Robot Classroom Theme

First week down!! A year ago today I was in tears (literally - after school at least!) ... what a difference having one year under your belt makes :) Not to mention the batch of kids ... I have a GREAT group of kiddos this year! Along with a MUCH more organized classroom which makes everyone's lives easier! Looking forward to a fun school year! 

Routines ... routines ... routines ... Seriously I feel like I haven't taught a content based thing yet! But I now know the value of routines and procedures and cannot complain. All teachers know that they are just as important as all the content we are to teach! 

My robot theme is going great - I absolutely LOVE my room this year, it really makes a difference you know?? When you love and enjoy your space the teaching and learning flow! 

To wrap up this amazing week, I thought I would post some pictures of my 2011 Learning Conservatory :) 

 

View of the front of my classroom - found a perfect place for my robot paintings :) 

 

View of the front from the door 

 View from my desk of my carpet area - just got my new rug! LOVE IT!

View of the back of the classroom - the students do not use their desks - instead they put all their stuff in their mailboxes and use the center buckets for supplies throughout the day - just tried this this year and REALLY like it ... no more slamming desk tops/messy desks/lost notebooks or homework!

 My desk area - I made the space a little bigger this year and am really happy with it. I also added the table beside my desk for individual teaching or student individual work place (for those who get easily distracted or need to be separated sometimes) 

 

The kids mailboxes where they keep all their school work, folders, and supplies ... at the beginning of the year I collect all the school supplies they bring and we place them in community supply boxes and use them to fill our buckets when we need supplies - it eliminates all those annoying "he has my pencil", "I don't have any markers" etc.

My reading corner - I am SO happy with how this area turned out ... it really makes the whole room cozier and warmer. Also it really makes writer's and reader's workshop organized and easy! 

 Entrance supplies area and my Welcome Robot bulletin board :) 

Found this great idea on teachfactory.com - awesome alternative to curtains! 

Bathroom passes - I tore apart a $2 garage sale computer keyboard to make these authentic little pieces

Classroom rules, consequences, and other important room info

Cute little "Reading Survival Kits"that I gave the kids on the first day - another great idea I discovered online! 

I am trying "Bucket Filling" in my classroom this year. I am not having a bucket for each student (I just don't have the room!) but I am having them fill them out, place them in our community bucket and sharing them with the kids during our Friday meetings. We will see how this goes - this week I had three bucket fillers already :)

 Trying a Word Wall this year - I will be placing our greek and latin root word, suffixes, and prefixes on it

 My discipline chart - the students move their clothespin for negative behavior.

 My current anchor chart easel ... pretty sad I know! I've been trying to get my husband the make me one all summer! But you do what you gotta do as a teacher ...

My ADORABLE little robots that our art teacher made for me to help show the different voice levels here at school. 

0 = no talking (voices OFF) 

1 = whisper (no vocal chords) 

2 = conversational voice (group work or partner work) 

3 = presentation voice 

4 = outside/playground voice

 Our district require us to state our learning goals (objectives) somewhere clearly in the room for students to see. I go over these with the students at the beginning of the day and before and after each lesson. I believe this is becoming a national requirement with the new Common Core ... 

Do you have to do this at your school ???

I found these amazing little stand up dry erase pocket folders in the target $2 bins BUT I do not really do centers (which they seem perfect for!) and cannot think of what to use them for ... 

ANY IDEAS??? Please leave a comment if you have any!