A Walk Around The Classroom {classroom tour linky}

As we are nearing the beginning of school I know everyone is busy busy putting their rooms together! So I thought it might be fun to do "A Walk Around The Classroom" classroom tour linky. This way, you can look at lots of classrooms in case you are still needing some inspiration for certain parts of your classroom!

If you link up, make sure to include the linky graphic and link back to my page. Don't forget your linky etiquette, make sure to comment on the two before you and one after you! :) Everyone loves some comment love!

Without further ado, welcome to my classroom! Enjoy looking around and seeing how my classroom works!

This is the view into my classroom from the door.

Once you walk in and look to the left you will find our math manipulatives and also our pocket chart for reading and math centers.

Here is an up close look at our reading centers rotation chart.

Here is an up close look at our math centers rotation.

These folders are found behind the door. This is where my students turn in their work.

Here is my calendar area that is on the wall where the door is.

 If you keep moving to the left you will find my desk area and my small group area! My bookshelf holds all of my binders with all of my instructional documentation (guided reading, running records, writing conferences, math small groups, first steps)

If we keep moving to the left you will find my anchor chart wall. This wall is empty at the beginning of the year, but is quickly filled up as we dive into the school year.

In the picture of above, you can see our classroom library in the left corner. Here is an up close look at our library. My books are sorted by genre. They each have a sticker on them. The sticker on the bucket is the same. So if the book has an orange sticker with a 1 on it, the students find the bucket with an orange sticker with a 1 on it. Best way to organize!

 As we keep moving to the left you will see the overflow of anchor charts on the window and also my students listening center area. I have 2 listening areas with multiple headphones so students don't have to listen to the same book as their centers partner.

 Here is a close up of the listening area. It is organized just like the library. The books and buckets have colored stickers to help students put them back in the right bucket.

 As we move to the left you will find my students writing center. They love pulling the bench up to the table and they will write and write!

 This is where my students keep their extra supplies. They each have their own baggie with their name on it. If they run out of glue or crayons, they can go grab their extras. This is where the white boards are housed as well and textbooks too!

 Our computer area includes 3 mac books. Our district is very blessed with great technology!

These are our math tubs that we use during math centers. These math tubs include lots of different games that they students have learned how to play either in whole group lesson or small group with me. 

And that's it! You have seen all the way around the classroom! I hope you enjoyed the tour and let me know if you have any questions about how I put my classroom together!

I want to be the line leader!! {classroom jobs}

If you have ever had a classroom without classroom jobs I'm sure you heard the phrase "I want to be line leader" or "I want to be last in line" or "I want to turn off the lights"

Oh goodness!

I don't even know how I could have a functioning classroom without classroom jobs, especially in 1st grade! By the end of the year my kids know the jobs so well and it just works like a well oiled machine!

For me, I rotate my classroom jobs every week. I only had 10 jobs so the kids got a job every other week. I've also seen it done where each kid has a job every week.

I had 20 kids this year, but even when I had more than that I still only had 10 jobs. So sometimes they wouldn't have for 2 weeks and of course they would complain, which I would respond with "you get what you get and you don't throw a fit!"

Yep. That's my go to phrase with complaining :) My kids love saying it to each other too!

So now the question is "how should you display the jobs?" Here are some great ways to display them. Click on the picture to be taken to the original post.

 Hope over at Second Grade Shenanigans attached hers to a ribbon and then you can use clothespins with the students numbers on them to show who has what job.

 Erica Bohrer did something alittle different. She used numbers and velcro. This allows them to be rotated easily.

Jessica Heeren did something that I do in my classroom. She attaches the jobs to decorated library pockets and then write the students names on index cards and rotates them! 

You can also use popcicle sticks instead of index cards. Love this idea too! (can't find where the original post came from. let me know if it's yours so I can give proper credit!)

I hope you got some great ideas for how to display your classroom jobs. If you are still looking for a set of classroom jobs, check out my chevron or polka dot classroom job sets. They are 20% off for today only!

Good luck as you are getting your classrooms ready for your chillin's (that's children in Texan). They are the luckiest students to have you as teachers!

Back to School... no not yet!!

Hello my wonderful friends! Can you believe how quick the summer is going? I know, I won't even talk about it.

I am sorry for my absence, but I've been at the river with my family for the weekend. And oh boy, did we have some fun! My mom's side of the family is about 25 people big so when we get together it's a blast! We range 4 generations too!

matching swim suits

my sister, Courtney, and I 

collage of the week

family picture!

intense game of rummikub. My favorite game ever!

it isn't a family vacay without a silly sister picture

Kyle and I with my cousin's little girl, Ella

loved the speed limit on the way home!

the pup was exhausted. slept like this the whole way home

finally home in Dallas

It was a 7 hour drive back and forth to the Frio River, so while the hubs drove, I of course had lots of time to work on some goodies! Check out some fun centers for your kiddos for the first few weeks of school!

They include some great intro literacy and math centers that I know your kids will love!

Make sure you are a Facebook fan, because I will be giving away a copy in the morning! Head over to my Facebook page to make sure you are a follower! Good luck!

Throwback Thursday

I know I know, I'm a day late, BUT I still must link up because this is one of my favorite link ups! Cara's Throwback Thursday.

This post is from May when I talked about my reader's workshop and what it looks like! Enjoy!

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Original post is from May 4, 2013

I have decided to do a post on how I do reader's workshop in my classroom. I hope this helps anyone who is struggling with the "ins and outs" of reader's workshop. Whether you are a new teacher or not! Sometimes you just need a change!

My reader's workshop starts at 9:20. We start with our mini lesson. It normally lasts about 15-20 minutes or alittle more if the kids are really into it! :)

So this week we focused on main idea and did my pocket chart mini lesson to introduce main idea on Monday.

After the mini lesson, the students will have "read to self" time for about 10 minutes. This is when I meet with my lowest group. It's quite and the best time to work with him.

At 10:00am it's time to start centers. I continue working with guided reading groups during that time.

Here is how my students know where to go for centers time. Let me explain. 

Here are how my centers work! Some are self explanatory like read to self and buddy reading, but here are pictures of the rest of them.

 Writing Center- students have tons of choices to do during their writing center. poems, stories, lists, etc.

 Listening center- tons of books to choose from! They have a recording sheet to fill out after listening to the book they choose.

 Computer centers- my students love them some abcYA.com. the best website ever!

 classroom library- where they trade out book to put in their book box for read to self.

word work center- this isn't the best picture, but the word work center is to the right in the book shelf but the chairs. I promise to take a better picture soon! Here they have magnetic letters, playdoh, stamps, magic boards, and white boards to practice their spelling words for the week.

I hope this post is helpful for those who are putting their reader's workshop together! If you have any questions please comment or email me at flyinghighinfirstgrade@gmail.com.
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Make sure you go check out all the fun throwback posts over on Cara's blog!