#2getherWeAreBetter September: Classroom Reveal

It's the second of September already?? That one snuck up on me!! I know that some of my teacher friends to the North of me won't have kiddos until next Tuesday, and that those to the South and West of me have had kiddos for several weeks now. Me, I just finished up Day 7 with my Dragons!

Since it is officially September 2nd, that means I get to link up with Schroeder's Shennanigans In Second and Lucky Little Learners for their incredibly awesome #2getherwearebetter link up!!

This occurs on the second of every month and we get to blog about a different topic each time. This month it is all about Classroom Reveals!!

It just so happens that today's topic for the #teacherweek15 link up is also Classroom Reveal!! I wonder if that was planned?? Anyway, it makes it easy to have two posts in one!!

I have been incredibly fortunate to have some seriously wonderful ladies help me this year in setting up the classroom!! With my injury, I would not have been able to do it without them! I am so very lucky to work at a school where everyone is more like family than mere co-workers!!

Here are a few peeks into The Dragon's Den, my much-loved kindergarten classroom!

This is my Number Line. It's pretty high up on the wall so it's hard to get a decent angle so the entire line can be included, but the numbers range from 0-20. Each border is a different rainbow pattern or design, with bright primary colors. Each dragon is holding a numeral done in a rainbow scribble pattern. The letters that make up each number word perfectly match the design of the numerals. Each number is represented by a set of jewels or gems inside a ten-frame, because we all know Dragons love collecting sparkly gems!

Here's a shot of my Alphabet Line. It's pretty high up, so again it's tricky to get a good shot of it. 

Of course, the glare from the lights doesn't help! Each letter is represented on handwriting lines with the uppercase and lowercase versions, and the vowels are in red ink. Each letter has a dragon holding a picture representation of a high-frequency word that begins with each letter. The 'Dd' dragon is holding a doughnut while the 'Yy' has a yak. Also, each vowel has two pictures, one for the short and long vowel sounds. In addition, the letters 'Cc' and 'Gg' have a hard and soft sound picture.

This is my classroom door. Each of my Dragons has their name on a crayon, which is being held by a flying dragon. 

We've had some super-ugly-hot-and-humid weather these past few days, most days reaching well above 90. As if that isn't bad enough, the humidity is ridonkulous!! All of my dragon tags are flying right off the door!! No joke, it's like as soon as I put them back up they are falling off again!!

Due to my injury and not being able to do anything for myself, my room is still very much a work in progress!!

Here is a view of my room from our classroom door.

The table closest to the windows is where I host my small groups. The other tables are mainly used during breakfast time and rotations. Otherwise we're sitting on the floor in front of the SMART Board. In the back left corner you can sort of see our back door, which leads right out onto our playground. On the counter are the student mailboxes, where they put their Take Home Folders each morning. In the back right corner is my desk, which is a bit messy. I don't spend a whole lot of time sitting at my desk, so it's more of a dropping zone for things throughout the day!

This is the front of my classroom, where our SMART Board is. The Board was mounted right over the chalkboard, but as you can tell they didn't center it very well when they installed it! On each side of the Board are two large bulletin boards. The one closest to my desk is where I tack up important information that pertains to me. The other board will be our ELA board, that I will add to as the year progresses and we being working with our phonics skills.
Above the Board is a long, thin bulletin board that I use to display different letter sound posters, which will be added to as we learn them. The wall above the bulletin boards is where my Number Line is located. Underneath the Board are our Daily 5 Book Bins.

The back of the room has the same set-up as the front. I use the chalkboard as my Word Wall. The bulletin board on the right will be our schedule and calendar board, and the board on the left will be our Math board. You can also see several of my centers in this picture. Starting at the far left is the Pocket Chart, then Dramatic Play, next is ELA/Math stations cart, and on the far right is my Blocks area.

The far right corner of my room holds a few more centers. You can see the Sensory table against the wall. Right now there are scraps of different types of paper inside, along with several pairs of scissors. Students have been practicing their cutting skills by slicing up the scrap paper. This is a great beginning of the year Sensory activity, as I can see at a glance who still needs to practice holding their scissors correctly.
There is a connecting door to another kindergarten classroom, then a door to the kitchenette we share. We made play-dough in that kitchen last week!!
The easel represents my Art center, which right now has white paper and markers for students to create their own drawings.
We have our own bathroom, which can be seen next to the sink. It's so great to have a bathroom right in the classroom, and only the Early Childhood rooms have this feature.

Finally, you can see our locker area. Each student has their own locker (there are 30 lockers but luckily I only have 19 students!) and they are responsible for putting their backpacks, lunch boxes, and jackets inside their locker each morning. I use the counters and cabinets above the lockers as storage areas.


That's the basic tour of my classroom this year! As I update the boards and add more things to the wall, I'll take more pictures and post them on my blog. I hope you enjoyed your peek into The Dragon's Den! Want to check out lots of other classroom set ups? Swing on over and see who else has linked up!

You can also hop over to Blog Hoppin' to see even MORE classroom set-ups and revealings!!

Five for Friday

It's Friday!! Today is Day 5 of my official back to school year. My kiddos come on Tuesday. 

I am linking up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her Five for Friday link up! This is a link up where we get to share five random things from our week. Ready for my randomness?

My doctor's note said I could come back to work on Monday, so I was finally able to get into my classroom. I hadn't been inside since the accident in January. When it was time to pack rooms up at the end of the year, I was still unable to walk. Luckily my long-term sub was given a whole day to pack up my room for me. I'm so grateful for all her hard work...but I don't know where anything is!! 

Here's what my room looked like when I got in on Monday. My storage closet was cleaned during the summer, so everything from my closet came out and onto the tables. 

I am SO INCREDIBLY LUCKY to have had the help of an amazing lady, the para educator for a student in grade 2. She was so wonderful and pretty much did all of the hard work in my room! Since I still can't climb or lift, she did all of the hard work! She got all of that stuff back into the closet and moved all of the furniture AND covered the bulletin boards!!! How amazing is that??? She is one incredible lady, and I am so lucky to call her friend!! 

On Tuesday we had a county-wide professional development day. Monday night I cleaned out my 'teacher bag', since I'd need it for the PD session. I was a bit surprised at what I found.

In the large outer pocket of my bag I found some glass shards from the windows of my car. I'm glad I looked inside before I just stuck my hand in the pocket!

On Wednesday we had some school-wide meetings and got to meet with our team for some planning. My team and I spent time getting ready for our kindergarten entry conferences. We got all of the various papers copied and sorted, ready to sit down with parents/guardians and explain various county, school, and classroom policies. 

Here's the table where I meet with the parents. I have everything sorted and ready to go! 

While I talk to my kiddos' parents, they will be working on an activity where they're tearing up bits of construction paper to fill up an outline of their name. I got this idea AND editable name tag templates from the incredibly creative Jackie at Pocket of Preschool!! This comes from her incredible FREEBIE in her TPT store, Editable Name Cards!

Our school has a Social Committee, which is responsible for for planning different teacher get-togethers as well as plenty of other amazing things for the teachers and staff of the school. One of the things they do every year is host a Secret Pal Exchange.

We fill out a simple form and then after everyone has signed up we pull names. That person becomes our Secret Pal for the year, and we use the information sheet to plan out different little surprises and gifts throughout the year. Little things to remind each other how awesome we are and that we're doing a great job. I love this, and can't wait to participate again this year!!

I managed to get a bit more accomplished with my Feedback Freebie Challenge!!

I am so close to getting down to zero!! I was honestly hoping to get done to zero before school started, because I knew things were going to get crazy hectic and I wouldn't have as much time! However, I will get it down to zero in the next few weeks!!

How has your week been? Have you headed back to school yet or are you enjoying summer still? I'd love to hear what you are up to in the comments!

You can check out who else has linked up for Five for Friday, and you can link up too!

#2getherWeAreBetter August Link Up: Bulletin Boards

Have you heard about all the social media movements that have been created by Lucky Little Learners and Schroeder's Shenanigans in Second? They have definitely created some awesome ways for us to come together as teachers and help each other out!

On the second of every month they host a 2getherwearebetter link up where teachers share ideas on different topics. This linky goes live the second day of every month, with a new topic each time. It is August 2nd, and this month's topic is Bulletin Boards!

I think bulletin boards are something every teacher has to deal with, even if it's just one board. Some teacher's have HUGE boards, and others have multiple boards in their classroom.
In my classroom, we each have 3-4 large square and 2-3 long rectangular bulletin boards already put on the walls. If you don't have 4 square boards, it's because one of them is a white board.
In my room, I don't have a white board so I have 4 square bulletin boards around the room.

This is a picture of the front of my classroom. My SMART Board is mounted on the chalkboard (though not evenly in the middle, if you'll notice...). There are two large boards on each side and one rectangular board at the top.
I cover my boards with fabric, since the fabric doesn't fade and can be used year after year. I choose solid primary colors so that they didn't detract from anything on the boards. This was last year, and I might change it up this year. Haven't decided yet.

The back of my classroom has another two large square bulletin boards with a rectangular one on top.

You can see my last bulletin board on the left hand side of this photo, it's covered in yellow fabric.

We also have cork strips in the hallway that we use to turn into a bulletin board of student work. This is a pic from a few years ago, I can't find a pic of my Dragon board....

Did you know that you can make your own bulletin board if your classroom doesn't have one? Last year I made several additional boards in my room, and while it was time consuming it was definitely worth it.

First I outlined the space I wanted using Painter's Tape. See, we have lots of rules about what can go on the walls. Painter's Tape comes off without leaving a residue, so it's okay to use. Once I have the Painter's Tape frame up, I then put hot glue ON TOP OF the Painter's Tape. Then I quickly add the bulletin board paper and border.

The blue 'Math' board is one that I created using Painter's Tape. It stayed up there all year long.

Another of my walls isn't cinder block, so it was easier to get this bulletin board up. I used a fabric that resembled the sky and outlined it with a rainbow border. I love being able to turn empty wall space into a new bulletin board!

These are all pictures from a few years ago, and I can't wait to change things up this year!
How do you create bulletin boards in your classroom? What's your favorite way to put up border? Do you use fabric or bulletin board paper? I'd love to hear about your classroom bulletin boards! Leave me some comments or link up with Lucky Little Learners and Schroeder's Shenanigans in Second to share how you handle bulletin boards!

Don't forget that you can still link up for Spotlight Saturday! This link up is a Teacher's Show and Tell where you can share your favorite activity, resource, product, tip, idea, trick, or anything else that makes classroom life even more awesome!!

Five for Friday on a Saturday

Goodness Gracious, where did the week go???  It was my first official week back to school, which means 3 days of meetings and prep work and then two days of kindergarten entry conferences.  In our district, grades 1-12 return back to school 3 days before pre-school through kindergarten.  This allows we Early Childhood teachers to have entry conferences for our incoming kiddos, since many of them have never been to school before.  I am very grateful to be given this time!!!

It was definitely a busy week for me, and my kiddos haven't even arrived yet!!  I missed quite a few posts this week, and I do apologize for that!!!  I am getting myself 'Blorganized' by using the 'Organizing Bundle' for all things blog and TPT created by the amazing Schroeder Shenanigans in 2nd, and that should definitely help me be more organized and on-schedule with my blogging!!!  :-)

Even though it is Saturday, I am gong to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for her weekly Five for Friday linky party!!  I am going to share with you five different things from my week, then you'll get to hop on over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to check out all of the other Five for Friday link ups!!

(Rainbow Scribble Numbers from Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs)

One of the things I'm carrying over from last year is the way I set up my student-data folders.  We are not required to keep folders on our kiddos, however I like being able to have info on my kiddos that I can easily access.  Each student gets a hanging file folder.  Inside each of those are 5 different colored file folders.  The plain manilla folder is for student information, including their medical concerns as well as parent contact info.  Red is for work samples, which can be referenced throughout the year to demonstrate growth or to record progress.  Yellow is for assessments, which is where I store the paper copies of the various math and language arts assessments we give the students throughout the year.  Blue is behavior, which is where I keep copies of any office referral forms, parent contact for behavior forms, as well as their monthly behavior calendars.  Lastly, green is where I store any and all parent notes that are sent in throughout the year.  Everything from requests for information to car rider notes.  I make a copy for myself and send the original to the office.  This picture has last year's kiddos, which means on Monday I'll be working on making folders for this years Dragons.

I created a birthday display that fits my dragon theme.  I used some super cute birthday cupcake graphics from the ever-amazing Krista Wallden.  I really like how they turned out!!

I just love how January's cupcake sparkles!!  

St. Patrick's Day is my favorite holiday, and I love this cupcake!!  The wonderful fonts by Lidia Barbosa are from her Phonics Fonts for Teachers Bundle!!

I love September, since it's the start of school AND my birthday month!!  :-)

Here is a pic of one of the many 'lamination graveyards' that showed up on my floor this week.  I have to tell you a bit of a horror story, though.  When we were first able to get into our classrooms the week before last, we learned that the school's color printer AND laminator were BOTH BROKEN!!!  This gave many of us severe heart palpitations.  However, this story does have a happy ending, and no I did not have to go pay someone to laminate everything for me.  Our district has this AMAZING department called Print & Distribution, and I was able to email them PDF files of my classroom set up stuff, and they printed it out in color, then laminated it, and then trimmed off the edges!!!  After that, they shipped it off to my school.  We have a school-to-school mail delivery system called 'The PONY', which is delivered and picked up every morning.  When I came to school Monday, I had my first delivery.  Throughout the week, more and more of my stuff came to school and I could get it cut out and put up.  On Thursday our laminator was fixed, and Friday morning the color printer started working.  I'm hoping to get caught up on my printing soon!!  :-)

I have been able to get all of my entry conferences completed, with only four no-shows.

This is the table where I had my parent conferences.  The kinders came too, and I had different special educators and interventionists working with my new kinders.  They were given a VERY BRIEF assessment, which only included numbers, counting, shapes, colors, and had them write their name.  We do a much larger assessment, the ELS, starting in the first week of September, so we didn't need to overwhelm them with letters and sounds when they'll be assessed on those in a few weeks.  You'll notice my table is COVERED with papers and forms.  I tried to make them in as many different colors as possible.  This way, I'd be able to see if the parents got all the colors.  And yes, that is a frosty cold Coke sitting next to me.  My first conference was at 8:15, so I needed the caffeine jolt!!

My last number has been saved for a non-classroom related photo!

Watch out world, we have a CRAWLER!!!  My Little Lilly is now mobile!!!  There is no stopping this baby girl now!!!  I just hope we can keep up with her.  She will grab WHATEVER she can get her little hands on, and then it goes right into her mouth!!  Love her so very, very much though!!!

I hope you've enjoyed my randomness from this past week.  Please don't forget to head over to Doodle Bugs Teaching to see who else linked up for Five for Friday!!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!!