The Write Handed Teacher: Where It All Goes Down Wednesday

I wasn't going to participate today because....I don't have a classroom and I haven't pimped out my cart just yet. (Check out this post to understand). But I did set up a brand-new classroom last year and it looked pretty good and was functional although there are very few things I would have changed.

This was what it looked like when I walked in. The furniture was pulled away from the wall because they painted the room.

Everything piled in the center.

I always feel better when I get all of the desks set up. Notice my gorgeous new rug ready to lay out!

My room theme was space and I couldn't resist this galaxy paper. This year I created templates for my Daily Five posters. We brainstormed our "I Charts" on the whiteboard, and then I transferred it neatly to the charts on the bulletin boards. Things to change: If I had stayed in third grade I would have returned to solid color bulletin boards. I found the galaxy paper to be visually noisy!

You will see many of Beth Newingham's ideas in my room. The character trait posters were used to discuss and identify specific character traits. When we discovered a character who displayed that trait, we would add the book to the poster. (Beth puts mini pictures of the books, but I am not nearly as clever or organized. We wrote the titles with whiteboard markers).

This is my "desk" area. I used one section of the computer station and stored things in the rolling cart drawers. You will also notice my Desk Apprentice on top of the fridge. This is a teacher's dream. Some day I'll fancy it up....

Genre posters and my easel. The genre posters were stuck to radiator with magnets, but the kids kept knocking them down. We eventually put them on a ring and clipped it to the side of the cart. Update: I put the posters in a binder and made a flip chart!

I really enjoyed the reading map. Each child had their own unique tack and when they read a story with a real setting, they placed their pin in the city/state. The kids really got into this and would use the Internet to find exact placement. Eventually, the class decided to add the other continents. We also used the map to identify the city with the high and low temperature each week (another special tack) and when Flat Stanley went on his adventures, we noted that!