with a cool new homework idea for reading and I will be sharing that real soon!
Enjoy your weekend!!