1st Grade Classroom Reveal!

I am SO EXCITED to show you all my classroom space!

As you may know, I have made the transition from upper elementary (4th, 6th, and 3rd) to FIRST GRADE and I am SO pumped!

A few notes as you tour my classroom--- We are using flexible seating, which means no individual desks and LOTS of options for seating.  Some of the furniture was provided through a grant my team wrote.  Other furniture was bought by me, on a budget!  Our first grade team is also piloting Personalized Learning, where students take ownership of their learning and use technology to reach their goals.  Ready?  Here we go!!


Your first glimpse into my room is this window- complete with a picture of little Miss Woodward.  :)

Look to the right and you will see our lounge area.  Table and white chairs from IKEA, and couch through the grant.  Word wall is located behind the couch.

Our moon stools (all lightweight and move-able!) are from the grant.  The TV is from the principal to promote technology use in Personalized Learning.  It's attached to an Apple TV.  Lots of options for technology integration!  The lovely crate stools made by *yours truly* for the guided reading/guided math table.

Our classroom uses community supplies.  Each table has a bucket of sharpened pencils and erasers for work time.  Students have the option of using any material for projects at any time. They just need to grab a bucket and return it when finished.  :)

I do not have a teacher desk in my classroom.  I usually use the kidney table as a work space, and the grey and black stand the lamp is on to store desk stuff.  Those lovely clear drawers were a birthday gift from my parents (!) and are used as mailboxes for my kiddos.

Another view of the guided reading table and manipulative bins.

I am still in love with my SitSpots!!  Another IKEA table and a few stools make a cozy little work space.  You can also see my floor table (took the legs off!) and IKEA cushions (in the green bin) for kids to sit or kneel on the floor.

You guys, I'm so in love with this classroom!  

I can't wait to see all of the learning take place in this space!

Tackling the Task Card Tragedy

Picture this… you've got bins of ziplock baggies full of task cards and card games to use for stations, and while you're working with a small group a student comes up to you saying, "Miss Woodward, I can't find the match to this card!"  Or, "Miss Woodward, I found this card under my desk… which set does it belong with?"

We've all been there.  Do those situations make you want to pull your hair out?  As I start to collect more sets of card games and task cards, I was having trouble keeping them organized.  But I've got a solution!

I was cutting for days….. I always like to cut out the cards first and then laminate.  I feel the lamination stays on better.  (Teacher OCD?  Maybe.)

I used different stickers for each group.  One set has all green stickers, one has red, and so on.  That way, if a card gets misplaced, students know what set to return it to.  It works like a charm!

For the sets above, I used colored dot labels that I cut in fourths or halves.  It worked great to label each set.  Especially since I only had so many star stickers.

For playing cards, I just numbered each deck and labeled each card.

To address the ziplock baggie situation… I found these gems at the Dollar Tree.  Two envelopes for $1!  They are flexible plastic, with a snap closure.

It's very helpful that students can see which game they're picking up.

And they fit perfectly in a bin I already had!

Task Card Game crisis averted!  How do you organize your task cards?

Five for Friday- I'm back!

Happy Friday, friends!

It's Friday, which means it's time to link up with Doodle Bugs Teaching for another Five for Friday!  Five for Friday is a weekly link-up for teachers to post updates to their week.  Now, I know I've been M.I.A. for the past few months… So I think this post will be more of a Five for the Past Five Months.  So here we go!

1.  New Look!

What do you think of my new blog design?!  I am in LOVE with it!  I asked PJs Design Laboratory to help me out, and I am so pleased with the result!

I've got all the fancy social media buttons up top… click around and if you feel so inclined… FOLLOW ME!  :)

2.  Classroom Reveal

The start of a new job took it's toll on me.  To be honest, I was unhappy, overwhelmed, and ready to quit (hence my absence in the blogosphere).  I talked with my doctor and got things figured out.  Now, I love my job (most days)!  

Anyway, I missed the frenzy of everyone revealing their classrooms.  For the first few months of school, my room looked pretty bland.  But with each new month, I feel like I can take on a little more, and now my room feels near "complete".  Take a look!

Here's a peek at my room from the door.

Top left: I have a wonderful long counter in the back of my room, with nice shelves underneath.  I keep my word study bins and classroom library on the shelves.

Top right: I've had these drawers forever.  They used to house my craft supplies, but I brought one to school and keep all my copies and plans for each subject.  GREAT way to keep organized!

Bottom left: This year, I've let go of the mentality that my room needs to be "TpT bought" or "cutesy" or "digitally made".  I found that in order for things to actually get done, I need to just make them by hand.  Here's my reading groups and word study schedule.  Simple markers on construction paper.

Bottom right: I call this Grand Central Station.  In the back, my desk area, and in the front, my doc cam area.  I keep my name sticks, pens, textbooks, and you can see my subject copies cart there on the right.  Also on the left (not pictured), is a lamp I found in my parents' basement, which gives a nice warm light to the area.

3.  Wedding Weekend

This past weekend, Kendall's cousin got married in northern Minnesota.  I just love this photo of us from the reception.  Congrats Amy and Matt!

I know this is only a Three for Friday, but I've got some new posts in the works, so stay tuned!  Feels good to be back in the blogging world!

Teacher Week- My {bare} Room!

It's Tuesday of Teacher Week with Blog Hoppin', so today I'm sharing all about WHERE I teach!

This will be short and sweet, since I just recently moved into my new room!  It's far from complete, but I can point out some features that I am pretty excited to have.  :)

Mmkay…. see that SMART board on the wall on the right!?  Can't wait to play around with it and use it every day!  And lots of storage with the closets on the right and the low shelving on the left.

My room came with beautiful, sturdy mailboxes.  Y'all know how expensive those can be!  See that printer there too??  For those moments where you're like, "Oh crap, I'm TWO copies short!"  I know we've all been there.  Behind the mailboxes is a sink with drinking fountain.

The desks most likely won't stay like this for long… I just wanted to get them down and off of each other.  Is anyone else totally annoyed by that one lower desk?  #teacherOCD

I've been spending most of my time lately organizing my picture books.  Because I'll be teaching 6th, I am putting a lot of my low level books in the closet for now.  I know that at some point, I will need a picture book for a read-aloud or something, so I wanted to organize them in a way where I'd be able to find a book if I needed it.  

I started by entering all of my books into a spreadsheet.  I included the book title, author, and illustrator.  Then I organized the titles alphabetically.  First into piles with sticky note labels...

Then each pile got organized alphabetically and put into a box.  If I need a book, I can look on my spreadsheet and easily find it in one of the boxes!

The other books in my library will be available for my students to borrow.  These are the higher level chapter books.  To keep those organized, I am using The Brown-Bag Teacher's iRead Book Bin Labels.  I'm in love with them!

Stay tuned for more photos of my set-up as I spend more time in my classroom!

And don't forget to link up with Blog Hoppin' to show off your learning space!

Teachers Be Shoppin'!

I went to Target the other day, looking for binder page dividers… (You know where I'm going with this, don't you?)

… And I walked out having spent $75.  I made the mistake of walking past the Back to School aisle.  Whoops!

Today I'm linking up with Kickin' it in Kindergarten for Teachers Be Shoppin'!  Because we all know that, even with our teacher salary, we still love to shop for our classrooms.  I am just getting started with the shopping, and I'm still not quite sure what I want for my classroom.  But this haul at Target was a good start!  

Here's what I walked out with at Target:

I got TWO of these 6-Shelf Organizers.  Each was $8.  I've seen similar things at teacher stores for much, much more.  Can't wait to put these together!  Success!

Remember this post about my inexpensive book bin solution?  Yeah…. by about October, I was regretting those bins.  They fell apart so easily!  I guess I didn't learn my lesson completely… because at Target I bought 10 sets of 3 cardboard magazine files.  Each set was $4 and some change.  Hopefully my 6th graders are more gentle on these bins than my 3rd graders last year!

Be sure to stop by Kickin' it in Kindergarten to show off what you bought (or are wishing for) for your classroom!

Monday Made-It - Word Work Organization

Today I'm linking up with 4th Grade Frolics for another edition of Monday Made-It!

I have been away from my blog for a few weeks.... I apologize to all those who follow!  I have been very busy, and very exhausted!  I actually went home early one day last week.  I was just not feeling well and ended up sleeping all day and night.  I think my body was worn out!

Here is what I've been working on the last few weeks!

One of my partners has been making awesome word work activities using our Social Studies vocabulary and spelling words.  The kids love word work!

Since we have been learning about Geography, one activity is to match each continent's name to its picture.  Then students have to label the continents on a laminated map using a dry-erase marker.

Another activity is to match vocabulary words with their picture.  Students say to themselves the definition and example of the word, and use the word in a sentence.

They love this one!  Using a dry erase marker and laminated cards, they have to write the vocabulary or spelling word that matches the picture on the card, or fills in the sentence correctly.

This is Ms. Meredith's vocabulary match game.  It uses the words she teaches during our weekly vocabulary lesson.  They have to match the vocabulary word, definition, picture, and sentence to make a match.

We do a few other word work activities as well, I just don't have pictures of them.  :)

For ALL of these activities, students are encouraged to use their vocabulary books.

ANYWAY...... All of these activities are stored in little baggies.  All of those baggies were in a big tub.  You can imagine how hard it was for anyone to find what they were looking for.  Hence my need for some organization... and my Monday Made-It!

I made envelopes to store each activity.  For each activity, I have four envelopes (sets).  I think altogether, I made about 25 envelopes.

I had quite the mess on my desk while I was doing this project!

Each envelope has the name of the activity, materials list, and directions (with pictures).  I created these to meet the needs of my class and word work activities, so I won't be posting this on TpT (sorry, friends!)  I wanted the kids to be able to grab an envelope and know exactly what they were grabbing and how to do the activity.  I have many struggling readers, so I created pictures for the directions, so they were easier to follow.

The envelope also has a sticker dot in the corner to tell whether the activity is low, medium, or high level.  After gluing directions and a dot on the envelopes, it was time to laminate each one.  

I kid you not, after all of my envelopes were laminated, the laminating must have stretched about 20 feet long!

Then it was time to slice open each envelope using a craft knife.  Super easy!

Now, all you veteran teachers have probably already figured out the trick of laminating envelopes, but I am now in love and want to store everything in laminated envelopes!

I still keep my word work in the same plastic bin, but now the envelopes are organized, and the kids know exactly what materials they need and how to do the activity.

The whole project was quite time-consuming, but totally worth it!

What activities do you do for word work?  How do you keep them organized?  I would love to hear about it!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

Lists, Lists, Lists...

Thanks to my dad, I was raised as a list-maker.  I make lists for everything!

As a teacher, my list is never-ending.  (Does anyone else feel that way?!)  Lately, I feel as though before I can cross one thing off my list, I am adding three more things.

Usually my lists are scribbled down on the closest sheet of paper.  I'd like to try and find something to keep me a little more organized.

  How do you manage your to-do lists?  I'd love to get some new ideas!

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward

Tried it Tuesday- Dry-Erase Crayons and Take a Break!

Hello everyone!  Today I'm linking up with Fourth Grade Flipper for their Linky, "Tried it Tuesday"!

Today, I tried two things-  My new dry-erase crayons (read about those here), and a new "Take a Break" area.

1.  The other day, I picked up these dry-erase crayons at Target.  They were on clearance, so I decided to try them out!

The pack came with eight crayons, a built-in sharpener in the box, and a cloth for erasing.

I used them to write my morning message today.  It was super different than using dry-erase markers, but not bad.  It just takes some getting used to.

The kids could still read it just fine, and they thought it was sooooo cool that I used crayons on the whiteboard!

So.... Dry-Erase Crayons: Tried them, Liked them!

2.  I tried implementing a Take a Break spot today.  If you haven't heard of Take a Break, it is a positive way for students to calm down before returning to the group.  It is part of the Responsive Classroom style of teaching.  Yes, I probably should have done this from the beginning of the year, but I wasn't exactly sure what I wanted it to look like.  I have seen many classrooms use Take a Break as just a chair for students to calm down, and I have seen classrooms where students have to record what they did to need to Take a Break.

Here is my Take a Break area in the back of the room.  I used an extra desk and chair.  I hung up a Take a Break sign, and ways students can Take a Break.  I also set up some pencils, and a little stack of recording sheets.

When I ask them to Take a Break (for any type of inappropriate behavior), they simply go to the area, choose a way they want to take a break (count to ten, take deep breaths, etc.).

Here is the recording sheet that students need to fill out before returning to the group.  It says, "What happened?", "What can you do differently next time?", and "Are you ready to return to the group? (calm, focused, quiet voice, listening ears, ready to learn)".

This Take a Break Kit will be available in my TpT store soon!!

So.... TRIED Take a Break, but (luckily) nobody had to use it today!  I will let you know how it goes once somebody has to visit the area.

What did you try today?  How did it go?

Until next time,

-Miss Woodward