I think you can tell a lot about a teacher by taking a look at their classroom...so I thought I'd take you on a mini classroom tour and share a few of my favorite things in my room with you!
Let's start outside! As long as I've been teaching kindergarten, my class has been an ocean theme! While I don't think themes are necessary to put together a classroom... I love having a color/theme that coordinates everything. I feel it gives my room a fun sense of order :)
I make sure that I show current student work everywhere...inside and out! It makes students feel welcomed, excited and at home! One of the best thing I did this year was hot glue thumb tacks to clothespins. I decorated the clothespins with little fish and wrote names on them. The clothespins hang in my hallway and student work clips in without those messy staples! It has made for the changing of student work to be incredibly quick and easy!
Right inside the door you'll find my CHAMPs board...it's my behavior management system. It's how the kids know their conversation level, movement, how they get help, etc.
To the left, my job board, learning goals and big book stand. Ms. Ruffolo's Lifesavers may be one of my favorite bulletin boards...and the kids love having weekly jobs and taking responsibly for classroom tasks.
Which brings me to my favorite classroom spot...The Reading Reef! Our library is filled with books leveled and separated by category. It is a cozy spot where my student LOVE to dive into books each and every day.
Our word wall is constantly growing throughout the year. The large word wall and neon word cards makes the word wall constantly visible and easy to access. I have little reading chairs like blue one seen above in nooks around the room. Our computers are used constantly and the kids love seeing their own work hang above.
We are a reading workshop school...so anchor charts and scales are a big part of every subject every day. They are separated into subject sections around the room so they are easy for the students to find and use. Above you'll see reading and writing.
Last, but not least! Our book bins! At each table, you'll find a bin of "star" books. These are books that are at their reading levels or books that we've read many times and they can read or retell. If we have free moments throughout the day, the kids pull books to read from their bins. It keeps them reading constantly and it keeps them from having to get up in their down time. Also in the bins, the kids store their individual bags of books. As a reading workshop classroom, each student has their own individual bag of "just right" books that travels with them between home and school. We read these books daily and these bins provide excellent storage for those bags and make them easily accessible.
I hope you've enjoying diving into my classroom!
