Preparing my room....

Hey folks!

Well, today is the first time in several days I don't focus on my class.  I've either been planning here at home or working in my classroom getting it physically ready.  I have to change my frame of mind from middle school language arts to 3rd grade and teaching all subjects.  Not that I didn't have science, social studies, or math in mind from time to time when I was teaching middle school language arts, but I will now be teaching all of those subjects, and I need to start thinking that way.

My classroom was used as a storage/spare room last year, so there's a collection of a variety of things in there.  So you can imagine that it was quite bland and empty when I took out what I didn't need.

There were a lot of things on the shelf that I didn't need....

I was dealing with a blank slate...

There's a lot of sun that shines through those windows...

 

It was almost overwhelming.

 I've been working off and on for a few days, now that the floor is accessible.  Of course, I've made some progress, but there's still a lot of work to do.  School starts in less than 2 weeks and there's lots to do!!

I plan on using the Responsive Classroom approach, and the place I want to use for my morning meeting is here....

Granted it doesn't look like much of a spot right now, but trust me, it looks much better now.  I've purchased an area rug that I'll place there, there are a couple of bookshelves in the far right corner, blocking the back of the computer table that's now there.  My easel for the morning messages will be placed on that corner too.


Another thing I need to plan is where my centers will be.  My room looks much better now that I've done some work, but I haven't taken pictures yet.  I'll share them in my next post.  I think you'll see a pleasant difference.

Well, I began this post saying that I wasn't focusing on my classroom, but apparently that's all I've been doing.  Go figure!  Oh well, teaching is a large part of my life, so I should be more surprised if I don't think about my class, students, or the lessons I'm planning.  When that time comes, then it's probably time to consider another career. 

Guess I'll make myself a cup of coffee before we eat lunch and I head back to my class.  It's taking everything for me not to go right now.  I have to limit myself or I will literally spend the whole day there.  I have my rug to place, and I've prepared some bulletin board items to laminate and put up for my reading strategy board.  Things are coming together....