Take A Look At What's New In My Classroom!

 I always tell myself at the end of the school year that I am not going to completely redo my classroom and spend countless hours and days getting it ready. Every summer it never fails that I do just that. Well, that was until this summer. I absolutely loved everything that I already put in my classroom and knew that I just had a few minor decorations to add. (Click here and here to see all the things I did last summer in my classroom!)

One of the biggest items on my list was figuring out what to put on one of my bulletin boards. I wanted it to be more than just a space filled with reading or literature posters. I knew that I wanted it to be something to pique my students' interest and get them curious about reading, but how? Then an idea came to me. What if I picked quotes from my favorite novels and turned them into works of art? While I am definitely not the best artist and this turned into being a truly challenging task, I have to say that I am extremely happy with the outcome.

Harry Potter

The Fault in Our Stars

Mockingjay

Heroes of Olympus Series

Divergent

I didn't like the space so I decided that I needed to add at least two more paintings.

If I Stay

Combining books and Doctor Who :)

The finished product :)

Then of course, there were the Pinterest projects (Reach for Success and Wall of Champions) that I saw and knew that I had to include in my classroom:

I saw this and decided to modify it to fit my students.

Students who score well on assessments and who show growth will be able to showcase their accomplishments here.

In addition, it was time to update my "Wall of Wisdom" with some new posters and a special classroom expectations poster that I designed:

Speaking of expectations, I also updated my computer expectations after a full year of being 1:1 to address some of the biggest issues that we had last school year. 

One of the last things that I worked on was revamping some of the organizational structures that I use in my classroom so that they would be ready to go for the first days of school. These structures are such an important part of ensuring that I do not lose instructional time during transitions and allow my students to know exactly where things are located.

I have this set up for each of my classes. The pink baskets hold their SSR books, the large bins are for their data folders, and the folder box contains their SSR reading logs. Each class has a different color system.

I use the laptop signs to let my students know how we are using laptops during class today. This allows students to know what to do with their laptops as soon as they sit down. Click here to get your own!

I have one bucket of supplies per two students.

The buckets contain markers, colors, color pencils, glue sticks, and scissors.

I created this labels to go inside our highlighter boxes.

I supply these highlighters so that my students are able to use them to closely read the text.

Here is what my room looked like when I first walked into it this summer:

Here is what it looked like after: 

It's hard to believe that another summer has come and gone so quickly; however, I am truly excited about what this new school year will bring.

Enjoy the rest of your summer,