Classroom Reveal - Finally!

If you follow me on Instagram, you saw my sneak peek what seems like forever ago and if you're not following me, you should. Last year I was hired the day before school started, so my room was a constant work in progress - and totally empty on day 1!  This year, I was so excited to have time to get into the classroom early and have things ready on the first day. Obviously, my list of things I still want to do in there is always being added to, but I think it looks great for the first day of school. So, here it is!

This is my room from the door. All ready for the kids to walk in on the first day!

These are my classroom rules written on small chalk boards. I just used chalk markers to write the rules on them. I got the idea from Kinder Craze but couldn't find frames I liked enough, so I decided on these chalk boards from Hobby Lobby. I based the rules off of the broad rules I had before, but got some advice on wording them from Life in Fifth Grade. 

I based my door off of this idea on Pinterest, but I couldn't find the original creator to credit. It just linked to a Buzzfeed article.

This year I decided to cover my ugly black desk (and a heater on the other side of the room) with wrapping paper. I'm not sure these two colors will be permanent, but they look much better than before. Of course, I have my teacher toolbox, and lots of books and files. I am also excited about my Target find of the black file hanger on that back wall. The Mind Boggling board is going to be an interactive bulletin board that I got from The Teacher Studio. I am excited to use it for my early finishers during math.

I am SUPER excited about my "Focus" wall around the clock. I saw it on Pinterest a couple years ago, but again couldn't find who to credit for it. How perfect is it, though? That is where my clock already was - can you believe it?! Almost perfectly centered over the white board. I just used cardboard letters from Hobby Lobby and painted each one the main colors of my room. Below I have my spelling stations and reading task cards. I still need two more owl containers so they all match. The reading task cards were my summer project. I always need more ways to reinforce topics - especially during center time. I loved the idea for simple storage when I saw a picture on Pinterest. It was in this post from Life in First Grade. At the end of the year during a sale on TpT, I got the English Language Arts Task Card Bundle and the Reading Skills Task Cards to add to the containers, so hopefully I will have plenty of choices this year! 

Also, must have the learning goals posted. I got this bulletin board and my homework board from 4th Grade Frolics. The crates have our Rocket Math copies and the bin has math journals. This year I copied the journals with the problem of the week problems rather than using one of their notebooks. 

I thought this was a cool bulletin board the first time I saw it reading the Life in First Grade blog, but it was SOOOO useful last year with my students. You can find it here. The letters that say "good readers use" and "reading" on the bulletin board by my library below were from Just A Primary Girl. 

I also broke down and bought book boxes from Really Good Stuff.  I labeled them with labels from here.

I am lucky enough to have built in mailboxes. You may be able to tell that I used to have an owl theme that carried over from my preschool classroom, but I tried to tie them in here and there where I could, still.

 This is my favorite corner of my room! The library! I just love how colorful and bright it is. The "READ" letters were a nightmare, though. I mod-podged scrapbook paper onto them, and had to file down the edges to really get it to stick and it just took forever. I love how they turned out, though. I have my books organized by series in the blue bins on the left picture, the green bins on the black shelf are ones that do not have a reading level from Scholastic, and the picture on the right is the books by reading level. We use Scholastic Reading Counts, so I am working on putting a sticker on all of the books that are Reading Counts books. I am switching over to BookSource to catalog and check out books. It is taking forever to get them all scanned, but will be so nice once they are in.

Last but not least, the crate stools that I have seen all over the blogging world! I was unsure how sturdy they would be, but I love them! I just finished making them all today, but they will be in my classroom tomorrow. I really think I am going to love the storage and I think they will last nicely. I had some of the ottoman cubes from Target and WalMart in my room, but they only last a couple years before I have to haul them home to Hubs and Dad to have them add something to it to make it sturdier. I still have them in the room, but I added them to the library instead, so I think they will be a nice addition there and get used slightly less so they can last longer. 

Let me know what you think by commenting below! I'll add a post later with the organization I have worked on inside my large storage cabinets. I have become known at school now, especially by the custodial staff, as one who is always throwing a lot of stuff away. I just hate the clutter. As I have said before, constant organization. 

Thanks for checking it out! 

-Mrs. O'Connor