Getting Ready

I have been busy cleaning and setting up my room the last few weeks.  We had two official teacher workshop days last week, but I had to go to Eagan on one of those days to attend a funeral.  Fortunately I have a student teacher this fall, and she took care of a lot of the little projects that needed to be done.  I still ended up going to school on Sunday and was surprised to see four other teachers there.  Hill City sure has a dedicated staff!

Anyway, here is a little tour of my 5th grade classroom.

 This is "Grandma's Chair."  My grandmother gave me that chair 28 years ago and it is a favorite place for kids to sit and read.  My mother made the insect quilt hanging above it.  The rack behind the chair contains all the extra credit opportunities the students can do if they want. Extra credit is a part of our classroom economy - students earn Magner Dollars for doing extra credit.  These dollars can be spent in our classroom store that I call "MagnerMart."

 This is our Help Wanted board.  The students can apply for one of nine jobs each month.  The jobs include Maintenance Manager, Zookeeper, File Clerk, Technology Assistant, Counselor, Mail Carrier, Milk/Lunch Money Clerk, and Librarian.  They are paid in "Magner Dollars" which is also a part of our classroom economy.

 5th graders don't usually read a lot of picture books, but I use them a lot in my reading and writing mini-lessons.

 Our classroom library contains well over 1000 books.  Most of them I have purchased at garage sales and with Scholastic Book Club bonus points.  Each summer I have to go through and get rid of some of the older books to make room for all the new ones I have purchased.  It's funny how kids can tell if a book is "out of style" just based on the cover.  We also have six shelves of non-fiction on the other side of the room.

This is where I display all the cool science artifacts the kids bring in. Last week I threw away a whole pail of beehives, nests, cool leaves, dried up mushrooms and other items that have been on this bulletin board for awhile.  I have to make room for all the new things that will be brought in this year.

Our information bulletin board is new this year.  I knew it was time to change it when I got a comment from a former student that he remembered that bulletin board from when he was a 5th grader - and he is currently 28 years old!  I cover all my boards in fabric, so they will last for years and years.  This board has the lunch menu, the birthday list, schedules, calendars and a place for no-name papers, plus comics and quotes that make me smile.

 Another new feature of my classroom are these boxes.  I used to have kids hand in their work to a crate and then I would have to sort through everything to try to get it in order.  Hopefully these drawers will work better.  I also had fun with my turquoise spray paint this summer.  My pencil pails and marker caddy got a new coat of shiny paint.

 This is my teacher area.  I found a desk for my student teacher, so we have a nice place to sit and collaborate after school.

 The students use this area to sign up for milk and it has our sign out board.  When a student leaves the room, he/she places a student number stick in the appropriate pocket on the quilted wall hanging.

Here is the classroom all neat and tidy and ready to go.  It even smells clean!  It won't be long until it loses that nice "fresh as a daisy"atmosphere, but that's okay.  The kids are the reason we are here!