Classroom Tour

Last year our school broke ground on a brand new building.  The construction crew "finished" to the point that staff could be on site in early August.  However, I had a baby in early August.  This meant that I was starting maternity leave without being able to set up my classroom.  I had wonderful coworkers who set up and unpacked my boxes to the point that everything was in cabinets and the room could function for the sub.  I returned to school six weeks into the school year and had a lot of catching up to do.  My room slowly transformed into an inviting classroom.  I have rearranged my desks almost monthly trying to find the perfect balance.  I have moved supplies around the room in an attempt to find "permanent" homes for everything.  Here are the results!

Area 1: I have an ultimate math challenge posted with challenge problems for grades 6th, 7th, and 8th grade.  You can get it and directions on how to set it up here.  My students always start class with bellwork problems that spiral review all concepts.  While students are working on their bellwork I am walking around checking homework, checking in with students, and taking attendance.  If students finish the problems assigned for the day they are to start on the challenge problems.  The winner of the challenge wins a pizza party for their friends.  I have had eighty students participate this year and am happy I will get to celebrate the winner next week.

Area 2: Just last week I finished my new number line.  It is printed on papers to go with my theme for next year.  I am going to incorporate cacti and eliminate the reddish pink color you will see in the next couple photos.  I absolutely love this number line for numerous reasons.  The main reason however is how many middle school concepts are included in the number line.  Most number lines only have positive and negative numbers and/or place values.  This number line includes fractions, mixed numbers, and irrational numbers.  You can find the number line here.

Photo from my Instagram stories.

Area 3: I store all of my copies for the week on these file holders.  I have labels attached to clothes pins (not pictured) that have the labels M, Tu, W, Th, and F.  This helps me keep my sanity through out the week.  I also keep my attendance, papers to pass back, and small group intervention notes in this little command center.

Area 4:  I teach 5 classes and 3 preps.  I also teach middle school students.  Have you ever seen a middle school students book bag?  Our school does not have lockers and these book bags EAT everything.  To help keep my students organized I use interactive notebooks.  If I give them a paper in class they are expected to glue it in their notebooks.  This has saved the need to print off copy after copy for students who lost an assignment. Now, I still have the occasional student who will lose something, but nowhere near as many as last year.  I print a table of contents for each new unit for my students on Astrobright paper.  This section of my board will hold a copy of every piece of paper they should have in their notebook under this unit.  Students will constantly check this area to make sure they are keeping their notebooks organized.  It has been a life saver this year and saves me having to keep an interactive notebook myself for all three preps.  You can find my classroom resources and unit table of contents here. 

Area 5: I use this kidney table for small group instruction.  I have not perfected this area of my teaching enough to share any wisdom with you.  If you have any math small group blogs that you could recommend I would greatly appreciate it!  One thing I am proud of is how visual my math instruction is, especially during small group and when I introduce a new concept.  I cannot wait to share some of those strategies with you in the future.

Area 6: I moved my teacher desk from the back of the room to the front of the room last month.  I wanted to make my smart board easy for all students to see, because this the the area where we take the majority of our notes.  It is also home to my favorite sign, persevere.  The area behind my desk is boring and plain.  We are not allowed to hang things on the wall with exception to command hooks.  I am sure this area will get a command hook make over this summer.

Area 7:  We have these huge beautiful windows in our classroom.  I use this area as a bulletin board or area for early finishers/concepts we are reviewing.  I currently have a surface area and volume scavenger hunt posted that Math with Meaning created.  The quote is my favorite quote and was created by The Therapeutic Teacher. I linked Megan's scavenger hunt, but cannot find The Therapeutic Teacher's link to share.

Area 8: This is my favorite corner in my entire classroom.  I have seven anchor charts displaying the current concepts we are learning in all three of my preps.  I create all of my anchor charts on the computer, project, trace, and enjoy.  I do this so that I can create a guided note sheet for my students.  A lot of my students will treat these guided notes similar to doodle notes, which I encourage.  During class I finish the anchor charts with the important details right along side my students.  That is the most important part of the entire anchor chart!  Why?  Students are now invested in these anchor charts and utilize them.  I leave them up all year, until testing.  Students will often go back to this corner and look at previous concepts when they are working on either they early finisher spiral activities at the end of class or the spiral bellwork at the start of class.  This area fills my heart with so much joy.  My goal is to add these charts to my store when I am satisfied with them.  You can find the probability anchor chart here.

Area 9:  I post everything on the back wall that students need to know.  I have a giant agenda/homework board that lets students know what we will be doing or what they missed while they are out.  The green paper is a QR code that students can fill out when they do not complete an assignment.  This is a new concept that I am trying out.  I will post more on this idea if it is successful.  I also have loaner pencils.  The sign (freebie) was created by To the Square Inch can be found here.

Area 10: I like to change my classroom management system to keep it exciting and fresh for the kids.  I used the house system for three-fourths of the year and switched to homework club for the final quarter.  I really liked this balance and will probably do this again next year.  I was pleasantly surprised how wonderfully the house system worked.  It was RCA inspired.  Miss 5th created editable shields that can be found here.

Area 11: The future home to my math word wall.  One item I never got around to hanging/organizing this year was my word wall.  This will be one of the first things I hang next year.  Math vocabulary is important for fostering young mathematicians.

Until next time,