More Classroom Photos

I posted a few pictures before school started of my classroom but those never seem to truly 'capture' a lived-in classroom.  So clean, neat, and tidy.  That is NOT my classroom.  I would call my classroom somewhat organized, but I love the look of a classroom that is the center of learning.  And... before we begin..... I have a LOVE for lamps.  I love them.  If I didn't have to spend so much time turning them on in the mornings and off in the afternoons, I would have so many that I wouldn't need the stark white fluorescents.  Okay, ready... here we go!

 I know your are probably tired of seeing pictures of my station baskets but OH WELL!  I have finally decided that I do not want to have 10 stations at a time.  I usually have 6 because that's how many math workshop days I have in a 2-week rotation (Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday).  If we have a holiday or a S.U.P.E.R. crazy week like this week then I will adjust accordingly.  For example, I knew we had book-in this past Thursday and would not be able to have math workshop on Thursday so we only had 5 stations.  I figure... less stations... less time... every student gets to do all stations!

 Here's a close-up of the new labels I made for my station basket.  I got the idea from Kristen at Ladybug Teacher Files... she's great and makes you go.. hmmmm... why didn't I think of that??

 This is my math calendar board.  We are well into our math workshop model and the students are loving it.  It's like nothing else they have ever done in math and they get SOOO excited for math class.... I just love it.  I have always made them write EVERYTHING down that I do in their calendar, but they are having a very difficult time finishing.  So, I am going to try just having them write down things that are only necessary.  We'll see how this goes.

 This is a pocket chart on my closet door where we place all the vocabulary words we are working on.  After we have discussed them, they go on our vocabulary word wall.

 Here's our vocabulary word wall.  I actually have this for sale on TpT here.  I LOVE IT!  After teaching the curriculum, there are a few words I want to move around OR include in several standard headers.  I am hoping to get that done in the near future and offer my buyers a free upgrade.

 Here's a close-up of my stations checklist.  Students store their station check-list and all their station work in their folder until the rotation is over (usually 2 weeks).  They then take all their papers, staple them, and turn them in for me to review.  If you would like to learn more about my stations checklist, click here.  The only thing I have changed since this post is the stamping.  Even though it is fun, I no longer allow my students to stamp the station they complete.  This was chaos in a classroom of math workshop learners.  I tried it at the beginning and I swear it took 10 minutes for students to transition from stations to anything.  I'm really not sure if I will allow them to do it again.  I am thinking of having them stamp at the end of the rotation (2 weeks) before they turn in their station packet.  They could stamp as they get things in order so they can make sure they have everything they need.  We'll see....

 These are my CC standards posters.  I really should have gotten a close-up so I could show how I have the students interact with them.  The standards that we are currently working on 1) are highlighted with highlighting tape, 2) have post-it flags.  Once we move on, the flags are removed but the tape stays.  Eventually the entire posters will be highlighted.  You can get these FREE in my TpT store by clicking here.

 I LOVE Really Good Stuff.  That's where I get ALL my baskets in the classroom.  These baskets have table numbers taped to them.  In my first class, I have a student who places these at the tables right before class (he's in my homeroom so he's already in the room and has the time to have them ready by the time others arrive).  I have another helper in my last math class who puts them away every day.  The students store their math folders in the baskets.  We use our math folders to keep up with anything they are currently working on or trying to finish.  We call them our Independent Work folders since most of the work kept in them are independent assignments.

 This is the front of my room from the door... I love lamps that glow!  This is how I keep my room when the kids aren't working.  Sometimes the kids are working and beg me to turn out all the lights and turn on classical music.  I love it... they love it... we are all happy!

love it....  The front view of my room from the back. LOVE

This is my desk area from the back of the room... it is a mess!!

This is my small group area.  I try to have everything I could possibly need at my fingertips.  The plastic filing bins beside my whiteboard are for my portfolios.  I have one for each math class I teach.  This is something I am still trying to develop.  I'm not real sure about how to really make them work for what I want them to.  I always have a difficult time deciding what to put in them and what to leave out.

This is my small group area from the opposite side.

 This is where I store my math manipulatives.  I have a lot more but have decided to only leave out the ones we use on a weekly basis.  These change as our unit changes.  I have found that less things go missing.  It's working so far.  If the students need any of these for any station they are working on, I usually include them in the station basket.

 I hope you enjoyed looking around my room.  Have a great week!  I will post a new post tomorrow were I will talk about what I accomplished during my teacher workday with more pictures.. yay!  I just love pictures.