Ready for a New School Year

It's Back to School time and I spent a few days preparing the classroom. 

I can't believe that the Summer of 2021 is coming to an end and the students will be back in school on September 1st.  The past few days have been hectic and productive.  I have set up the classroom pretty much the way I like, however there is still some tweaking to do.  

The following pictures are the before.  The room was left back in June, somewhat in order,  and when I returned in August, I knew I had a lot to organize and straighten out. 

I first started by arranging the furniture and shelves.  I put things where I thought I wanted them and by the end of the week, had the tables and chairs, bookselves and classroom library where I wanted them.

I also did a lot of purging with materials I had on the shelves and in the closets.

I ended bringing up taking a lot of things that I had worked on at home. I carried lots of boxes nd bags of things I had made during the month of July.  Once those were in I began to sort them out and see what needed to be worked on first.  I began with my desk area then quickly went onto the classroom library and all my picture books.

I took books off shelves and put them into bins.  I changed the classroom library a few times until I thought it looked right.  I am happy with the way it turned out.

Onto the student information center.  This is a new this year.  This will be the area where the children will check in, order their lunches and turn in their work.  I love my new board that I created.  Here the students will find notices and  read about any upcoming events.

This year I also created an affirmation station and we will incorporate social emotional learning into our lessons.  After an unprecedented year, the children need a space to feel safe, loved and welcomed.  I am excited to build relationships with my students and read to them daily.

The following pictures are the final reveal of the classroom.  I am satisfyed with how it all turned out and cannot wait for my students to see it.  Here's to the 2020/2022 school year.

 I hope you enjoyed the classroom tour.  

Getting Ready for a New School Year

The summer has been a relaxing and productive one.  I have enjoyed time with family and friends, gone to my happy place (the beach) a few times and read some great books.  As we finish up our first week of August, I want to share some of the little projects I have been working on and prepping for the new school year.

The first thing I did was listen to a 10 day workshop about Boosting Comprehension.  I learned many new strategies and activities to do with the children and this inspired me to revamp my whole classroom library.

I went out and grabbed all new bins so that I can reorganize the books by genre.  I am also working on getting more diverse books for the class.  I am bringing back, book a day, because last year, it was put on hold.  

My living room has tons of boxes ready to be brought to school.

The classroom set up will be in another blog.

Once I went out and got the bins, I started printing a lot of labels and signs for the classroom.

This lead me to choose a cactus theme for my classroom.  There were many trips to the Dollar Tree, Walmart, and Target.  The next images are some of the decor that will be added in the room.

I am excited to bring in these latest additions.  I have writers and readers notebooks set up, my furniture will be rearranged and an affirmation and cooling down station are part of the new lay out.

Many of you may be thinking that I did not rest and recharge this summer, but I did.  I set up my zen area in my backyard, I enjoyed the flowers around my house and got off of the normal school routine.  These added things were part of my days, especially the rainy ones when I couldn't get to the beach.  I am also going to be going to Disney in a few days so, I will be still enjoying the days of summer.  

Once I returned from our trip, I will be heading into the classroom and setting up.  Stay tuned.