Classroom Tour 2017

So this year I am in a classroom that was built in the late 1960's. It is very hard to make an old room look good but I have tried my best! Today I am going to take you on a tour of my classroom- cupboards and all!

My classroom is in a cluster of three classrooms which are divided by concertina dividers. I don't technically have a front door, I just have an entry way. My classroom also has some unusual features which I will show you as we go through. The upside to my room is that it is the biggest in the whole school and has stacks of storage. 

So let me first show you a quick overview of the room.

So here we are look back on the entry. Yes, the gap between the cupboard and the bulletin board is my entry way..... I have a welcome sign hanging above the entry which says goodbye on the back.
Get it here: Welcome Banner and Class Rules 

This bookshelf has all my maths resources on it. They all belong to the school. 

 To the right of that is my storage cupboard. I have mostly filled it with things left in the room by previous teachers (I've thrown out a lot but you have to be careful you don't get rid of anything someones going to come looking for or the next teacher may actually use). Other than that I store all the recyclables students bring in for making things.

This is what I call 'the front' of my room as it has my main whiteboard.

At the top of the whiteboard are our classroom rules. The students I and I 'crafted' them together. I find students come after with pretty much the same rules year after year so I reuse these posters.
You can find them here: Classroom Rules

Next to my whiteboard is my weekly timetable. I love having this on display for the students, parents and I to refer to. We change particular items if needed each week but generally every week is the same.

You can get my timetable here: Weekly Timetable

The blackboard section flips open and on the inside I have my Reading Group Timetable. They are just laminated pieces of paper that I write on with whiteboard marker so I can change them easily when ever needed.

Next to that I have a sink. I LOVE having a sink in my room. So handy!

Above it I have my Vocabulary Word of the Day display. 

Get this display here: Vocabulary Display

I think this is a staple in just about every teacher's classroom. I use mine to store the photocopies and other smaller resources for lesson. Each drawer lines up with a subject on my timetable. I prefer these draws as I sometimes copy a whole terms work for a particular subject in advance and this gives me room to store it all. It's also easier for relief teachers to find things. On top of this I have my planning file filled with my weekly time tables. In the container are the WTW set for that week.

This is my mat area. I can't seem to get the layout of this section right yet. I have a T.V. screen in the background that I use at least once a day to display things on as well as using the movable white board with the stationery whiteboard being to the left of this. I would like students to be able to view all three from their desk when needed but it is hard to to lay that all out.

On the bottom shelf of the whiteboard I keep the schools reward system. On the top shelf I have the big books for that week and any additional resources I need handy for that day that don't fit in the draws.

Photos never seem to do my chairs justice but my mum and I covered them over the Summer holidays and they look awesome!

Behind my whiteboard I have a rainbow bunting I made myself from card which I cut and laminated then hung on string. This is 3 years old now (4 if you count the year in storage) and it's not showing any sign of wear.

Beneath that is my Write any Number Display and pencils display the names of common Colours and the Days of the Week.

Under that I have my word wall. Each coloured poster has one of my Alphabet Posters that I printed in B4 size and stuck in the corner. Then I have written the words in whiteboard marker that students came up with. 

I have four different colours of student chairs in my room (not by choice). I decided to stack them in their colours for more than just the reason of it looking pretty. I decided it would prevent students having issues getting a chair each morning and automatically ensures chair stacks never get too high. It does mean some students cross the whole room to stack a chair but it hasn't caused any issues yet.

I then have my Birthday Balloons. I love that I can put these in any sized space and it will fit. Spread them out more to fill a bigger space or overlap them to fit a smaller space.

You can see they are on my far corner next to my chimney. Wait, what? I have a chimney in my class! Yep!

It's not used for anything anymore so I wrapped it up in some orange material that was left behind in the classroom. I have a Spelling Poster (FREEBIE) and a Vowels Poster next to that.

Unfortuantly I do not have good enough camera skills to do this view justice. This is the back of my classroom where I have sheer rainbow curtains. 

Beneath the rainbow curtains I have my home readers (conveniently supplied in rainbow tubs by the school) and beneath that is shelving containing various paper and books. 

To the right of that I have my student draws. They keep their scrapbooks, spare supplies and other miscellaneous items here. On top are the pencil tins that some students choose to use over pencil tins. Unfortunately pencil tins are popular with the other teachers and are therefore on our book list. I give students the choice of what to use so parents don't feel they decorated a tin for nothing. As the year progresses I eventually persuade them all to move to pencil cases.  Pencil tins have their upsides but I find them more of a nuisance. 

This year I choose to use my Pencil Labels to label items in my classroom including these trays. 

Off to the right back side of my classroom is a alcove which is lined with cupboards. I am lucky that the second last teacher to have this room painted a lot of the bulletin boards purple! Which just so happens to be my favourite colour! I eventually plan to put up my Text Type Displays as we cover each text type during the year.

As this alcove helps muffle noise a little, I keep the things my students can use during free time here. On top we have our art shirts. I also have a desk around their in case I ever need a student to work in solitude or with another adult.

On top of the built in shelves I store things that won't fit in the cupboards such as our assembly mats, a large set of class whiteboards and all my tubs that store my laminated activities. 

I have also chucked a filing cabinet and a chair I do not use around here. 

On the other side of that alcove is the teacher area. It has a built in desk that I do not use. I am still trying to think of an alternate use for it. 

I also have another teachers desk that I don't really use. 

 I have letters on top of this desk that spell out my last name. I decorated it with washi tape. I also keep my pens there, my assessment files and my mastery folders. 

Behind the teachers desk I have Reading Posters by Nicole Blunt and my Writing Goals Chart (FREEBIE)

In this corner I have my horseshoe desk. IT IS MY FAVOURITE PIECE OF FURNITURE EVER!!! If I didn't have one of these in my classroom I was actually going to buy myself one. They have changed the way I work but I might do a separate post on that another day. 

Below the built in teachers desk is this little shelving unit. I use to store all my note templates, late notes and absentee notes.

Above the desk I have a stack of trays for work to be finished by individual studets, work for marking, and work for gluing. I also have a tray for work still in progress as a whole class, my stationary and above that bulk student supplies like headphones, highlighters and clip boards. 

Displayed above that are my Punctuation Posters. 

In my cupboard I have my files including a file of all my Templates, school information and units and a few text books. I also have all my Words Their Way supplies and back up stationary. Behind the cupboard wall I have the DOTT timetable, my timetable and duty roster. 

To the other side of desk is my reading group resources including whiteboards, books and novelties. You can read more about how I approach guided reading here. 

Next up I have a very large, old map storage draw. In it is some large coloured card and I use the top of it to store projects and layout resources for students to collect. Then I have my book shelf.

Above the book shelf I have my current reward system and my Job Wheel.

Coming back around to the entrance to my classroom is a set of draws I use for my Spelling Lists.  You can read more about my spelling approach here. 

Here's a look inside some of my cupboards. Here I have my coloured card. I use a 5 draw system to store my A4 card. It helps keep the paper in nice shape and easy to access. 

This cupboard has tissue boxes, snap lock bags and PVA glue. 

Here is a look inside the containers where I store my laminated activities. 

This is my prize box. I use to have it in an actually box but it always became too messy and students would take forever selecting a prize. Having it sorted like this makes it much more convenient. I get most of prizes from ebay by searching for 'bulk toys'. 

 At the end of term 1 our carpets were being cleaned so I had to move the majority of the furniture out and have plans to try a different layout when I put it all back. I am forever changing the layout of my classroom. It keeps things interesting!

That brings us to the end of my classroom tour. I hope you picked up a few useful ideas along the way!

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