Classroom reveal...in October??!!

I'm so excited to share my 2015 classroom with all of you!  However, I'm a bit embarrassed that this post is in October and not September!  This year has started off great, but I needed some time to get back into the swing of things.  Balancing 1st grade teacher life with Mommy of a toddler life with Wife life is tough stuff!

Now that it's October, we've all gotten into the swing of our routine.  Hubby is currently watching football and V is taking a nap.  Lessons plans are complete...so what better time to blog than now?? 

Here are a few of my favorite places in my classroom this year:

This is my main whiteboard in my classroom.  It holds our daily schedule which I got for FREE from one of my absolute favorite TPTers...Cara Carroll at The First Grade Parade.  Check her store out if you haven't already.  She has some awesome stuff.  Click here for the schedule cards. 

I also printed and laminated direction cards for my cuties to use.  This is the first time I've used them and I LOVE them.  They are such a time saver.  The kids know exactly where to look if they aren't sure of the next step and if they do ask, I can remind them to look at the board.  It's been a huge time saver in our room and the pictures are awesome for my lower readers.  I got these from Miss Kindergarten.  She has a ton of cute designs to match your classroom theme.  I went with chevron...who doesn't love a good chevron pattern??

For Writer's Workshop, I like to have a visual for both my kids and I as to where they are in the writing process.  Those are the story writing, teacher conference, etc. cards that you see at the bottom.  They are responsible for moving their names and it makes it easy to see who I need to meet with during conference time.  I just printed and laminated their names out myself.

Here is where my kids hand in notes for me, as well as their homework (bin goes on the right).  I also have their supply bins and tidy tubs stored here.  It's quick and easy for the kids to grab, and it doesn't take up room on their desks.  The labels are from Tweet Resources.  I used the same labels for my word wall, but wanted everything to match.  I easily edited the labels to say my table numbers.

Here is where I keep my Guided Reading books and my book bins for Daily 5.  Each child has their own book bin with their number labeled.  It's easily accessible for them and the box is nice and sturdy.  I've tried many different ways to hold books over the years and this is, by far, my favorite.  I found these at Target in packs of 5 a few years ago.  I just write their numbers on a sticker and they are ready to go!

This is where I keep all of my "teacher supplies" that the kids use.  It makes it easy for me to be able to grab something, rather than dig through my cabinet.  I make sure they are full and ready every few months.  I also have pencils that are sharpened with velcro (that's how I prevent rolling pencils) so the kids can grab them quickly if they need a new one.  I also have our math group tool kits on top for math explorations (we use the new Everyday Math program).  On the bulletin board, you can see my math vocab wall.  I used to make my own, but Leslie Frobig has the cutest vocab cards and I couldn't resist buying them.  If you use Everyday Math, check out her TPT store.  She has tons of great resources!

This is my writing bulletin board where we will hang our anchor charts during workshop.  I also used Tweet Resources to make all the banners for my boards.  I have a thing for matching..don't all teachers?!  This is also my classroom library (organized by themes) and where we meet for carpet time.  The table with the crate chairs is my writing center.  

Here is my word wall!  I'm so happy with the way it turned out.  I always start the year with the students' names on the wall.  We use these to add to our personal dictionaries.  Then, I will take those down and start adding our sight words.  In the cabinets, I hold my indoor recess games and my word work bins.

Here is my sink area.  On the cabinets, I have their birthdays and bus assignments.  Next to the sink is where I keep all of my copies and manuals.  Before I leave for the day, everything gets put in piles on the counter for each subject.  Everything else for the week is held in the wire organizers.  The birthday circles are from DotsnSpots a few years ago.

Here is our calendar area.  It also tells us what day it is (we have days 1-6 depending on specials), as well as who our daily helpers are (1 boy and 1 girl).  They are responsible for getting supplies, leading us in the pledge, delivering mail, and other special things I may need.  I used to have specific jobs for everything in the class, but I find that having 2 helpers is enough for us.  All the other jobs get completed by all of us pitching in daily.  It just works for me and my students!  I love my crate seats that my dad helped me make a few years back!  This table is used for student work during Daily 5.

Here is another view of my main whiteboard.  I also keep my monthly books in the book organizer for students to use.  My listening center is to the left of these books.

These objective signs are new and I just LOVE them!  I got them from Teach Talk Inspire.  We are not required to post our objectives, but I find that I like to share them with the kids.  It gives them a heads up and adds some excitement to our day.  They love knowing what we are going to be learning about.  I also require that my kids read every night and keep a log.  They get a sticker each week if they return the log.  After 5 logs have been returned, they can pick a prize from the prize box.  The voice level cards are from Carefully Crafted.  Underneath my objectives, I will hang my star of the week's "All About Me" poster.

Here is my favorite area!  My guided reading/teacher table.  This year, I chucked my desk and moved my stuff to behind this table.  It was taking up so much room and I never ever sat at it.  Now, everything is at my fingertips when I'm teaching guided reading or grading papers during my prep. 

 Do you see my reading strategy board in the background??  I started using the Beanie Baby strategies last year and it's been a LIFE-CHANGING experience for my readers.  They love the visuals and I was able to find the matching beanie baby for each one.  I start right away in September and introduce a new strategy every 1-2 weeks.  I use this closely with my Literacy Instructor and it's one of our favorite lessons to teach together.  I'm lucky and fortunate enough to have my LI with me every morning for an hour.  I got these posters from Growing Firsties and guess what??  They are FREE!  I use the posters for my bulletin board and the bookmarks for the inside of my cuties' book bins.  This allows them to refer back to the strategies during Read to Self if they get stuck on a word.

Last but not least, my cute stools!!  My dad is a SUPER BIG help in my classroom.  9 years of teaching and he still comes in every summer to help me.  I'm fortunate enough that he is so creative and can always make my thoughts and dreams a reality.  I saw someone post these stool seats on Instagram and I just had to make them.  I can't take any credit except for the actual purchasing of the fabric.  Everything else was done by him.  These stools allow me to comfortably sit 6 kids at my guided reading table and they never get caught on each other!  Win-win!!

I hope you enjoyed seeing my classroom and hopefully I've given you some ideas!  Enjoy the cooler weather and all the fun that October brings!