More Classroom Love!

Yesterday I went and helped a friend of mine set up her classroom (beach theme!) and I forgot to take pictures.=( I know... I know shame on me!

Now we will have to wait for Bethany to post them for me. It is her room after all. =) However, I have pictures of my son's third grade classroom to redeem myself!

Bethany and I have a running joke about how picky I am. I even suggested we iron the bulletin boards yesterday and was told ummm... no. We're not gonna even if it does have fabric fold lines. I love Bethany and her carefree attitude! I wish I could be like that but it will never happen.

She's right - I would be in the middle of a lesson and say "stop, stop, stop! I can't take it anymore!!" and then run over to iron the bulletin boards to get rid of the wrinkles or move something just a hair so it would be perfect.

Oh Beth--an--y!!

I found my twin!

Let me introduce you to my baby's teacher Beth!

SHE ironed her bulletin boards!

SEE??? 

I am not so crazy afterall!

Or maybe I am and just not willing to admit it. 

Anyone else out there who irons the fabric for the bulletin boards?

Anyone? 

Someone?

Please??

 

I will just assume one of you confessed! =)

So pictures anyone? 

 In our school districts bulletin boards are arranged from the floor almost to the ceiling all along one wall. Teachers are expected to utilize this entire space. There are 5 different "panels" of bulletin board space that are connected.

I love how she used the fabric (and ironed it) to create the various boards. The ends are the same the centers are different. The borders are alternate from one board to the next.

Look up on top... see the alphabet? She used border to cover the original design to create a coordinating piece!

The other neat thing was how she used the designer cut outs for creating steps and posting strategies. Name tags are used for the word wall.

Every classroom has a shelf of built in cabinets and cubbies. This is the only place to store student belongings, there is no place to store backpacks. This drives me crazy. I wonder what she is gonna do with backpacks? I may have to email and ask.

Why does only one cubby have stuff in it? That is my son's cubby. I brought all of his supplies on met the teacher night. None of the teachers were prepared for that. Oopsie! But they let me put it in their desk or cubby for Monday. 

Instead of keeping books in the desk they are all kept on the back shelf in easy reach of the student. Between each one is a book and stuffed animals. These are part of the collections that you can purchase at Kohl's each quarter. She buys the complete set and then uses them to feature an author in her classroom. You can see a few others if you look closely at the upper shelves.

My third grader LOVED this. He wanted to stay just because of the books and cuddly friends. Note: his teacher used to be the school librarian so she has tons and tons of books. Another reason my son already adores her.

Oh! And she gave him a cookie last night and asked him about multiplication at meet the teacher night. He also got his first homework assignment and has been diligently working away. He loves that he got homework but he is disappointed that it is not math. Its an all about me poster.

Poor kid -- still math deprived. 

On the bright side, his brothers are JEALOUS about his homework. Yes, my two who HATE homework want to know why their teacher's didn't have cookies and homework. My oldest doesn't have meet the teacher night until Tuesday so there is one mystery solved but alas he is still jealous.

Great idea! She divided  a long bulletin board into two sections. The orange looking thing is a clear page protector.. All of the boards have them on there to hold objectives throughout the year.

The classroom economy. She took a piece of small poster board and again with the border created her own poster. She used the small bulletin board letters to match the set for the title and printed her own classroom money.

This is the schools mandated behavior management system. She used the designer cut outs to create the information to go with it. She simply used construction paper to coordinate the levels to the cards in the pockets.

Here it is again -- more creative ways to use the name tags, designer cut outs and posters. She bought the helpers, calendar, and welcome kit that also match the set but what to do if you can't find a poster set you love? 

Why create your own!! Her she took a number chart that had the right center colors but the wrong outside. She trimmed off the edges and glued it onto one of the mini charts. Wala! It instantly seamlessly flows into the design.

So you know I had to ask.... what did this cost and about how much time did it take? 4 nights of intense labor and about $400 at the teacher's store. I am thinking that she didn't do so badly at all.