Classroom Before and After Pics

Busy is an understatement! I have never kept record of how many hours it truly takes me to set up my classroom, but this year I did. So far, these last 2 weeks, I have put in 40 hours. I am no where near finished, but I'm liking the progress so far.

BEFORE

 Plain Jane... nothing fancy! We are allowed to keep some things up over the summer, anything above the dry erase boards.

 The wall is retractable and can open up if we wish.  My teaching buddy next door and I, choose not to because the wall is also magnetic.  So we hang a TON on these and if you move the wall, everything comes down.

 Blah, blah...

 sink, closet, cupboards, mailboxes (made by my hubby! : )

 Notice the big ugly box fan... no air conditioning on these hot, humid days!  Uuuggghhh!

drum roll... wait for it, wait for it...

AFTER  Boom Chicka WOW WOW!!!

 Entrance to my door, I will add sailboats with student names on them once they finally give us  we get them.

 As you come through the door and look to the left, front meeting area, dry erase boards, Smart Board...

Small group table, CAFE menu... (the stuff on the table and desks will be cleared soon! it's bugging me!)

 Rules, sink area, clip chart (I am going to tweak that a bit with my nautical theme)

Word Wall - Sorry, I know many of you teachers have blank word walls and add words as you introduce them. I have always felt the need to have common words already up for them on day one!  You gotta hit the ground running right away for those students who ARE writing.  I do add words later though, too.

 This corner is not quite finished yet... haven't decided if it will be my jobs area (All Hands On Deck), or my Bucket Filling Board.  Plus, I ran out of border on the green display.  I know it's hiding somewhere!

 Classroom library, book boxes, "Work to Treasure" for featuring student's best projects/papers.

 "Sailor of the Week" way down on the blue display, counter area...

 Smart Board, Math Wall (more work to do here, more things to add)...

 Our phonics, spelling, and handwriting are all wrapped up in one with the Fundations Program.  I piloted this last year.  All first grades will be implementing this year. (Those dog gone owls are crampin' my ocean theme style!)

 Above the cupboards.  I thought about posting some thing ON the cupboards, but not sure if it will start to look too busy.

 Close up of my ocean themed CAFE (Comprehension, Accuracy, Fluency, Expanding Vocabulary) Board.

 The kids favorite nook to cozy up with a book is under this sea canopy.  My mom got it for me from Oriental Trading Co. about 3-4 years ago.  It has netting/ tulle material that goes down to the floor, but sometimes they  plop down in the bean bag chairs and it pulls on it.  I don't want it to tear, so I gather it up and attach to the wall carefully.

Outside my door, this wall will display the pictures I will take on the first day.  The kids will wear a captain's hat and hold a plastic ship wheel.  It looks so adorable when the pictures are all hanging up!  I also have them fill out an "All About Me" form before school starts.  They receive it at our Meet the Teacher/Open House Night.  I post their "crew" picture and All About Me papers together side by side. Thanks to Beth Newingham for the awesome idea!

My new area rug in front of the Smart Board.  LOVE this!  Found it for $34.99 at Kirklands.  It's a decent size, 5x7 ft. It's my favorite new addition to the room this year. (so far)  Still more shopping to do!

Soooooo, that's it for now, but I will post final pictures later.  Lots of finishing touches to add!