Drum Roll Please..........My Classroom!

     Here you go fellow educators and friends, pictures of my very first classroom. I spent A LOT of time cleaning, organizing, and preparing my room for the first day of school. It can be a daunting task, but I got it done! It can be stressful coming into a room that someone else used and trying to make it yours. What do you keep? What do you throw away? Should I just start fresh? The questions and decisions are limitless. I really wanted to make this classroom my own while still making it a positive and effective learning environment.

     First thing I did was go through EVERYTHING in my room. I wanted to know what I had, figure out what I would need and could use, and get rid of stuff that I didn't need. I gave some things to the other teachers. Then I needed to figure out how I wanted to set up my classroom and how I wanted it organized. This was harder than I thought it would be. It takes quite a bit of thought and consideration when deciding how to set up the flow and organization of your room.

     I was very lucky and got a fairly large room. My classroom isn't actually attached to the school. I'm in a portable unit just off the school (30 feet maybe) and I even have my own bathrooms. I am a self-contained classroom so I teach Mathematics, Language Arts, Science, American History, Health, and Physical Education. So not only did I have to figure out how to organize my room, I had to figure out how to incorporate every subject in my classroom. It was a challenge and it is still a work in progress.

Welcome to my Class!

This is what you see as soon as you walk through my door.

The shelves against the far wall hold the classroom library.

Back wall where the sink, water fountain, and bathrooms are.

Corner by the door. The shelf to the left is the supply center and the shelves in the corner are textbooks and teaching resources.

Different views of my room.

The view from my desk.

The front of my room.

My desk area!

I hang pictures, cards, and other things on the bulletin board behind my desk.

My "Cougars C.A.R.E." board.

Caring Acts

Achievement 

Responsibility

Enthusiasm

This is a school initiative to encourage great behavior and academics.

Teachers are always looking out for students that C.A.R.E. and when we see a student doing any of these things we give them a link that matches the color of the category and we hang the links in the room.

Every time a student gets a link they get to enter their name in a school-wide drawing for a prize at the end of the quarter. I also made a deal with my class, if they fill the length of a wall with links by the end of the quarter I will throw them a movie party. It's a really great initiative and we are trying to put a lot of emphasis on it.

     So those are the basics of my classroom. I am planning to do another post on my classroom organization, procedures, and expectations. My classroom has already changed from these original pictures and will continue to change. I will post updates on my room periodically throughout the year. Until next time!